Aural Fixations

THE BEVIS FROND
New River Head
(Rubric)
Let's be blunt: it's impossible for me to be objective about the Bevis Frond's New River Head. This is an album that changed the way I heard and thought about music. This is a record that always appears on any all-time top ten lists I'm asked to make. This is also the record that made me really want to be a music critic, way back in 1991. (more)

MY MORNING JACKET
It Still Moves
(ATO/RCA)
Psychedelic roots rock quintet My Morning Jacket has been making noise, literally and figuratively, for some time now, at least in the underground. It Still Moves is the Kentucky band's first shot at the major label brass ring. Since the album was made at the same location (a Kentucky barn), in the same way (mostly live on the floor) and with the same producer (bandleader Jim James) as the rest of their catalog, all this deal really means is wider distribution and better promotion than the band's earlier records. And It Still Moves deserves the extra attention. (more)

SNATCHES OF PINK
Hyena
(MoRisen)
One of the best bands to ever come out of the American South (let's jumpstart that hyperbole, shall we?), North Carolina's Snatches of Pink has never gotten the pop culture permeation it deserves, even after 15 years of service. Despite great albums like 1988's Dead Men, 1992's Bent With Pray and 1997's Blood and Commons (under the name Clarissa), SOP has remained under the radar, making distinctive, quality rock & roll that most bands would give their Marshall stacks to claim. (more)

UNTO ASHES
Empty Into White
(Projekt)
I love a band that defies easy description. New York's Unto Ashes shares traits with the so-called ethereal subgenre of Gothic rock, with its swooping femme vox and lush acoustic/synthetic textures, and adopts some elements of the main Goth genre as well, with contrasting baritone male vocals and song titles like "I Cover You With Blood," "Flayed By Frost" and "Persephone, Queen of the Underworld." But the bandmembers have also immersed themselves deeply in classical study, pagan religion (which here seems to be a genuine faith, not an affectation) and folk music of many stripes, especially, but not limited to, Medieval. (more)