Blog: The Stu Reid Experiment

Its Halloween! We may be super busy, which is preventing us from posting as frequently, but at least everyone with a busy schedule can relax and enjoy Halloween this year. Its fun to watch the kids, have an excuse to eat candy, or just watch football all day. In the spooky spirit of the day here's a dance track from Dent May's alter ego Dent Sweat (great name!) and a nostalgic little rambler from The Growlers about graveyards. Dent Sweat - I Don't Mind ( YSI ) ( filesavr ) The [...]

Lets just put this on paper right off the bat - Glasser is awesome. Her debut album Ring lets you know that immediately though with its stuttering drums intro. Complementing her big sounds, Glasser has a huge resonant voice and she uses all its capabilities. The instrumentation is really interesting as well. There are a lot of live drums, as well as electronics. For me at least, Ring sounds likes a more energetic and enjoyable Bats for Lashes. Seriously go check it out. Glasser - Apply ( YSI ) ( filesavr [...]

I have a theory. It's a simple theory, and - if followed correctly - will lead you to write brilliant and addictive pop songs. Ready? Here it is. Write about Ray-Ban glasses. Simple as that. A quick survey has proven that every single one of the three songs in my iTunes library containing the words "Ray-Ban"is completely awesome, which, according to the rule of three, makes it scientifically proven. It started [...]

This is some dark music. Perfect for a demonic rave from a Blade movie, or some updated super nintendo game music. Its been compared to something out of a Castlevania game - perfect! Heavy, atmospheric, and mysterious, Umberto really infuses his electronic music with some drama. Not for everyone, but it draws you in - not to mention the video game nostalgia. Umberto - Temple Room ( YSI ) ( filesavr ) Umberto - Someone Chasing Someone Through a House ( YSI ) ( filesavr )

I don't know very much about Family Portrait, but Glide Part One and Two are rustic, jangly pop gems that are perfect for fall. Call me a sucker for melodic vocals that aren't actually words (I don't really know how to put that better). I was up in Maine last weekend and these would have loved to play these in the car while driving through the rural hills. Just like fall presaging the coming winter, Family Portrait has just the right twinge of melancholy to really embody the joy and dread of autumn. Family Portrait - [...]

Cults and I are a band that have had all kinds of friendship, specifically in that I really like one of their songs and one time I saw them live. But that one song of theirs, "Go Outside," is completely awesome. Like immediately addictive and inescapable. So much so that it was all over the internets within weeks of the band spinning up. End of story? This song is dope and if you haven't heard it yet you're missing out. Cults - Go Outside ( YSI ) ( filesavr [...]

Cults and I are a band that have had all kinds of friendship, specifically in that I really like one of their songs and one time I saw them live. But that one song of theirs, "Go Outside," is completely awesome. Like immediately addictive and inescapable. So much so that it was all over the internets within weeks of the band spinning up. End of story? This song is dope and if you haven't heard it yet you're missing out. Cults - Go Outside ( YSI ) ( filesavr [...]

Based on name alone, Eternal Summers might sound like some dudes doing summery chillwave or surfy stuff, but this guitar and drum duo is fun for all seasons. The duo's debut LP Silver came out on Sept 28th and is filled with girl vocals, ragged guitars, and short, direct song structures. The songs themselves vary from decisive and up tempo to hazy and languid. I find myself really digging the up tempo tracks and getting a little lost in the other stuff, but overall its a promising and fun debut. Eternal Summers - Disciplinarian [...]

I've been doing a bunch of late night driving in the past month and recently an unexpected guest has been keeping me in good company. Randomly I decided to put on Original Pirate Material and listened to it from end to end in the car this past week. The album has everything: humor, bangers sampling Bartok and some beautifully atmospheric tracks. The double whammy opening of Turn the Page followed by Has It Come To This is one of the most epic and contemplative openings to a hip hop album. That combination really gets me thinking, especially in [...]

Thousands of horns have heralded the impending death of classical music. And it's hard not to appreciate that there are many issues facing the genre: audiences that are getting both smaller and older, a population whose attention spans may be shrinking to the point that a 15-minute piece of music (let alone a 2-hour concert) is simply too long to follow, an old-fashioned and stuffy concert hall experience that turns off a younger generation, to name a few. As a lover of classical music (and a member of the classical music "industry"), I hope with all of my hopes that [...]

I found 100 Akres through and friend of a friend, who mentioned that these songs were a bit slower than his standard bumping beats. I immediately hunted it down, eager to find big beats that didn't feel rushed. I wasn't disappointed - The Billy Ocean Beat Tape is full of bangers that go down easy, without the stress of up-tempo hip hop. A lot of the tracks sound like ideas that aren't fully recognized, but I kind of like how much is left to the imagination. At his strongest, 100 Akres is reminiscent of Black [...]

I wrote a review of Sufjan Stevens' new album, The Age of Adz which drops today, over on Pretty Much Amazing. It's a pretty analytical review of what I think is one of the strongest albums of this year - a year that has been pretty great for good music. Check it out if you want to do some reading, but know that what I really want to write about the album is this: AHHHHHHH, "I Want To Be Well" is like the best song evarr and I cannot stop listening to it [...]

Oh man, seems like good covers are dropping left and right these days, through various projects, compilations, cover albums, and websites. Here's a quick sampling of some of the best of the best: Warpaint Takes on Bowie Warpaint, one of my favorite live bands of the past year, is getting set to release their debut album, The Fool, in late October. In the meantime, they're keeping us plied with good tunes, via a single release and this here cover. They cover David Bowie's "Ashes To [...]

I just got a new computer, which is super exciting. Perhaps the most exciting part about getting a new computer is that for the first time in almost 6 years, all of my music will fit onto my harddrive, letting my tunes coexist peacefully inside the same metal box. It's a new treat to be able to access songs new and old in the same location. In honor of the fact that I have a lot more old jams at my fingertips, here are some blasts from le past to rock your speakers. Turn them up and [...]

Just a quick one today. I was listening to music on random yesterday and heard this Hood Internet gem from their album Hood Internet VS Tobacco & Aesop Rock . Usually I can only take Tobacco's music in small doses, but on Dark Pink Goo, the crunchy synths and forlorn howls really work perfectly with Aesop Rock's voice. Good stuff, glad I stumbled upon it. The Hood Internet - Dark Pink Goo (Hood Internet Vs Tobacco & Aesop Rock) ( YSI )

I have these tunes that have been lying around my iTunes for a while, getting lots of virtual spins from me, without ever gracing these pages. So let's change that. Because these songs are legitimately awesome. The first is the oldest, one that I've been listening to for a few months. It's a remix from The Very Best, a band that we have long loved here at TSRE. Esau Mwamwaya and co. take Baaba Maal's "Miracle" and pump it up a bit, laying some Chichewa vocals over the top in Esau's signature style. It's a big track [...]

Anni Rossi is back! HOORAY!! Heavy Meadow came out on September 14 and I have been listening to it a lot. Quick impressions: 1. a distinct electronic veneer now (not necessarily a bad thing) 2. Anni Rossi sounds much more confident and mature 3. Viola not quite as featured 4. due to backing band. Despite this slight change in sound, its still great and still sounds like Anni Rossi. The viola is still there, just not quite as stark as before. In fact she uses pizzicato much more than actual playing with the bow than on Rockwell [...]

So, as you all know, The Social Network drops today at theaters around the country. Given this event, I thought I'd write today about Facebook. Do I like it? Do I hate it? What does its prominence say about our time, about our generation, about humanity? There are all sorts of deep approaches one can take to discussing Facebook, and I'm sure you'll find many of these expounded upon in detail these days. But not here. I just want to briefly touch on [...]

So, as you all know, The Social Network drops today at theaters around the country. Given this event, I thought I'd write today about Facebook. Do I like it? Do I hate it? What does its prominence say about our time, about our generation, about humanity? There are all sorts of deep approaches one can take to discussing Facebook, and I'm sure you'll find many of these expounded upon in detail these days. But not here. I just want to briefly touch on [...]

I've been enjoying the recent album by Guilty Simpson, but otherwise I have been having some trouble finding good new hip hop. Luckily Black Milk's third album, Album of the Year , is here (Sept 14). Its not that far of a departure from Tronic , which is a good thing. Snares and drums usually take the lead and the album as a whole feels more concertedly in your face than previously. That said, Black Milk's beats have some definite new jazz influences and they remain eclectic and complex as ever. You have to respect the frequent, yet [...]