Mastodon
Blood Mountain
Warner Bros. (2006)
Mastodon is on a major label. Does anyone else think this is weird? Good for them, I just think it is strange. So what do they have to show for themselves with their first record for Warner Brothers? Blood Mountain might be the perfect major label debut, well, at least it is for this band. While it is not one … Read more
Mastodon
Call of the Mastodon
Relapse (2006)
The first time that I saw Mastodon was at Hellfest 2001, the same year of Earth Crisis' last show. Some friends of mine told me that this would be one of my favorite bands after I saw them. So, I eagerly anticipated their appearance like nothing else. Their set was intense and completely blew me away. They were so intense … Read more
Mastodon
Emperor of Sand
Warner Bros. (2017)
There have been few bands as exciting to watch their ascension into music legend than Mastodon. What's that you say? No, the term 'legend' is not hyperbole. Mastodon is just that good. And if there's any justice in this cold, cruel world, that legendary status will be hermetically sealed with Emperor of Sand.Emperor of Sand is mastodon's seventh full-length release … Read more
Mastodon
The Hunter
Reprise (2011)
I was a bit of a latecomer to the Mastodon party. I hadn't discovered them until Crack the Skye, and from that, you can imagine my surprise going back through their discography afterwards. Mastodon's sound, though it has a distinctive flavour, is constantly changing, and their newest release, The Hunter, is no exception.The Hunter is a serious departure from Crack … Read more
Matana Roberts
COIN COIN Chapter Three: River Run Thee
Constellation (2015)
The meaning of the word “personal” does not even begin to describe what the COIN COIN works must signify for Matana Roberts. Through the chapters of COIN COIN, Roberts narrates the story of her family as far back as it can be traced. Roberts herself has said that it would probably take her a dozen albums to finish recounting this … Read more
Mater Suspiria Vision
Antropophagus
Phantasma Disques (2015)
More than five years after the first wave of so-called witch house artists popped up, caused a commotion in the independent music scene, and then soon faded into the ether, Mater Suspiria Vision remains one of the few still actively releasing material. Much of the appeal of witch house came from the fact that the musicians making the material were … Read more
Mates of State
Team Boo
Polyvinyl (2003)
Everyone needs something cute every once in a while... once in a while. Too much can make you vomit, but a little dose can make you feel a lot better about things. Mates of State's latest album, Team Boo might just be the appropriate prescription. Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel are a married couple from San Francisco playing in a … Read more
Matinee Club
The Modern
Ninthwave (2008)
Synthpop is a funny thing. Most genres to spring out of the electronic explosion of the 1980's are founded on a firm platform of moving forward. Unlike more traditional rock instrumentation, the equipment available to the electronic musician is constantly evolving into new forms, both hardware and software. And if you don't keep up (or purposefully regress to banging kitchen … Read more
Matmos
Rat Relocation Program
Locust (2004)
Usually when bands have "concept albums" I'm sort of hesitant on getting into it. I don't really know what the problem is, but most of the time I see them as being somewhat silly, over-ambitious, or pretentious. I guess you can say they're one of my pet-peeves when it comes to music. While not by basic standards a concept album, … Read more
Matt Cameron
Cavedweller
Dine Alone (2017)
Matt Cameron has long been the kind of drummer that most drummers wish they were. Seemingly able to play anything - to bounce from project-to-project with nary a blurred line. In short, Matt Cameron knows his shit. It would be fair to say that despite being the drummer for Pearl Jam since 1998, Cameron will forever be inexorably linked to … Read more
Matt Pond PA
Emblems
Altitude (2004)
I once had a substitute teacher that repeated something 10 times, because he said that people have to hear something at least 8 times before it actually gets into their head. I had to see Matt Pond PA in print 10 times before I went to buy their latest, Emblems. When I got to the store, they didn't have it … Read more
Matt Pond PA
Still Summer
131 Records (2017)
Matt Pond PA has delivered a flurry of music since their inception in 1998 around the enigmatic songwriter and namesake. His revolving cast of collaborators, creators, and guests have served him well throughout his career. Just as it goes, he is very underappreciated and underrated as a songwriter. They are that band, and he is that singer, that you just … Read more
Matt Skiba and the Sekrets
Kuts
Superball (2015)
Matt Skiba's latest side project sound like they've been born out of the wave of late-90s American indie that brought us the likes of Weezer and Blind Melon, and with Skiba adopting a Bowie-esque aesthetic on the band's album cover it gives the impression of a band fully embracing the indie sensibilities that they couldn't explore in as much depth … Read more
Maudlin Of The Well
Bath (Re-Issue)
Antithetic (2012)
I think I can tell you the exact moment my perception of music changed. It was a complete Gestalt switch, an utter reconception of the possibilities that lay open to the artists I enjoyed so much. Several artists had widened my view and primed me for this change--hearing the pulverizing waves of Isis, the mathematical crunches of Meshuggah, the vast … Read more
Maudlin Of The Well
Leaving Your Body Map (Re-Issue)
Antithetic (2012)
(This excessive treatise is continued from my review of Bath)You can already tell the second album is going to be different from how it opens. Completely abandoning the soft, melodic introduction, "Stones of October's Sobbing" instead begins with an almost dissonant combination of winds and acoustic guitar which begins to build into a massive doom-laden epic, the various brass instruments … Read more
Maur
Elegy
Independent (2014)
Running nearly twenty minutes in length and featuring two tracks, 2014’s Elegy is the second demo from Indonesian five-piece Maur. I’d classify this band as sounding somewhat similar to stoner metal, particularly on Elegy’s fourteen minute title track which unleashes crisp guitar work played at a deliberate, relaxed tempo. There are moments when the instrumental parts didn’t quite match up … Read more
Mauser
End Of The Line
Vinyl Rites (2011)
While eventually churning out some less than desirable material late in their career, there is no arguing the impact early Discharge made in both the punk and metal scenes—going so far as to create their own sub-genre in the process. D-beat, as it is aptly titled, signifies thick, lumbering guitars matched with an intensely repetitive drum beat, and shouted vocals, … Read more
Max Richter
Three Worlds: Music From Woolf Works
Deutsche Grammophon (2017)
Neo-classical music and minimalistic explorations always had a point of convergence. Minimal electronic applications found their way into classical orchestrations, expanding the sound of the orchestra, as well as the emotional scope of the composer. Max Richter is a proud example of this tradition, a composer who has learned as much from Philip Glass and Steve Reich, as he has … Read more
