"Earlimart ranks high amongst this generation...building upon the sound of contemporaries Grandaddy and Sparklehorse while remaining true to the scriptures of...the Beach Boys... And there isn't a finer testament to this duality than the group's incredible third LP(Treble & Tremble). Reeling from the death of a close pal (Elliott Smith)...frontman Aaron Espinoza digs deep into the crevice of his broken heart and pulls out arguably his finest batch of songs." - Billboard
"Treble & Tremble is a must-have for anyone who shed a tear at Elliott Smith's untimely demise... One of the best and most moving albums of the year." - Splendid Reviews
One of "The 20 Best Album's of 2004" - Magnet
8/10 - Pitchfork Media
Earlimart's latest may be describes as "Somewhere between the intriguing introspection of Elliott Smith and the lush indie pop of Grandaddy..." 4 stars - All Music Guide
"With darkly plodding guitar work and bleakly ominous lyrics, Early Man seizes the reins from Ozzy and drops a record fit for the Jack Osbourne generation... From the opening chords of the first track...it's clear that Early Man is a directly descendent of early solo-era Ozzy." - Spin
"Early Man...become the latest in a growing line of aggressive rock bands on indie labels who pose the most challenging of questions to the indie rock crowd: are you willing to enjoy strong, straight-ahead riff-rock that's delivered with no hint of irony whatsoever? Conversely, because they're on one of the least metal-centric record labels around (Matador), they ask metal fans, are you open-minded enough not to slough off this album just because it's on the same label as Steven Malkmus?... Conte sneers, howls, and screams in a voice that sounds equal parts Ozzy Osbourne, Rush's Geddy Lee, and Death From Above 1979's Sebastian Granger, adding both melody and a strong sense of theatricality that many contemporary American metal bands are unwilling to attempt." - Pop Matters
"Early Man's... Closing In is a classic guitar-driven heavy metal record. It's a throwback to early 80s thrash, the era before speed often became a substitute for creative ideas.... as someone who still appreciates the keep-it-simple-stupid attitude of classic 70s heavy metal, Closing In is a resounding success." 7.7/10 - Pitchfork Media
"The irony police already have an APB out on these dudes... but in reality, the old guard are just jealous because they didn't think of it first." 5/5 - Alternative Press
"With that kind of nostalgic quality, Early Man are the perfect band for indie rock dudes and dudettes who gave up metal for their high-school love and want something they can pass off as irony, but secretly treasure." - CMJ
"With a name as sleazy and low-down as the music itself, Easy Action is the debut of former Laughing Hyena vocalist John Brannon's band of the same name. Championed for his visceral howl, and equally impressive baritone crooning - usually accomplished within the same measure of a song - Brannon is a decorated veteran of the American underground... a blend of punked-up, blues-based laments." - All Music Guide
"Easy Action is fronted by an authentic Detroit underground-rock god, John Bannon of Laughing Hyenas and Negative Approach, both cornerstones of early '80s hardcore like Jesus Lizard..." - Pop Matters
"named after the early Alice Cooper classic, Easy Action specializes in a menacing glammy crunch. Former members of some of the region's fiercest (and most legendary) hardcore punk outfits join forces and grow up a bit...Easy Action has a garagey guitar feel and a punk rock edge; they are also known to be an incredible live act!" - Metro Times Detroit
Easy Action will resonate with fans of the Melvins, Mudhoney, the Supersuckers and Zeke.
Eddie Chiurco, a local folk songwriter making great acoustic-rock Americana with a slightly jam band feel. For fans of Blues Traveler, The Samples and Big Head Todd and the Monsters.
Eddie West sings original songs that bridge the gap between folk, bluegrass, pop and rock.
Edith Frost is one of those amazing, lo-fi, gothic-americana acts that help make up the absolutely fabulous roster of Chicago's Drag City label. She is touring in support of her new release It's A Game, following the release of Wonder Wonder in 2001. An album that garnered accolades from practically everyone. Her new album is getting a lot of noice too. If you are fond of Will Oldham, Hayden, Lambchop, Smog and/or Songs:Ohia - definately check out Edith Frost.
"On It's A Game... Frost's singing and writing have both broadened and deepened with time, and more than ever, she's able to take the best from different styles of music and songwriting and make them her own... Let's also hope it doesn't take another four years for her to deliver another collection of her thoughtful, finely crafted songs." 4 1/2 stars - All Music Guide
"Frost makes breaking up sound so mournfully beautifully that you might want to try it out yourself... Which might help explain the comparisons to Cat Power and Scout Niblett that rarely touch on anything besides the surface. Frost here instead reminds much more of artists like Will Oldham (more electric and often sparer) or PJ Harvey (again, less rocking and, as a result, often more controlled). The fact that she sells much less than any of the artists mentioned is nearly criminal." B+ - Stylus
"Game brims with Frost's conversational, intimate tone. Rather than a collection of weepy lovesongs, the album portrays the confidence of a woman for whom independence has become an obsession." - Harp
"Wonder Wonder is a fresh and genuine peek into the progressive evolution of talented and notable Chicago singer/songwriter Edith Frost." 4 1/2 stars - All Music Guide
"Wonder Wonder is a terrific album, full of quiet songs interspersed with livelier tempos, lyrics about love and emotional pain, and Frost's wonderful songwriting. ...Frost is ready to take the seat as indie rock's female singer/songwriter saving grace." - Delusions of Adequacy
"Her voice overflows with an earthy sweetness one typically encounters on dusty contry records... yet ignores distinctions between old and new, city and country, art and kitsch." - Time Out New York
"Frost...should now be firmly entrenched as the benchmark for intelligent, eclectic, eccentric folk-pop." 8.7/10 - Pitchfork Media
Eef Barzelay is the frontman and creative force behind Clem Snide, an indie band that's issued several widely critically acclaimed records over the past decade. His first solo album, Bitter Honey, garnered quite a bit of praise. He is touring in support of his latest effort, Lose Big, which is also generating a buzz. Barzelay should appeal to fans of Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Bird, The Mountain Goats, M. Ward, Bobby Bare Jr and, um... Clem Snide.
"Lose Big sounds a bit like the Mountain Goats gone pastoral and languid, with God's will and human frailty analyzed in conversational tones. Barzelay has a better guitar tone than John Darnielle and sounds like he's gotten past his pubescent rage - there's something both grown-up and vulnerable about the soft, even tone of his voice." - Chicago Reader
"Lose Big... a smart, garrulous collection of folk songs." 4/5 - Tiny Mix Tapes
"Bitter Honey hits like a series of heart punches, and the quality of the writing is such that it doesn't get old even after multiple back-to-back spins." - Magnet
"Bitter Honey... this modest album (is) substantial." 7.2/10 - Pitchfork
"Bitter Honey... (the) most unexpectedly superb album so far this year." 4 stars - Prefix
Efterklang is amazing indie/experimental/post-rock band from Scandinavia. Their second full-length, Parades has been praised far and wide, just as their debut, Tripper.
"It's astounding Copenhagen's Efterklang hasn't yet broken into the American market. The band's 2004 debut, Tripper, featured the type of glitch-pop hooks, flamboyant orchestration, quiet vocals, and slowly building compositions that allowed the musicians to claim as peers Mum and Sigur Ros... grandiose orchestrated pop music." 7/10 - Prefix
"Every so often an album comes along that's so original it's difficult to accurately liken it to anything else - even Efterklang's last album, Tripper, is left behind by Parades." 4 stars - Mojo
"Seriously, (Efterklan's Parades) is one of 2007's finest LPs, no question." 10/10 - Drowned in Sound
"More organic than their 2004 debut, Parades is just as richly rewarding." 4 stars - Uncut
"Efterklang unshackle themselves on Parades, a sober, decisive grasp at grandeur." 7.4/10 - Pitchfork
"Efterklang have managed to locate the sweet spot where the organic meets the electronic." 4.5/5 - Music OMH
"Tripper is the debut full-length by the 10-piece Danish ensemble Efterklang, a band whose name translates literally to 'after-noise' but more loosely to 'reverberation' or 'remembrance'... Efterklang here ensures that, as their name implies, this music should continue to reverberate in your memory for a long time to come." 7.9/10 - Pitchfork
"Ranging in age from 15 to 21, Eisley consist of three sisters, their brother, and a friend. The product of a home-schooled Tyler, Texas upbringing, Eisley create a sound that definitely fits squarely in the Throwing Muses/Belly/Sundays mold, but which also occupies its own fey landscape. Imagine if Kate Bush had been a young American eccentric instead of a British one, and you get a good idea of the foundation Eisley are quietly laying for themselves. Fantastical lyrics, wispy melodies, and good guitar parts -- what's not to like?" - Pop Matters
From the Central Californian town of Merced comes El Olio Wolof, invoking majestic kingdoms where Shel Silverstein's brand of playful poetics meets the ebb and flow of dusky indie rock. Their acoustic-based arrangements are spare: acoustic guitar, electric bass, accordion, jazz-influenced drums, keyboards and bells, but the compositions created with these basic elements seem to breathe and take flight...
For fans of the Flaming Lips, Grandaddy, Elf Power and Violent Femms.
Very cool, uber-experimental blues cut from the same fabric as Bob Log!!! EPHB has played with the likes of the John Cale, Black Keys, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and MC Chris.
"I have seen the future of rock n' roll and its name is El Paso Hot Button...a one-man band that seems destined for some kind of greatness. Playing unbelievable blues guitar while singing maniacally, banging the drums with his feet and manipulating a theremin." - The Oklahoman
"El Ten Eleven's... third record, These Promises Are Being Videotaped, is packed full of danceable melodies that put Ratatat to shame." - Spin
"DFA 1979 and Ratatat are obvious antecedents, but (El Ten Eleven) place a great emphasis on layering and manipulating loops on top of a consistently bodyrocking beat." - RCRDLBL
"Once the record stops, you want more, and more, and more." - Filter
"El Ten Eleven never let's its virtuosity get in the way of making engaging post rock." - The Onion
"El Ten Eleven... create a dazzling pallatte of electronic sound." - Urb
"Winning the prize for the most technically impressive band I've seen this year was L.A.'s El Ten Eleven. Dunn was often playing guitar and bass simultaneously on his double-necked guitar while his foot moved in a blur across effects and looping pedals. The coordination and precision was breathtaking without straying into gimmickry." - Denver Post
"El Ten Eleven's dense, textured instrumentals recall post-rock standard-bearers like Tortoise or the Mercury Program, except theirs are created by only two musicians - and a whole lot of effects pedals." - Los Angeles Times
Electric Eel Shock are just about as Rock n Roll as any band out there... beyond that, they are difficult to pigeon-hole. You can here inspiration from many of the metal god pantheon, i.e. Sabbath, Motorhead, Iron Maiden and even early Metallica, however worshipers of punk and stoner rock will hear hints of bands like the Ramones, Stooges, Black Flag, the Dead Kennedys, Mudhoney, Melvins, Fu Manchu and Kryss. If you had to describe in a single word. Electric Eel Shock are freakin'-awesome (okay in a single hyphenated word).
"An unholy fusion of punk energy and hard rock riffage, Electric Eel Shock deliver a frontal assault on ineffectual music in the manner of their fellow countrymen Guitar Wolf and Teengenerate... Big fun, and perhaps the best Japanese import since Battle Royale." 4 stars - All Music Guide
"Electric Eel Shock are gonzoid mentalists of the highest degree... (Their latest) Beat Me sounds like Fu Manchu twatting Jet... Pop-tinged sludge-metal-garage-punk." 4/5 - Kerrang
"With a fearsome live reputation, EES have managed to transfer this raw energy into a blistering 12 track rock n rollercoaster ride... Beat Me... Wow! Crazy Japanese glam-punk-metal!" - Art Rocker
"we're apparently in the midst of a garage rock "revival," which is interesting, seeing as garage bands have been as common as cockroaches since the Stooges, the MC5 and the Ramones first roared... If any one act stands poised to drive a stake through the heart of this latest fabricated fad, it's Tokyo's Electric Eel Shock, and here's why: They do it better than anyone else." - Philadelphia Weekly
"Direct from Japan, the greatest reason to revisit RATT ever... Andrew W.K. will probably slit his wrists and spill blood all over his acid-washed jeans if he ever gets a hold of this disc, which does the 'party hard!' power-rock routine way better than the big lug ever could." - Decible
"Formerly known as the Wildbunch, the Detroit sextet Electric Six mixes garage, disco, punk, new wave, and metal into cleverly dumb, in-your-face songs like "Danger! High Voltage"... an addictive mix of stylishness and silliness that sounds like some kind of bizarre love triangle between the Rapture, Tenacious D, and Andrew W.K." 4 stars - All Music Guide
"The path between rock and comedy is laden with bad music and feeble humor, but it's a road Electric Six tread recklessly... Two things save Electric Six from becoming the alt-rock Weird Al: Their jokes hit home and their music is convincingly ferocious..." 4 stars - Blender
"The disco inferno meets garage rock" - Chicago Tribune
"Is it AC/DC? Is it the Bee Gees? No, just the latest, greatest band from Detroit..." - GQ
"The result is ZZ Top's Eliminator meets The Best of Chic." 4 stars - Mojo
"Detroit punk-disco pranksters Electric Six have crashed the dance floor with their... blast of heavy guitars, sax and industrial-strength beats from the Taco Bell to the gates of hell. Electric Six: strong enough for a man, but made for a woman." 4 stars - Rolling Stone
"Electric Six... exist only to rock your world. If you don't let them, you're the stupid one." - The Village Voice
"Electric Six is the most exciting band to come tumbling out of Detroit since Kiss." - Amazon.com
Electroshockbox is Tron D... "his music, like his personality, became a mish-mash of genres with hyphens like 'electro-hop-goth-abilly.'...Famous for pounding laptop techno kicks, incendiary guitar licks (performed on his custom-built Dobro Theremin), and the strangest chrome guitar amp you've ever seen..." - The Montreal Mirror
"...a machismo-oozing frontman whose vocals pay ostentatious tribute to David Bowie. The band's debut album, Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid, is rich, smooth, and sounds like a night of New York Heartbreak." - Spin
"Elefant's debut is so strong, you may find yourself shouting its praises from a rooftop.... 4 stars" - Blender
"...their debut record takes most of its stylistic cues from gloomy British post-punk.... similar to the Smiths or early New Order..." - CMJ New Music Monthly
"....a solid indie pop record heavy in new wave aesthetics. Tripping two-tone percussion swirls around glossy synth beats, and Garcia's Morrissey-like dark vocal softness fits his passionate, undying lyrical wishes for that perfect love. .... Similar to The Cure, Aztec Camera, and the Ocean Blue..." - All Music Guide
"Old-fashioned notions couched in fluid post-punk riffs (with just a hint of boogie - think Psychedelic Furs and Echo and the Bunnymen)..." - NME
"...a great album that sounds like it could have been part of the eighties British Invasion." - Rolling Stone
"Eleni Mandell has released several fine, literate records full of cocktail-lounge flourishes. But on Artificial Fire, the L.A. singer boosts the gain on her guitar amp. This is a rock album, or the NPR-pop version of one..." - Rolling Stone
"Eleni Mandell's musical coordinates obviously include sultry sirens Chrissie Hynde and PJ Harvey, but she also possesses an uncanny knack for sweetly sinister, heartsick vignettes." - Spin
Los Angeles singer/songwriter Eleni Mandell brings her dusky chanteuse persona out of the lamplight on Artificial Fire. It's far more upbeat than her past few records. There are a lot of major keys. The romantic despair is far less solemn. Parts of it rock in the least conscious of ways. And: she's got a proper band behind her... but you listen to Eleni Mandell because of Eleni Mandell." - Prefix
"Those who sang the praises of Mandell's previous albums never doubted for a minute that she was an artist of substance and depth. But if one needs a reminder, the rewarding Artificial Fire does the trick nicely." - Billboard
"The Athens, Georgia-based Elf Power emerged as part of the second wave of bands linked to the Elephant 6 Recording Company collective, a coterie of like-minded, lo-fi indie groups — including the Apples in Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel, and the Olivia Tremor Control....Walking With the Beggar Boys (Elf Power's newest) reveals itself as a near perfect little pop record." 4 out of 5 stars - All Music Guide
"Elf Power are still the Keyser Soze of the much-missed Elephant 6 collective....Walking With the Beggar Boys emphasizes songwriting over gimmickry; even divorced from the studio fireworks, the tunes are engaging, hummable, memorable, and will only grow more so with repeat spins." - Splendid Reviews
"Misty mountain pop written in the spirit of punk." - Entertainment Weekly
"Call it 'neo-psychedelia' if you want, Beggar Boys is ultimately a great rock record by a criminally underappreciated band. - Paste
Elfin Saddle is the evolved musical project of scavenger artists Emi Honda and Jordan McKenzie. Prompted by their need to downsize an accumulation of musical instruments and objects in their migration to Montreal from Victoria, BC, Elfin Saddle focuses on the creative use of a compact array of acoustic instruments, including prepared accordion, banjo, and guitars, musical saw, and ad-hoc percussion setups. The band has been steadily gaining audience and acclaim for their original and emotive live performances. Elfin Saddle is releasing their sophomore album, Ringing For The Begin Again, on the prestigious Canadian label, Constellation, which is the home of acts like Do Make Say Think, Silver Mt Zion and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
"Lipp creates instrumental hip-hop sampladelia a la DJ Shadow and RJD2, piecing together fully formed tracks from the usual array of sonic arcana - old jazz fusion, funk, film sound tracks." - Chicago Reader
"Lipp weaves some fine textures, the kid's scrap-savvy instrumental hip-hop is just what you'd expect: loose, breathable funk fabric." - XLR8R
"Beats and instruments alike create an organic sound with a downtempo rhythm that grooves hips and shoulders with a hard bump." - Urb
"Lipp's instrumental work shows much promise, thanks to his ear for solid grooves and his attention to diversity of sound." - Remix