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DAN WEISS

Latest Articles

El-P | Cancer For Cure

Fat Possum (2012)
"It's like a fresh start in a new world," El Producto repeats on "Works Every Time," a track on this, his least ambitious record.

By: DAN WEISS | May 15, 2012

Best Coast | The Only Place

Mexican Summer (2012)
It was heartbreaking to see Bethany Cosentino's 2010 full-length debut, Crazy for You, questioned for lacking "overall intelligence."

By: DAN WEISS | May 08, 2012

Santigold | Master Of My Make-Believe

Downtown/Atlantic (2012)
Holding the torch for unbridled eclecticism when spontaneity was out of style, Santogold — Santi White's out-of-nowhere 2008 debut —was a very good album that nicked from Tegan and Sara, No Doubt, and reggae-rap, and risked typecasting her even as she defied type.

By: DAN WEISS | April 24, 2012

Screaming Females | Ugly

Don Giovanni (2012)
It's nice to know a woman as talented as singer-guitarist Marissa Paternoster was influenced by Our Band Could Be Your Life, despite Kim Gordon being the only woman in it.

By: DAN WEISS | April 17, 2012

Archers of Loaf | Vee Vee [Deluxe Remaster]

Merge
In all of indie rock there's no classic lyric more apt than Archers of Loaf's "Greatest of All Time": "The underground is overcrowded."

By: DAN WEISS | February 21, 2012

Cursive | I Am Gemini

Saddle Creek
Cursive blew their chance to get out of this town a long time ago when they let cellist Gretta Cohn go.

By: DAN WEISS | February 15, 2012

Die Antwoord | Ten$ion

Zef Recordz
Moreso than any "controversially-lipped" chanteuse (to borrow from one of Lana Del Rey's many observers), South African rap/rave/meme/satire/knuckleheads Die Antwoord beg the question:"Is that all there is?"

By: DAN WEISS | February 07, 2012

Have you heard of Lana Del Rey?

A promising new voice
Once in a while, an editor will ask you to review an album by someone you've never heard of — just as a favor.

By: DAN WEISS | February 01, 2012

Imperial Teen | Feel the Sound

Merge (2012)
Like its title, fifth album Feel the Sound is as generic as doubters have probably always assumed — they sound both relaxed and exhausted.

By: DAN WEISS | January 24, 2012

The Big Pink | Future This

4AD (2012)
The Big Pink's name is forgettable and their sound is too generic to describe. Sneering electronic dance-rock heavy on synths and slowed-down '90s rave beats? They might as well be the Klaxons.

By: DAN WEISS | January 10, 2012

Wussy | Strawberry

Shake It (2011)
Wussy's a brilliant Cincinnati four-piece for whom the local record shop turned into a label.

By: DAN WEISS | November 22, 2011

Emperor X | Western Teleport

Bar/None (2011)
Every so often a bright, nerdy, nasal-voiced and infallibly catchy male songwriter appears to less critical notice than he deserves for his remarkably concrete lyrics and thoughtful melodies.

By: DAN WEISS | November 02, 2011

Surfer Blood | Tarot Classics

Kanine (2011)
This is a literal holdover. A charming band of Floridians who realized their musical dream in a dorm room, they made the difficult push to Pitchfork ascendancy and won what they really wanted: a major label deal.

By: DAN WEISS | October 18, 2011

DJ Shadow | The Less You Know, The Better

Verve (2011)
Bias alert: 1996's Endtroducing . . . DJ Shadow is one of the most firmly enduring perpetual motion machines in all of musical history, defying genre ("What was trip-hop, dad?") and all preconceived notions regarding an hour filled with turntablism, spoken word, and Metallica samples.

By: DAN WEISS | October 05, 2011

Dum Dum Girls | Only In Dreams

Sub Pop (2011)
Kristin Gundred, a/k/a Dee Dee, is no actual dum dum, so she made good where Vivian Girls didn't.

By: DAN WEISS | September 27, 2011

Open Mike Eagle | Rappers Will Die of Natural Causes

Hellfyre Club (2011)
"Smart" rappers are out of vogue — but many of them aren't nearly as un-fun as is claimed by the hordes who flock to Waka Flocka Flame mixtapes.

By: DAN WEISS | August 30, 2011

Inside the experimental mind of Flying Lotus

Shifting Focus
"I have less time to make music than I wish I did," says Steven Ellison, "so when I work on stuff, I mean it, you know?" Ellison is Flying Lotus, a soft-spoken 27-year-old from Los Angeles with a pause in his speech, like he just figured out where another piece goes in his puzzle.

By: DAN WEISS | August 31, 2011