Author: mike

Lunchbox at Big Takeover

If you find this Lunchbox in your knapsack, I guarantee there won’t be any leftovers to bring home to mom. The mostly Donna McKean fronted Oakland outfit splashes a dense, buzzing cornucopia of jangly guitars (not to mention other accouterments, including the flute) against a bubblegum flavored canvas. If an unremitting cavalcade of in the… Continue reading Lunchbox at Big Takeover

Crayon at Big Takeover

I never surmised that someone would remember Brick Factory 20 years after the fact, let alone epitomize it with a vinyl reissue. Crayon It’s nearly impossible to walk away from this one without an impression having been etched of some variety, thanks to Sea Tollefson’s tone-deaf yet endearing whine. Indeed, this dude’s uber-nerdy vocal aplomb… Continue reading Crayon at Big Takeover

Primitives at Big Takeover

Let’s hear it for not reinventing the wheel. Back with their first album in nearly 25 years (not counting 2012’s low key all covers Echoes & Rhymes), Spin-O-Rama finds the Coventry quartet sticking to what they knew/know best: simple, buzzy little pop songs (think a jangly C86 take on pre-fame Blondie) that get in, make… Continue reading Primitives at Big Takeover

Throwing Muses at Big Takeover

P/P arrived in 2013 as a book containing lyrics, artwork, and downloads, but here it is a 32 song double LP, vinyl manifesto. After 2003, Kristin Hersh released her solo albums and some 50 Foot Wave material, but it took a decade to get this fractured and sprawling Throwing Muses epic into shape. There’s a… Continue reading Throwing Muses at Big Takeover

Marshmallow Coast at Flagpole

Though it was associated with Athens’ Elephant 6 collective, songwriter Andy Gonzales’ Marshmallow Coast (alternately known as M Coast) never achieved the same widespread recognition as some of its contemporaries, perhaps due to the group’s high level of turnover, or its frontman’s unwillingness to pigeonhole the project. Indeed, Gonzales has never sat still long enough… Continue reading Marshmallow Coast at Flagpole

Marshmallow Coast at Pittsburgh in Tune

As an avowed fan of the Elephant 6 Recording Co., a collective of indie pop musicians that spawned the likes of The Apples in Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel, Elf Power and Of Montreal, it should come as no surprise that I dig the music of Marshmallow Coast (aka singer/songwriter Andy Gonzales). The sublime “Vangelis Rides… Continue reading Marshmallow Coast at Pittsburgh in Tune

Marshmallow Coast at This Is Book’s Music

Marshmallow Coast has been making music for 20 years and have been releasing albums on the Happy Happy Birthday To Me label for awhile. They have a new one in 2015 and this one is humble and promising, and it’s calledVangelis Rides Again. If you love the brand of pop Andy Gonzales continues to perfect… Continue reading Marshmallow Coast at This Is Book’s Music