July 3rd, 2025
A Fresh Re-mastering of Elliott Smith’s ‘Figure 8’ Rights the Ship After a Lackluster ‘XO’ THIS RE-MASTER OF ‘FIGURE 8’ OPENS UP NEW VISTAS IN THE MUSIC — UNLIKE THE LAST EDITION OF ITS PREDECESSOR, ‘XO’By: Morgan Enos
To peer through the lens of one of Elliott Smith’s key influences for a moment: everyone knows when an artist has made their Rubber Soul, White Album, or Let It Be. Rubber Souls are transitional — exotic, quixotic dispatches from early creative growth spurts. White Albums are post-genre, post-everything info dumps — essentially kits that dare you to build your own record. As for a band’s eventual demise, Let It Bes show the writing on the wall. And then there’s Sgt.... Read More
June 3rd, 2025
On “Till The Morning” Brian D’Addario Takes a Load Off the eldest lemon twig's debut solo albumBy: Dylan Peggin
When discussing music some Boomers are quick to pull the “music was better in the 1960s” card. It’s a clichéd and cringy statement, but the decade’s musical impact is undeniable. It’s astounding to imagine an audience that welcomed boundary-pushing innovations by artists that dominated the decade, though what they really did was draw from influences that date back centuries. The fact that those bodies of work transcend decades and generations to touch both new artists... Read More
August 24th, 2024
A Double LP Of "XO" Does A Tremendous Disservice To Elliott Smith limited to 4000 numbered copies—part of Interscope Vinyl Collective subscription seriesBy: Morgan Enos
Elliott Smith’s 1998 major label debut, XO, isn’t as vibey as its predecessor, 1997’s Either/Or. Nor is it as laser-focused as its follow-up, 2000’s Figure 8 — the Sgt. Pepper... to XO’s Revolver.Still, XO is special. It captured a crucial creative flowering for the late Smith, where an artist known for lo-fi hyper-intimacy strolled into a succession of L.A. studios with a head full of new sounds, and the confidence to let them loose. And a large handful of its songs... Read More
May 23rd, 2024
The Lemon Twigs’ “A Dream Is All We Know” Is A Dream For The Ears New York’s power pop duo goes baroque on their new albumBy: Dylan Peggin
One would think The Lemon Twigs were captured in a time capsule from the ‘60s and brought into the 21st century. Consisting of brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario, the duo craft retro-sounding rock with influences derivative of baroque, indie, glam, and power pop. It is ludicrous for any modern artist with an obvious trace of influence from decades past to be dubbed as “passé.” The Lemon Twigs manage to take every cliche of the genres they explore into one giant... Read More