Archive for the 'Album Reviews' Category

Punkphoto’s Liquid Awesome Top Albums of 2008 Plus Live Photos & Videos To Prove It For Real!

Man, what a year. Fruits of our labor complete with original photo and video footage fresh from 2008 after the jump yo!

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10- Santogold / S/T (Downtown)

Shove It (Feat Diplo and Spank Rock):

Santo Gold, Spank Rock, and Diplo LIVE in Austin TX March 14th 2008 - Abbey Braden
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09- Hot Chip […]

Sun December 14th, 2008 by punkphoto
Posted in New Bands, Video, Album Reviews, Fave Bands, Best Of, New Releases | Comments Off | PermaLink

WE R Towtally ListeningZ TooOO Radiohea_d RAINYDAYZ reMIXEs by AMP_LIVE 2day lolz……

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FOR SEVERAL REASONS

1) It’s raining. Duh.

2) We’ve been waiting months for 1776, a NYC-based music and media solutions company ‘too busy destroying trends to follow them,’ to pop.

3) What better way to launch than with Amplive’s reworking of Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows.’ This humble Bay Area producer got bitchsmacked with a cease and desist from the label when his remixes started circulating… but the band heard his plea and the rest is history.

4) Weird Fishez fulfills any tronic kid’s wet dream of Thom Yorke gone scratch-happy. The result is sublime and far less creepy than that ole ‘Rabbit in Your Headlights’ track. Video Tapez, featuring Del the Funky Homosapien, is exquisite. Tracks are available, one by one, from Amplive’s MYSPACE and his iLike iCast.


Wed February 13th, 2008 by punkphoto
Posted in Album Reviews, DJs, Circle of Awesome, Upcoming Releases | Comments Off | PermaLink

:-: Album Review :: Goldfrapp :: Seventh Tree :: Upcoming Release 2-25-08 on Mute Records :-:

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Let us begin by saying that Electro goddess Alison Goldfrapp is everything that Madonna wishes she could be. Her ethereal appearance is the perfect foil to the surreal imagery and sounds she cultivates. Her last album with Will Gregory, ‘Supernature,’ produced solid gold consecutive hits that bewitched dancefloors across the universe, or at least the ones we were on. We shed a tear when her Dada-esque traveling circus of a tour came to a close, yet the bar was set high for the follow up so we understood when the duo retreated to work on the next endeavor.

The time has come for the release of Goldfrapp’s fourth studio album and it surprisingly reveals a lovely detour off the well tread road to Disco. ‘Seventh Tree‘ downshifts into shimmery pop ballads that take their sweet time to sink in- producing the audio equivalent of a bubble bath. It opens with ‘Clowns’ a lovingly bittersweet acoustic tale. The melody is mirrored halfway through the album with ‘Eat Yourself.’ In fact each song seems to hold hands with another. ‘Little Bird’ matches wits with ‘Monster Love’ and so on and so forth, blending the album into an audio mobius band. This IS NOT good when you want to write an album review. It IS good when you need a soundtrack to a dinner party.

The first single, ‘A and E’ is perhaps the most uplifting and anthemic of the bunch. It is also the safest, and I imagine the licensing execs at the CW are drooling as I write this. Anyway the single is, thankfully, also being released with remixes by labelmate Maps, Hercules & Love Affair and Gui Boratto. The Boratto rendition actually harkens back to classic Goldfrapp. Mental note to all involved: Why mess with a good thing?


The stunner, the absolute jewel, the track that I do not understand why Mute is not blasting from their rooftops and shining some sort of ‘G’ Bat symbol in the sky, is entitled ‘Cologne Cerrone Houdini.’ It perfectly meshes the classic Goldfrapp disco orchestrations with the newer laid back vocals. If it doesn’t get picked up as THE song for the next Bond film I will cry. It’s as if someone left ‘Nobody Does it Better’ ‘For Your Eyes Only’ ‘You Only Live Twice’ ‘An All Time High’ and the tragic ‘We Have All the Time in the World’ to melt in the sun, and the shellaced the whole thing making it utterly 2008.


In conclusion, here is what you need to know about Seventh Tree:

* Alison Goldfrapp has morped from sexually agressive dancefloor diva into a bombshell that sounds like she’s singing to herself while donning or doffing (your choice) lingerie within the confines of her boudoir.

* Cologne Cerrone Houdini just might be the sexiest song of 2008.

* You will be able to play the album whilst entertaining guests.

* Your neighbor will not complain if you blast it late at night.

* You will be able to play it for your mum.

Sun January 27th, 2008 by punkphoto
Posted in Upcoming Tours, Album Reviews, Fave Bands, Fave Labels, Upcoming Releases | Comments Off | PermaLink

Album Review : Buck Brothers : Me - US Release 10/8 - Yes They Did Break That World Record…..

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Buck Brothers Exclusive : One Day I’ll Say It M4a

Listen, so I know why someone sent us this cd to review. Aesthetically it has everything Punkphoto stands for stamped all over it. We have have, and always will, embrace the black and hot pink DIY undercurrent that continues to pulse through sweaty basement gigs around the world. So, stuck waiting for the subway one day, I broke my rule and actually read the press releases before giving the advance copy of Buck Brothers’ ‘Me’ a proper listen. It pre-emptively me sold on the album as the documents held a roller coaster ride of TMI that not only kept me highly entertained, but begging for more.

Did you know that the Buck Brothers are neither brothers, nor named Buck, yet in fact are named after Uncle Buck? Or perhaps you might find the fact that the 3 members met at a suburban Buddhist Disco in North London in 2005 of interest? Daniel Radcliffe- star of the infintiely popular Harry Potter movies- finds their cd ‘addictive’ and says so on his website (danielradcliffe.co.uk) too! Okay, I’m listening. Go on. Band member Pete Sellers, well, shares a name with an actor. An actor, in fact, which shares a birthday with band member Andy Duke! OH and they listen to Neil Young in a tour van. Not exactly mind blowing but points for sharing!

Perhaps the item I was most excited about, which had me texting Disconap as I sprinted up the stairs of the Astor Place Station, was the mention that they recently had several songs licensed by popular MTV Reality Show ‘My Super Sweet 16.’ Holy crap? Really! I braced myself for a heavy dose of awesome. The album held the promise of epic length song titles, sugary melodies backed by emoriffic power chords worthy of Stolen Transmission (because let’s face it, it’s MTV) and I couldn’t wait. Oh, yes, and guyliner. Lots and lots of guyliner. Bring. It. ON. (Click title to read rest of entry)

Sun October 7th, 2007 by punkphoto
Posted in New Bands, Album Reviews | 1 Comment | PermaLink

Album Review :: FANTASTIC PLAYROOM : NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB :: Ice Cream for Everyone Now

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Listen, it’s no secret that we here at Punkphoto and ‘Sup are stalker-grade NYPC fans. This long anticipated LP had me at hello, or actually the Get Go, which is thankfully featured on this sugary joyride after being absent on the EP. The Mercury nominated album kicks off with ‘Get Lucky’ where the opening chords smack you across the ass and you know you’re in for a treat. This is followed by the Calypso-tinged ‘Hiding on the Staircase’ which leads into the eponymous ‘Ice Cream’ - a track that remains fresh even though we’ve been obsessed with it since 2005. That in itself is proof that New Young Pony Club transcends any sort of day-glo flash in the pan branding. I’ll let the other critics drop the gratuitous Blondie and Tom-Tom Club references. Far from a retro dance hall tribute, songs like ‘Grey’ and ‘Tight Fit’ bring NYPC in their own by music to dance to like no one is watching. I guarentee ‘the Bomb’ merits absurd amounts of airtime to drive your neighbors further up the wall and with the trancey ‘Descend’ as the final track, Fantastic Playroom is tied up with a hot pink bow and ready for another spin. Hmmmmm, how to put a rating on this…. let’s just say if this were actually a person you met at a party, you’d totally make out with it. Definitely snog-worthy. FP is out now on Modular (where else)!

New Young Pony Club : Ice Cream mp3


Tue September 4th, 2007 by punkphoto
Posted in Video, Album Reviews, Fave Bands, Circle of Awesome, MP3s | Comments | PermaLink

Wow! Sound of Silver Makes More Than a Splash w/ Critics- Stream the New LCD Album

Thanks to the Spinner Crew for streaming LCD Soundsystem ‘Sound of Silver’ in full *here* No real need to try before you buy though- check out the unabashed DFA luvin’ below, along with the new European tour dates (cosmo does reviews?) :

Wed March 21st, 2007 by punkphoto
Posted in Upcoming Tours, Album Reviews, Fave Bands | Comments | PermaLink