Album Review: Frank Ocean, Channel Orange

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To build the great Giza Pyramid it took the Egyptians 20 years. 20 years of intensive, backbreaking labor. There were obstacles that stood in the way such as: sand storms, architectural limitations, warfare and a basic misunderstanding of what the pharaohs were trying to accomplish. Despite those obstacles the pyramid was finished and has stood

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Album Review: The Temper Trap

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There’s something about The Temper Trap’s Dougy Mandagi’s voice that’s enchanting. The cooed falsetto and Jeff Buckley-esque vocals that made the band’s single “Sweet Disposition” from their 2009 debut album, Conditions, a massive international hit. But Mandagi’s distinctive voice alone is not enough. In the case of The Temper Trap, it takes five to make

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Artist of the Week: Black Mountain

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For the past years, Canadian rockers Black Mountain have made a name for themselves with their dark brand of psychedelic rock. Since forming in 2004, the Vancouver-natives have released three full-lengths, and yesterday, they released the soundtrack to the film Year Zero, relesed via Jagjaguwar Records. Building from the terrific Wilderness Heart, the Stephen McBean-led

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BNBTV Spotlight: Applespacebar, “Simplify”

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BestNewBands.com With so much synth and experimental action gracing the alternative music scene recently, I relax a little to listen to a classic guitar-driven alternative rock band such as the oh-so-ironically-titled Applespacebar.  With sounds reminiscent of Jimmy Eat World and vocals echoing Brandon Boyd (of Incubus), this band enters the race as a good-old-fashioned-down-to-earth-rock-your-face-off-alt-rock-band–and, frankly,

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