The Tribune

killbeatmusic.com It only takes two minutes talking to Jennifer Castle to feel completely mellow. The light, pure tone of her singing voice matches the soft, relaxed tone of her conversation, and clues you into her laid back, organic approach to music. Evident in her newest album, Castlemusic, Castle’s take on[Read More…]

That Iced Earth’s newest album Dystopia is nearly identical to its predecessors does not necessarily condemn it to mediocrity. The band’s leader (and sole fixture), rhythm guitarist Jon Schaffer, has been cutting songs from the same cloth for a long time, but has managed to produce a number of very[Read More…]

M83’s Anthony Gonzalez has openly admitted his obsession with 1980’s synth-pop. If he were a new wave fanboy, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming would be his loving tribute. And although it’s labeled as a two-disc set, the album clocks in at a relatively short 73 minutes and plays nicely in one[Read More…]

Sam Reynolds Sam Reynolds Montreal’s Suuns (pronounced “soons”) made a hometown stop on their tour last Thursday night at Il Motore. Playing to a packed venue, the band pummelled its way through a dark, intense, and above all impressive set of dancey, minimalist, electro-tinged post-punk. Extensive touring has turned the[Read More…]

 When reading recreationally, I want a book that’s easy on the mind, yet emotionally gripping. It’s rare that my eyes will drift to the dry, unemotional stuff. That’s why I was surprised to find myself drawn to the work of one of the greatest hardboiled detective writers of all time:[Read More…]

Britain’s quintessential indie hipsters, The Kooks, are back with their third album Junk of the Heart after a three-year hiatus. Known for their rousing choruses and tongue-in-cheek lyrics, The Kooks are all about strings, fedoras, and black and white videos. This album attempts to change that, and the result is[Read More…]

When a film title references the assassination of Caesar, viewers can’t expect lollipops and unicorns. The Ides of March, directed by George Clooney, is a film that strangles hope with its bare hands, throws it in the trunk, then dumps the body in the wilderness of political cynicism. Not to[Read More…]

It was “1234” that made Leslie Feist a household name, but it took her an awfully long time to get to that last number in terms of albums, and Metals marks her return after a five-year hiatus. At first listen, the disc sounds suspiciously similar to a number of other[Read More…]

Grammy Award-winning group Lady Antebellum is back with their third studio album, Own the Night. The band has taken the country music industry by storm since their formation in 2006, and their sophomore album Need You Now proved they were more than capable of successfully crossing over into pop music.[Read More…]

  Praise has been showered upon J. Cole, the youngest and most promising signee to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation record label, for exceptional lyrical skills that have drawn comparisons to rap legend Nas. As a debut, The Sideline Story seeks to tell the tale of how J. Cole, who grew up[Read More…]