NASCENT

Archive for the ‘local licks’ Category

There’s a reason NASCENT has all but dropped dead: I’ve been mad busy covering local music in various capactities for the East Bay Express. One of these is a weekly column called Local Licks, in which I write capsule reviews (one to three sentences) of five local albums each week. It’s a lot of fun for me, and a big benefit to the reader (I hope). So in order to pass that benefit along to NASCENT readers and maintain this otherwise ailing blog, I will begin re-posting my Local Licks reviews here each week. A new index of links will also be started in the far right column that allows you to jump to any week’s set of reviews. Enjoy, and keep listenin’.

Rogue Wave, Mavrik, Talking Wood, the Drift, and the Action Design

Reviews originally published in the East Bay Express on 9/26/07.

Rogue Wave Asleep at Heaven’s Gate (Brushfire Records). The indie-pop pride of Oakland, which recently left Sub Pop for Jack Johnson’s small and surf-friendly Brushfire Records, issues an excellent, dramatic third album about the mysterious joys of hardship.

Mavrik About Face (Skoman Productions). A local microcosm of the major-label rap release: guest appearances (Mistah F.A.B., Jennifer Johns, Gift of Gab), high production values, spoken word interludes, and interwoven elements from the urban spectrum (turntablism, R&B, funk). A paint-by-numbers success. Read the rest of this entry »