Album Reviews

A.R. Kane
Complete Singles Collection
(One Little Indian)
★★★★★
A.R. Kane's '80s output was a foundational document of the dreampop movement, albeit a document that was occasionally hard to parse. Mixing up dub, post-punk, and lethargic swoon, the duo's albums were daring, if sometimes a bit inscrutable and dense. Their singles, on the other hand, were readily-accessible slashes of brilliance, from the heavy-lidded sharpness of "Lollita" and "Sadomasochism Is A Must" (songs which were simultaneously the definition and the antithesis of "the 4AD sound") to the wubbly warmth of "Green Hazed Daze" and "A Love From Outer Space." They're all included on this essential (and remastered) 33-track set.
– Jason Ferguson

Sera Cahoone
Deer Creek Canyon
(Sub Pop Records)
★★★★
Despite being an alum of star-launching Seattle indie band Carissa's Wierd, a Sub Pop recording artist and a crafter of just plain arresting music, Cahoone remains largely unheralded. Three albums in, she continues to deepen with a round of richer arrangements and notably stronger songs. Although immaculately calibrated and undeniably indie, her quiet perspective - contoured by long, lovely sinews of pedal steel - is legitimately country and folk. And this is an often-perfect album with all the taming grace and hushed radiance of a cool mountain morning.
– Bao Le-Huu

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