Felt like writing a longer analysis. :)

I love a lot of things about this. First off, there’s the confident, well-executed typographic logo - typefaces like this one aren’t usually my thing (too slick and impersonal); but the texture really brings a different personality to it. I also appreciate that while the ascenders (d, k) and descenders (q) line up with the letters above and below, there’s still a small space left between them.

The white arrow is great, too - it occupies the space well, and between that and the logo I get the pleasant feeling of looking through a clear glass window. The heavily hued (but not monotone) header photo is beautiful, and while detailed it manages to avoid being distracting.

The soft dove gray background pattern is really lovely, and the big chunky blocks of content along the right-hand column were a smart choice. The combination of large size and attractive pieces makes it feel more like an artistic addition than adspace to ignore.

I’m not thrilled by the use of black in the design, though, especially in such large quantities. If the photo in the header had more black in it then this wouldn’t be an issue, but even at its darkest points there’s really no true deep black. So as pretty as the header is… your eyes are compelled to immediately slide right off it, drawn to the giant black boxes to the right.

While there could be some benefit to directing attention that way, the design feels off-balance because the hierarchy isn’t completely solid. (I think that the site description and social networking/feed links would get plenty of attention just by being the size they are - they don’t need to feature the most dominating color on the page too!)

Swapping the black out for almost any of the colors in the header photo would be a huge improvement! You’d be surprised by how even a slight change to a very dark almost-black-blue would be distinct. (I’d like to see it tried out in a lighter color as well, though. Maybe something like the peachy tan on the building faces?) I think this would also increase the already-present classy vibe - expertly done or no, grungy black is going to bring to mind some teenage angst associations.

Since we’re talking about colors - if the black design elements got changed out, the black body copy should follow. Of course they’d need to be a very dark color for ease of reading, but again; an almost-black color from the header image would be much more harmonious. I might also use a different, slightly lighter color for the article titles and/or bolded download link, but that’s my personal preference.

I’m also a little ambivalent about the stark white and completely rectangular box, especially within a design that has so much subtlety and texture present. I think that solid, pure white probably is the best color to provide contrast - to keep a good thing from going too far and becoming visually muddy; but the borders of the shape are just too sharp and unnatural in this setting. Maybe the fix would be to apply a little bit of the grunge effect to just the very edges and/or corners?

These guys also post a lot of really incredible music, by the way. (Mondo Boys!)