From the category archives:
The Fiery Furnaces
I’m Going Away
Thrill Jockey
out July 21st
[82]
[Rating Scale]
I’m going to level with you here: I haven’t heard much by The Fiery Furnaces. To be precise, I’ve listened to their fifth album, Bitter Tea, once or twice, and that was enough. If you’re like me – someone who appreciates a solid tune that has [...]
{ 3 comments }
The Gossip
Music For Men
Columbia
out October 6th
[77]
[Rating Scale]
It seems to me there are a few mandatory things that are always mentioned in a Gossip review, so let’s get them out of the way: the inescapable monster hit looming over the band that is ‘Standing in the way of control,’ and their equally dominating leader, Beth [...]
{ 10 comments }
Today marks the beginning of the second half of 2009. We’ve had a marvelous 6 months full of great music and it’s time to update my list of the Absolute Best Songs of 2009. Well, it’s not really fair to call this an update really — I completely tossed out the old list and started [...]
{ 48 comments }
Major Lazer
Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do
Downtown Records
out June 16th
[76]
[Rating Scale]
The opening notes of Major Lazer’s debut album evoke an old Western movie, counterparts riding toward each other, gritty and determined looks on their faces, horse hooves scraping the dusty ground, tumbleweeds blowing across the barren landscape. The next 41 minutes and 50 seconds throw [...]
{ 7 comments }
Miike Snow are six on stage, and they all wear matching shiny black track jackets. One, obstructed by stacked trunks bearing equipment, wears a cowboy hat. Their music is complex and dancy, all synth and keyboard and a thousand unnameable gadgets, a little guitar and drums that sound like a machine. Everything is arranged in [...]
{ 0 comments }
Kasabian
The West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
RCA
out June 5th
[76]
[Rating Scale]
Right off the bat: my favorite part about The West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum (other than it being named after a mental institution) is the eclectic mix of sounds that make the album, while maintaining a consistent overall feel. As I write this I groan at [...]
{ 8 comments }
Mos Def
The Ecstatic
Downtown Records
out June 9th
[77]
[Rating Scale]
The opening of Mos Def’s latest album, The Ecstatic, could hardly be more timely. His propensity for Arabic prayers and activist quotes seems particularly apropos given the fact that the album was released just three days before the Iranian election that has sparked protest and uprising. The opening [...]
{ 11 comments }
Regina Spektor
Far
Sire
out June 23rd
[77]
[Rating Scale]
After you listen to this album, you will arrive at 1 of the 2 following conclusions:
1. this album really good
2. this album is really really good
You can keep adding “really”s if you want because not only is this album superb on its first pass, but it also does the amazing [...]
{ 18 comments }
Wilco
Wilco (The Album)
Nonesuch
out June 30th
[75]
[Rating Scale]
It’s easy to give an album a 75/100. It is. People that love the album are okay with it, because your glass is ¾ full. People that hated the record are okay with it because you haven’t been overtly generous. People get worked up over extremes, and 75 is [...]
{ 9 comments }
Little Boots
Hands
Warner Bros.
UK Release: June 8th
[74]
[Rating Scale]
Anticipation can be a terrible thing.
After the BBC, various ‘zines, and blogs proclaimed rising space-pop starlet Little Boots as The One To Watch for 2009 way back in December (guilty as charged!), the hype cloud hovering over poor Boots was muddying up her debut with impossible expectations long [...]
{ 22 comments }
