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CD Reviews

Vast Aire | OX 2010: A Street Odyssey

Man Bites Dog (2011)
Although it's an imperfect effort in some regards, the somewhat conceptual OX 2010: A Street Odyssey testifies to Vast's highly developed steez, and does so with complements from MCs who effortlessly jibe with his arcane rhyme selections.

By: CHRIS FARAONE | June 29, 2011

Tara Jane O'Neil and Nikaido Kazumi | Tara Jane O'Neil and Nikaido Kazumi

K (2011)
From whispered coos to plinked strings to fuzzed dissonance to thumping drums, the 13 tracks trickle along, offering a haphazard feel while simultaneously wooing with irrefutable design integrity.

By: JIM MACNIE | June 29, 2011

The Coathangers | Larceny & Old Lace

Suicide Squeeze (2011)
The Coathangers' abrasiveness goes beyond their band name's graphic, backroom abortion reference: riot-grrrl shrieks, slap-in-the-face lyrics, and badass post-punk energy are all up front on their records.

By: LIZ PELLY | June 22, 2011

Atari Teenage Riot | Is This Hyperreal?

Dim Mak (2011)
Returning after 11 years of officially not existing, what's left of ATR could've focused their energies on kicking lots of ass. Instead, they indulge spoken-wordy, freshman-year non-profundities...

By: BARRY THOMPSON | June 22, 2011

Bon Iver | Bon Iver

Jagjaguwar (2011)
The deliberation and complexity of this record announces how ludicrously full of ideas Vernon is.

By: DEVON MALONEY | June 22, 2011

Junior Boys | It's All True

Domino (2011)
With its disco-bass pulse, jet-engine synths, and seductive half-time chorus, "Itchy Fingers" kicks things off by demonstrating the Boys' finesse for tricked-out, ass-shaking programmed grooves.

By: RYAN REED | June 22, 2011

Let's Wrestle | Nursing Home

Merge (2011)
Let's Wrestle are another pack of young British guitar owners, and although they haven't crafted much of an identity outside of being amiable wiseasses, that's all you need if your songs are catchy enough.

By: GARRETT MARTIN | June 22, 2011

'Past Life Martyred Saints' album from EMA

EMA | Past Life Martyred Saints

Souterrain Transmissions (2011)
This hasn't been a bad year for music, but there haven't been a lot of songs that hit in such a way that there's a physical need to hear them again — immediately. But Past Life Martyred Saints, the solo debut from former Gowns frontlady Erika M. Andersen, conveniently shortened to EMA and pronounced in acronym-form, does have such a song.

By: RYAN STEWART | June 09, 2011

Givers | In Light

Glassnote (2011)
When Givers self-released their first EP two years ago, it was easy to pigeonhole the Lafayette, Louisiana, quintet as just another baby buzz band, a dime-a-dozen blog filler.

By: DEVON MALONEY | June 09, 2011

Jessica 6 | See the Light

Peacefrog (2011)
There is an odd paradox in the modern Western way of appreciating music-as-art: musical pieces that get enshrined on top of the pillar of "art" tend to be those with little-to-no practical utility. Thus, no genre is treated quite as disposably as dance music, even though much of society's fringe movers reside there.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | June 09, 2011

Shabazz Palaces | Black Up

Sub Pop (2011)
The musical reincarnation of Ishmael Butler, the elusive Seattle rapper who makes up one-third of the semi-popular '90s jazz-rap act Digable Planets under the name Butterfly, is a lot to unpack.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | June 09, 2011

'Revelator' the new album by Tedeschi Trucks Band

Tedeschi Trucks Band | Revelator

Sony Masterworks (2011)
If you like your summer soundtrack replete with the familial, genre-stir-fried Good Life incarnate, then this CD is right in your friggin' wheelhouse.

By: ZETH LUNDY | June 09, 2011

Woods | Sun & Shade

Woodsist (2011)
As with previous Woods records the instantly entrancing element is Earl's Neil Young–inspired falsetto, wrapped in swirls of gauzy tape hiss.

By: LIZ PELLY | June 09, 2011

Battles | Gloss Drop

Warp (2011)
In an twist of musical irony, the New York nutsos in Battles lose their most prominent member — vocalist/guitarist/sound manipulator Tyondai Braxton — and end up sounding more like an actual band.

By: RYAN REED | June 07, 2011

Cat's Eyes | Cat's Eyes

Polydor (2011)
It is a generally agreed upon truth that the best pop music occupies the small Venn-diagram overlap between the sacred and the profane, the itty bitty piece of real estate where our secret subconscious gets confused between which feelings belong to the Lord and those that reside Below.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | June 07, 2011

Cults | Cults

In The Name Of/Columbia (2011)
Don't let the ominous band name or Brooklyn-hipster über cool of boy-girl duo Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion fool you. Beneath the surface, they're just a couple of crazy kids in love — with each other and with the saccharine sounds of the Brill Building '60s.

By: JEREMY ADAMS | June 07, 2011