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CD Reviews

Lenka | Lenka

Epic (2008)
A few months ago this pint-sized diva from Down Under posted a cutesy rendition of Modest Mouse’s “Gravity Rides Everything” to her MySpace page.

By: MIKAEL WOOD | October 01, 2008

Termanology | Politics As Usual

Nature Sounds (2008)
This one should be considered a “How To” manual for regional rap stars who are poised to detonate worldwide.

By: CHRIS FARAONE | October 01, 2008

Peter Bjorn and John | Seaside Rock

Almost Gold/Star Time | 2008
It’s really pointless. And somewhat nice.

By: SAM UBL | October 01, 2008

Jem | Down to Earth

ATO (2008)
The songs broadcast their emotional content — anxiety, melancholy, resilience — with a straightforwardness you rarely hear outside children’s music.

By: MIKAEL WOOD | September 23, 2008

Ben Folds | Way To Normal

Epic (2008)
His attitude may remain young at heart, but his irony’s over the hill.

By: ZETH LUNDY | September 23, 2008

Ani DiFranco | Red Letter Year

Righteous Babe (2008)
This is DiFranco’s most sophisticated album, a musical convergence of her best qualities: warm singing, graceful writing, experimentation.

By: TED DROZDOWSKI | September 23, 2008

Dungen | 4

Kemado (2008)
The playing is looser and rougher than you might expect, with tons of drum fills that teeter on the verge of sloppy, but this adds to Dungen’s trademark unpredictability.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 23, 2008

Horse Feathers | House With No Home

Kill Rock Stars (2008)
It’s not a sad album, but it is mournful, in the hushed and satisfying way that Sunday afternoons in November can be.

By: NINA MACLAUGHLIN | September 23, 2008

Koushik | Out My Window

Stones Throw (2008)
Although unshy about his background, he’s a subtle arranger, reluctant to play the Bollywood card (there’s not even a teaspoon of Asha).

By: GUSTAVO TURNER | September 23, 2008

Annie

Don’t Stop | Island
Annie is adept at balancing bratty tweener kiss-off ’tude with dance-friendly bliss — meaning that someone over 16 can listen to her music without wincing.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | September 16, 2008

Julie Fowlis

Cuilidh | Spit + Polish
The back-up is fine, but it’s Fowlis’s soughing voice, all wind and water and machair and peewit, that’s Cuilidh ’s treasure.

By: JEFFREY GANTZ | September 16, 2008

Lalo Schifrin

Mannix | Collectors’ Choice
The “rare beat” crowd has been clamoring for a re-release of this source of funky samples.

By: GUSTAVO TURNER | September 16, 2008

TV on the Radio | Dear Science,

Interscope
TVOTR have maintained their special vision while drawing in new ideas and expanding their sound.

By: MICHAEL PATRICK BRADY | September 16, 2008

Lindsey Buckingham | Gift of Screws

Reprise
The great thing about Buckingham is that even his experiments are catchy, and this ensures that Screws doesn’t buckle under the weight of his pop-savant ambition.

By: MIKAEL WOOD | September 16, 2008

Patricia Barber | The Cole Porter Mix

Blue Note
On this Porter “mix,” pianist/singer/songwriter Barber pulls back just a bit from the audacious ambition of 2006’s Mythologies (based on Ovid, no less).

By: JON GARELICK | September 16, 2008

Tanya Tagaq

Auk/Blood | Ipecac
Though rough and inarticulate, the visceral, glottal sounds that Tagaq generates impart meaning and emotion.

By: MICHAEL PATRICK BRADY | September 10, 2008

Young Jeezy | The Recession

Def Jam
Remember, Jeezy disdains rappers, just like the teen movie anti-hero who decries the phoniness of movie stars.

By: SAM UBL | September 10, 2008

Growing | All the Way

Social Registry
You get the sense that Growing have been looking more and more toward the other side of the drone spectrum — that of the tiny computer.

By: DEVIN KING | September 10, 2008