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CD Reviews

Nico Muhly

Mothertongue | Brassland
Nico Muhly is too young to realize that classical music is meant to be a gated community.

By: MICHAEL PATRICK BRADY | July 22, 2008

The Greatest Story Ever Told | Motown
It would be a stronger statement if it weren’t for the conflicting cornerstones of conscientious-rapper soapboxing and standard-issue gangsta themes he’s laid at its foundation.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | July 22, 2008

The Individuals

Fields/Aquamarine | Bar/None
It won't rock the worlds of less-than-obsessive fans of American post-punk, but it’s something we need more of: enterprising indie rock sprung from minds that are smart enough to keep it simple.

By: SAM UBL | July 15, 2008

John Mellencamp | Life Death Love and Freedom

Hear Music
The arrangements are sparse compared with those of Mellencamp’s pop hits — many don’t even allow drums — but they’re rich with textural detail.

By: MIKAEL WOOD | July 15, 2008

Sic Alps

U.S. Ez | Siltbreeze
U.S. Ez , emboldened by all sorts of sloppiness, works in the way of Lomax’s porch recordings, forcing rock and roll back into a folk tradition.

By: DEVIN KING | July 15, 2008

Nurse with Wound

Nurse With Wound | The Bacteria Magnet
This is cinematic pastiche at its best, similar to Barry Adamson’s phantasmal scores but with the dada knob tweaked way to the right.

By: GUSTAVO TURNER | July 15, 2008

Beck

Modern Guilt | DGC
It’s music for summer nights of muggy confusion and post-sunset soul searching, and when Beck takes the mic, he rocks some straight-up Shiva shit.

By: ZETH LUNDY | July 15, 2008

Paper Thin Stages

Magic Jar of Jar of Animal | Self-released
For their new album the band wrangle originally non-discrete material into 11 song-like morsels.

By: DEVIN KING | July 08, 2008

The Baseball Project

Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails | Yep Roc
The smart, funny, fanclub chants herein, each as catchy as Willie Mays in the ’54 Fall Classic, are gemlike tributes to the characters who’ve made that diamond shine.

By: MIKE MILIARD | July 08, 2008

New Guitar Summit: Jay Geils, Duke Robillard, Gerry Beaudoin

Shivers | Stony Plain
This cool, sleek soundtrack for a night of cocktails, sophisticated banter, and, hell, maybe even nookie brings the elegance of ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s jazz blues crisply into the present.

By: TED DROZDOWSKI | July 08, 2008

Ratatat | LP3

XL
It's some kind of cosmic machine music, reflecting not just a stoner’s world of internalized minimalist headbanging but an entire universe of culture, texture, and possibility.

By: ZETH LUNDY | July 08, 2008

Liz Phair

Exile In Guyville – 15th Anniversary Reissue | ATO
Phair's sexual candor remains more refreshing than her petulant studio-buffed paeans to milkshakes, stolen boyfriends, self-inflicted starvation, and spray tans.

By: MEGAN V. BELL | July 08, 2008

Hercules and Love Affair

Hercules and Love Affair | Mute/DFA
If anything, the rotating cast of vocalists and the Saturday-night spirit of the instrumentation are together more welcoming than anything the DFA has dropped in years.

By: MICHAEL BRODEUR | July 08, 2008

All You Need is Love

Voiceprint
Never less than fascinating and informative, although the narration tends toward the droll (it’s British, remember).

By: JEFF TAMARKIN | July 01, 2008

Chromeo

Fancy Footwork | Vice
It’s no surprise that their sweet sophomore-sleeper-turned-instant-classic is being reissued with extras.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | July 01, 2008

Herbie Hancock, et al.

Hear O Israel, A Prayer Ceremony In Jazz | Jonny
English master of obscure reissues Jonny Trunk strikes again.

By: GUSTAVO TURNER | July 01, 2008

Eric Hofbauer and the Infared Band

Myth Understanding | Creative Nation Music
What’s likely to hit you first is Hofbauer’s flair for bluesy, riffing AABA melodies.

By: JON GARELICK | July 01, 2008

Mark Lind and the Unloved

The Truth Can Be Brutal | Sailor’s Grave
It may all be very familiar, but it’s reassuring and refreshing to know that some people never change.

By: DAVID BOFFA | July 01, 2008

Sigur Rós

Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust| EMI
Here, as on 2005’s Takk, Sigur Rós have chosen to distill their rapture epics into shorter, more accessible bursts of swelling beauty.

By: SHARON STEEL | July 01, 2008

Wolf Parade

At Mount Zoomer | Sub Pop
At Mount Zoomer will give you those same goosebumps you felt when you heard the band’s debut.

By: BEN WESTHOFF | June 24, 2008

Shearwater

Rook | Matador
To fans of the Austin band, this is all par for the beautiful but eerie course.

By: ZETH LUNDY | June 24, 2008

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