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CARRIE BATTAN

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Ellis's endgame

Less than Less Than Zero
A quarter-century after the debut of Less Than Zero , in what amounts to a self-referential epilogue, Ellis's spoiled children have grown into spoiled adults, and the magnets in their moral compasses rest askew.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | July 27, 2010

Best Coast | Crazy For You

Mexican Summer (2010)
The simplicity that Best Coast have cultivated on a handful of '60s-inspired, surfside fuzz-pop EPs and singles over the past year or so has created an easy opening for the band to deliver on the blog cred they've racked up in the same time frame.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | July 20, 2010

Light Pollution | Apparitions

Carpark (2010)
Light Pollution unabashedly endorse marijuana use: “How many glass pipes can you find in this picture?” the band ask under a press photo posted on their MySpace.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | June 24, 2010

Suckers | Wild Smile

Frenchkiss (2010)
Dissenting from the almighty forces of fuzz-pop and the subgenres that have defined its counterparts for the past year or so, the Brooklyn-based Suckers' debut full-length is both frustratingly and pleasantly difficult to place in today's indie-rock landscape.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | June 16, 2010

Ratatat | LP4

XL (2010)
LP4 sounds a whole lot like the Ratatat of yesteryear, but with global embellishments, non-sequitur vocal interludes, and sprawling hooks.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | June 04, 2010

Beach Fossils | Beach Fossils

Captured Tracks (2010)
There are currently no functioning synonyms (ask Thesaurus) for the term “lo-fi,” so I’ll spare us all the agony of trying to find a more nuanced way to pigeonhole this band.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | May 19, 2010

Phosphorescent | Here’s To Taking It Easy

Dead Oceans (2010)
What was once an aching, drowsy fireside croon fest (2007’s Pride ) has taken a blatant leap into hoedown territory on singer/guitarist Matthew Houck’s latest effort.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | May 11, 2010

Flying Lotus | Cosmogramma

Warp (2010)
Only an experimental laptop artist whose music exists primarily for pensive white weedheads would purport his new album to be “basically the studies that map out the universe and the relations of heaven and hell.”

By: CARRIE BATTAN | May 03, 2010

Javelin | No Más

Luaka Bop (2010)
No offense to 2009 or anything, but there’s something really refreshing about a Brooklyn-based, MySpace-made indie band’s releasing an album devoid of blatant art-rock agendas and half-assed attempts at cohesion.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | April 14, 2010

Dum Dum Girls | I Will Be

Sub Pop (2010)
Kristin Gundred serves up a slightly softer version of the concise, lo-fi throwback bliss that the White Stripes perfected with “Fell in Love With a Girl” in 2002.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | March 30, 2010

Jónsi | Go

XL (2010)
To the Sigur Rós fans still weeping over the band’s decision to scrap their latest full-length and take an indefinite paternity leave: dry your tears with Jónsi’s uplifting solo debut.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | March 23, 2010

jj | jj N° 3

Secretly Canadian (2010)
Secretly Canadian's new acquisitions (and future touring partners of the xx) continue to harness dualities that leave them smack dab between savvy-kitschy and kitschy-kitschy.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | February 23, 2010

These two bearded dudes walk into a bar

Battle of the beards in Somerville
Ever wonder what the world would be like if growing facial hair were a professional sport?

By: CARRIE BATTAN | February 19, 2010

Xiu Xiu | Dear God, I Hate Myself

Kill Rock Stars (2010)
The reigning King of Discomfort, Jamie Stewart, and his new bandmate, Angela Seo (who took Cold Caveward–bound Caralee McElroy's place last year), recently released a video for this album's title track in which Seo forces herself to puke in front of the camera.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | February 16, 2010

Local Natives | Gorilla Manor

Frenchkiss (2010)
Afropoppy, orchestral and baroque, driven by catchy three-part harmonies, Fleet Foxes/Andrew Bird–inspired, yadda-yadda-yadda.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | February 09, 2010

Review: Patti Smith's Just Kids

The small prophecies of Patti Smith
How do you get to be the Godmother of Punk? Pure dumb luck, for starters.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | February 08, 2010

Review: Melt-Banana at Middle East Downstairs

Melt-Banana, live at Middle East Downstairs, November 24, 2009
For the unfamiliar, trying to figure out what's going on at a Melt-Banana live show is sort of like trying to transcribe the gibberish conversations of your characters in The Sims. It's really confusing and unproductive.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | December 01, 2009

Review: Suzanne Vega at Sanders Theatre

Suzanne Vega, live at Harvard's Sanders Theatre, November 6, 2009
At the request of former Czech President Vaclav Havel, folk/alt-rock legend Suzanne Vega performed in Prague on Saturday with the likes of Lou Reed and Joan Baez to honor the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | November 17, 2009

Review: Mirah at Somerville Theatre

At the Somerville Theatre, October 9, 2009
The mid-March release date of Portland-based singer/songwriter Mirah’s newest solo album, (A)spera , seemed ill fitting.

By: CARRIE BATTAN | October 15, 2009

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