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DAN WEISS

Latest Articles

The Men | New Moon

Sacred Bones (2013)
They're just a band, they insist; they didn't realize that a name as authoritative as the Men makes a band look, well, definitive and self-important.

By: DAN WEISS | March 06, 2013

Torres | Torres

Self-released (2013)
Twenty-two-year-old Mackenzie Scott's homemade music floats somewhere between the cathedral jangle of 10,000 Maniacs and the buzzy churn of EMA.

By: DAN WEISS | February 26, 2013

Re-Endtroducing DJ Shadow

After a long phone conversation, the last thing I asked Josh Davis, was, if at age 40, he still had something to prove.

By: DAN WEISS | December 07, 2012

Nicki Minaj | Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded: The Re-Up

Young Money (2012)
Well, now it's official: the title of every record Nicki Minaj ever makes will include the title of every other record she's ever made.

By: DAN WEISS | November 27, 2012

Titus Andronicus | Local Business

XL Records (2012)
That intersection of punk and prog isn't new, but the prog/punk back-to-basics album is. Enter Titus Andronicus.

By: DAN WEISS | October 18, 2012

What's F'n Next? Divine Fits

Los Angeles, California
When asked to name the best note for a one-note song, of course Britt Daniel is already sitting at a piano.

By: DAN WEISS | October 09, 2012

Old 97's | Too Far To Care [15th Anniversary Edition]

Omnivore Records (2012)
What if the Beatles didn't have an audience? That's a crude way of putting the seminal talent of Old 97's vs. the size of their cult, a small swatch of rock fans not put off by Rhett Miller's extra-Texan twang and country fans who could stomach Philip Peeples's steamroller rhythms in 1997, when they made this, their Rum Sodomy and the Lash .

By: DAN WEISS | October 03, 2012

Four Tet | Pink

Text Records (2012)
Ironically, this patchwork of 12-inch singles is Kieran Hebden's most delectable album-as-album.

By: DAN WEISS | September 04, 2012

The Darkness | Hot Cakes

Wind-Up (2012)
The most obvious strike against the Real Life Spinal Tap's reunion album (yup, first since 2005) is trying to find an excuse to care about it.

By: DAN WEISS | August 22, 2012

Archers of Loaf | All The Nation's Airports + White Trash Heroes [Deluxe Remasters]

Merge (2012)
Don't let anyone who says every Pavement album is worth owning tell you that you don't need Archers of Loaf's final two albums.

By: DAN WEISS | August 14, 2012

Nas | Life Is Good

Def Jam (2012)
Life Is Good is the album Illmatic fans have browbeat Nas into making while undervaluing an astounding number of achievements over a dozen "other" albums.

By: DAN WEISS | August 07, 2012

Serengeti | C.A.R.

Anticon (2012)
The wondrous character rapper Serengeti is a study in the disparity between the real life a rapper lives and that of his escapist fantasy.

By: DAN WEISS | July 24, 2012

Sugar | Copper Blue/Beaster + File Under: Easy Listening

Merge (2012)
Two live shows, mucho B-sides, and the ferocious Beaster EP now all compressed into one gulp could leave even the biggest power-pop fan gasping for air.

By: DAN WEISS | July 17, 2012

Azealia Banks | 1991

Interscope
The only downside of Azealia Banks's mildly slept-on debut EP is that her wildfire YouTube classic "212" was anything but subtle (recall: "I guess that cunt gettin' eaten"), whereas the remaining 13 minutes of music here require more time to sink in than the average Grizzly Bear fan would assume.

By: DAN WEISS | July 10, 2012

The Hives | Lex Hives

Disques Hives (2012)
If there was ever a worry of the Hives maturing— or simply becoming less like the Hives — there isn't anymore.

By: DAN WEISS | May 29, 2012

El-P | Cancer For Cure

Fat Possum (2012)
"It's like a fresh start in a new world," El Producto repeats on "Works Every Time," a track on this, his least ambitious record.

By: DAN WEISS | May 15, 2012

Best Coast | The Only Place

Mexican Summer (2012)
It was heartbreaking to see Bethany Cosentino's 2010 full-length debut, Crazy for You, questioned for lacking "overall intelligence."

By: DAN WEISS | May 08, 2012

Santigold | Master Of My Make-Believe

Downtown/Atlantic (2012)
Holding the torch for unbridled eclecticism when spontaneity was out of style, Santogold — Santi White's out-of-nowhere 2008 debut —was a very good album that nicked from Tegan and Sara, No Doubt, and reggae-rap, and risked typecasting her even as she defied type.

By: DAN WEISS | April 24, 2012

Screaming Females | Ugly

Don Giovanni (2012)
It's nice to know a woman as talented as singer-guitarist Marissa Paternoster was influenced by Our Band Could Be Your Life, despite Kim Gordon being the only woman in it.

By: DAN WEISS | April 17, 2012

Archers of Loaf | Vee Vee [Deluxe Remaster]

Merge
In all of indie rock there's no classic lyric more apt than Archers of Loaf's "Greatest of All Time": "The underground is overcrowded."

By: DAN WEISS | February 21, 2012

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