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Album Reviews

The Welsh post-punk trio Young Marble Giants (1978-1981) had just one album to its name, but what an album it was. Deconstructing music down to its basic elements, filling them with space, and doing away with drums entirely, “Colossal Youth” is both minimalist and angry, and is widely regarded as a classic. Domino’s brand-new deluxe […]

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The day has finally arrived: The showdown between rap heavyweight champions is finally here. In one corner, we have Kanye West, rapper and producer, known for being extremely talented at the latter but not so much at the former, but still coming off of two successful albums (”Late Registration” and “College Dropout”) and now here […]

Tags: 50 cent, kanye west

After a decade and a half of recording solo albums under the name Frank Black, Mr. Charles Thompson has resorted to the name he used during his Pixies days, Black Francis, for his new album “Bluefinger” (in stores Tuesday), which serves as a tribute to late Danish artist Herman Brood. With the name change comes […]

Tags: black francis, frank black

The odd but increasingly-accessible experimental-folk outfit from Brooklyn wowed reviewers with 2005’s “Feels,” and, earlier this year, the Collective’s Panda Bear issued “Person Pitch,” which is destined to end up on many critics’ Best of 2007 lists. So, “Strawberry Jam” (in stores Tuesday) brings with it heightened expectations that it couldn’t possibly live up to. […]

Tags: animal collective

The electronic/dance album “Attack Decay Sustain Release” finally lands in American record stores on Tuesday after appearing in the UK at the beginning of the summer. Compared frequently to Justice’s 2007 debut “Cross,” ADSR is also a debut of sorts, as it marks the first album release for the new project from James Ford and […]

Tags: simian mobile disco

The loud, heavy, all-instrumental, experimental metal outfit from Seattle certainly bring something new to their third Sub Pop effort: vocals. And those vocals (which are only on a handful of tracks) may be one reason that reviewers are finding “Down Below It’s Chaos” to be Kinski’s most accessible album yet. Not every critic thinks that’s […]

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The second album from the Brighton, England group arrives in stores next week, and like 2005’s “Thunder, Lightning, Strike,” the new disc finds The Go! Team stringing together samples to create overly-exuberant, AM-radio-ready songs. “Proof of Youth” does include a lot more live instrumentation than its predecessor (although the sound has been intentionally degraded so […]

Tags: the go team

The semi-political, suburban London band Hard-Fi picked up a Mercury Prize nomination and some commercial success (at least in the UK) with their 2005 debut album “Stars Of CCTV.” Many critics are less than impressed with album number two, however, finding the lyrics, the music, and, yes, that cover art a bit lacking.
Do we have […]

Tags: hard-fi

“I Created Disco,” the debut LP (out today in the US after hitting the UK earlier this summer) from 23-year-old Scottish artist Calvin Harris, comes across as an electroclash version of LCD Soundsystem or Daft Punk, as the vibe is–in spite of the title–heavily 1980s (and not just on the single “Acceptable In The 80’s”). […]

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The third album for the Long Island-based all-female retro-rap trio is their first since departing from their major-label deal. While “Can I Keep This Pen?” further showcases Northern State’s fondness for jokey but literate, early Beastie Boys-styled raps, it also branches out into other genres, and finds the trio singing on several cuts (think Luscious […]

Tags: northern state