Music >>

CD Reviews

Die Antwoord | Ten$ion

Zef Recordz
Moreso than any "controversially-lipped" chanteuse (to borrow from one of Lana Del Rey's many observers), South African rap/rave/meme/satire/knuckleheads Die Antwoord beg the question:"Is that all there is?"

By: DAN WEISS | February 07, 2012

Ital | Hive Mind

Planet Mu
If there was a broken-record knock against electronic music in the last decade, it's that it all sounded the same.

By: MICHAEL C. WALSH | February 07, 2012

J the S | The Last Days

Same Plate/Greater Good
J the S has been promising The Last Days since he went by Jake the Snake.

By: CHRIS FARAONE | February 07, 2012

The Punch Brothers | Who's Feeling Young Now?

Nonesuch (2012)
For a group full of virtuosos, the Punch Brothers refuse to dole out prodigious string-murdering sessions.

By: ZETH LUNDY | February 07, 2012

Tennis | Young & Old

Fat Possum (2012)
Denver's Tennis, the husband/wife duo of Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley, are back with another slab of dreamy, feather-light pop.

By: RYAN REED | February 07, 2012

Van Halen | A Different Kind of Truth

Interscope
Who would've thought Eddie Van Halen would still be innovative in his late 50s?

By: MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER | February 08, 2012

Air | Le Voyage Dans La Lune

Astralwerks (2012)
It was inevitable that Air would one day be asked to soundtrack a colorized version of an iconic 1902 silent French film about moon exploration, right? There's the French thing, the moon thing, the kitsch-cool factor.

By: ZETH LUNDY | January 31, 2012

Off the record: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour | Out of Frequency

BMG Rights (2012)
Getting a boost with songs from their 2009 debut, Fruit , featured in iPod and Heineken ads, and getting handpicked as concert openers by a then-still-functioning Amy Winehouse in their native Copenhagen, the Asteroids Galaxy Tour rode a lucky streak out of the gate.

By: MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER | January 31, 2012

Dr. Dog | Be the Void

Anti- (2012)
With Be the Void , their sonically raw sixth album, these Philly psych-pop oddballs have pulled a fussy, self-conscious about-face, indulging in their weirdest ideas in years.

By: RYAN REED | January 31, 2012

Grimes | Visions

Arbutus (2012)
The debut record from Grimes, an alias of the Montreal-based Boucher, kicks off the peculiarity parade by presenting song titles steeped in cutesy affectation.

By: REYAN ALI | January 31, 2012

Mark Lanegan Band | Blues Funeral

4AD (2012)
Unlike a few of his early '90s Seattle contemporaries who made tons of money, erstwhile Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan has not died, put out shitty records, or made a self-deprecating cameo on Portlandia.

By: BARRY THOMPSON | January 31, 2012

Schoolboy Q | Habits & Contradictions

Top Dawg Entertainment (2012)
Without much that can be considered "structure" in terms of the verse-chorus-verse standard, Q confidently wobbles through an album's worth of jaded bangers.

By: MICHAEL C. WALSH | January 31, 2012

A Place to Bury Strangers | Onwards to the Wall

Dead Oceans (2012)
Onwards to the Wall clocks in at 16 minutes and 35 seconds, and it could shatter into smithereens at any moment.

By: REYAN ALI | January 24, 2012

Brite Futures | Dark Past

Turnout (2011)
A few years ago, the cutesy teens in Natalie Portman's Shaved Head slid out of Seattle on the hot pink shoulders of robo-bounce kinda-hit "Me + Ur Daughter" and the cheap intrigue of a ridiculous moniker.

By: MICHAEL MAROTTA | January 24, 2012

Cloud Nothings | Attack on Memory

Carpark (2012)
With Attack on Memory , the third full-length from Cleveland-based Cloud Nothings, 20-year-old frontman Dylan Baldi approaches new, drastically darker material with the same empty-bottle angst that made his previous releases so appealing.

By: PATRICK MCDERMOTT | January 24, 2012