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CD Reviews

Bearstronaut | Broken Handclaps

Self-released (2010)
There's a distinct absence of wildlife or astronauts on Lowell electronica quartet Bearstronaut's latest release.

By: DAVID BOFFA | January 13, 2010

Bob Blank | The Blank Generation: Blank Tapes NYC 1975 - 1985

Strut (2010)
These days, Bob Blank spends his time in his Connecticut studio, producing profitable music for ads and ringtones for the likes of Susan Boyle.

By: GUSTAVO TURNER | January 14, 2010

Coolzey | The Honey

Public School Records (2010)
Coolzey is not the next big thing. Or even the next medium thing.

By: CHRIS FARAONE | January 14, 2010

RJ's Electrical Connections (2010)
RJD2 has fallen prey to self-doubt — having decided, it would seem, that sample-based music lacks authenticity, he's embarked on an ill-advised attempt to become a "performer."

By: MICHAEL PATRICK BRADY | January 13, 2010

Spoon | Transference

Merge (2010)
Any year now, Spoon will release an album consisting of one 35-minute unfailing groove anchored by bass and peppered with erratic guitar-chord grunts and Britt Daniel's wordless exclamations ("Awright!") — an idealized endgame that distills the band's reductive technique to its purest state.

By: ZETH LUNDY | January 13, 2010

Vampire Weekend | Contra

XL (2010)
There are a few words I did not expect to use in describing Vampire Weekend's second album. Paul-Simony-er is one of them.

By: MICHAEL BRODEUR | January 11, 2010

Animal Collective | Fall Be Kind

Domino (2009)
This nifty little five-track postscript to January's celebrated Merriweather Post Pavilion demonstrates further how adept the members of Animal Collective have become at deploying their bottomless bag of electro-psych tricks in the service of songs.

By: MIKAEL WOOD | December 16, 2009

Lady Gaga | The Fame Monster

Interscope (2009)
With our world ready to melt into oblivion any day now, pop divas know that even their days are numbered.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | December 16, 2009

Charlotte Hatherley | New Worlds

Minty Fresh (2009)
Charlotte Hatherley is to the 1990s as the Black Crowes are to the 1960s: not a revivalist, mind you, but a sympathizer — a careerist.

By: ZETH LUNDY | December 16, 2009

Various Artists | Where the Action Is: Los Angeles Nuggets 1965 - 1968

Rhino (2009)
More than three years in the making, the most recent installment of Rhino's legendary archival garage-rock series offers an amazingly comprehensive excavation of an absurdly fertile scene.

By: MIKE MILIARD | December 16, 2009

Various Artists | Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova 1966–1970

Domino (2009)
Girl-group records are great and everything, yet the countless compilations out there were becoming a little hit-or-miss until 2005, when the great Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found box set finally gave this diverse genre a proper taxonomy.

By: JONATHAN DONALDSON | December 16, 2009

Miles Davis | The Complete Columbia Album Collection

Columbia/Legacy (2009)
Given the consensus that the CD era is drawing to a close, labels have begun to look increasingly toward the well-heeled — those who not only still buy their music on something they can hold but aren't averse to buying it in supersized, extravagant configurations they can show off and savor.

By: JEFF TAMARKIN | December 09, 2009