Rage Frontman's New Band Sounds Familiar

Album still rocks, even pared-down

(NEWSER) - With the latest release, Mars Volta has lived up to its “best prog-rockers of 2008” title, writes Mike Ragogna for the Huffington Post. Octahedron “may bang a little less, but musically competes with most classic albums of that genre.” And—good news for anyone put-off by the band’s tendency toward the obscure—it’s also “their most accessible album yet.” More»

This year has been a bummer, but the music's good

(NEWSER) - As the first half of 2010 draws to a close, James Montgomery lists his 10 favorite albums of the year—so far—for MTV :

• Kate Nash: “My Best Friend Is You represents Kate Nash at her most scattershot, squeaky and downright smart,” he writes. She’s made “an album that's rough, sprawling and unafraid to get plain weird.”
• Yeasayer: Odd Blood is “perhaps the most fittingly titled album in recent memory, a wavy, dreamy listen, full of supple, electronic fields that undulate and dip, creating precipitous peaks and delving canyons. Pop music for the 22nd century and beyond.”

But the Beastie Boys should get in soon; Alice Cooper not so much

(NEWSER) - Five artists enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tonight—the Hollies, the Stooges, Jimmy Cliff, Genesis, and, no kidding, ABBA—but as always "it seems like whoever gets anointed, or shunned, generates more controversy than the abortion debate and the death penalty combined," writes Jim Farber in the New York Daily News . He looks at the top 40 "bridesmaids at the HOF wedding" and predicts their induction likelihood on a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 meaning "should be ushered in relatively soon":

• Beastie Boys, 1: "Voters love" the "innovative hip-hop act."

Singer channels tumultuous year into great music

(NEWSER) - Rihanna's been through a lot since she released her last album, and the excellent Rated R is all the better for it, writes Greg Kot. After the much-publicized Chris Brown incident, her music has become darker and more serious than the airy pop of "Umbrella" and "SOS." Most of the tracks feel deeply personal, Kot writes, suggesting that "she had a much greater voice in this album than any of her previous efforts, recorded when she was a teenager." More»

Thom Yorke doesn't care if you like him, and honestly, you shouldn't

(NEWSER) - We all listen to them, grin plastered on our face, blocking out “that guilty nagging feeling that actually, in some ways, when you think about it… Radiohead kinda blow.” Everyone’s convinced Radiohead defines the cutting edge, but Chris Norris of Spin isn’t fooled. Go to one of their concerts, and sometime after the fifth vague, open-ended groove-poem, you’ll realize what Radiohead’s become: “an exceptionally well-dressed jam band that you can’t even dance to.” More»