Brit's Back, Big Time

Though she probably had little to do with its edginess, critics say

(NEWSER) - Britney Spears’ new record is actually pretty innovative for a pop album—though Britney herself may have little to do with that.

• Femme Fatale is “the rare dance-pop album that never flags, each track preposterously overstuffed with hooks and sensations,” writes Jody Rosen in Slate . Spears is “a great avant-gardist”: These are some “absurd” tracks, but her “star power provides cover for the weirdness—anything she records, no matter how strange, instantly becomes pop.”

Teen lends her voice to 'power ballad' with other 'random' singers

(NEWSER) - Frances Bean Cobain made her musical debut yesterday—albeit in cameo form—with the release of Evelyn Evelyn. “She’s got a great voice,” says Amanda Palmer, who put together the concept album with Jason Webley. The 17-year-old is featured on the track “My Space” along with other “really random people,” Palmer says, including Weird Al Yankovic, Tegan and Sara, and Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, People reports. More»

The video for 'Pick It Up' features, mostly, a distraught-looking Brown

(NEWSER) - Not surprisingly, Ayla Brown’s EP was released Tuesday, a mere week after dad Scott Brown won Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat—and months ahead of its original April release. The songs emulate “that cloying strand of '90s soft-pop that emulated '80s soft-pop,” writes Chris Richards for the Washington Post , but at least “Brown’s voice is agreeable enough.” More»

Rapper can't quite nail a return to his glory days on new album

(NEWSER) - 50 Cent, once at the forefront of rap music, returns with Before I Self Destruct—but his fourth solo effort isn’t impressing the critics. “Though packed with tough beats, dense production and 50's most ferocious delivery in years, the gloats about shootings, drugs and bloody 'hoods feel about as fresh as a Saw sequel,” writes Edna Gundersen in USA Today . The album “isn't likely to renew 50 Cent's currency.” More»

'Sprawling' double album should please longtime fans

(NEWSER) - The Flaming Lips are no stranger to reinvention, having transformed “from garage-punk misfits into a splendorous, kaleidoscopic rock outfit,” then later “into a sophisticated, sincere symphonic-pop troupe bestowed with increasing commercial acclaim.” The release of Embryonic marks another sea change—and it’s the band's boldest effort since 1997's Zaireeka, writes Stuart Berman for Pitchfork. “There's a raw directness to Embryonic that's been largely absent from Lips records since the mid-'90s.” More»