Animal Collective Doesn't Care About Cool

New Yorker explores the world of this indie group

(NEWSER) - Those with adventurous musical tastes may want to visit the odd world of Animal Collective, which smashes together electronic and acoustic elements into a brilliant mixture often called, if somewhat inaccurately, "avant-garde" and "psychedelic," says the New Yorker. Sasha Frere-Jones explores the group's eighth album, Strawberry Jam, and finds it slightly more accessible, if no less uncompromising, than previous works. More»

Only-known audio of ex-slaves also joins National Recording Registry

(AP) - America's archived history just got a little noisier: 25 sounds that shaped the American cultural landscape are being inducted into the National Recording Registry. The additions are being announced today by the Library of Congress. Among them:

• A handful of pop/rock songs: Donna Summer's 1977 hit "I Feel Love" (selected in advance of her death); the Grateful Dead's famous 1977 Barton Hall concert; Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" from 1979; and Prince's "Purple Rain."

Reviews of new album surprised by candor about Guy Ritchie divorce

(NEWSER) - Madonna is back. Her latest album MDNA, is at once a confessional look at her divorce from Guy Ritchie and a bouncy dance album. Critical reaction is divided pretty starkly as well. Here's some of what people are saying:

• "It’s a bipolar collection that pumps out effervescent electronic pop before making way for a contentious personal agenda," writes Jon Pareles of the New York Times . Still, it's "less arty and more determinedly poppy" than Confessions on a Dance Floor. "Don't expect vulnerability. The lyrics insist there are no regrets," and the songs stick to the "unvarying, superhuman pulse of electronic dance music."

Wine, snowboards also among new merchandising deals

(NEWSER) - The Dead are looking for new ways to live on, and they’ve settled on skateboards. In a new business deal, remaining members of the Grateful Dead have agreed to put their logos on a range of new items, including Wines That Rock, Dregs skateboards, and Burton snowboards. But they’re not just selling out: They agreed to the merchandising plan under the supervision of a record exec who’s a big Deadhead himself, the Los Angeles Times reports. More»

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.”