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MUSIC REVIEW

Oct 6, 2009 10:42 PM CDT

Paramore's Latest One of Year's Best

Group is a welcome 'throwback' and—thanks to Hayley Williams—soars

(Newser) - Paramore’s third album will likely enter the charts at No. 1—and it deserves to. Not only is it “the group’s best record yet,” Brand New Eyes is “one of 2009’s most exhilarating releases,” writes Jonah Weiner for Slate. “That sense of...

Built to Spill
Back in Top Form

music REVIEW

Oct 5, 2009 5:52 PM CDT

Built to Spill Back in Top Form

Formerly great indie rockers make a triumphant comeback in There Is No Enemy

(Newser) - Built to Spill went from producing “some of the most ambitious and resonant indie rock ever made” in the 1990s to “merely existing” in the 2000s. With its "unexpectedly terrific” new release There Is No Enemy, the band offers “an improbable late-career reawakening and heartening evidence...

Girls' Debut
'Dizzily
Powerful'

MUSIC REVIEW

Sep 25, 2009 1:27 PM CDT

Girls' Debut 'Dizzily Powerful'

Up-and-coming band 'getting a ton of blog love' for 'heartbreaking' debut

(Newser) - The frontman of the pop duo Girls has a backstory that’s “epically sad and squalid and ultimately triumphant,” but you don’t need to know his history to recognize Girls' debut, Album, as “a dizzily powerful piece of work,” writes Tom Breihan for Pitchfork. Christopher...

Pearl Jam's Backspacer
More of Same

ALBUM REVIEW

Sep 17, 2009 1:56 PM CDT

Pearl Jam's Backspacer More of Same

Despite controversy over Target release, album is praiseworthy—not groundbreaking

(Newser) - Pearl Jam “plays it tight, short and fast on its ninth studio album, Backspacer (Monkeywrench), out Tuesday,” writes Greg Kot for the Chicago Tribune. In its first self-released album, the band steamrolls through 11 songs in just 37 minutes—but it’s 37 minutes of “step-on-it-and-go attack....

Kid Cudi's Debut
'Ridiculously
Intriguing'

music review

Sep 15, 2009 1:42 PM CDT

Kid Cudi's Debut 'Ridiculously Intriguing'

Rap's up-and-coming name follows in the footsteps of Kanye West, Andre 3000

(Newser) - The premise of Kanye West protégé Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon: The End of the Day is that he’s “not on the same planet as other rappers. The truth is that he’s not in the same genre,” writes Julian Benbow for the Boston ...

Jay-Z's
Blueprint 3
Splits
Critics

MUSIC REVIEW

Sep 8, 2009 6:33 PM CDT

Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 Splits Critics

(Newser) - Jay-Z's new Blueprint 3 seems to have critics divided. Some see flashes of brilliance showing the rap veteran at his best, while others see a mediocre effort that relies too much on celebrity.

Jay-Z sounds "hungrier than he has in years on about half the tracks, while sharing time

...

Beatles Remasters
Pack a Wallop

music review

Sep 8, 2009 1:40 PM CDT

Beatles Remasters Pack a Wallop

CDs showcase Fab Four as they were meant to be heard

(Newser) - The Beatles just got better: every one of their original albums and a batch of collected singles has been remastered, boosting the quality to the level “the Beatles themselves would have heard and intended,” writes Matt Hurwitz in the Washington Post. The stereo CDs remind us that the...

Whitney 'Sublime'
After 7 Years Away

album review

Aug 26, 2009 11:35 AM CDT

Whitney 'Sublime' After 7 Years Away

'The Voice' is still there, with help from industry giants

(Newser) - It’s been seven years since Whitney Houston’s last album, and many younger listeners probably know her better for her recently-troubled life than for her series of huge hits. But her new album, I Look to You, marks a triumphant return, writes Jim DeRogatis in the Chicago Sun-Times. “...

Arctic Monkeys Go Darker,
Show Staying Power

album review

Aug 24, 2009 1:44 PM CDT

Arctic Monkeys Go Darker, Show Staying Power

Album maintains the 'good stuff,' tries something new

(Newser) - With their latest album, Britain’s Arctic Monkeys show they haven’t let the media hype get the better of them. Alex Turner and Co. try some new directions without abandoning the “good stuff” from “their usual territory,” writes Joe Tangari for Pitchfork. Humbug is “their...

Dance the Night
Away With Handclap

MUSIC REVIEW

Aug 14, 2009 2:51 PM CDT

Dance the Night Away With Handclap

Band has high-profile guests and a fun vibe that runs a bit too long

(Newser) - The Phenomenal Handclap Band gets a leg up on its self-titled debut from buzzworthy guests like TV on the Radio and the Dap-Kings—but one of the unfortunate consequences is that “there's a feeling of anonymity to the band,” writes Paul Thompson for Pitchfork. Nonetheless, when it comes...

Maxwell and K'Jon Force
Soul Music to Grow Up

ALBUM REVIEWS

Aug 8, 2009 3:52 PM CDT

Maxwell and K'Jon Force Soul Music to Grow Up

Maxwell, K'Jon lead return to classical soul era's adult themes and sound

(Newser) - Soul music has always been adult, conveying mature themes like financial insecurity and emotional anxiety. Now, with the emergence of K’Jon and the return of Maxwell, it finally sounds adult, too, Jon Caramanica writes in the New York Times. “K’Jon and Maxwell represent a strain of R&...

Hip-Hop's
Next Big Thing
'Fine, Fresh, Serious'

ALBUM REVIEW

Aug 6, 2009 1:43 PM CDT

Hip-Hop's Next Big Thing 'Fine, Fresh, Serious'

Sure, her life wasn't all hard, but don't write her off as a rapper

(Newser) - “Even in a ‘post-race’ world, street sells,” writes Amy Granzin for Pitchfork. That would explain why some looked at Speech Debelle—the once-homeless UK rapper turned Mercury Prize nominee and "hip-hop's next big thing"—and spun “a tiny bit of flash into blinding bling....

Jack White's
New Band
Opens Strong

MUSIC REVIEW

Jul 13, 2009 1:08 PM CDT

Jack White's New Band Opens Strong

Jack White's latest effort confirms his reign as king of the blues-rockers

(Newser) - Jack White’s rise to stardom in the postmillennial world of the struggling blues rocker is “remarkable,” and he continues to “honor the blues’ authenticity” while also exploiting its “capacity for mythology” with his third project, writes Stuart Berman for Pitchfork. On Horehound, the Dead Weather—...

Album No
Twin Peaks,
But Very Lynchian

MUSIC REVIEW

Jul 9, 2009 2:19 PM CDT

Album No Twin Peaks, But Very Lynchian

Music has fine moments, but often 'is no more than the sum of its parts'

(Newser) - Music has always been an integral part of David Lynch’s films: “Blue Velvet wouldn’t be Blue Velvet without Dennis Hopper’s lipstick-smeared face bearing down on Kyle MacLachlan to Roy Orbison’s ‘In Dreams,’” writes Mike Powell for Pitchfork. So it makes sense that...

Moby's Wait for Me
Is Pleasant, Bland

music review

Jul 6, 2009 5:29 PM CDT

Moby's Wait for Me Is Pleasant, Bland

Pitchfork describes album as 'background music in the purest sense'

(Newser) - Moby’s latest album, Wait For Me, is a pleasant if forgettable trip to the artist’s softer, more ambient side, writes Jess Harvell for Pitchfork. Coming a decade after 1999’s Play, a record that perfectly captured the “post-rave” zeitgeist of pop at the time to become a...

Mars Volta
Shows Softer Side

MUSIC REVIEW

Jun 22, 2009 2:25 PM CDT

Mars Volta Shows Softer Side

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...

Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D.
Pure, Shameless, Awesome

ALBUM REVIEW

Jun 3, 2009 4:10 PM CDT

Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D. Pure, Shameless, Awesome

(Newser) - The Black Eyed Peas' new album, The E.N.D., isn’t of much consequence, but that’s just as well. Reviewers generally appreciate the party-hardy attitude.

“Ever true to their defining characteristic, the Peas have no shame,” Ann Powers writes in the Los Angeles Times. “Fergie

...

Costello Goes a Little Country

album review

May 29, 2009 2:36 PM CDT

Costello Goes a Little Country

(Newser) - Elvis Costello's new Secret, Profane & Sugarcane CD has a spare, country feel to it—T. Bone Burnett returns as producer—and critics generally think it hits the mark.

Glen Boyd, Blog Critics: A little too much "filler" among the bright spots, but those bright spots are terrific.

...

Free Cool Kids
Album Worth It, Barely

MUSIC REVIEW

May 28, 2009 12:29 PM CDT

Free Cool Kids Album Worth It, Barely

There's still hope for full-length debut

(Newser) - The Cool Kids aren’t as cool as they once were—but “even when they’re on autopilot, their icy flatness has style,” writes Tom Breihan for Pitchfork. Gone Fishing, the internet phenoms’ recently released bundle of free downloadable music, “should be a major event in the...

Lil Wayne
Pupil Drake
Thrills in NYC

Concert Review

May 28, 2009 10:53 AM CDT

Lil Wayne Pupil Drake Thrills in NYC

Kanye, record execs come to hear buzzed-about rapper

(Newser) - Child-actor-turned-rapper Drake had fans and luminaries like Kanye West enthralled at a small New York show Tuesday, where the as-yet-unsigned artist tried to live up to the buzz.

“Drake's greatest gift is his ability to translate his love of rap's many styles into his own music,” Chris Ryan

...