| Janelane Love Letters | 3.5 |
| Vampire Weekend Only God Was Above Us | 4.5 |
| Art Moore Art Moore | 4.0 |
| Weyes Blood And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow | 4.0 |
| The Beths Expert in a Dying Field | 4.0 |
| ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead XI: Bleed Here Now | 4.2 |
| Day Wave Pastlife | 4.0 |
| Angel Olsen Big Time | 4.5 |
| Vansire The Modern Western World | 3.5 |
| Arcade Fire WE | 3.0 |
| Sharon Van Etten We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong | 4.0 |
| Hatchie Giving the World Away | 2.5 |
| Widowspeak The Jacket | 4.0 |
| Big Thief Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You | 4.5 |
| Beach House Once Twice Melody | 4.3 |
| Spoon Lucifer on the Sofa | 3.0 |
| Strange Ranger No Light in Heaven | 1.5 |
| Magdalena Bay Mercurial World | 4.0 |
| Lightning Bug A Color of the Sky | 4.0 |
| Lightning Bug October Song | 3.5 |
| Lorde Solar Power | 2.0 |
| Cloud Nothings The Shadow I Remember | 3.0 |
| Laura Stevenson Laura Stevenson | 4.2 |
| clairo Sling | 2.5 |
| Lucy Dacus Home Video | 3.5 |
| Ryan Adams Big Colors | 2.5 |
| Slayyyter Troubled Paradise | 3.5 |
| Bachelor Doomin' Sun | 3.8 |
| Lord Huron Long Lost | 3.9 |
| St. Vincent Daddy's Home | 3.0 |
| Blood Cultures LUNO | 2.5 |
| Wolf Alice Blue Weekend | 3.5 |
| Japanese Breakfast Jubilee | 4.5 |
| Saccades Flowing Fades | 3.5 |
| Goat Girl Goat Girl | 3.0 |
| Goat Girl On All Fours | 4.0 |
| The Antlers Green to Gold | 4.3 |
| Julien Baker Little Oblivions | 3.5 |
| Wild Pink A Billion Little Lights | 3.0 |
| The Weather Station Ignorance | 4.0 |
| Sun June Somewhere | 4.0 |
| Hinds The Prettiest Curse | 4.0 |
| Roisin Murphy Roisin Machine | 3.5 |
| Jessie Ware Glasshouse | 2.5 |
| Ela Minus acts of rebellion | 3.9 |
| Jess Williamson Sorceress | 3.5 |
| The Avalanches We Will Always Love You | 4.3 |
| The Flaming Lips American Head | 3.0 |
| Bronson (USA) BRONSON | 4.0 |
| Jason Isbell Reunions | 3.9 |
| A.A.L. (Against All Logic) 2017-2019 | 4.0 |
| Soft Kill Dead Kids R.I.P. City | 3.9 |
| Sorcha Richardson First Prize Bravery | 4.5 |
| Wolf and Moon Follow the Signs | 4.1 |
| Dua Lipa Future Nostalgia | 3.5 |
| Dua Lipa Club Future Nostalgia: The Remix Album | 3.5 |
| Nation of Language Introduction, Presence | 4.0 |
| Illuminati Hotties FREE I.H: This Is Not the One... | 2.5 |
| Fleet Foxes Shore | 4.0 |
| No Joy Motherhood | 4.0 |
| Cults Offering | 3.0 |
| Cults Host | 4.0 |
| Sorry 925 | 4.5 |
| Widowspeak Plum | 3.5 |
| The Killers Imploding the Mirage | 2.7 |
| Battleborn with a better PR agent |
| Bright Eyes Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was | 4.0 |
| Cut Copy Freeze, Melt | 2.5 |
| Orville Peck Show Pony | 3.5 |
| Jessy Lanza All the Time | 3.0 |
| Taylor Swift Folklore | 3.3 |
| The Beths Jump Rope Gazers | 3.0 |
| Phoebe Bridgers Punisher | 3.0 |
| HAIM Women In Music, Pt. III | 3.7 |
| Jessie Ware What's Your Pleasure? | 4.3 |
| Run the Jewels RTJ4 | 3.0 |
| Woods Strange To Explain | 3.5 |
| Carly Rae Jepsen Dedicated Side B | 3.0 |
| Perfume Genius Set My Heart On Fire Immediately | 4.0 |
| STRFKR Miracle Mile | 3.0 |
| STRFKR Future Past Life | 4.0 |
| The Drums Brutalism | 2.5 |
| Car Seat Headrest Making a Door Less Open | 4.0 |
| this is good, ackshually |
| Whitney Forever Turned Around | 3.0 |
| Hamilton Leithauser The Loves of Your Life | 3.0 |
| Peach Pit You and Your Friends | 4.2 |
| Ellis Born Again | 2.5 |
| Waxahatchee Saint Cloud | 4.2 |
| The Strokes The New Abnormal | 2.5 |
| Anna Burch If You're Dreaming | 2.5 |
| Tops I Feel Alive | 3.0 |
| The Weeknd Starboy | 3.0 |
| The Weeknd After Hours | 3.5 |
| Empty Country Empty Country | 4.2 |
| Purity Ring Womb | 3.0 |
| Magdalena Bay A Little Rhythm and a Wicked Feeling | 4.0 |
| U.S. Girls Heavy Light | 3.0 |
| Real Estate The Main Thing | 3.0 |
| Blue Hawaii Open Reduction Internal Fixation | 4.0 |
| The Big Moon Walking Like We Do | 4.0 |
| Tame Impala The Slow Rush | 3.0 |
| Caribou Suddenly | 4.0 |
| bumps |
| Tennis Swimmer | 3.9 |
| Destroyer Have We Met | 3.5 |
| Wasuremono Are You OK? | 4.0 |
| Wolf Parade Thin Mind | 3.3 |
| ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead X: The Godless Void and Other Stories | 3.8 |
| Grimes Miss Anthropocene | 4.2 |
| Pluralone To Be One With You | 4.0 |
| Wallows Spring | 4.0 |
| Wallows Nothing Happens | 3.5 |
| Great Grandpa Four of Arrows | 3.5 |
| Boy Scouts Free Company | 3.5 |
| Jessy Lanza Pull My Hair Back | 3.5 |
| Jason Isbell The Nashville Sound | 4.0 |
| Jessy Lanza Oh No | 4.0 |
| Kaytranada Bubba | 3.9 |
| Orville Peck Pony | 4.0 |
| Andrew Bird My Finest Work Yet | 3.8 |
| The Tallest Man on Earth I Love You. It's a Fever Dream. | 4.0 |
| DIIV Deceiver | 4.0 |
| L'Orange and Jeremiah Jae Complicate Your Life with Violence | 4.0 |
| Angel Olsen All Mirrors | 3.5 |
| William Tyler Goes West | 3.8 |
| Denzel Curry Zuu | 3.5 |
| Kishi Bashi Omoiyari | 4.0 |
| Caroline Polachek Pang | 3.9 |
| 100 Gecs 1000 gecs | 1.0 |
| SebastiAn Thirst | 2.5 |
| Purple Mountains Purple Mountains | 4.3 |
| Shura forevher | 4.0 |
| Mikal Cronin Seeker | 3.0 |
| Big Thief Two Hands | 3.0 |
| Alex G House Of Sugar | 3.0 |
| The New Pornographers In the Morse Code of Brake Lights | 3.9 |
| Wilco Ode to Joy | 3.3 |
| Chromatics Closer to Grey | 4.2 |
| Blood Cultures Oh Uncertainty! A Universe Despairs | 3.9 |
| Metronomy Metronomy Forever | 3.0 |
| Slayyyter Slayyyter | 4.0 |
| Lana Del Rey Norman Fucking Rockwell! | 4.2 |
| Taylor Swift Lover | 3.5 |
absolute hardcore bops: cruel summer, paper rings, cornelia street, soon you'll get better,
afterglow, daylight
decent bops: the archer, it's nice to have a friend, miss americana & the heartbreak prince, i think
he knows, you need to calm down
stupid lounge bop: false god
delete this: ME!, i forgot that you existed
bops i already forgot about: everything else god damn this album is long |
| Jay Som Anak Ko | 4.0 |
| Marika Hackman Any Human Friend | 4.0 |
| clairo Immunity | 3.5 |
| Kevin Morby Oh My God | 2.5 |
| Telethon Hard Pop | 3.5 |
| Strange Ranger Remembering the Rockets | 4.1 |
| Lisel Angels on the Slope | 2.5 |
| Holy Ghost! Work | 4.0 |
| Hatchie Keepsake | 4.0 |
| Mark Ronson Late Night Feelings | 3.5 |
| Hot Chip A Bath Full of Ecstasy | 4.2 |
| Hot Chip Why Make Sense? | 3.0 |
| The Raconteurs Help Us Stranger | 3.7 |
| Carly Rae Jepsen Dedicated | 3.5 |
| The National I Am Easy to Find | 4.1 |
| Local Natives Violet Street | 4.0 |
| Broncho Bad Behavior | 3.9 |
| Big Thief U.F.O.F. | 3.0 |
| Vampire Weekend Father Of The Bride | 3.0 |
| Tokyo Police Club TPC | 2.0 |
| Ex Hex It's Real | 3.0 |
| Ex Hex Rips | 3.5 |
| Westkust Westkust | 4.0 |
| Laura Stevenson The Big Freeze | 3.9 |
| Billie Eilish When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? | 2.5 |
| Weyes Blood Titanic Rising | 4.6 |
| Finn Andrews One Piece at a Time | 3.0 |
| Jenny Lewis On The Line | 4.0 |
| Karen O and Danger Mouse Lux Prima | 3.7 |
| Julia Jacklin Crushing | 3.5 |
| Foals Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 1 | 2.5 |
| Gesaffelstein Hyperion | 2.5 |
| Cherry Glazerr Stuffed and Ready | 3.8 |
| Default Genders main pop girl 2019 | 4.2 |
| HEALTH VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR | 3.5 |
| Guster Look Alive | 3.4 |
| Toro Y Moi What For? | 3.0 |
| Toro Y Moi Outer Peace | 2.5 |
| Deerhunter Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? | 3.6 |
| Sharon Van Etten Remind Me Tomorrow | 4.0 |
| Better Oblivion Community Center Better Oblivion Community Center | 4.0 |
| The Delgados The Great Eastern | 3.5 |
| Elliott Smith Heaven Adores You | 3.5 |
| Elliott Smith Either/Or: Expanded Edition | 4.5 |
| Elliott Smith Division Day/No Name #6 | 3.5 |
| ITEM Sad Light | 3.9 |
| The 1975 A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships | 2.0 |
| The Spook School Could It Be Different? | 3.5 |
| The Spook School Try To Be Hopeful | 3.5 |
| Declan McKenna What Do You Think About The Car? | 3.7 |
| Cherry Glazerr Apocalipstick | 3.5 |
| Cut Worms Hollow Ground | 3.0 |
| Now, Now Saved | 3.5 |
| Earl Sweatshirt Some Rap Songs | 4.0 |
| Illuminati Hotties Kiss Yr Frenemies | 4.0 |
| Fickle Friends You Are Someone Else | 3.5 |
| Ginger Root Mahjong Room | 4.0 |
| Anderson .Paak Oxnard | 3.5 |
| Anderson .Paak Malibu | 3.5 |
| Empress Of Us | 3.5 |
| RUFUS DU SOL Solace | 3.8 |
| Ben Howard Noonday Dream | 3.8 |
| Denzel Curry TA13OO | 4.0 |
| Dear Nora Skulls Example | 3.0 |
| Lucy Dacus Historian | 4.0 |
| A Place to Bury Strangers Pinned | 2.5 |
| Boygenius boygenius | 3.0 |
| Robyn Body Talk | 4.5 |
| Robyn Honey | 3.9 |
| Kurt Vile Bottle It In | 2.5 |
| Julia Holter Aviary | 2.5 |
| Charles Watson Now That I'm a River | 3.5 |
| St. Vincent MassEducation | 3.5 |
| Phosphorescent C'est La Vie | 3.5 |
| Pinegrove Skylight | 3.5 |
| Cloud Nothings Last Building Burning | 2.0 |
| Launder Pink Cloud | 4.0 |
| Shakey Graves Can't Wake Up | 4.0 |
| Cat Power Wanderer | 3.0 |
| Mutual Benefit Thunder Follows the Light | 3.8 |
| Wand Perfume | 3.5 |
| White Denim Performance | 2.5 |
| Sobs Telltale Signs | 3.5 |
| Blood Orange Negro Swan | 3.0 |
| Vansire Angel Youth | 4.5 |
| Death Cab for Cutie Thank You For Today | 3.2 |
| Mitski Be the Cowboy | 4.5 |
| Animal Collective Tangerine Reef | 2.0 |
| The Beths Future Me Hates Me | 4.2 |
| Shy Boys Bell House | 3.5 |
| Gia Margaret There's Always Glimmer | 4.0 |
| Foxing Nearer My God | 3.4 |
| The Ophelias (USA-OH) Almost | 3.5 |
| Golden Features SECT | 4.0 |
| Wild Pink Yolk in the Fur | 3.3 |
| Florence and the Machine High as Hope | 3.5 |
| Dean Forever Dean Forever | 4.1 |
| Melody's Echo Chamber Bon Voyage | 2.5 |
| Father John Misty God's Favorite Customer | 3.5 |
| Tom Misch Geography | 2.0 |
| Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever Talk Tight | 3.0 |
| Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever The French Press | 3.5 |
| Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever Hope Downs | 4.0 |
| Tancred Nightstand | 4.0 |
| Kids See Ghosts Kids See Ghosts | 3.0 |
| Lykke Li So Sad So Sexy | 2.5 |
| Her Her | 4.0 |
| Snail Mail Habit | 2.5 |
| Neko Case Hell-On | 3.9 |
| Eleanor Friedberger Rebound | 2.5 |
| Pusha T DAYTONA | 4.1 |
| Beach House 7 | 3.8 |
| Arctic Monkeys Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino | 2.0 |
| Arctic Monkeys AM | 3.0 |
| Jon Hopkins Singularity | 3.0 |
| DJ Koze knock knock | 3.0 |
| Lord Huron Vide Noir | 3.5 |
| Night Flowers Wild Notion | 3.5 |
| Exitmusic The Recognitions | 4.0 |
| Forth Wanderers Forth Wanderers | 4.0 |
| Half Waif Lavender | 2.5 |
| Okkervil River In The Rainbow Rain | 3.5 |
| King Tuff The Other | 3.0 |
| Hinds I Don't Run | 3.0 |
| Hinds Leave Me Alone | 3.5 |
| The Shacks Haze | 3.0 |
| The Marias Superclean Vol. I | 4.0 |
| Brazilian Girls Brazilian Girls | 3.5 |
| Kacey Musgraves Golden Hour | 4.3 |
| Soccer Mommy Clean | 3.5 |
| Albert Hammond Jr Francis Trouble | 4.0 |
| Jack White Boarding House Reach | 2.5 |
| Yo La Tengo There’s A Riot Going On | 3.5 |
| U.S. Girls In A Poem Unlimited | 4.0 |
| Ty Segall Freedom's Goblin | 3.5 |
| Field Music Open Here | 2.5 |
| Franz Ferdinand Always Ascending | 2.5 |
| MGMT Little Dark Age | 3.0 |
| Jellyfish Spilt Milk | 4.5 |
| Rhye Blood | 3.0 |
| Django Django Marble Skies | 2.5 |
| Anna Burch Quit The Curse | 4.0 |
| Porches The House | 2.5 |
| Porches Pool | 2.5 |
| First Aid Kit Ruins | 3.2 |
| The Go! Team Semicircle | 3.0 |
| Methyl Ethel Everything is Forgotten | 3.5 |
| Bedouine Bedouine | 3.8 |
| Amy Shark Night Thinker | 3.0 |
| Charlotte Gainsbourg Rest | 3.8 |
| The Clientele Music for the Age of Miracles | 3.5 |
| Weaves Wide Open | 4.0 |
| Wand Plum | 3.9 |
| Roc Marciano Rosebudd's Revenge | 3.5 |
| Violents and Monica Martin Awake and Pretty Much Sober | 4.1 |
| Peach Pit Sweet FA | 4.2 |
| Peach Pit Being So Normal | 4.0 |
| Jane Weaver Modern Kosmology | 3.5 |
| Kendrick Lamar DAMN. | 3.0 |
| Big K.R.I.T. 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time | 3.5 |
| Julien Baker Sprained Ankle | 3.4 |
| The Mynabirds Generals | 3.5 |
| The Mynabirds Lovers Know | 2.0 |
| Diet Cig I Swear I'm Good At This | 2.5 |
| Tove Lo Blue Lips | 3.0 |
| Taylor Swift Reputation | 3.0 |
| Destroyer Ken | 4.0 |
| Susanne Sundfor Music For People In Trouble | 3.0 |
| Bibio Phantom Brickworks | 3.0 |
| Unwound Leaves Turn Inside You | 3.0 |
| St. Vincent Masseduction | 3.9 |
| Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile Lotta Sea Lice | 2.5 |
| Wolf Parade Cry Cry Cry | 3.7 |
| Ducktails Jersey Devil | 2.5 |
| Widowspeak Expect the Best | 3.5 |
| Death Cab for Cutie The Photo Album | 3.5 |
| Iglooghost Neo Wax Bloom | 4.0 |
| some solid ADHD-core |
| together PANGEA Bulls and Roosters | 3.5 |
| together PANGEA Badillac | 3.0 |
| Blue Hawaii Tenderness | 4.1 |
| o yaaa this is the groove |
| Mister Heavenly Boxing the Moonlight | 3.0 |
| French for Rabbits Spirits | 4.0 |
| Wolf Alice Visions of a Life | 2.5 |
| Torres Three Futures | 2.5 |
| Phoebe Bridgers Stranger in the Alps | 3.0 |
| The Horrors V | 4.1 |
| Cut Copy Haiku From Zero | 3.3 |
| Passion Pit Tremendous Sea of Love | 2.5 |
| Zola Jesus Okovi | 3.0 |
| Hundred Waters Communicating | 4.0 |
| Deer Tick War Elephant | 3.0 |
| Alvvays Antisocialites | 3.8 |
| Death From Above 1979 Outrage! Is Now | 2.0 |
| LCD Soundsystem American Dream | 2.5 |
| The National Sleep Well Beast | 3.3 |
| Turnover Good Nature | 2.5 |
| Turnover Peripheral Vision | 3.0 |
| Gang of Youths Go Farther in Lightness | 3.0 |
| Brand New Science Fiction | 3.0 |
| The War On Drugs A Deeper Understanding | 4.0 |
| Grizzly Bear Painted Ruins | 4.0 |
| Everything Everything A Fever Dream | 3.5 |
| Blood Cultures Happy Birthday | 4.5 |
| Arcade Fire Everything Now | 2.0 |
| Manchester Orchestra A Black Mile to the Surface | 3.3 |
| Lana Del Rey Lust For Life | 2.5 |
| Manchester Orchestra I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child | 3.5 |
| Waxahatchee Out in the Storm | 3.5 |
| London Grammar Truth is a Beautiful Thing | 2.5 |
| Japanese Breakfast Soft Sounds From Another Planet | 3.0 |
| HAIM Something To Tell You | 3.0 |
| Ratboys GN | 3.5 |
| Charly Bliss Guppy | 4.0 |
| Broken Social Scene Hug of Thunder | 4.0 |
| Portugal. The Man Woodstock | 2.5 |
| Kevin Morby City Music | 4.0 |
| Smidley Smidley | 3.5 |
| Big Thief Capacity | 3.0 |
| Lorde Melodrama | 3.4 |
| Marika Hackman I'm Not Your Man | 4.5 |
| Katy Perry Witness | 2.0 |
| Tops Sugar at the Gate | 3.2 |
| Elastica Elastica | 3.0 |
| Phoenix (FRA) Ti Amo | 2.9 |
| Cigarettes After Sex Cigarettes After Sex | 4.0 |
| Thunder Dreamer Capture | 4.0 |
| alt-J Relaxer | 2.0 |
| Alex G Rocket | 4.0 |
| Milky Chance Blossom | 3.0 |
| Mac DeMarco This Old Dog | 3.0 |
| Beach Fossils Somersault | 4.0 |
| Do Make Say Think Stubborn Persistent Illusions | 4.0 |
| The Brian Jonestown Massacre Take It From The Man! | 4.0 |
| Hoops Routines | 3.8 |
| Fleet Foxes Crack-Up | 3.0 |
| Paramore After Laughter | 2.0 |
| Fazerdaze Morningside | 4.0 |
| Slowdive Slowdive (LP) | 3.0 |
| Sylvan Esso What Now | 4.0 |
| The New Pornographers Whiteout Conditions | 3.0 |
| Banks and Steelz Anything But Words | 2.0 |
| Future Islands The Far Field | 4.0 |
| The Lemon Twigs Do Hollywood | 3.0 |
| Goldfrapp Silver Eye | 3.3 |
| Tacocat Lost Time | 3.4 |
| Klangstof Close Eyes To Exit | 3.0 |
| Real Estate Real Estate | 3.0 |
| Real Estate In Mind | 3.5 |
| Temples Volcano | 3.6 |
| Spoon Hot Thoughts | 4.1 |
| Lapsley Long Way Home | 2.5 |
| The Shins Heartworms | 2.5 |
| Jay Som Everybody Works | 3.9 |
| Tennis Yours Conditionally | 3.4 |
| Grandaddy Last Place | 3.4 |
| Electric Guest Plural | 3.0 |
| Father John Misty Pure Comedy | 3.1 |
| Dirty Projectors Dirty Projectors | 2.0 |
| Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Only Run | 2.5 |
| Clap Your Hands Say Yeah The Tourist | 3.0 |
| Ryan Adams Prisoner | 2.5 |
| Ty Segall Ty Segall (2017) | 3.0 |
| Julie Byrne Not Even Happiness | 2.5 |
| Austra Future Politics | 2.5 |
| Cloud Nothings Life Without Sound | 3.0 |
| Japandroids Near To The Wild Heart Of Life | 2.3 |
| SOHN Rennen | 2.5 |
| The Flaming Lips Oczy Mlody | 2.5 |
| The xx I See You | 3.6 |
| Run the Jewels Run the Jewels 3 | 2.5 |
| Cigarettes After Sex I. | 3.5 |
| Elysian Fields Ghosts of No | 3.0 |
| Jay Som Turn Into | 3.5 |
| Amason Sky City | 3.5 |
| Weyes Blood Front Row Seat to Earth | 3.9 |
| GusGus Arabian Horse | 4.0 |
| Yellow Claw Blood for Mercy | 2.0 |
| Excision Virus | 2.5 |
| Afrojack Forget the World | 2.0 |
| Goldroom Embrace | 3.5 |
| The Magician Together | 3.0 |
| GRiZ Rebel Era | 2.5 |
| Black Tiger Sex Machine Welcome To Our Church | 2.5 |
| Drive-By Truckers American Band | 3.0 |
| Wilco Schmilco | 3.0 |
| Bibio A Mineral Love | 3.9 |
| NOISIA Outer Edges | 4.0 |
| Noname Telefone | 3.5 |
| Skepta Konnichiwa | 3.5 |
| YG My Krazy Life | 2.5 |
| YG Still Brazy | 4.0 |
| Margaret Glaspy Emotions And Math | 3.5 |
| A Tribe Called Quest We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service | 4.0 |
| Whitney Light Upon the Lake | 3.5 |
| Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam I Had a Dream That You Were Mine | 3.9 |
| Islands Taste | 3.5 |
| Islands Should I Remain Here, At Sea? | 2.5 |
| Conor Oberst Ruminations | 3.5 |
| RUFUS DU SOL Bloom | 4.0 |
| Jimmy Eat World Damage | 2.5 |
| Jimmy Eat World Integrity Blues | 3.0 |
| Wildhart Shine | 3.2 |
| American Wrestlers Goodbye Terrible Youth | 3.9 |
| The Chainsmokers Collage | 1.5 |
| The Radio Dept. Running Out of Love | 4.0 |
| The Radio Dept. Clinging to a Scheme | 4.5 |
| Built to Spill Untethered Moon | 3.0 |
| Built to Spill Perfect from Now On | 4.5 |
| Built to Spill Keep It Like a Secret | 4.5 |
| Phantogram Three | 4.0 |
| Regina Spektor Remember Us To Life | 3.4 |
| Bon Iver 22, A Million | 2.0 |
| Cunning song titles tactic by Vernon here to make it impossible for me to ever review |
| Kishi Bashi Sonderlust | 3.0 |
| Warpaint Heads Up | 4.0 |
| Okkervil River Away | 4.0 |
| Local Natives Sunlit Youth | 3.2 |
| Cymbals Eat Guitars Pretty Years | 4.4 |
| Butch Walker Stay Gold | 2.5 |
| Glass Animals How To Be A Human Being | 3.0 |
| Cass McCombs Mangy Love | 3.0 |
| Frank Ocean Blonde | 3.0 |
| Carly Rae Jepsen Emotion: Side B | 3.5 |
| The Veils Total Depravity | 4.2 |
| Angel Olsen My Woman | 4.5 |
| Pinegrove Cardinal | 4.0 |
| Silver Jews American Water | 5.0 |
| MSTRKRFT Operator | 4.0 |
| Blood Orange Freetown Sound | 3.0 |
| Blood Orange Cupid Deluxe | 3.0 |
| The Cardigans Super Extra Gravity | 3.5 |
| The Avalanches Wildflower | 3.5 |
| Bat For Lashes The Bride | 3.0 |
| Metronomy Summer 08 | 2.0 |
| Ladyhawke Ladyhawke | 3.5 |
| Ladyhawke Wild Things | 2.5 |
| Nice As Fuck Nice As Fuck | 2.5 |
| Case/Lang/Veirs Case/Lang/Veirs | 4.2 |
| Peter Bjorn and John Breakin' Point | 3.2 |
| Peter Bjorn and John Gimme Some | 3.5 |
| Peter Bjorn and John Living Thing | 2.0 |
| Band of Horses Why Are You OK | 3.0 |
| Desaparecidos Read Music/Speak Spanish | 3.5 |
| Wye Oak Tween | 4.0 |
| Tegan and Sara Love You to Death | 2.5 |
| Big Thief Masterpiece | 4.0 |
| Haerts Hemiplegia | 3.5 |
| By Divine Right Sweet Confusion | 4.0 |
| The Kills Ash & Ice | 2.5 |
| The Strokes Future Present Past | 1.5 |
| Gold Panda Good Luck And Do Your Best | 4.0 |
| Gold Motel Gold Motel | 3.0 |
| Gold Motel Summer House | 4.0 |
| Car Seat Headrest Teens of Denial | 2.5 |
| Mutual Benefit Skip a Sinking Stone | 4.5 |
| Sigur Ros Med Sud i Eyrum vid Spilum Endalaust | 3.5 |
| Kaytranada 99.9% | 4.1 |
| Little Scream Cult Following | 3.7 |
| Wolf Parade EP 4 | 3.9 |
| Weyes Blood The Innocents | 3.0 |
| James Blake The Colour in Anything | 3.3 |
| Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool | 3.0 |
| Holy Ghost! Crime Cutz | 4.0 |
| Holy Ghost! Dynamics | 4.0 |
| Weezer The White Album | 3.7 |
| Kevin Morby Singing Saw | 4.2 |
| Beyonce Lemonade | 2.5 |
| Wolf Alice My Love Is Cool | 3.5 |
| Meg Myers Sorry | 3.0 |
| Lucius Good Grief | 2.7 |
| Woods City Sun Eater In The River Of Light | 3.8 |
| M83 Junk | 2.8 |
| Humans (CAN) Noontide | 2.5 |
| Yeasayer Amen & Goodbye | 2.5 |
| Radical Face The Family Tree: The Leaves | 3.0 |
| Washed Out Paracosm | 3.5 |
| Andrew Bird Are You Serious | 3.0 |
| Melody's Echo Chamber Melody's Echo Chamber | 3.5 |
| Bent Shapes Wolves of Want | 3.7 |
| Explosions in the Sky The Wilderness | 2.5 |
| Baauer Aa | 2.5 |
| White Denim Stiff | 2.5 |
| Heartless Bastards Arrow | 3.3 |
| Nada Surf You Know Who You Are | 3.0 |
| Sleepy Vikings They Will Find You Here | 3.4 |
| Polica United Crushers | 3.5 |
| Miike Snow iii | 3.0 |
| Santigold 99¢ | 3.2 |
| Charli XCX Vroom Vroom | 1.0 |
| Low Roar 0 | 3.0 |
| Polica Give You The Ghost | 4.5 |
| Polica Shulamith | 3.9 |
| Antigone and Francois X We Move As One | 3.5 |
| Memoryhouse Soft Hate | 4.0 |
| Kanye West The Life of Pablo | 1.5 |
| Radiation City Synesthetica | 4.0 |
| Deep Sea Diver Secrets | 3.0 |
| Wild Nothing Life of Pause | 2.0 |
| DIIV Is the Is Are | 4.0 |
| Chairlift Moth | 3.8 |
| Eleanor Friedberger New View | 3.6 |
| Quilt Held In Splendor | 3.5 |
| Quilt Plaza | 4.0 |
| Savages Adore Life | 3.0 |
| Daughter Not to Disappear | 3.9 |
| Marika Hackman We Slept at Last | 4.0 |
| Calexico Edge of the Sun | 3.5 |
| C Duncan Architect | 3.9 |
| Dråpe Relax/Relapse | 4.0 |
| Hanni El Khatib Moonlight | 3.0 |
| Pusha T King Push – Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude | 4.0 |
| Empress Of Me | 4.0 |
| Neon Indian Vega Intl. Night School | 2.5 |
| Colleen Green I Want to Grow Up | 3.5 |
| Beach House Thank Your Lucky Stars | 2.5 |
| Laura Stevenson Cocksure | 3.5 |
| Radiation City Animals In The Median | 4.0 |
| Grimes Art Angels | 4.5 |
| higher than an aeroplane |
| Joywave How Do You Feel Now? | 4.0 |
| Foals What Went Down | 3.0 |
| BORNS Dopamine | 4.0 |
| Deerhunter Fading Frontier | 4.2 |
| Julia Holter Ekstasis | 3.5 |
| Julia Holter Have You In My Wilderness | 4.0 |
| CHVRCHES Every Open Eye | 3.0 |
| Motion City Soundtrack Panic Stations | 2.5 |
| Kurt Vile b'lieve i'm goin' down... | 3.0 |
| Lana Del Rey Honeymoon | 2.5 |
| Youth Lagoon Savage Hills Ballroom | 3.0 |
| Metric Pagans In Vegas | 2.0 |
| let it go Emily |
| Beirut No No No | 3.1 |
| Ryan Adams 1989 | 3.9 |
| Widowspeak Widowspeak | 3.0 |
| Widowspeak All Yours | 3.5 |
| Telekinesis (USA-WA, Indie Rock) Parallel Seismic Conspiracies | 3.5 |
| Telekinesis (USA-WA, Indie Rock) Telekinesis! | 3.0 |
| Telekinesis (USA-WA, Indie Rock) Dormarion | 2.5 |
| Destroyer Poison Season | 4.0 |
| Beach House Depression Cherry | 4.1 |
| Mac DeMarco Another One | 3.5 |
| Albert Hammond Jr Momentary Masters | 3.4 |
| Little Boots Nocturnes | 3.5 |
| Little Boots Hands | 4.0 |
| Jason Isbell Something More Than Free | 3.0 |
| The Chemical Brothers Born in the Echoes | 3.3 |
| L'Orange and Kool Keith Time? Astonishing! | 3.0 |
| HEALTH Death Magic | 4.2 |
| Titus Andronicus The Most Lamentable Tragedy | 2.0 |
| Susanne Sundfor Ten Love Songs | 4.2 |
| Springtime Carnivore Springtime Carnivore | 4.5 |
| Wilco Star Wars | 4.0 |
| Little Boots Working Girl | 3.5 |
| Tame Impala Currents | 3.0 |
| Ducktails The Flower Lane | 2.5 |
| Ducktails St. Catherine | 4.0 |
| Carly Rae Jepsen Emotion | 3.5 |
| Tanlines Highlights | 3.0 |
| Unknown Mortal Orchestra Multi-Love | 3.0 |
| Kacey Musgraves Pageant Material | 4.0 |
| HOLYCHILD The Shape of Brat Pop to Come | 4.0 |
| Ryn Weaver The Fool | 3.5 |
| Summer Fiction Himalaya | 3.5 |
| Girlpool Before the World Was Big | 3.0 |
| Nate Ruess Grand Romantic | 2.0 |
| No Joy More Faithful | 4.0 |
| Heartless Bastards Restless Ones | 3.9 |
| Lord Huron Strange Trails | 3.8 |
| MO No Mythologies to Follow | 4.0 |
| Zella Day Kicker | 2.5 |
| Zella Day Zella Day | 3.5 |
| Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin Fly By Wire | 3.0 |
| Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin The High Country | 3.0 |
| Jose Gonzalez Vestiges and Claws | 3.0 |
| Jamie xx In Colour | 4.1 |
| Florence and the Machine How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful | 3.5 |
| The Helio Sequence The Helio Sequence | 2.5 |
| Best Coast California Nights | 2.5 |
| The Tallest Man on Earth Dark Bird Is Home | 3.7 |
| My Morning Jacket The Waterfall | 3.4 |
| Mikal Cronin MCIII | 4.0 |
| Blur The Magic Whip | 4.0 |
| L'Orange and Jeremiah Jae The Night Took Us In Like Family | 4.0 |
| East India Youth Culture of Volume | 3.0 |
| Lord Huron Lonesome Dreams | 4.0 |
| Sleater-Kinney No Cities to Love | 4.0 |
| The Mountain Goats Beat the Champ | 3.7 |
| Laura Marling Short Movie | 3.0 |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor 'Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress' | 2.7 |
| From the depths of unsullied innocence, the band find the sweet token of creativity that most seem to miss or forget, floating sullenly in a void of wasted invention, imagination and a deep pool of potential just waiting to be plucked by those who are willing to look. You've heard it all before and don?t care to hear it again, the mindless ranting and raving of how old and stale a movement can become, what once shook bone and bent earth soon becomes a dreary and mindless meandering. At a time when it all seems lost, where the good, the great and the mighty are now far and few in between, the inertia is broken as Godspeed You! Black Emperor grants the engrossing and full spectrum of colour. Not for a long while has such an album immediately taken hold of me, such alluring orchestrations hypnotising me from start to finish. Quite honestly an album that leaves one in awe at its majesty, Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress is impressive to say the least, and speaks wonders of where the band is to head next. Let yourself go and delve into the psychedelic wonders of this record, sink into its atmospheres and be ensnared by its odd divination. |
| Death Cab for Cutie Kintsugi | 3.0 |
| The Go! Team The Scene Between | 3.1 |
| Laura Marling A Creature I Don't Know | 3.0 |
| Twin Shadow Confess | 3.5 |
| Twin Shadow Eclipse | 2.5 |
| Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly | 4.0 |
| Sufjan Stevens Carrie and Lowell | 4.5 |
| Modest Mouse Strangers to Ourselves | 3.5 |
| are you a man or a mouse |
| Waxahatchee Cerulean Salt | 3.0 |
| Waxahatchee Ivy Tripp | 3.0 |
| Tobias Jesso Jr. Goon | 3.5 |
| Daughter His Young Heart | 3.5 |
| Daughter The Wild Youth | 4.0 |
| Deep Sea Diver History Speaks | 4.0 |
| of Montreal Aureate Gloom | 2.6 |
| Ambulance LTD. New English EP | 3.0 |
| Purity Ring Another Eternity | 3.7 |
| Father John Misty Fear Fun | 3.5 |
| Purity Ring Shrines | 2.5 |
| Butch Walker Afraid of Ghosts | 4.0 |
| Father John Misty I Love You, Honeybear | 4.3 |
| Two Gallants We Are Undone | 3.2 |
| Natalie Prass Natalie Prass | 3.0 |
| Hundred Waters The Moon Rang Like a Bell | 3.0 |
| Jason Isbell Southeastern | 4.5 |
| Preoccupations Viet Cong | 3.5 |
| Guster Evermotion | 3.1 |
| Mark Ronson Uptown Special | 3.9 |
| The Decemberists What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World | 3.3 |
| Belle and Sebastian Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance | 2.8 |
| The Dodos Individ | 3.4 |
| Jukebox the Ghost Jukebox The Ghost LP | 2.5 |
| Catfish and the Bottlemen The Balcony | 2.5 |
| Mystery Skulls Forever | 2.5 |
| Mark Ronson Record Collection | 4.0 |
| Mr Little Jeans Pocketknife | 3.7 |
| Charli XCX Sucker | 3.8 |
| iamamiwhoami Blue | 3.5 |
| TV on the Radio Seeds | 3.0 |
| Dads I’ll Be The Tornado | 2.5 |
| Ryn Weaver Promises | 3.5 |
| She and Him Classics | 2.5 |
| RL Grime VOID | 3.3 |
| The Antlers Familiars | 3.0 |
| Perfume Genius Too Bright | 3.5 |
| Banks Goddess | 3.5 |
| Mimicking Birds EONS | 3.5 |
| Jessie Ware Tough Love | 4.1 |
| Jessie Ware Devotion | 3.0 |
| Andy Stott Faith in Strangers | 2.5 |
| Andy Stott Luxury Problems | 4.0 |
| Damien Rice My Favourite Faded Fantasy | 3.0 |
| Gorgon City Sirens | 3.9 |
| Ricky Eat Acid Three Love Songs | 3.0 |
| Taylor Swift Taylor Swift | 3.0 |
| Damien Rice O | 3.0 |
| ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead IX | 3.0 |
| Ben Howard I Forget Where We Were | 4.1 |
| The Drums Encyclopedia | 2.0 |
| The Ting Tings Sounds from Nowheresville | 2.0 |
| The Ting Tings We Started Nothing | 2.5 |
| Ty Segall Manipulator | 3.9 |
| Taylor Swift 1989 | 3.8 |
| Her early work was a little too 'country' for my taste, but when Fearless came out in '08, I think she really came into her own - both commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. She's been compared to Miranda Lambert, but I think Taylor has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humour. In '14, Taylor released this, 1989, her most accomplished album. I think her undisputed masterpiece is 'Style', a song so catchy most people probably don't listen to the lyrics - but they should! Because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about Taylor herself! |
| Broods Evergreen | 3.5 |
| Weezer Everything Will Be Alright in the End | 3.4 |
| Beach Slang Cheap Thrills On A Dead End Street | 3.0 |
| Caribou Our Love | 4.2 |
| Cymbals Eat Guitars LOSE | 5.0 |
| The Voidz Tyranny | 1.5 |
| alt-J This Is All Yours | 2.5 |
| Tennis Cape Dory | 3.0 |
| Delta Spirit Into the Wide | 2.5 |
| Tennis Ritual In Repeat | 4.0 |
| Death From Above 1979 The Physical World | 3.0 |
| U2 Songs of Innocence | 2.9 |
| Ryan Adams Ryan Adams | 3.5 |
| Ryan Adams Orion | 1.5 |
| Interpol El Pintor | 4.0 |
| Ariana Grande My Everything | 2.0 |
| Blonde Redhead Barragan | 2.7 |
| Kimbra The Golden Echo | 3.0 |
| Iggy Azalea The New Classic | 2.0 |
| Basement Jaxx Rooty | 4.1 |
| Exit_International Our Science Is Golden | 2.5 |
| The New Pornographers Brill Bruisers | 3.9 |
| Ariana Grande Yours Truly | 2.5 |
| Sylvan Esso Sylvan Esso | 4.0 |
| Literature Chorus | 4.0 |
| Araabmuzik Electronic Dream | 4.0 |
| Imogen Heap Sparks | 2.0 |
| Spoon Got Nuffin | 2.5 |
| The Rosebuds Sand + Silence | 4.1 |
| Spoon They Want My Soul | 4.3 |
| Jenny Lewis The Voyager | 3.9 |
| The Clientele Minotaur | 3.0 |
| The Raveonettes Pe'ahi | 3.3 |
| The guitar solo on "Sisters" is enough to love this record more than anything they've done since 2010. |
| The Notwist Neon Golden | 4.6 |
| The Notwist Close to the Glass | 3.0 |
| The Rosebuds Loud Planes Fly Low | 3.4 |
| Borgore #NewGoreOrder | 1.5 |
| Alvvays Alvvays | 4.1 |
| Manic Street Preachers Futurology | 3.0 |
| Andrew Bird Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of... | 3.0 |
| Strand of Oaks Heal | 4.0 |
| Bleachers Strange Desire | 3.0 |
| The Bilinda Butchers Heaven | 4.0 |
| East India Youth Total Strife Forever | 4.0 |
| How to Dress Well What Is This Heart? | 3.4 |
| Conor Oberst Outer South | 2.5 |
| Conor Oberst Upside Down Mountain | 4.0 |
| Andrew Bird I Want to See Pulaski at Night | 2.5 |
| Chromeo White Women | 3.0 |
| Angel Olsen Burn Your Fire for No Witness | 3.0 |
| Saintseneca Dark Arc | 3.8 |
| Kelis Food | 3.5 |
| A Sunny Day in Glasgow Sea When Absent | 3.0 |
| Posse Soft Opening | 4.0 |
| MaryLeigh Roohan Skin and Bone | 3.4 |
| Man Man On Oni Pond | 3.5 |
| Lana Del Rey Ultraviolence | 3.5 |
| Alex G DSU | 3.0 |
| The Black Keys Turn Blue | 2.5 |
| The Clientele Bonfires on the Heath | 3.3 |
| First Aid Kit Stay Gold | 3.8 |
| Hamilton Leithauser Black Hours | 3.8 |
| Jack White Lazaretto | 3.0 |
| Hey Dan Auerbach how you like deez nutz bro |
| Ought More Than Any Other Day | 3.0 |
| Daphni Jiaolong | 2.5 |
| SKATERS Manhattan | 3.5 |
| The Black Keys Magic Potion | 2.5 |
| Alex G Trick | 3.0 |
| Kishi Bashi 151a | 4.0 |
| Kishi Bashi Lighght | 4.2 |
| 4.2? oh word eli |
| St. Vincent St. Vincent | 3.4 |
| Lykke Li I Never Learn | 3.7 |
| Disclosure Settle | 3.9 |
| The Horrors Luminous | 3.3 |
| Papercuts Life Among The Savages | 4.0 |
| Sharon Van Etten Are We There | 4.4 |
| EMA The Future's Void | 3.4 |
| Cloud Nothings Here and Nowhere Else | 3.5 |
| tUnE-yArDs Nikki Nack | 2.8 |
| Sea Power Machineries of Joy | 3.0 |
| The Pains of Being Pure at Heart Days of Abandon | 3.7 |
| Lily Allen Sheezus | 2.4 |
| Woods At Echo Lake | 3.0 |
| Woods Songs of Shame | 2.5 |
| Damon Albarn Everyday Robots | 3.0 |
| Courtney Barnett The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas | 3.5 |
| Blind Pilot We Are The Tide | 3.0 |
| Blind Pilot 3 Rounds and a Sound | 4.3 |
| L'Orange The Orchid Days | 3.5 |
| BADBADNOTGOOD III | 3.8 |
| Temples Sun Structures | 3.5 |
| Mac DeMarco Salad Days | 3.5 |
| Todd Terje It's Album Time | 3.0 |
| Woods With Light And With Love | 4.1 |
| Future Honest | 2.5 |
| Eels The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett | 3.9 |
| Wye Oak Shriek | 2.5 |
| Bombay Bicycle Club So Long, See You Tomorrow | 3.5 |
| Islands Ski Mask | 3.0 |
| Pure X Angel | 3.0 |
| Foxy Shazam Gonzo | 2.0 |
| Foxy Shazam The Church of Rock and Roll | 2.5 |
| Manchester Orchestra Cope | 2.5 |
| The Hold Steady Teeth Dreams | 3.0 |
| The Hold Steady Heaven Is Whenever | 2.5 |
| The War On Drugs Future Weather | 2.5 |
| Kaiser Chiefs Education, Education, Education & War | 2.0 |
| EMA Past Life Martyred Saints | 3.5 |
| Tokyo Police Club A Lesson in Crime | 4.0 |
| Tokyo Police Club Elephant Shell | 3.0 |
| Tokyo Police Club Forcefield | 3.6 |
| Future Islands Singles | 3.0 |
| Yellow Ostrich Strange Land | 3.8 |
| Yellow Ostrich The Mistress | 2.5 |
| Phantogram Voices | 3.5 |
| We Are Scientists TV en Français | 2.5 |
| Lost In The Trees Past Life | 2.5 |
| The Men Tomorrow's Hits | 3.0 |
| Only a drastic change if you haven't listened to the Men since 2011, Tomorrow's Hits nevertheless feels like the first time the band's album-a-year approach is catching up with them. It's almost lazy in its perfunctory drunken bar-rock, and while that sloppiness is almost surely intentional, it makes for an insubstantial album. It sounds like the Men boozily covering the Men. That's certainly an enjoyable experience, but any forward progress has stalled. |
| Real Estate Atlas | 3.5 |
| The War On Drugs Lost in the Dream | 4.7 |
| I want to feel like this forever |
| The Jezabels The Brink | 2.5 |
| Beck Morning Phase | 3.0 |
| Macintosh Plus Floral Shoppe | 2.0 |
| Sun Kil Moon Benji | 4.1 |
| Sun Kil Moon Among the Leaves | 2.5 |
| Alcest Shelter | 3.0 |
| Pretty bird, yeah, can you say pretty bird??? |
| Bibio Green | 3.0 |
| Hospitality Trouble | 4.0 |
| Dum Dum Girls Too True | 3.5 |
| Warpaint Warpaint | 3.5 |
| Acid House Kings Music Sounds Better With You | 4.0 |
| Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything | 3.0 |
| Beyonce Beyonce | 3.3 |
| Yo La Tengo I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One | 4.8 |
| Pure Bathing Culture Moon Tides | 3.3 |
| Incan Abraham Ancient Vacation | 3.9 |
| Carly Rae Jepsen Kiss | 3.4 |
| Carly Rae Jepsen Curiosity | 2.5 |
| Burial Rival Dealer | 4.1 |
| Bill Callahan Dream River | 3.7 |
| Radical Face The Bastards: Volume One | 3.8 |
| Radical Face The Family Tree: The Roots | 4.5 |
| Britney Spears Britney Jean | 2.0 |
| John-Allison Weiss Say What You Mean | 3.5 |
| Anamanaguchi Endless Fantasy | 3.8 |
| Anamanaguchi Dawn Metropolis | 3.0 |
| Factory Floor Factory Floor | 2.5 |
| Jon Hopkins Immunity | 3.5 |
| Shpongle Museum of Consciousness | 3.9 |
| Feed Me Jack Anatolia | 3.5 |
| Mutual Benefit Love's Crushing Diamond | 4.1 |
| Sigur Ros Kveikur | 3.0 |
| Julia Holter Loud City Song | 3.0 |
| Saint Pepsi Hit Vibes | 2.5 |
| Black Milk No Poison No Paradise | 4.0 |
| Widowspeak The Swamps | 3.5 |
| Tennis Small Sound | 3.8 |
| Lily Allen Alright, Still | 3.0 |
| Danny Brown Old | 2.8 |
| Danny Brown XXX | 2.5 |
| ASAP Rocky LONG.LIVE.A$AP | 4.0 |
| Pusha T My Name Is My Name | 3.9 |
| Take out most of the features here (save for Kendrick, Rick Ross (?!)), and you'd have one of the best rap records of the year. As is, it's about as stellar as one could have hoped for after all the delays that have plagued Pusha seemingly all his life. |
| Big K.R.I.T. King Remembered In Time | 3.0 |
| ASAP Rocky Live.Love.A$AP. | 2.9 |
| Freddie Gibbs ESGN | 2.5 |
| Midlake Antiphon | 3.0 |
| Hellogoodbye Everything Is Debatable | 2.5 |
| Hellogoodbye Would It Kill You? | 4.0 |
| The Men Open Your Heart | 3.0 |
| Janelle Monae The Electric Lady | 3.5 |
| Sorrow (UK) Dreamstone | 3.9 |
| Radical Face The Family Tree: The Branches | 4.5 |
| Cut Copy Bright Like Neon Love | 3.0 |
| Arcade Fire Reflektor | 2.7 |
| Would have made for a swell EP. |
| Cut Copy Free Your Mind | 4.4 |
| HAIM Days Are Gone | 3.4 |
| Goldfrapp Tales Of Us | 3.0 |
| Friendzone DX | 4.0 |
| Guards In Guards We Trust | 3.7 |
| Cults Static | 3.0 |
| of Montreal The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy | 3.5 |
| Miley Cyrus Bangerz | 2.0 |
| MGMT MGMT | 3.0 |
| Rhye Woman | 4.0 |
| White Denim Corsicana Lemonade | 3.9 |
| of Montreal Lousy With Sylvianbriar | 3.8 |
| Sleigh Bells Bitter Rivals | 2.8 |
| Poppier than their debut but without the dreamy haze that permeated Reign of Terror, Bitter Rivals attempts to split the difference and ends up gaining nothing. Chose a half measure, when they should've gone all the way. |
| Panic! at the Disco Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! | 2.3 |
| Yuck Glow and Behold | 3.0 |
| Lorde Pure Heroine | 4.1 |
| Justin Timberlake The 20/20 Experience - 2 of 2 | 2.5 |
| Crocodiles Crimes of Passion | 3.0 |
| Au Revoir Simone Move in Spectrums | 2.8 |
| The Weeknd Kiss Land | 2.0 |
| CHVRCHES The Bones of What You Believe | 3.7 |
| Okkervil River The Silver Gymnasium | 4.4 |
| Neko Case The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight... | 4.1 |
| Franz Ferdinand Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action | 3.5 |
| The Dodos Carrier | 4.5 |
| AlunaGeorge Body Music | 4.0 |
| Pretty Lights A Color Map of The Sun | 3.2 |
| Boards of Canada Tomorrow's Harvest | 3.3 |
| Laura Stevenson Wheel | 4.0 |
| Empire Of The Sun Ice On the Dune | 3.4 |
| Talk Talk Laughing Stock | 5.0 |
| Run the Jewels Run the Jewels | 3.5 |
| Kacey Musgraves Same Trailer Different Park | 4.1 |
| Smith Westerns Soft Will | 3.8 |
| Palma Violets 180 | 3.0 |
| Sean Nelson Make Good Choices | 3.7 |
| Gold Panda Half of Where You Live | 3.0 |
| Eleanor Friedberger Personal Record | 4.1 |
| Surfer Blood Pythons | 3.7 |
| Kanye West Yeezus | 2.0 |
"It's only led me to complete awesomeness at all times. It's only led me to awesome truth and awesomeness.
Beauty, truth, awesomeness. That's all it is."
-Kanye West |
| Rogue Wave Out Of The Shadow | 4.3 |
| Rogue Wave Nightingale Floors | 3.2 |
| Camera Obscura Desire Lines | 2.9 |
| Mikal Cronin MCII | 3.8 |
| Laura Marling Once I Was an Eagle | 3.3 |
| Great can't wait for a John Hanson staff review practically sweating with anticipation thanks for letting us know John! |
| Portugal. The Man Evil Friends | 3.0 |
These are songs to blast at the beach, to sing along with the windows down, to enjoy as four-minute bits of
rock escapism. Hopefully it will garner Portugal. The Man the attention they deserve and draw more people to
a live show that is one of the best in the scene. Perhaps then the band will finally feel comfortable exploring a
sound that hasn't already been rehashed to perfection and back again with a numbing sort of precision. |
| Daft Punk Random Access Memories | 3.0 |
| The National Trouble Will Find Me | 3.7 |
| The Postmarks By The Numbers | 2.5 |
| The Postmarks The Postmarks | 3.5 |
| Old Canes Early Morning Hymns | 4.0 |
| Warpaint The Fool | 3.0 |
| Bibio Silver Wilkinson | 4.3 |
| Bonobo Black Sands | 4.3 |
| Deerhunter Monomania | 3.0 |
| Vampire Weekend Modern Vampires of the City | 4.5 |
| Everyone's dying, but girl - you're not old yet. |
| The Veils Time Stays, We Go | 3.8 |
| Savages Silence Yourself | 3.5 |
| Ghostface Killah Twelve Reasons to Die | 4.2 |
| The Boy Least Likely To Best Party Ever | 3.5 |
| She and Him Volume Three | 2.4 |
| The Besnard Lakes Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO | 3.7 |
| L'Orange The Mad Writer | 4.1 |
| Phoenix (FRA) Bankrupt! | 4.0 |
| The Thermals Desperate Ground | 3.2 |
| Local Natives Hummingbird | 4.1 |
| Major Lazer Free The Universe | 3.5 |
| Sigur Ros Valtari | 3.5 |
| James Blake Overgrown | 3.4 |
| Yeah Yeah Yeahs Mosquito | 2.5 |
| The Flaming Lips The Terror | 3.9 |
| A brief glimpse of eternity's waltz |
| Smith Westerns Dye It Blonde | 3.4 |
| Rosie June Listening Post | 3.9 |
| Cold War Kids Dear Miss Lonelyhearts | 3.4 |
| Kurt Vile Wakin on a Pretty Daze | 4.3 |
| I slept on Smoke Ring For My Halo. I'm wide awake for this. |
| Eight and a Half Eight and a Half | 3.5 |
| Tera Melos X'ed Out | 3.0 |
| The Strokes Comedown Machine | 2.8 |
| DM Stith Heavy Ghost | 4.3 |
| Phosphorescent Muchacho | 4.0 |
| Justin Timberlake The 20/20 Experience | 3.5 |
| Almost worth the mounds of hyperbolic acclaim it receives |
| Stereophonics Graffiti On The Train | 2.0 |
| Low The Invisible Way | 3.0 |
| Youth Lagoon Wondrous Bughouse | 2.5 |
| Golden Grrrls Golden Grrrls | 3.6 |
| The Men New Moon | 4.1 |
| Shout Out Louds Optica | 3.3 |
| Beach Fossils Clash the Truth | 3.5 |
| Foals Holy Fire | 4.0 |
| Ladyhawke Anxiety | 3.9 |
| Fleetwood Mac Rumours | 5.0 |
| Albert Hammond Jr Yours To Keep | 3.5 |
| Albert Hammond Jr ¿Cómo Te Llama? | 3.0 |
| Coconut Records Davy | 3.5 |
| Coconut Records Nighttiming | 3.0 |
| Spiritualized Sweet Heart Sweet Light | 3.6 |
| My Bloody Valentine m b v | 3.8 |
| The Stone Roses The Stone Roses | 4.5 |
| Blue Hawaii Untogether | 3.0 |
| Widowspeak Almanac | 4.0 |
| My Bloody Valentine Loveless | 3.5 |
| Tegan and Sara Heartthrob | 3.9 |
| Tegan and Sara So Jealous | 3.5 |
| Shugo Tokumaru In Focus? | 3.7 |
| Ra Ra Riot Beta Love | 2.3 |
| Free Energy Love Sign | 2.5 |
| Tegan and Sara The Con | 4.1 |
| Yo La Tengo Fade | 4.2 |
| DIIV Oshin | 3.0 |
| Lana Del Rey Paradise | 2.0 |
| The Mountain Goats Tallahassee | 4.5 |
| Burial Truant/Rough Sleeper | 3.0 |
| Balthazar (BE) Applause | 3.5 |
| Balthazar (BE) Rats | 3.0 |
| Dum Dum Girls End of Daze | 4.0 |
| iNTRiKeT The Woods | 3.5 |
| Liars Liars | 3.0 |
| Cat Power Jukebox | 2.5 |
| John Talabot Fin | 4.0 |
| Nada Surf If I Had A Hi-Fi | 3.0 |
| Nada Surf High/Low | 2.5 |
| Knife Party Rage Valley | 3.0 |
| First Aid Kit The Lion's Roar | 4.0 |
| Divine Fits A Thing Called Divine Fits | 4.0 |
| Big Boi Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors | 3.5 |
| The Lumineers The Lumineers | 3.5 |
| Zammuto Zammuto | 3.0 |
| John K. Samson Provincial | 4.0 |
| Jens Lekman I Know What Love Isn't | 3.5 |
| The Welcome Wagon Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices | 3.5 |
| Perfume Genius Put Your Back N 2 It | 3.5 |
| Ghost Mice All We Got Is Each Other | 3.0 |
| Deerhoof Breakup Song | 2.0 |
| Hop Along Get Disowned | 2.5 |
| alt-J An Awesome Wave | 3.0 |
| Pop Winds Earth To Friend | 3.0 |
| Two Gallants What the Toll Tells | 3.5 |
| Clinic Free Reign | 3.5 |
| Foxygen Take The Kids Off Broadway | 3.0 |
| Sharon Van Etten Tramp | 3.5 |
| Grizzly Bear Shields | 3.0 |
| The National Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers | 3.0 |
| Reso Valken | 3.5 |
| Andrew Bird Hands of Glory | 4.0 |
| Tame Impala Lonerism | 4.0 |
| Goo Goo Dolls A Boy Named Goo | 4.0 |
| Woods Bend Beyond | 4.0 |
| Kurt Vile Smoke Ring For My Halo | 3.5 |
| James Blunt Back To Bedlam | 2.5 |
| Taylor Swift Red | 3.0 |
| Submotion Orchestra Fragments | 3.5 |
| Tilly and the Wall Heavy Mood | 2.5 |
| ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dea | 2.0 |
| ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead The Secret of Elena's Tomb | 3.5 |
| Breakbot By Your Side | 3.0 |
| Bat For Lashes The Haunted Man | 3.0 |
| A Fine Frenzy Pines | 4.0 |
| ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead Lost Songs | 4.0 |
| Earlimart System Preferences | 3.5 |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! | 3.5 |
The capacity of human intelligence seems to limit the capabilities to expand upon any possible creative
aptitudes. Indeed, if one cannot even notice the facets that the ingenuities around him are comprised of, how
can he be expected to fashion a beast of his own? This inveterate sense of constraint is a great blow to the
veracity of mankind's abilities. It restrains us and holds our minds to the ground below, averting any
possibility of rising above ourselves to something greater; something not fathomed by the conventional mind.
This concept of seeking to go beyond one's self, known as "transcendence," is essentially a gateway to
unlocking pieces of ourselves that can lead to some of the most elaborate and significant creations of our
world. For many, this quest to transcend and form creations that were once considered unthinkable and
overwhelming consumes life. Certainly it is rare to find such people, but when they are found, creative
barriers are destroyed. |
| Pinback Information Retrieved | 3.0 |
No one will ever accuse a Pinback record of sounding terrible; Rob Crow and Armistead Burwell Smith are
masters of lighting a slow burning fuse of groovy electric guitars and hypnotic rhythms that set in ever so
slightly. And it's predictably gorgeous. Where Information Retrieved fails is that it's content to be pretty and
nothing more. For a band that has always been adept at shading in the blank spaces during their career,
Information Retrieved is a shockingly humdrum drive, with many wonderful parts but nothing that really grabs
you. Pinback are still beautiful, but they're getting to the point where that's all they are. |
| Pinback Summer in Abaddon | 4.0 |
| Titus Andronicus Local Business | 2.0 |
| A.C. Newman Shut Down the Streets | 3.5 |
| Benjamin Gibbard Former Lives | 3.5 |
| Deadmau5 >album title goes here< | 3.0 |
| Flying Lotus Until the Quiet Comes | 3.0 |
| Flying Lotus Cosmogramma | 3.5 |
| Dragonette Bodyparts | 2.5 |
| Taken By Trees Other Worlds | 3.5 |
| GOOD Music Cruel Summer | 3.0 |
| How to Dress Well Total Loss | 4.0 |
| Stars The North | 3.0 |
| Exceedingly pretty but it seems each Stars album has less songs that latch onto you than the one before. Here, there's "Progress," "Do You Want To Die Together," and a whole mess of frosty ballads between Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell that sound pristine yet strangely airy and insubstantial. |
| Band of Horses Mirage Rock | 2.5 |
| Wild Nothing Nocturne | 4.0 |
| The Killers Battle Born | 2.0 |
| It's hard to choose a favorite among so many great tracks, but "From Here On Out" is one of the best, most powerful songs ever written about self-preservation, dignity. Its universal message crosses all boundaries and instills one with the hope that it's not too late to better ourselves. Since, Elizabeth, it's impossible in this world we live in to empathize with others, we can always empathize with ourselves. It's an important message, crucial really. And it's beautifully stated on the album. |
| The Raveonettes Observator | 3.0 |
| The Presets Pacifica | 3.0 |
| The Helio Sequence Negotiations | 3.0 |
| The Mountain Goats Transcendental Youth | 4.0 |
| Yawn.....what's this....another excellent Mountain Goats album you say? It'd be a surprise, at this point, for the Darnielle MG-5000 to take a detour into crunkcore and not come out with a superb record. |
| Menomena Moms | 4.5 |
| Animal Collective Centipede Hz | 3.0 |
| I'm not saying you need to be on drugs to give this a 4 or above but you totally need to be on drugs to give this a 4 or above. |
| Animal Collective Ark | 2.0 |
| Two Door Cinema Club Beacon | 3.5 |
| The xx Coexist | 2.5 |
| The Helio Sequence Keep Your Eyes Ahead | 4.0 |
| Yeasayer Fragrant World | 2.0 |
| Cat Power Sun | 4.0 |
| Alabama Shakes Boys & Girls | 3.0 |
| Heavenly Beat Talent | 3.5 |
| Jack Beats All Night | 2.0 |
| Jack Beats Careless | 3.5 |
| Crocodiles Sleep Forever | 3.0 |
| Blur Modern Life Is Rubbish | 3.5 |
| Blur Blur 21 | 4.5 |
| The Gaslight Anthem Handwritten | 3.5 |
| The Antlers Undersea | 4.0 |
| The Antlers (together) | 2.0 |
| Frank Ocean channel ORANGE | 3.0 |
| Killer Mike R.A.P. Music | 3.0 |
| Vacationer Gone | 3.5 |
| Passion Pit Gossamer | 4.0 |
| The Microphones The Glow Pt. 2 | 3.0 |
| Dirty Projectors Swing Lo Magellan | 3.0 |
| Regina Spektor What We Saw from the Cheap Seats | 3.0 |
| Fiona Apple The Idler Wheel... | 4.5 |
| Liars WIXIW | 3.5 |
| Hot Chip In Our Heads | 3.5 |
| The Mountain Goats The Sunset Tree | 4.5 |
| Big K.R.I.T. Live From The Underground | 3.0 |
| Metric Synthetica | 3.0 |
| The Tallest Man on Earth There's No Leaving Now | 4.0 |
| Motion City Soundtrack Go | 3.5 |
| Crocodiles Endless Flowers | 3.5 |
| El-P Cancer 4 Cure | 3.0 |
| The Hives Lex Hives | 2.5 |
| The Hives Black and White Album | 3.5 |
| The Walkmen Heaven | 4.5 |
| Simian Mobile Disco Unpatterns | 3.5 |
| Motion City Soundtrack Commit This to Memory | 4.0 |
| BADBADNOTGOOD BBNG2 | 3.5 |
| Beach House Bloom | 3.0 |
| Simian Mobile Disco Attack Decay Sustain Release | 3.5 |
| Beach Fossils Beach Fossils | 3.5 |
| Japandroids Celebration Rock | 3.0 |
| I could have sworn this came out in 2009 and was called Post-Nothing then. |
| Blur Leisure | 2.5 |
| Chromatics Kill for Love | 4.0 |
| Tenacious D Rize of the Fenix | 4.0 |
| Interested to see how this material will translate live without spontaneously combusting the entire audience into flames. Way better than Arcade Fire. |
| David Guetta Nothing but the Beat | 1.5 |
| System of a Down Steal This Album! | 2.0 |
| Death Grips The Money Store | 2.0 |
| Jack White Blunderbuss | 4.0 |
| Florence and the Machine MTV Unplugged | 2.5 |
| Holy Esque Holy Esque | 3.5 |
| Maps and Atlases Beware and Be Grateful | 3.5 |
| OFWGKTA The OF Tape Vol. 2 | 2.5 |
| Kaiser Chiefs Start the Revolution Without Me | 2.5 |
| M. Ward A Wasteland Companion | 3.5 |
| White Rabbits Milk Famous | 3.0 |
| She and Him A Very She & Him Christmas | 2.0 |
| Lost In The Trees A Church That Fits Our Needs | 4.0 |
| Hospitality Hospitality | 3.5 |
| Cate Le Bon CYRK | 3.0 |
| The Shins Port of Morrow | 3.0 |
| Delta Spirit Delta Spirit | 2.5 |
| Miike Snow Happy to You | 3.5 |
| The Good, The Bad and The Queen The Good, The Bad & The Queen | 4.0 |
| Geographer Myth | 3.5 |
| Andrew Bird Break It Yourself | 4.5 |
| Beck Mutations | 4.0 |
| Beck One Foot In The Grave | 2.5 |
| Beck Mellow Gold | 3.0 |
| Beck Golden Feelings | 2.0 |
| Beck Stereopathetic Soulmanure | 1.5 |
| Burial Burial | 2.5 |
| Burial Street Halo | 3.0 |
| Burial Kindred | 4.0 |
| Pinback Blue Screen Life | 4.0 |
| Geographer Innocent Ghosts | 3.5 |
| Cursive I Am Gemini | 3.5 |
| Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill | 3.0 |
| Ben Kweller Go Fly A Kite | 3.0 |
| Bat For Lashes Two Suns | 4.0 |
| AJJ Knife Man | 3.5 |
| The Beatles Love | 4.0 |
| The Beatles A Hard Day's Night | 3.5 |
| The Beatles With the Beatles | 3.0 |
| The Beatles Beatles for Sale | 3.5 |
| The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour | 4.0 |
| The Beatles Please Please Me | 3.0 |
| The Black Keys Attack & Release | 3.0 |
| School of Seven Bells Ghostory | 4.0 |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada | 4.0 |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor Yanqui U.X.O. | 3.5 |
| Field Music Plumb | 3.0 |
| Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Forever | 3.0 |
| Wu-Tang Clan The W | 3.0 |
| Wu-Tang Clan Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) | 5.0 |
| The Wrens Secaucus | 3.5 |
| Neko Case Blacklisted | 4.0 |
| Deerhunter Weird Era Cont. | 3.0 |
| The Veils Troubles of the Brain | 2.0 |
| The Walkmen A Hundred Miles Off | 3.0 |
| The Walkmen Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone | 3.5 |
| The Walkmen Bows + Arrows | 3.0 |
| of Montreal Cherry Peel | 3.0 |
| Whiskeytown Pneumonia | 3.5 |
| Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin Tape Club | 3.0 |
| fun. Some Nights | 2.0 |
| Something's wrong when the best song is a bonus track. |
| Tennis Young And Old | 3.5 |
| Sleigh Bells Reign of Terror | 4.0 |
| Shearwater Animal Joy | 3.5 |
| Dr. Dog Shame, Shame | 3.0 |
| Dr. Dog Be The Void | 2.5 |
| Dr. Dog Fate | 4.0 |
| Skrillex Bangarang | 2.0 |
| Islands A Sleep and a Forgetting | 4.0 |
| Grimes Visions | 4.0 |
| of Montreal Paralytic Stalks | 3.5 |
| Chairlift Something | 3.5 |
| Chairlift Does You Inspire You | 2.5 |
| Lana Del Rey Lana Del Rey | 3.5 |
| Lana Del Rey Born to Die | 2.5 |
| Sleeper Agent Celabrasion | 3.5 |
| Cloud Nothings Attack on Memory | 3.5 |
| Nada Surf The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy | 3.5 |
| Real Estate Days | 4.0 |
| Future Islands In Evening Air | 4.3 |
| Future Islands On the Water | 3.0 |
| The Joy Formidable The Big Roar | 3.5 |
| The Roots undun | 3.5 |
| Nujabes Spiritual State | 3.5 |
| Cloud Nothings Cloud Nothings | 3.0 |
| Dirty Beaches Badlands | 2.0 |
| Tim Hecker Ravedeath, 1972 | 3.0 |
| Rihanna Talk That Talk | 2.5 |
| The Black Keys El Camino | 3.5 |
| Childish Gambino Camp | 2.5 |
| Madonna American Life | 2.0 |
| Madonna Like a Prayer | 4.0 |
| Madonna Confessions on a Dancefloor | 3.5 |
| Sigur Ros Agætis byrjun | 3.5 |
| Sigur Ros ( ) | 4.0 |
| Drake Take Care | 2.5 |
| Drake Thank Me Later | 2.0 |
| Porter Robinson Say My Name | 4.0 |
| Braids Native Speaker | 3.0 |
| Los Campesinos! Hello Sadness | 3.5 |
| Atlas Sound Parallax | 3.5 |
| Modest Mouse The Moon & Antarctica | 5.0 |
| St. Vincent Strange Mercy | 3.5 |
| The Decemberists Long Live the King | 3.0 |
| Dan Mangan Oh Fortune | 3.5 |
| Florence and the Machine Ceremonials | 4.5 |
| God dammit and I was so ready to blast Ms. Welch for selling out. |
| Coldplay Mylo Xyloto | 3.0 |
| Excision Shambhala 2010 | 4.0 |
| Heartless Bastards Stairs and Elevators | 3.0 |
| Heartless Bastards The Mountain | 3.5 |
| The Drums Portamento | 3.5 |
| Justice Audio, Video, Disco | 2.0 |
| M83 Hurry Up, We're Dreaming | 4.5 |
| Ryan Adams Ashes And Fire | 3.0 |
| Youth Lagoon The Year of Hibernation | 3.5 |
| Great music to fall asleep to. And I mean that in the best way possible. |
| Sigur Ros Heima (DVD) | 5.0 |
| Feist Metals | 4.0 |
Oftentimes when artists feel commercial success is threatening their artistic credibility, they may record a
follow-up that often has the simultaneous goal of "getting back to my roots" and "alienating all the posers
who liked me because of that iPod commercial." I'm not entirely convinced that this wasn't Leslie Feist's whole
goal with Metals, an album that has a bleak, unwelcoming landscape as its cover and no candidates to
conveniently slide in next to "1234" at the Starbucks rack. Yet by refusing to kowtow to the single-oriented
modern market and soaking all of Metals in a morose sheen of understated production, Feist has turned the
spotlight back on what always made her a great artist to begin with: her songwriting. |
| Nurses Dracula | 3.5 |
| The Jezabels Prisoner | 4.0 |
| Male Bonding Endless Now | 3.5 |
| Excision X Rated | 3.0 |
| Wolfgang Gartner Weekend In America | 3.0 |
| Selena Gomez Kiss & Tell | 2.5 |
| Wilco The Whole Love | 4.5 |
| Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Hysterical | 2.5 |
| Girls Father, Son, Holy Ghost | 4.0 |
| It’s been said before, but it bears repeating: Christopher Owens, a genuinely fucked up individual by all accounts, writes some truly stellar pop music. People who dismiss Father, Son, Holy Ghost as a mere pastiche are doing themselves a disservice – Owens is the best young pop classicist in the business right now. What really sets him apart from his peers, though, is his totally guileless enthusiasm. He’s the type of front man who can give out a little yelp as the guitar buzzes back in on “Honey Bunny” and make it sound totally authentic, totally right. Which, incidentally, is how the rest of the record sounds. Combine that sincerity with the kind of ambitious song structures Owens has flawlessly constructed here, and maybe those Brian Wilson comparisons aren’t so far off now. |
| Thrice Major/Minor | 3.5 |
| The Rapture In the Grace of Your Love | 3.5 |
| Mister Heavenly Out of Love | 4.0 |
| Mates of State Mountaintops | 3.0 |
| Jay-Z and Kanye West Watch the Throne | 3.0 |
| Voxtrot Voxtrot | 2.5 |
| Voxtrot Raised By Wolves | 4.5 |
| Lil Wayne Tha Carter IV | 2.5 |
| Cymbals Eat Guitars Lenses Alien | 3.5 |
| The War On Drugs Slave Ambient | 4.5 |
| Fruit Bats Tripper | 3.0 |
| The Weeknd Thursday | 3.0 |
| Beirut The Rip Tide | 4.0 |
| The Horrors Skying | 4.0 |
Ditching the monochromatic cover of Primary Colours for the hazy water landscape on the front of Skying was
the best thing the Horrors ever did. I was never a huge fan of their Bauhaus image and My-Bloody-Valentine-
meets-Ian-Curtis shtick, but Skying takes all that and adds in a healthy dose of watercolors. The guitar tone
on this album is something Kevin Shields would be proud of, but it's their focus on thick, drug-friendly
grooves and a heavy dose of trippy atmospherics that make this a new shoegaze classic. |
| The Dear Hunter The Color Spectrum | 4.0 |
| Iceage New Brigade | 2.5 |
| Fountains of Wayne Sky Full of Holes | 2.5 |
| The Glands Double Thriller | 3.5 |
| Givers In Light | 4.0 |
| Portugal. The Man In The Mountain In The Cloud | 3.5 |
| Shabazz Palaces Black Up | 2.5 |
| Wugazi 13 Chambers | 3.5 |
| The Dear Hunter Red | 3.0 |
| PJ Harvey Let England Shake | 3.0 |
| Delicate Steve Wondervisions | 3.5 |
| The Dear Hunter Orange | 3.5 |
| The Dear Hunter Green | 4.0 |
| The Dear Hunter Yellow | 4.0 |
| The Dear Hunter Black | 2.5 |
| Eleanor Friedberger Last Summer | 3.5 |
| Datsik Hydraulic/Overdose | 3.5 |
| Selena Gomez When the Sun Goes Down | 2.5 |
| Submotion Orchestra Finest Hour | 3.5 |
| Lykke Li Wounded Rhymes | 3.5 |
| Elbow Build A Rocket Boys! | 2.5 |
| Garvey has a lovely voice, but Build A Rocket Boys! is all shiny textures and pleasant listening and altogether very, very boring. |
| Pantha Du Prince Black Noise | 3.0 |
| Handsome Furs Sound Kapital | 4.0 |
| G-Side The One...Cohesive | 3.5 |
| The Mountain Goats All Eternals Deck | 3.5 |
| Mates of State Re-Arrange Us | 3.5 |
| Beyonce 4 | 2.5 |
| White Denim D | 4.0 |
| Kaiser Chiefs The Future is Medieval | 2.5 |
| Gomez Whatever's On Your Mind | 3.0 |
| Wild Beasts Smother | 3.0 |
| The Dear Hunter The Color Spectrum (Complete Collection) | 4.0 |
| The Go! Team Thunder, Lightning, Strike | 4.5 |
| Arctic Monkeys Suck It and See | 3.0 |
| The Go! Team Rolling Blackouts | 4.0 |
| The Dismemberment Plan Emergency & I | 4.5 |
| WU LYF Go Tell Fire to the Mountain | 3.0 |
| Owl City All Things Bright And Beautiful | 1.0 |
| Like having an orgasm and saving the rainforest, all at the same time. |
| Skrillex More Monsters and Sprites | 2.0 |
| Cults Cults | 4.0 |
| Delicately cute twee pop with your boy-girl harmonies, sticky-sweet hooks, summer love lyrics etc. etc. You'll either be reaching for a bag of bitters and a diabetes diagnosis or begging for more. Me, I like my sugar in excess, and Cults fills the prescription quite nicely. |
| SebastiAn Total | 3.5 |
| Chad VanGaalen Diaper Island | 3.5 |
| My Morning Jacket Circuital | 2.5 |
| Death Cab for Cutie Codes and Keys | 3.0 |
| Wye Oak Civilian | 3.5 |
| Lady Gaga Born This Way | 2.0 |
| Lady Gaga The Fame Monster | 3.0 |
| Bon Iver Bon Iver, Bon Iver | 3.0 |
| Vessels Helioscope | 3.0 |
| Foster the People Torches | 3.0 |
| Foster the People Foster The People | 4.0 |
| The Elected Bury Me In My Rings | 3.0 |
| Okkervil River I Am Very Far | 3.5 |
| Manchester Orchestra Simple Math | 4.0 |
| Frank Ocean Nostalgia, Ultra. | 3.5 |
| I find it interesting, and a little bit telling regarding Odd Future as a whole, that the best songs on Nostalgia, Ultra are largely based off other people's songs ("Strawberry Swing," "American Wedding," "Nature Feels"). For all their hype, there is really very little in the Odd Future crew that hasn't been done before. It's even more fascinating, then, that the most "unoriginal" (given the overabundance of midtempo R&B crooners in the Drake age) member of their crew has made the best album of all of them. Nostalgia, Ultra mixes modern and retro seamlessly, from its occasionally misogynistic lyrics to its cassette-break interludes named after '90s video games. But there's feeling here, and talent; for all the Auto-Tune, it's obvious Ocean can sing. It's the only kind of record in the Odd Future collective that can bounce from Radiohead to The-Dream as easily as it does and still sound so fresh, so real. With Odd Future, one can often get the sense that a lot of what they do is a bit fraudulent, a self-built image (who isn't guilty of this in hip-hop?). With Ocean, it never sounds contrived. And, hey, "Strawberry Swing" nearly shits all over anything Coldplay has done. |
| The Antlers Burst Apart | 4.0 |
At this point, everyone knows the story behind Antlers, who finally made it (indie) big in 2009 on the strength
of a crushingly intimate record about an emotionally destructive relationship. It's a narrative that has colored
everything they've done since then, and nothing has been overshadowed by it more than Burst Apart. Peter
Silberman stated in an interview, "you can put [Burst Apart] on and not feel like it had to be a severe
emotional experience." For many, this directly defeated everything that appealed to them about the Antlers.
Those people missed out on one of the great records of 2011, a record that finally showcases the talents of
the band the Antlers and not just the lyrical prowess (still quite strong, I might add) of Peter Silberman
fronting some other guys playing instruments. Where it was Silberman's wispy falsetto that carried all the
emotional weight on Hospice, here it's the group, exploring a variety of textures and celebrating singledom
with major-key chords on opener "I Don?t Want Love." Maybe Silberman needed to get all of that poison out of
him on Hospice to make the best record of his career, because make no mistake - Burst Apart is that record,
and a strong harbinger of what's to come if the Antlers can keep evolving like this. |
| Tyler, the Creator Goblin | 2.5 |
| tUnE-yArDs w h o k i l l | 2.5 |
| Raekwon Immobilarity | 2.0 |
| Spokes Everyone I Ever Met | 2.5 |
| Laura Stevenson Sit Resist | 3.5 |
| I wish every great female-fronted indie pop album was hailed as the best of the year, the world would be a much happier place. |
| Swarms Old Raves End | 4.0 |
| Beastie Boys Hot Sauce Committee Part Two | 3.5 |
| Two Door Cinema Club Tourist History | 3.5 |
| Jack Beats Revolution/Out Of Body | 3.5 |
| Annuals Be He Me | 3.5 |
| Explosions in the Sky Take Care, Take Care, Take Care | 2.5 |
| "Unexciting instrumental music" - Adam Downer |
| The Raveonettes Raven in the Grave | 2.0 |
| Foo Fighters There Is Nothing Left to Lose | 3.0 |
| Foo Fighters The Colour and the Shape | 3.5 |
| Foo Fighters Foo Fighters | 3.5 |
| Foo Fighters In Your Honor | 2.5 |
| Foo Fighters Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace | 2.0 |
| Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues | 3.5 |
| Foo Fighters Wasting Light | 3.5 |
| The Kills Midnight Boom | 3.0 |
| TV on the Radio Nine Types of Light | 3.0 |
| Akron/Family S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT | 2.5 |
| The Kills Blood Pressures | 4.0 |
| The Weeknd House of Balloons | 3.0 |
| Bibio Mind Bokeh | 4.0 |
| Lupe Fiasco The Cool | 3.0 |
| Lupe Fiasco Lasers | 2.0 |
| Raekwon Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang | 3.0 |
| The Sounds Something to Die For | 2.5 |
| The Dodos No Color | 4.5 |
| Like The Visiter but with an editor - in short, everything we wanted the Dodos to be. |
| The Strokes Angles | 2.3 |
| Britney Spears Femme Fatale | 3.5 |
| Eisley The Valley | 4.0 |
| Elliott Smith Live at Largo | 4.0 |
| Elliott Smith An Introduction To... Elliott Smith | 4.0 |
| Radiohead The King of Limbs | 2.0 |
| Telekinesis (USA-WA, Indie Rock) 12 Desperate Straight Lines | 3.5 |
| The Dears Missiles | 2.5 |
| The Dears Gang of Losers | 3.5 |
| The Dears Degeneration Street | 2.0 |
| Interpol Interpol | 2.0 |
| Interpol Antics | 3.5 |
| Interpol Turn on the Bright Lights | 3.0 |
| Interpol Our Love to Admire | 2.0 |
| Boards of Canada Boc Maxima | 3.0 |
| ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead Tao of the Dead | 3.5 |
| Bright Eyes The People's Key | 4.0 |
| Love Axe Phenomenomenons | 3.5 |
| Mumford and Sons Sigh No More | 2.5 |
| Cold War Kids Mine is Yours | 3.5 |
| Cut Copy Zonoscope | 3.0 |
| Yuck Yuck | 3.5 |
| Destroyer Kaputt | 4.0 |
| How many dicks does Bejar have to suck to get more songs on a New Pornos album good christ |
| Sea Power Valhalla Dancehall | 3.5 |
| The Decemberists The King Is Dead | 3.0 |
| !!! Strange Weather, Isn't It? | 2.5 |
| James Blake James Blake | 3.0 |
| Ryan Adams III/IV | 3.0 |
| Women Public Strain | 2.5 |
| The only strain here is in making it through the whole record. |
| The Tallest Man on Earth Sometimes The Blues Is Just A Passing Bird | 3.5 |
| Okkervil River Black Sheep Boy | 4.0 |
| Daft Punk Tron: Legacy | 2.5 |
| Simian Mobile Disco Delicacies | 4.0 |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor F♯ A♯ ∞ | 4.5 |
| Deadmau5 4x4=12 | 3.0 |
| Japandroids No Singles | 3.5 |
| Tomba Disturbed | 4.0 |
| Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy | 4.0 |
| I like to use Kanye West’s own Twitter to describe My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: “”This is rock and roll life my people . . . you can’t stop the truth you can’t stop the music and I have to be strong or ‘they’ win!!!;” “I can’t be everybody’s hero and villain savior and sinner Christian and anti Christ!;” “I have decided to become the best rapper of all time! I put it on my things to do in this lifetime list!” Besides an abundance of exclamation points, Kanye’s often hilarious Twitter is everything that made his newest album such a masterpiece, from his Christ complex to his feuding with the media to his undeniable artistic brilliance. Guy might be a little crazy, but weren’t all the best a bit off? |
| Geographer Animal Shapes | 3.5 |
| Girl Talk All Day | 4.0 |
| Skrillex Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites | 3.5 |
| From First to Last to simply first, Sonny Moore’s debut as an electro fiend with a penchant for wicked bass drops and unintelligible Auto-Tune somehow worked, in its own messy way. Skrillex will never win any critical awards, but as the rawest form of party starter, few could match up to the relentless stream of house, electro and dubstep that Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites spits out. Pills not included. |
| Skrillex My Name Is Skrillex | 3.0 |
| Working For a Nuclear Free City Jojo Burger Tempest | 3.0 |
| Janelle Monae The ArchAndroid | 3.5 |
| Cee Lo Green The Lady Killer | 3.5 |
| Four Tet There is Love in You | 4.0 |
| The Concretes WYWH | 3.0 |
| Blonde Redhead Penny Sparkle | 3.0 |
| Blonde Redhead 23 | 4.5 |
| Matt and Kim Sidewalks | 3.0 |
| N.E.R.D. Nothing | 1.5 |
| Badly Drawn Boy It's What I'm Thinking - Photographing Snowflakes | 2.0 |
| Young the Giant Young the Giant | 3.0 |
| Eels Tomorrow Morning | 3.5 |
| Eels End Times | 3.0 |
| Jimmy Eat World Invented | 3.0 |
| Taylor Swift Speak Now | 4.0 |
| Belle and Sebastian Write About Love | 2.5 |
| Lost In The Trees All Alone In An Empty House | 3.5 |
| Sufjan Stevens The Age of Adz | 2.0 |
| Please, Sufjan, don't go where I can't follow |
| How to Dress Well Love Remains | 3.0 |
| Radical Face Ghost | 3.5 |
| Superchunk Majesty Shredding | 3.5 |
| Guster Easy Wonderful | 3.5 |
| Deerhunter Halcyon Digest | 5.0 |
| Perhaps the most surprising thing about Halcyon Digest was just how warm everything sounded. Whereas Bradford Cox and company's earlier work tended to be unwieldy messes of noise thrown loosely under the shoegaze label, Halcyon Digest continued what 2008's Microcastle begun: transforming Deerhunter into a full-fledged rock band, feet firmly planted in pop territory and beckoning us to just relax and enjoy. When I first heard "Revival" I was astonished at just how straightforward everything was, how easy it was to connect to a band I previously had regarded as somewhat cold. But things aren't just direct; there's a depth to these songs that, coming from Cox, is not much of a surprise, but makes Halcyon Digest something more than just a really good rock album. Halcyon Digest is a record that seems destined to stand the test of time, constructed as it is out of the timeless building blocks of music: guitar, bass, vocals and drums, all done so effortlessly that it?s hard to believe Deerhunter have been doing this for years. In a way, of course, they have, but never so refined, so at ease. For Cox, someone whose constantly fidgeting around with demos and side projects, hearing him buckle down and produce a whole album's worth of immediately arresting music is a relief. Halcyon Digest is Deerhunter's most deft accomplishment yet, and they've done it not with bells or whistles or 20-minute-plus compositions but by writing perfect rock 'n roll, pure and simple. |
| No Age Everything In Between | 2.5 |
| Pendulum Immersion | 3.5 |
| Jenny and Johnny I'm Having Fun Now | 3.0 |
| Weezer Hurley | 2.0 |
| Weezer The Red Album (Deluxe Edition) | 2.0 |
| Weezer Weezer | 4.0 |
| The Walkmen Lisbon | 4.5 |
| Islands Return To The Sea | 3.5 |
| of Montreal False Priest | 3.5 |
| Katy Perry Teenage Dream | 2.0 |
| Steel Train Steel Train | 4.0 |
| With their third record, Steel Train showed me that sometimes, good rock ‘n roll can be just that; no gimmicks, no existentialist musings, no 20-minute-plus compositions swollen with strings and harps and timpani. Steel Train put their money down on ace melodies and that simple trifecta of rock: guitar, bass, drums. They only come out with some of the best songs of the year, sugary offerings that are no less potent because they revel in their hooks and sing-a-long capabilities. Not to mention a song of the year in the heartrending “Fall Asleep.” |
| Ra Ra Riot The Orchard | 4.0 |
| Ben Folds Five The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner | 3.5 |
| Rogue Wave Asleep at Heaven's Gate | 3.0 |
| Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin Let It Sway | 2.5 |
| Ra Ra Riot The Rhumb Line | 2.5 |
| The Drums The Drums | 3.0 |
| Frank Turner Love, Ire & Song | 3.0 |
| Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Dark Night of the Soul | 3.5 |
| Shugo Tokumaru Port Entropy | 3.5 |
| Gorky's Zygotic Mynci Barafundle | 3.5 |
| Avi Buffalo Avi Buffalo | 3.5 |
| Arcade Fire The Suburbs | 3.5 |
| The Books The Way Out | 4.0 |
| Borgore Borgore Ruined Dubstep (Part 1) | 3.5 |
| Sun Kil Moon Admiral Fell Promises | 3.0 |
| Menomena Mines | 3.0 |
| Big Boi Sir Lucious Left Foot | 4.0 |
| School of Seven Bells Alpinisms | 3.5 |
| School of Seven Bells Disconnect From Desire | 2.0 |
| Maps and Atlases Perch Patchwork | 3.5 |
| Everest On Approach | 3.0 |
| American Football American Football | 4.0 |
| blink-182 Blink-182 | 4.0 |
| blink-182 Take Off Your Pants And Jacket | 3.0 |
| blink-182 Enema Of The State | 3.0 |
| blink-182 Dude Ranch | 2.5 |
| blink-182 Cheshire Cat | 2.0 |
| Laura Marling I Speak Because I Can | 3.5 |
| Wavves King of the Beach | 2.5 |
| The Roots How I Got Over | 3.5 |
| Decidedly funky, well-written, produced, etc. etc. - decidedly Rootsian, in other words. It's just what I've come to expect from the Roots, and in that respect How I Got Over is almost a bit of a disappointment, the Roots playing it safe and meeting every single one of my expectations but never overwhelming them. Then again, there's nothing wrong with being one of hip-hop's most consistent bands. |
| The Roots Game Theory | 3.5 |
| Parades Foreign Tapes | 3.5 |
| Kele The Boxer | 2.0 |
| Eminem Recovery | 3.0 |
| blink-182 Greatest Hits | 4.0 |
| Foals Total Life Forever | 3.0 |
| Groove Armada Black Light | 2.0 |
| Deadmau5 At Play 3 | 3.0 |
| Wolfgang Gartner Firepower / Latin Fever | 4.0 |
| Wolfgang Gartner Wolfgang's 5th Symphony | 4.0 |
| Jack Beats U.F.O. | 3.5 |
| Boys Noize Oi Oi Oi | 4.0 |
| Boys Noize Power | 3.0 |
| Wolf Parade Expo 86 | 4.0 |
| Not as spastically enjoyable as Apologies, nor the experimental fapping of Zoomer, but it's own, unique beast, one that gets by on the markedly improved strength of Krug and Boeckner's songwriting rather than any tricks. Easily their most consistent album so far. |
| Uffie Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans | 2.0 |
| Tokyo Police Club Champ | 4.0 |
| Stars The Five Ghosts | 3.0 |
| The Wrens The Meadowlands | 4.5 |
| Sleigh Bells Treats | 3.0 |
| We Are Scientists Barbara | 3.0 |
| Delta Spirit History From Below | 4.0 |
| Ratatat LP3 | 3.5 |
| Ratatat Classics | 4.0 |
| Ratatat LP4 | 3.0 |
| Marina The Family Jewels | 3.0 |
| The Futureheads The Chaos | 3.0 |
| Phosphorescent Here's To Taking It Easy | 4.0 |
| In an off year for alt-country Matt Houck stepped up to the plate and delivered a straightforward home run, all muscular slide guitar and folky twang. But the best part is Houck's melodies, which are fleshed out and given new life with the colorful compositions offered by his expanded sound. |
| The Menzingers Chamberlain Waits | 3.0 |
| The Black Keys Brothers | 4.0 |
| Band of Horses Infinite Arms | 3.5 |
| B.o.B The Adventures of Bobby Ray | 3.5 |
| Dark Time Sunshine Vessel | 4.0 |
| Where Kanye West and Big Boi stole all the hip-hop critical acclaim and publicity this year, Vessel was the little rap record that could, flying under the radar and stealthily staking its claim as one of the best albums in the genre. Vessel is an apt name; Dark Time Sunshine takes you on a trip through the furthest fringes of the hip-hop universe, a sector populated by likeminded pioneers like Aesop Rock and P.O.S but still its own unique, innovative beast. This isn’t nerd-rap or hip-hop unpalatable to the average fan; MC Onry Ozzborne is easy to understand and even easier to listen to, weaving engaging tales as he does on “E.R” and “Little Or No Concern,” while producer Zavala runs the gamut from the propulsive, tribal “Defender” to the psychedelic layers of “All Aboard” without a dud to be found. This is a trailblazer for the new decade, a road map of where hip-hop can go and what it can do, and the kind of release that makes you believe that, yes, there always is something new under the sun. |
| Stereophonics Keep Calm and Carry On | 3.0 |
| Stereophonics Pull The Pin | 2.0 |
| Stereophonics Live From Dakota | 3.0 |
| Stereophonics Just Enough Education to Perform | 3.0 |
| Daniel Bjarnason Processions | 3.5 |
| Minus the Bear Planet of Ice | 4.0 |
| Do Make Say Think You, You're a History in Rust | 4.5 |
| The Gaslight Anthem American Slang | 2.0 |
| The Get Up Kids The Guilt Show | 2.5 |
| The Gaslight Anthem The '59 Sound | 4.0 |
| Band of Horses Everything All the Time | 3.0 |
| Super Mash Bros All About The Scallions | 2.5 |
| Super Mash Bros Fuck Bitches. Get Euros. | 3.0 |
| The Minus 5 The Minus 5 | 3.5 |
| Band of Horses Cease to Begin | 3.0 |
| The National High Violet | 4.4 |
| The New Pornographers Together | 3.5 |
| Caribou Swim | 4.0 |
| LCD Soundsystem This Is Happening | 2.5 |
| As Tall As Lions You Can't Take It With You | 4.0 |
| Muse Absolution | 3.5 |
| Muse Black Holes & Revelations | 3.0 |
| Broken Social Scene Forgiveness Rock Record | 3.5 |
| What exactly are Broken Social Scene apologizing for with their new record? As the patriarchs of a mammoth scene, Broken Social Scene don’t really have anything more to prove. It’s fitting then, that Forgiveness Rock Record turns inward, focusing on beefing up the production and creating intricate compositions to get lost in. While it might be a tad grandiose (not to mention way too long), it’s exactly what one should expect from a band so wonderfully outsized as this one. |
| The Apples in Stereo Travellers in Space and Time | 2.5 |
| The Apples in Stereo Fun Trick Noisemaker | 4.0 |
| that dog. Totally Crushed Out! | 3.5 |
| that dog. Retreat From the Sun | 4.0 |
| MGMT Congratulations | 2.5 |
| Free Energy Stuck On Nothing | 4.0 |
| Philadelphia five-piece Free Energy would seem to have everything they need to take the hipster blogosphere by storm – a place on DFA records and an album produced by the founder himself, James Murphy; a ringing endorsement from Pitchfork; a sound that cherry picks from a helluva lot of influences but somehow stands proudly on its own as something new. But being the next “cool” thing has never been what Free Energy was about. Their music is a refreshing throwback to ‘70s arena rock without being ironic – bombastic riffs that stick in your head like bubblegum, gang vocals that lend themselves admirably to road trip sing-a-longs, melodies that hearken back to ‘60s power-pop. Paul Sprangers sings about girls and summer love and absolutely nothing of higher import because, frankly, that’s all he wants to sing about. It’s unfortunate that Stuck on Nothing was released in the spring, because it’s a summer record through and through. Beach cruising, salty air and salty hair, bikinis, breezy car trips, pool parties, Slurpees that always seem to damn drippy, the smell of tanning lotion, sand that will stay in my car for way too many months, days and days of doing whatever the hell you want – Free Energy have made a soundtrack for all of these things, and made it seem effortless in the bargain. |
| Wait What the notorious xx | 3.5 |
| NOISIA Split The Atom | 4.5 |
| Noisia’s first proper LP is a shining example of everything good that can happen when a groundbreaking trio mashes all their influences together and produces something truly original. Split the Atom has it all: breaks, electro, drum n bass, funk, house, et cetera. It’s a mishmash of styles that never seems like it’s about to collapse – the Dutch group have collected everything they admire about electronica and make it their own. Noisia are not afraid to take some risks, and Split the Atom promises to be the first in a long line of relentless, heart-stopping party starters. |
| Everclear Slow Motion Daydream | 3.5 |
| Usher Raymond v. Raymond | 2.5 |
| Justin Bieber My World | 1.5 |
| Justin Bieber My World 2.0 | 2.5 |
| Love Is All Two Thousand and Ten Injuries | 3.0 |
| Broken Bells Broken Bells | 3.0 |
| A Fine Frenzy Bomb In A Birdcage | 3.5 |
| The Besnard Lakes The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night | 3.0 |
| The Knife Tomorrow, In a Year | 2.0 |
| Liars Sisterworld | 3.5 |
| Jonsi Go | 4.5 |
| Predictably, this album gives me a huge, throbbing boner that leaves me in some pain by the time Hengilas finishes up. |
| Serena Maneesh S-M 2: Abyss in B Minor | 4.0 |
| Criminally overlooked shoegaze out of Norway, Serena Maneesh crafted some of the strangest, most endearing music of the year. This isn’t your older brother’s shoegaze; this plain rocks, with angular riffs and thudding bass lines seemingly more suited for prog than pop. But for all its oddness, it’s an album that refuses to be ignored, and I’d gladly take this over the Ambien most shoegaze bands proffer up nowadays. |
| Goldfrapp Head First | 3.0 |
| She and Him Volume Two | 3.5 |
| The Brunettes Paper Dolls | 3.0 |
| My Kappa Roots The House of St Colme Burnt Down | 4.0 |
| Ted Leo and the Pharmacists The Brutalist Bricks | 3.0 |
| Titus Andronicus The Monitor | 3.5 |
| The Tallest Man on Earth The Wild Hunt | 4.5 |
| How can you not like a record with a cover like that? It's like Darnielle and Corgan had a baby in Sweden and it made beautiful, beautiful folk music that is at once whispery thin and insubstantial and at the other time incredibly fiery and affirming ("King of Spain," anyone?). Awesome |
| Gorillaz Plastic Beach | 3.0 |
| Predictably crazy and jagged around the edges, with just the kind of brilliant instrumentation and guest stars you'd expect Albarn to cook up. But for all its craftsmanship it's still a muddled, jumbled mess of an album, one more in love with the idea itself than in the songs, which too often meander about with no real meaning, aim, or (most importantly) hooks. Bring Blur back please. |
| Idlewild Post Electric Blues | 3.5 |
| Joanna Newsom Have One on Me | 3.5 |
| Field Music Field Music (Measure) | 3.5 |
| Sambassadeur European | 3.5 |
| Fang Island Fang Island | 3.5 |
| Rogue Wave Permalight | 4.0 |
| Shout Out Louds Work | 3.0 |
| The Morning Benders Big Echo | 3.0 |
| Surfer Blood Astro Coast | 3.5 |
| The Olivia Tremor Control Black Foliage: Animation Music Volume 1 | 3.0 |
| The Olivia Tremor Control Music From The Unrealized Film Script | 5.0 |
| Shearwater The Golden Archipelago | 3.0 |
| Tiesto In Search of Sunrise 5: Los Angeles | 3.5 |
| Tiesto In Search of Sunrise 3: Panama | 2.5 |
| Tiesto Kaleidoscope | 2.5 |
| Tiesto Just Be | 3.5 |
| Paul Van Dyk In Between | 2.5 |
| Paul Van Dyk The Politics of Dancing, Vol. 2 | 3.0 |
| Paul Van Dyk Out There and Back | 3.5 |
| Paul Oakenfold Bunkka | 3.0 |
| Paul Oakenfold A Lively Mind | 3.0 |
| Paul Oakenfold Ibiza | 3.5 |
| Burial Untrue | 3.5 |
| Britney Spears The Singles Collection | 3.5 |
| 50 Cent The Massacre | 2.0 |
| 50 Cent Get Rich or Die Tryin' | 3.0 |
| 50 Cent Curtis | 2.0 |
| 50 Cent Before I Self Destruct | 1.5 |
| Jay-Z The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse | 2.0 |
| Drake So Far Gone | 2.5 |
| Kid Cudi Man on the Moon: The End of Day | 3.5 |
| Eminem Encore | 2.0 |
| Eminem The Eminem Show | 3.0 |
| Eminem The Slim Shady LP | 4.0 |
| Eminem Relapse: Refill | 1.5 |
| David Guetta Pop Life | 2.5 |
| Infected Mushroom Legend Of The Black Shawarma | 3.5 |
| Infected Mushroom Vicious Delicious | 3.0 |
| The Bloody Beetroots Romborama | 3.0 |
| Justice A Cross the Universe | 3.5 |
| Daft Punk Human After All: Remixes | 3.0 |
| Daft Punk Alive 2007 | 4.0 |
| Daft Punk Human After All | 3.5 |
| Daft Punk Daft Club | 2.0 |
| Groove Armada Love Box | 2.5 |
| Groove Armada Soundboy Rock | 2.0 |
| Yeasayer Odd Blood | 2.5 |
| Electric President The Violent Blue | 3.5 |
| The Watson Twins Talking To You, Talking To Me | 2.5 |
| We Are Scientists Brain Thrust Mastery | 3.5 |
| We Are Scientists With Love and Squalor | 3.0 |
| N.A.S.A. The Spirit of Apollo | 3.5 |
| Deadmau5 For Lack of a Better Name | 3.5 |
| Deadmau5 Random Album Title | 3.5 |
| Dan Mangan Nice, Nice, Very Nice | 4.0 |
| Lil Wayne Rebirth | 1.0 |
| Basia Bulat Heart of My Own | 3.5 |
| OK Go Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky | 3.5 |
| Oh No Ono Eggs | 4.0 |
| BT These Hopeful Machines | 3.5 |
| Midlake The Courage Of Others | 3.5 |
| Owl City Ocean Eyes | 1.5 |
| Beach House Teen Dream | 3.0 |
| Los Campesinos! Romance Is Boring | 3.5 |
| Los Campesinos! We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed | 2.5 |
| Los Campesinos! Hold On Now, Youngster... | 3.0 |
| Locksley Be In Love | 2.5 |
| Locksley Don't Make Me Wait | 3.0 |
| Spoon Transference | 3.8 |
| Spoon Telephono | 2.0 |
| Vampire Weekend Contra | 3.0 |
| Jenny Owen Youngs Transmitter Failure | 3.5 |
| Irving Good Morning Beautiful | 3.0 |
| Irving Death in the Garden, Blood on the Flowers | 4.0 |
| The Elected Me First | 5.0 |
| The Elected Sun, Sun, Sun | 3.0 |
| The Brunettes Structure and Cosmetics | 3.0 |
| The Killers Hot Fuss | 4.0 |
| The Killers Day & Age | 3.5 |
| The Killers Sawdust | 2.0 |
| The Killers Sam's Town | 1.5 |
| Beirut Gulag Orkestar | 4.0 |
| Gomez A New Tide | 2.5 |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven | 5.0 |
| M. Ward Post-War | 3.0 |
| M. Ward Transistor Radio | 4.0 |
| Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP | 4.5 |
| Eminem Relapse | 2.0 |
| Sun Kil Moon Tiny Cities | 2.0 |
| Sun Kil Moon April | 3.5 |
| Sun Kil Moon Ghosts of the Great Highway | 4.0 |
| Ghostface Killah Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City | 2.5 |
| Ghostface Killah Supreme Clientele | 4.0 |
| Ghostface Killah The Pretty Toney Album | 2.5 |
| Passion Pit Chunk of Change | 3.0 |
| Passion Pit Manners | 3.5 |
| David Guetta One Love | 3.0 |
| The Faint Danse Macabre | 3.0 |
| PJ Harvey Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea | 4.4 |
| Radiohead Pablo Honey | 2.0 |
| Radiohead The Bends | 3.5 |
| Radiohead Hail to the Thief | 2.5 |
| Radiohead Amnesiac | 2.0 |
| Radiohead Kid A | 2.5 |
| Radiohead In Rainbows | 3.0 |
| Radiohead OK Computer | 4.5 |
| Animal Collective Hollinndagain | 2.0 |
| Eels Shootenanny! | 3.0 |
| Nada Surf Let Go | 3.8 |
| Nada Surf Lucky | 4.0 |
| Nada Surf The Weight Is a Gift | 2.5 |
| Nada Surf The Proximity Effect | 3.0 |
| Lupe Fiasco Food & Liquor | 3.0 |
| Coldplay LeftRightLeftRightLeft | 3.0 |
| Coldplay Prospekt's March | 2.5 |
| The Exploding Hearts Guitar Romantic | 4.0 |
| The Books Thought For Food | 4.0 |
| Eels Blinking Lights & Other Revelations | 4.0 |
| Destroyer Destroyer's Rubies | 3.5 |
| Royksopp Melody A.M. | 3.5 |
| Daft Punk Discovery | 4.0 |
| The Stills Without Feathers | 4.5 |
| The Stills Logic Will Break Your Heart | 4.0 |
| Justin Timberlake FutureSex/LoveSounds | 4.0 |
| Justin Timberlake Justified | 2.0 |
| Boards of Canada Geogaddi | 3.5 |
| Boards of Canada Trans Canada Highway | 2.5 |
| Boards of Canada In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country | 3.0 |
| Boards of Canada Music Has the Right to Children | 3.3 |
| Brand New Deja Entendu | 3.0 |
| Belle and Sebastian The Life Pursuit | 3.5 |
| of Montreal Aldhils Arboretum | 3.0 |
| of Montreal The Gay Parade | 2.5 |
| of Montreal Coquelicot Asleep In The Poppies | 3.5 |
| The Futureheads This Is Not the World | 2.5 |
| The Futureheads News and Tributes | 2.0 |
| The Futureheads The Futureheads | 4.5 |
| Kanye West Late Registration | 3.0 |
| Kanye West The College Dropout | 2.5 |
| Kanye West Graduation | 4.0 |
| Tenacious D The Pick of Destiny | 2.0 |
| Tenacious D Tenacious D | 4.0 |
| The White Stripes De Stijl | 3.0 |
| The White Stripes Icky Thump | 2.5 |
| The White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan | 3.0 |
| The White Stripes Elephant | 3.0 |
| The White Stripes White Blood Cells | 4.5 |
| Animal Collective Feels | 3.5 |
| Animal Collective Sung Tongs | 3.0 |
| A.C. Newman The Slow Wonder | 4.0 |
| Midlake The Trials of Van Occupanther | 4.5 |
| Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins Rabbit Fur Coat | 4.5 |
| Deerhunter Microcastle | 3.5 |
| Clipse Til the Casket Drops | 3.0 |
| Paul Dempsey Everything Is True | 3.5 |
| Trespassers William Different Stars | 4.0 |
| The Bravery Stir The Blood | 2.0 |
| MSTRKRFT Fist of God | 2.5 |
| Grizzly Bear Veckatimest | 2.5 |
| A Sunny Day in Glasgow Ashes Grammar | 3.0 |
| Animal Collective Fall Be Kind | 3.0 |
| Jay-Z The Blueprint 3 | 2.5 |
| Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson Summer Of Fear | 3.5 |
| Lady Gaga The Fame | 2.5 |
| Annie Don't Stop | 4.0 |
| Annie Anniemal | 3.5 |
| Crocodiles Summer Of Hate | 3.0 |
| Teenage Cool Kids Foreign Lands | 3.0 |
| Orphans of Cush White Noize | 3.0 |
| Shpongle Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland | 3.5 |
| Yo La Tengo Popular Songs | 3.5 |
| The xx xx | 3.9 |
| Wale Attention Deficit | 3.5 |
| Taken By Trees East of Eden | 4.0 |
| The Decemberists The Tain | 3.5 |
| Carrie Underwood Play On | 2.5 |
| Weezer Raditude | 2.5 |
| Mono Hymn to the Immortal Wind | 3.0 |
| Do Make Say Think Other Truths | 3.5 |
| The Flaming Lips Embryonic | 2.5 |
| Bibio Ambivalence Avenue | 3.5 |
| DJ Sprinkles Midtown 120 Blues | 2.0 |
| Atlas Sound Logos | 3.0 |
| Tegan and Sara Sainthood | 3.5 |
| System of a Down Toxicity | 2.5 |
| Flight of the Conchords I Told You I Was Freaky | 2.5 |
| Sufjan Stevens Run Rabbit Run | 3.5 |
| Sondre Lerche Heartbeat Radio | 3.0 |
| The Postmarks Memoirs At The End Of The World | 3.0 |
| Silversun Pickups Swoon | 2.5 |
| So Many Dynamos The Loud Wars | 3.0 |
| Arctic Monkeys Humbug | 2.5 |
| St. Vincent Actor | 3.0 |
| Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes | 4.0 |
| Seattle fivesome take rock back to its roots; and by roots I mean down in the country, woods, and backroads of Americana folk. After My Morning Jacket’s Evil meltdown, it’s reassuring to see a fresh band take up the mantle of good ole-fashioned country rock. Taking more of a pastoral angle than MMJ’s blazing guitar solos, Fleet Foxes is an album that calls to mind more the Appalachian Trail than the Pacific Northwest, complete with church-gathering harmonizing, various wind instruments, and frontman Robin Pecknold’s unearthly howl. Yet another of 2008’s great rookie records. |
| The Beatles Let It Be | 3.5 |
| The Beatles Yellow Submarine | 2.5 |
| The Beatles Abbey Road | 4.0 |
| Manchester Orchestra Mean Everything to Nothing | 4.0 |
| The Decemberists The Hazards of Love | 3.5 |
| Cymbals Eat Guitars Why There Are Mountains | 3.5 |
| Jeff Buckley Grace | 5.0 |
| Empire Of The Sun Walking On A Dream | 2.5 |
| Andrew Bird Noble Beast | 3.5 |
| Headlights Wildlife | 3.0 |
| Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend | 4.0 |
| I always try really hard to ignore blogosphere hype that seems way too blown out of proportion, and after hearing the somewhat underwhelming opener “Mansard Roof” I thought I could safely file Vampire Weekend under “over-hyped Internet sensations.” But this is a record that grows on you, and while initially I found it amateur-ish, I can safely say that this is one of the great debuts of the year. Ivy League pedigree be damned; Vampire Weekend is a record that can be enjoyed by anyone with an appreciation for simple, catchy chamber-pop tunes. |
| The Dodos Time to Die | 3.0 |
| The best way I can describe my feelings towards this album is that, while I thoroughly enjoyed it after a couple of listens and thought it was quite an acceptable folk-rock record with the kind of oddball touches the Dodos specialize in, it pales in comparison to Visiter. It's amazing how much more my ears perk up when "A Time to Die" fades out and my iTunes proceeds to the opening song of Visiter, "Walking." Time To Die is a good album, and would have made fairly great debut, but coming after what was surely one of the debuts of the year in the Visiter, it's a bit of a letdown. |
| The Horrors Primary Colours | 3.0 |
| Royksopp Junior | 3.0 |
| Lights The Listening | 2.5 |
| Eels Hombre Lobo | 3.5 |
| Noah and the Whale Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down | 3.0 |
| Noah and the Whale The First Days of Spring | 4.0 |
| Mika The Boy Who Knew Too Much | 3.0 |
| Mariah Carey Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel | 2.0 |
| Mariah Carey The Emancipation of Mimi | 3.0 |
| Mariah Carey E=MC² | 2.5 |
| ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead Madonna | 3.0 |
| ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead Festival Thyme | 3.5 |
| Portugal. The Man The Satanic Satanist | 4.0 |
| DJ Quik & Kurupt BlaQKout | 3.0 |
| Raekwon Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt II | 4.5 |
| Japandroids Post-Nothing | 4.5 |
| Paramore Brand New Eyes | 2.5 |
| Demi Lovato Here We Go Again | 3.5 |
| The Big Pink A Brief History of Love | 3.5 |
| Simian Mobile Disco Temporary Pleasure | 2.5 |
| La Roux La Roux | 2.5 |
| Kiss Kiss The Meek Shall Inherit What's Left | 4.0 |
| The Antlers Hospice | 3.0 |
| Au Revoir Simone Still Night, Still Light | 3.0 |
| The Mountain Goats The Life of the World to Come | 4.0 |
| Girls Album | 3.5 |
| Thrice Beggars | 3.5 |
| Panic! at the Disco A Fever You Can't Sweat Out | 2.0 |
| The Raveonettes In and Out of Control | 3.5 |
| Basement Jaxx Scars | 3.5 |
| Neutral Milk Hotel On Avery Island | 2.0 |
| Amy Millan Masters of the Burial | 3.0 |
| The Thrills Let's Bottle Bohemia | 2.5 |
| The Thrills Teenager | 3.0 |
| The Thrills So Much For The City | 3.5 |
| Smoosh Free To Stay | 3.0 |
| She and Him Volume One | 4.2 |
| Most actresses who turn toward the music realm in order to diversify their image and develop yet another revenue stream usually are predestined for failure (see: Johansson, Scarlett), but indie heartthrob Zooey Deschanel’s first album has gone a long way toward dispelling that notion. She’s not the best singer, and the lyrics occasionally veer towards the simple and sentimental, but her heartfelt vocal approach and M. Ward’s (the Him) excellent backing arrangements and occasional vocal work create a timeless album of ‘60s Brill Building pop and twangy folk that bodes well for future releases. |
| Death Cab for Cutie Plans | 4.0 |
| Death Cab for Cutie Transatlanticism | 4.5 |
| Tilly and the Wall Wild Like Children | 4.0 |
| Tilly and the Wall O | 3.5 |
| Tilly and the Wall Bottoms of Barrels | 2.5 |
| The Hold Steady Separation Sunday | 4.0 |
| The Hold Steady Stay Positive | 3.5 |
| Hold Steady vocalist Craig Finn says the band’s fourth is about “aging gracefully,” but the righteous racket and vibrant storytelling these bar band rockers serve up seem as suggest that growing up is overrated. Slicker and better produced than their previous albums, it nevertheless retains the Springsteenian classic rock feel of their earlier work and Finn’s lyrics are as sharp and relatable as ever. |
| Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago | 4.0 |
| If there was such a thing, singer-songwriter Justin Vernon alias Bon Iver’s debut record would surely win Most Depressing Record of the Year. Almost entirely recorded in an isolated cabin in rural Wisconsin, For Emma, Forever Ago is a cathartic expression of break-up and recovery in the bleakest terms. The minimalist instrumentation, lo-fi recording, and Vernon’s haunting vocals all paint a picture of forlorn grief and regret in the frozen north. Forget rainy-day music; this is music to listen to while snowed in by the biggest blizzard of the year. |
| The Raveonettes Pretty In Black | 2.5 |
| The Raveonettes Chain Gang of Love | 3.5 |
| The Format Interventions and Lullabies | 3.0 |
| The Format Dog Problems | 3.5 |
| Stars In Our Bedroom After The War | 3.0 |
| Mika Life in Cartoon Motion | 2.5 |
| Human Highway Moody Motorcycle | 3.0 |
| Manic Street Preachers Journal For Plague Lovers | 4.0 |
| Mos Def The Ecstatic | 4.0 |
| Brand New Daisy | 2.5 |
| Yeah Yeah Yeahs It's Blitz! | 4.0 |
| The Sleepy Jackson Lovers | 3.0 |
| The Sleepy Jackson Personality - One Was a Spider, One Was a Bird | 4.0 |
| Monsters of Folk Monsters of Folk | 4.5 |
| Islands Vapours | 3.5 |
| Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin Broom | 3.5 |
| Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin Pershing | 3.0 |
| Sunset Rubdown Dragonslayer | 3.0 |
| Major Lazer Guns Dont Kill People... Lazers Do | 3.0 |
| Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca | 2.5 |
| Florence and the Machine Lungs | 4.5 |
| fun. Aim and Ignite | 3.5 |
| Miley Cyrus The Time of Our Lives | 1.5 |
| The Black Crowes Before the Frost...Until the Freeze | 3.5 |
| Datarock Red | 3.0 |
| The Avalanches Since I Left You | 4.6 |
| Trevor Giuliani Subcontrario | 3.0 |
| Brendan Benson My Old, Familiar Friend | 4.0 |
| Flight of the Conchords Flight of the Conchords | 4.0 |
While there’s something to be said for Flight of the Conchords’ live records and actual concerts, which is one of the funniest things I have been privileged to attend, their debut album does manage to translate a good portion of their irreverent humor into the studio. The songs, as usual, don’t disappoint, running the gamut from anti-war sex anthem “Ladies of the World” to the funky bedtime jam that Marvin Gaye has tried so hard to perfect, “Business Time.” Who can resist seductive statements like “two minutes in heaven is better than one minute in heaven?”
Most of the songs benefit from the added instrumentation and production, with “The Prince of Parties” sounding like the Beatles if they stayed in India longer and were a comedy duo, and “Boom” is much more understandable and palatable with Bret’s clarified vocals and the faux-reggaeton production.
The only disappointment is the utter lack of new songs. While a compilation might be a necessity for casual fans or newcomers, Conchord lovers will already know pretty much every song on the disc, and one would’ve thought with the exposure the two have been getting, they would’ve jumped on the opportunity to release new material. But you can’t begrudge what they’ve already created, which is pure comic gold. |
| The Fiery Furnaces Gallowsbird's Bark | 4.5 |
| The Fiery Furnaces I'm Going Away | 4.0 |
| Electric Six Fire | 2.0 |
| The Darkness Permission to Land | 3.5 |
| The Darkness One Way Ticket To Hell And Back | 2.5 |
| Bright Eyes Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground | 4.0 |
| Bright Eyes Lua | 4.0 |
| Scarlett Johansson Anywhere I Lay My Head | 2.0 |
| Rogue Wave Descended Like Vultures | 3.5 |
| Razorlight Slipway Fires | 2.0 |
| Pulp His 'n' Hers | 3.5 |
| Pulp Different Class | 4.5 |
| Pulp This is Hardcore | 3.5 |
| Beach House Devotion | 2.5 |
Beach House’s music perfectly coincides with their name; as one might take a trip over to a beach house for a weekend of relaxation in the sun, so does the band’s music resemble a peaceful reverie of calm days where there is absolutely nothing to do. While doing nothing does have its benefits, it does get old. This is Beach House’s mistake; rather than party it up occasionally, they maintain the same pace throughout their second record, Devotion, trying as hard as possible to keep the noise down and not disturb the neighbors.
Lead single “Gila” epitomizes this problem. Rather than develop on the musical ideas they present at the beginning of the song, the duo is content to ride along gently on vocalist Victoria Legrand’s dreamy lyrics while a fuzzy guitar and piano follow along.
Lyrically the album is strong, focusing on themes that would behoove its title: loyalty, love, friendship, and their opposites. Legrand has a haunting, ethereal voice that perfectly fits the record’s mood, and it’s surprisingly soulful in a quiet sort of way. While the chill-out tempos and Legrand’s comforting voice make for a potent musical sleeping aid, Devotion’s failure to deviate from the band’s dream-pop formula makes a full listen through the album ultimately boring. Hey, it’s better than Jack Johnson. |
| Kevin Federline Playing with Fire | 1.0 |
| Brendan Benson One Mississippi/The Wellfed Boy EP | 3.0 |
| Carrie Underwood Some Hearts | 3.0 |
| Jessie James Jessie James | 2.0 |
| Fruit Bats The Ruminant Band | 3.5 |
| The Long Blondes Couples | 3.5 |
The Long Blondes have an ace up their sleeve: firebrand lead singer Kate Jackson’s vibrant personality, powerful voice, and satirical lyrics, all of which dominate Couples. Lead single “Century” is about as New Wave as you can get in 2008, with Jackson sounding like Debbie Harry reborn and the music all Depeche Mode synths and bubbly bass lines. “Guilt” and “The Couples” continues the album’s theme of tragic relationships, but unlike the weepy Cure-mimicking love songs common in the New Wave-revival scene, Jackson is merciless and acidic towards her ex’s, defiantly proclaiming “guilt has nothing to do with it” to a dumped boyfriend.
Couples unfortunately slows down around the midway point, however, with songs like “Round the Hairpin” and “Too Clever By Half” meandering off into showy drum work and the kind of slow balladry that only stunts the album’s momentum. Half of an album of excellent songs and Jackson’s distinctive vocals, however, are more than most bands can offer today. |
| Discovery LP | 1.5 |
| stellastarr* Civilized | 3.0 |
| Ashley Tisdale Guilty Pleasure | 2.0 |
| stellastarr* Harmonies for the Haunted | 2.5 |
| stellastarr* stellastarr* | 3.5 |
| Pearl Jam Ten | 4.5 |
| Girl Talk Secret Diary | 1.0 |
| T.I. King | 3.5 |
| T.I. T.I. vs. T.I.P. | 2.5 |
| Wilco Wilco (The Album) | 3.5 |
| Regina Spektor Soviet Kitsch | 3.5 |
| Regina Spektor Begin To Hope | 3.0 |
| Regina Spektor Far | 4.0 |
| The Lemonheads The Lemonheads | 4.0 |
| The Lemonheads Varshons | 4.0 |
| Miike Snow Miike Snow | 4.5 |
| 311 Greatest Hits | 3.5 |
| Jonas Brothers Lines, Vines and Trying Times | 1.5 |
| Jenny Lewis Acid Tongue | 3.0 |
| Rilo Kiley The Execution of All Things | 3.5 |
| Rilo Kiley More Adventurous | 4.0 |
| Rilo Kiley Under the Blacklight | 3.0 |
| Neko Case Fox Confessor Brings The Flood | 4.5 |
| 22-20s 22-20s | 3.5 |
| The Zutons Tired of Hangin' Around | 3.0 |
| Death From Above 1979 Romance Bloody Romance | 1.5 |
| Stars Set Yourself On Fire | 4.0 |
| Doves (UK) Kingdom of Rust | 2.5 |
| Doves (UK) Some Cities | 3.5 |
| Ryan Adams Demolition | 3.5 |
| Ryan Adams Follow The Lights | 3.0 |
| Oasis Heathen Chemistry | 2.0 |
| Oasis The Masterplan | 2.0 |
| Oasis Standing on the Shoulder of Giants | 2.0 |
| Oasis Definitely Maybe | 4.0 |
| Oasis (What's the Story) Morning Glory? | 3.0 |
| Oasis Be Here Now | 2.5 |
| Oasis Don't Believe the Truth | 3.5 |
| Oasis Dig Out Your Soul | 3.0 |
| Hot Hot Heat Elevator | 3.0 |
| Kasabian West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum | 2.5 |
| Kasabian Empire | 3.0 |
| Placebo Battle for the Sun | 2.5 |
| The Sounds Crossing the Rubicon | 2.0 |
| Phoenix (FRA) Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix | 5.0 |
| Camera Obscura My Maudlin Career | 4.0 |
| Guillemots Red | 2.0 |
| Cursive Mama, I'm Swollen | 2.5 |
| The Mountain Goats Heretic Pride | 4.0 |
Singer-songwriter John Darnielle’s folk-rock project Mountain Goats has been a mainstay of the lo-fi scene since 1991, but it wasn’t until their last release, Get Lonely, that he started receiving mainstream attention. Unlike that record’s nihilistic, depressing attitude, however, Heretic Pride is a welcome breath of exquisitely produced, introspective indie rock. First, however, one must overcome Darnielle’s unique voice: an odd cross between Neutral Milk Hotel and Chris Carrabba, a rather terrifying combination. On songs like “Autoclave” it is tuneful and melodic, complementing the acoustic instrumentation well, but on ones like the title track, it can take an off-putting turn towards high-pitched and whiny. The production, however, is what truly elevates the album. From the graceful strings of “San Bernardino” to the vibrant percussion on “In The Craters On The Moon,” each track sounds fleshed-out and musically rich. The New Yorker once called Darnielle “America’s best non-hip-hop lyricists.” Now coupled with an amazing production team and far less morbid subjects, Mountain Goats seem ready for even greater success.
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| The Raveonettes Lust Lust Lust | 4.0 |
Coming off the heels of their sole major-label record, Pretty In Black, many thought that the Danish couple of Sharin Foo and Sune Rose Wagner would continue the commercial, 50s-pop-fixation of that record. However, with their switch back to an indie label, Lust Lust Lust arrives as a ringing endorsement of their older, fuzz-guitar noise rock. Opener “Aly, Walk With Me” starts off with a slick drumbeat and a guitar that threatens to overcome the track with reverb. Foo’s and Wagner’s androgynous vocals are a highlight of the whole record, floating along smoothly in sharp contrast to the bursts of raw noise that the Raveonettes specialize in. Those same effects, however, are often a detriment to the band’s sound, as is apparent in the annoying static effect in “Sad Transmission” and “Expelled from Love,” sometimes sounding like you’re listening to the band play on a distant AM station located somewhere underground. Overall, Lust Lust Lust is a strong continuation of the band’s pop/noise blend that can at once be sweetly enchanting and nostalgic while still sounding unmistakably fresh.
|
| Cut Off Your Hands You and I | 3.5 |
| Cut Copy In Ghost Colours | 5.0 |
| The Veils The Runaway Found | 4.5 |
| The Veils Nux Vomica | 5.0 |
| The Veils Sun Gangs | 3.5 |
| Metric Fantasies | 3.5 |
| Tinted Windows Tinted Windows | 2.5 |
| Flo Rida R.O.O.T.S. | 2.0 |
| Slim Thug Boss of all Bosses | 2.0 |
| U2 No Line on the Horizon | 2.5 |
| Kelly Clarkson All I Ever Wanted | 3.0 |
| Neko Case Middle Cyclone | 4.0 |
| M. Ward Hold Time | 4.0 |
| Morrissey Years of Refusal | 3.0 |
| ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead The Century of Self | 4.0 |
| The Fireman Electric Arguments | 4.0 |
| French Kicks Swimming | 2.0 |
| Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better | 4.0 |
| Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand | 4.0 |
| The Flaming Lips The Soft Bulletin | 3.5 |
| The Flaming Lips At War with the Mystics | 3.5 |
| The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots | 5.0 |
| The Fiery Furnaces Bitter Tea | 3.0 |
| The Fiery Furnaces Widow City | 3.5 |
| The Fiery Furnaces Rehearsing My Choir | 2.0 |
| The Fiery Furnaces Blueberry Boat | 2.0 |
| The Fiery Furnaces EP | 4.0 |
| Explosions in the Sky The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place | 4.0 |
| Explosions in the Sky Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die... | 3.0 |
| Explosions in the Sky How Strange, Innocence | 4.0 |
| The Duke Spirit Neptune | 3.5 |
| Coldplay Parachutes | 3.0 |
| Britney Spears Greatest Hits: My Prerogative | 3.0 |
| Britney Spears Britney | 2.5 |
| Britney Spears ...Baby One More Time | 2.0 |
| Britney Spears Oops!...I Did It Again | 2.0 |
| Britney Spears In the Zone | 2.5 |
| Blur Think Tank | 2.5 |
| Blur The Best Of | 3.0 |
| Belle and Sebastian Dear Catastrophe Waitress | 3.5 |
| Beck Midnite Vultures | 4.2 |
| The Beatles The Beatles | 3.5 |
| The Beatles Help! | 4.0 |
| The Beatles Rubber Soul | 5.0 |
| The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | 4.5 |
| The Beatles Revolver | 5.0 |
| The Beatles Anthology 3 | 3.0 |
| The Beatles Anthology 2 | 3.5 |
| The Beatles Anthology 1 | 3.5 |
| The Beatles 1 | 4.5 |
| Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique | 4.5 |
| Beastie Boys Ill Communication | 3.5 |
| Beastie Boys Hello Nasty | 2.5 |
| Beastie Boys To the 5 Boroughs | 2.0 |
| Beastie Boys Check Your Head | 4.5 |
| The Bad Plus These Are the Vistas | 3.0 |
| The Auteurs After Murder Park | 4.0 |
| The Auteurs Now I'm A Cowboy | 3.5 |
| The Auteurs New Wave | 3.5 |
| Augustana Can't Love, Can't Hurt | 3.0 |
| Arcade Fire Neon Bible | 3.5 |
| Arcade Fire Funeral | 4.5 |
| Animal Collective Strawberry Jam | 3.0 |
| Feist The Reminder | 4.0 |
| Feist Let It Die | 3.5 |
| Lily Allen It's Not Me, It's You | 4.0 |
| Ben Lee The Rebirth of Venus | 2.5 |
| Ben Lee Awake Is The New Sleep | 2.5 |
| Okkervil River The Stand Ins | 4.5 |
The Stand Ins is lyrically bleak and depressing, despite the often-upbeat instrumentation, and singer and writer Will Sheff is in fine form. Just check out opener ?Lost Coastlines,? where Sheff laments ?every night finds us rocking and rolling on waves wild and wide, well we have lost our way, nobody?s gonna say it outright,? along ?Lust for Life?-esque bass and drum line before exploding into an energetic outro of ?la la la?s.? With song titles like ?Singer Songwriter,? ?Pop Lie,? and ?On Tour With Zykos,? it?s not hard to figure out the theme of the record, but never once does Okkervil River bore or weigh down.
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| Ben Kweller Changing Horses | 3.5 |
| Ben Kweller On My Way | 3.0 |
| Ben Kweller Sha Sha | 2.5 |
| The Fray The Fray | 2.0 |
| The Strokes Is This It | 4.6 |
| The Strokes Room on Fire | 3.3 |
| The Strokes First Impressions of Earth | 3.5 |
| The Shins Wincing the Night Away | 4.0 |
| The Shins Chutes Too Narrow | 3.5 |
| The Shins Oh, Inverted World | 3.5 |
| Franz Ferdinand Tonight: Franz Ferdinand | 3.0 |
| Kaiser Chiefs Off With Their Heads | 3.0 |
| Kaiser Chiefs Yours Truly, Angry Mob | 2.5 |
| Kaiser Chiefs Employment | 4.0 |
| A.C. Newman Get Guilty | 4.0 |
| Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion | 4.0 |
| Heartless Bastards All This Time | 3.5 |
| Phoenix (FRA) It's Never Been Like That | 4.3 |
| OK Go Oh No | 4.0 |
| Hot Chip Made in the Dark | 2.0 |
| Linkin Park Hybrid Theory | 3.0 |
| Linkin Park Reanimation | 3.0 |
| Linkin Park Meteora | 2.5 |
| Linkin Park Minutes to Midnight | 2.0 |
| The Libertines The Libertines | 3.5 |
| The Libertines Up The Bracket | 2.5 |
| The Kooks Inside In/Inside Out | 2.5 |
| Nas Untitled | 3.5 |
| Jay-Z The Blueprint | 4.0 |
| Jay-Z Reasonable Doubt | 4.0 |
| Headlights Some Racing, Some Stopping | 3.5 |
| Gomez How We Operate | 4.0 |
| The New Pornographers Challengers | 3.7 |
| The New Pornographers Mass Romantic | 4.0 |
| The New Pornographers Electric Version | 4.2 |
| The New Pornographers Twin Cinema | 5.0 |
| Cold War Kids Robbers and Cowards | 3.5 |
| Cold War Kids Loyalty to Loyalty | 3.0 |
| Brett Dennen Hope for the Hopeless | 2.5 |
| Earlimart Hymn and Her | 3.5 |
| Razorlight Up All Night | 3.5 |
| Razorlight Razorlight | 1.5 |
| Delta Spirit Ode To Sunshine | 3.5 |
| The Bird And The Bee The Bird and the Bee | 3.0 |
| Everest Ghost Notes | 4.5 |
| Harvey Danger Little By Little... | 4.0 |
| Earlimart Mentor Tormentor | 2.5 |
| Meet the new Earlimart: same as the old Earlimart. That is to say, Aaron Espinoza continues his Elliott Smith impression and the music is a pleasant, if not particularly revolutionary, brand of hazy shoegaze pop/rock. |
| The Bravery The Bravery | 2.0 |
| The Brunettes Mars Loves Venus | 4.0 |
| Coldplay A Rush of Blood to the Head | 3.5 |
| Coldplay X&Y | 2.0 |
| Coldplay Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends | 4.0 |
| Chris Martin and company were in danger of treading into soft-rock and piano drudgery on 2005’s X&Y, but Viva La Vida proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Coldplay weren’t content to sit on their laurels for their fourth record. Incorporating world music styles, multi-movement epics, and some of Martin’s best lyrics yet, Viva might be Coldplay’s best album yet, and is certainly their most original and experimental. |
| Death Cab for Cutie Narrow Stairs | 4.0 |
| Wilco Kicking Television: Live in Chicago | 4.5 |
| Wilco Being There | 4.0 |
| Wilco A Ghost Is Born | 3.9 |
| Wilco Sky Blue Sky | 3.0 |
| Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot | 4.5 |
| Wilco Summerteeth | 5.0 |
| Peter Bjorn and John Writer's Block | 2.5 |
| Jeff Buckley Grace (Legacy Edition) | 5.0 |
| Jay-Z The Black Album | 3.5 |
| Jay-Z Kingdom Come | 2.0 |
| Jay-Z American Gangster | 3.5 |
| Guster Ganging Up on the Sun | 3.5 |
| Guster Keep It Together | 4.5 |
| Guster Lost And Gone Forever | 5.0 |
| Gorillaz Gorillaz | 3.5 |
| Gorillaz Demon Days | 2.5 |
| Goldfrapp Seventh Tree | 3.5 |
It takes about six and a half minutes before a casual listener might realize their listening to an electronica outfit, as a drum machine explodes onto the scene halfway through ?Little Bird.? Whereas previous albums focused on Gregory?s innovative beats and textures, Seventh Tree?s focus is on Goldfrapp?s lovely, breathy voice. While the down tempo ballads that start off the album might initially turn off fans, later songs such as ?Happiness? feature beautiful, multi-tracked vocals and a bouncy pop beat and build a pleasant vibe that continues, with just a few bumps in the road (see snoozer ?Eat Yourself?), for the rest of the record.
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| Fugazi The Argument | 5.0 |
| Explosions in the Sky All of a Sudden, I Miss Everyone | 4.0 |
| The Decemberists Castaways and Cutouts | 3.5 |
| The Decemberists Her Majesty the Decemberists | 4.2 |
| The Decemberists Picaresque | 4.5 |
| The Decemberists The Crane Wife | 4.0 |
| Death From Above 1979 You're a Woman, I'm a Machine | 5.0 |
| Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Some Loud Thunder | 1.5 |
| Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Clap Your Hands Say Yeah | 4.0 |
| Camera Obscura Let's Get Out of This Country | 3.5 |
| Justice †| 4.0 |
| Crystal Castles Crystal Castles | 3.0 |
| Bright Eyes Fevers & Mirrors | 3.5 |
| Bright Eyes I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning | 4.5 |
| Bright Eyes Digital Ash in a Digital Urn | 2.5 |
| Bright Eyes Cassadaga | 5.0 |
| Brendan Benson Lapalco | 3.5 |
| Brendan Benson The Alternative To Love | 5.0 |
| Brand New The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me | 4.0 |
| Ambulance LTD. LP | 5.0 |
| Love Is All A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night | 3.5 |
| Thrice The Alchemy Index Vols. III & IV | 4.5 |
| MGMT Oracular Spectacular | 3.5 |
| Sea Power The Decline of British Sea Power | 4.0 |
| Sea Power Open Season | 3.5 |
| Sea Power Do You Like Rock Music? | 4.0 |
| Flogging Molly Float | 2.5 |
With Float, the band is living by the adage ?if it ain?t broke, don?t fix it.? The band has remained stuck in their own culture, maintaining virtually the same gimmick since their debut album of Pogues-inspired rock and leading to albums that generally sound the same from one song to another. That isn?t to say the gimmick doesn?t work. ?The Story So Far? and the title track slow the tempo down and focus on singer Dave King?s soulful vocals and, on the latter, a wistful fiddle. Generally, however, much of Float sounds like a manic leprechaun singing jigs about drinking too much and poverty-stricken city workers with the metronome turned up way too far.
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| Snoop Dogg Ego Trippin' | 3.5 |
| Rick Ross Trilla | 3.0 |
| Moby Last Night | 3.0 |
Strict vegetarian and eternally bald hipster Moby returns to his platinum-selling roots on Last Night, turning toward a more electronica/dance style that characterized his hit club record Play way back in 1999. Beginning with the catchy “Oh Yeah” and continuing nearly unabated to the album’s closer, the epic “Last Night,” the record chronicles an all-night romp through New York’s clubs, anchored by Moby’s diverse, eclectic range of beats.
Strong points include the 80s-tastic “Disco Lies” and the Nintendo-mimicking sounds of “257.zero,” but the record bogs down a little with the slow jam “Degenerates,” and the second half of the record overall takes the energy level down a notch. Last Night’s potential for dusk to dawn bootyshaking, however, remains much higher than most of Moby’s contemporaries.
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| P.O.D. When Angels and Serpents Dance | 1.0 |
| Tapes 'n Tapes Walk It Off | 2.0 |
The songs on this latest record are more easily categorized under indie rock than the grab bag of styles that marked 2006’s The Loon, and while this increased focus benefits the overall flow of the album, some of the songs tend to sound too similar. The funky guitar line and fixed bass on “Hang Them All” imparts a sense of urgency that characterizes Walk It Off, as if the band is desperately trying to tell someone that they matter. Singer Josh Grier’s warbly vocals will either be a turn off or a pleasure depending on the listener, although on songs such as “Headshock” they make the song. Aside from the tango-ish tune “Conquest” and the relaxed vibe of “Say Back Something,” most of Walk It Off suffers from the Strokes Syndrome, or sounding remarkably the same throughout much of the record, that has afflicted too many guitar-rock bands in recent memory.
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| The Kooks Konk | 2.5 |
The Kooks have perfected the formula for the perfect pop song with "Always Where I Need To Be": doo-doo-doos in the chorus, Pritchard’s amusing but contrived Jagger-esque howls, and a stuck-in-your-head beat.
“Mr. Maker” is recycled Britpop, “Shine On” is dripping with the corniest sentiments this side of the Goo Goo Dolls, and Pritchard’s lyrics generally could use more than a little work. But it is guitarist Hugh Harris that saves the album. From the multi-tracked wizardry of “Do You Wanna” to the tasteful strumming on “Sway” to the ridiculously bouncy riffs and solos on virtually any song, Harris’ work makes the album a relatively pleasing memory of Britpop’s heyday. |
| Goldfinger Hello Destiny | 3.0 |
| Atmosphere When Life Gives You Lemons... | 4.0 |
The focus is on Ant and Slug’s gritty, industrial-colored lyrics and simple, rhythmic flow, telling black-and-white stories of crime, drugs, the projects, and any number of other things that influenced the two as they grew up in Minneapolis. “Dreamer” brings out the woodwinds and horns in a catchy fable about teen pregnancy while “The Waitress” wallows in funky bass and a bird-like flute while it unweaves a story about its subject. While occasionally the duo’s unremarkable voices tend to blur together and the lyrical matter is unrelenting, the ingenious production keeps things from going stale.
Neither is as technically talented as rappers like Nas or Twista, neither boasts the advanced studio wizardry of producers like Kanye West or Timbaland, and neither indulges in gangster posing like Young Jeezy or 50 Cent, but Atmosphere’s unique combination of realism and straight-to-the-point beats makes their latest another gem in a long line of excellent underground releases. |
| Elbow The Seldom Seen Kid | 2.5 |
Manchester Britpop band Elbow is one of the most critically acclaimed bands on their side of Atlantic, but commercial success has continued to elude them, and the group is practically unknown in America. The Seldom Seen Kid, their fourth album, aims to reach wider audiences with its epic brand of indie rock, with vocalist/guitarist Guy Garvey’s distinctive British tenor leading the way.
The record starts off with slow burner “Starlings,” mostly a bubbling synthesizer and Garvey’s tender voice punctuated by occasional blasts of horn. Ultimately boring, the band luckily picks up the pace with the quintessentially British-sounding “The Bones of You,” which sounds like a mix of the Verve’s intelligent witticisms and Blur’s innovative instrumentation.
The highlight of the record is obviously Garvey, whose velvet pipes expertly complement his dreamy storytelling, as is most evident on lead single “Grounds for Divorce,” where he describes feelings of nostalgia as “there’s a hole in my neighborhood / down which of late I cannot help but fall.”
Sadly, Garvey’s talents as a songwriter can only go so far, and unfortunately The Seldom Seen Kid suffers from the same affliction as its starting record: it is too ponderous to hold the listener’s attention for long. Songs drag along on waves of noise and guitar, with only Garvey’s voice to lead a path through the musical bog. |
| Ashlee Simpson Bittersweet World | 2.0 |
With Bittersweet World, the younger, more tone-deaf Simpson sibling has wholeheartedly embraced the ‘80s, beat-tastic sound that has been gaining speed in the pop world over the years. The result is a mixed bag. Lead single “Outta My Head” is built on a nagging guitar beat and a simple drum machine, but sadly the lyrics are ridiculously inane (“what you lookin’ at me for huh? / show me respect or I will show you the door”), and Ashlee fails miserably at sounding sassy.
The album isn’t totally worthless, however. For every cringe-inducing break-up song (“Little Miss Obsessive”) and pointless bad-girl posturing (“Rule Breaker”), there are a couple bright spots: the dark pulse of “Murder” and the whirling guitar pop of “Ragdoll,” and no one can ever accuse Ashlee of lacking energy. All in all, Bittersweet World is more of a party than her earlier efforts, but still a plastic, manufactured one at that. |
| Islands Arm's Way | 4.0 |
| Usher Here I Stand | 2.0 |
| Earlimart Treble & Tremble | 3.0 |
| Aaron Espinoza does a good job of imitating Elliott Smith, not such a good job of being Aaron Espinoza. A haunting tribute to the late singer-songwriter, but not one that stands up to any of its late hero's work. |
| The Faint Wet From Birth | 3.5 |
| The Faint Fasciinatiion | 2.5 |
| The Walkmen You & Me | 4.5 |
| The Verve Forth | 2.5 |
The Verve are old pros at creating songs that practically live in their own atmosphere, and the layers of sound that decorate Forth lead to tunes that reveal new, subtle differences with each listen. Such care produces songs that regularly pass the five-minute mark and beyond; six songs go well over the six-minute mark, and while at times it can be the album?s biggest plus, it also tends to lead to tracks that drag rather than evolve. It's the Verve being the Verve, which is good at putting one to sleep but not too much else.
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| Jessica Simpson Do You Know | 1.5 |
| Pussycat Dolls Doll Domination | 1.0 |
| Kings of Leon Only By The Night | 2.0 |
| Rise Against Appeal to Reason | 4.0 |
| T-Pain Thr33 Ringz | 2.0 |
| Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy | 3.0 |
| Fall Out Boy Folie a Deux | 3.0 |
| The All-American Rejects When the World Comes Down | 2.5 |
| Gnarls Barkley St. Elsewhere | 3.5 |
| Gnarls Barkley The Odd Couple | 2.5 |
| St. Elsewhere was a debut worthy of the heaps of praise it accumulated from the press, a eclectic, diverse arrangement of alternative hip-hop mixed with Danger Mouse’s extraordinarily experimental production and Cee-Lo’s oddball lyrics and fluid phrasing. The Odd Couple is pretty much St. Elsewhere redux, and considering the potential within these two guys, it’s unerring sameness is frustrating. |
| Wolf Parade Apologies to the Queen Mary | 5.0 |
| Wolf Parade At Mount Zoomer | 2.0 |
| Lil Wayne Tha Carter III | 2.0 |
| An overblown, bloated, scattered collection of egoism that had just as many misfires as it had genuine hits. 2008 was without doubt the year of Weezy, but there is such a thing as too much Weezy; the over-saturation of Lil Wayne on the airwaves led to Tha Carter III as not having much more than that which you haven’t already heard. It was ambitious and defiantly creative, but not the modern rap masterpiece many critics made it out to be. |
| Jimmy Eat World Clarity | 3.0 |
| Jimmy Eat World Bleed American | 4.5 |
| Jimmy Eat World Futures | 3.5 |
| Jimmy Eat World Chase This Light | 2.0 |
| Kasabian Kasabian | 2.0 |
| Metric Live It Out | 2.5 |
| My Morning Jacket It Still Moves | 4.0 |
| My Morning Jacket Z | 3.5 |
| My Morning Jacket Evil Urges | 2.5 |
| Modest Mouse Good News for People Who Love Bad News | 2.0 |
| David Cook David Cook | 2.5 |
| The Dodos Visiter | 4.5 |
| The Dodos do it all on their second album, an hour-long kaleidoscope of psychedelic folk, world music beats, and an constantly-shifting array of melodic ideas and lyrical thoughts that fairly blow one away on first listen. Drummer Meric Long’s training in the West African style of Ewe drumming pays off incredible dividends here, as his hard-driving beats and ridiculous sense of syncopation turns nearly every song into a clinic of talent. Add to that guitarist/vocalist Logan Kroeber’s mellower Ben Gibbard-ish pipes and talented strumming and you have a largely acoustic world-folk record that makes for one of the strangest and most exciting releases of the year. |
| Boards of Canada The Campfire Headphase | 4.5 |
| Sigur Ros Takk... | 4.5 |
| Girl Talk Feed the Animals | 3.5 |
| Girl Talk Night Ripper | 5.0 |
| The Zutons Who Killed The Zutons | 4.5 |
| Weezer The Green Album | 3.0 |
| Weezer Pinkerton | 4.0 |
| Weezer Maladroit | 3.5 |
| Weezer The Blue Album (Deluxe Edition) | 4.0 |
| Weezer Make Believe | 1.0 |
| Weezer The Red Album | 2.0 |
| At this point, it’s hard to say that Weezer’s latest was a real disappointment, as I’ve expected nothing but that from this once-proud band since 2005 (yes, I hung on even after Maladroit). The Red Album was trumpeted as the band’s comeback, and while it showed a few fading signs of the old Weezer, the band’s delusions of grandeur and Cuomo’s declining lyrical abilities made it instead a last gasp, “Pork and Beans” reminding me only of what could have been. |
| Thrice The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II | 3.5 |
| Stereophonics Language.Sex.Violence.Other? | 2.5 |
| Stereophonics You Gotta Go There To Come Back | 4.5 |
| Shout Out Louds Howl Howl Gaff Gaff | 3.5 |
| Shout Out Louds Our Ill Wills | 5.0 |
| Secret Machines Now Here is Nowhere | 3.5 |
| Secret Machines Secret Machines | 2.0 |
| Ryan Adams Heartbreaker | 4.5 |
| Ryan Adams Gold | 4.0 |
| Ryan Adams Rock 'n' Roll | 3.5 |
| Ryan Adams Love is Hell | 4.0 |
| Ryan Adams Cold Roses | 5.0 |
| Ryan Adams Jacksonville City Nights | 3.0 |
| Ryan Adams 29 | 1.5 |
| Ryan Adams Easy Tiger | 3.0 |
| Ryan Adams Cardinology | 4.0 |
| The Roots Rising Down | 4.0 |
| The Roots retain the throne of alternative hip-hop with their eighth studio album, a record that continues this collective?s remarkable run of intelligent and socially conscious rap. ?uestlove?s beats and production as polished and stimulating as ever, but Rising Down modifies their traditional jazzy sound with murkier synths and more digital techniques that embrace a fairly dark mood. It?s appropriate for the often-political and critical lyrics of MC Black Thought, and the album as a whole comes off as a logical evolution in the sound of a band that is constantly growing. |
| The Rapture Echoes | 3.0 |
| The Rapture Pieces Of The People We Love | 3.5 |
| The Postal Service Give Up | 4.5 |
| Panic! at the Disco Pretty. Odd. | 4.0 |
| Paris Hilton Paris | 1.0 |
| The National Boxer | 4.0 |
| The National Alligator | 5.0 |
| N.E.R.D. Seeing Sounds | 3.0 |
| Miley Cyrus Breakout | 2.0 |
| Mark Ronson Version | 3.5 |
| M83 Saturdays=Youth | 4.0 |
| Anthony Gonzalez, the brainchild behind electronica group M83, has always had a fetish for taking discarded, old sounds and turning them into something new. The group’s shoegaze approach to electronica, soothing sounds built atop waves and waves of sound and layers of production, are twisted into M83’s most accessible outing on Saturdays=Youth, a record that hearkens back to that cultural touchstone everyone wants to forget: the ‘80s! Lyrically focused on teen love and emo angst, the music is a blend of synthtastic new-wave pop and frothy, bubbling techno all buoying Gonzalez’s wispy voice. It would’ve made a hell of a soundtrack to the Breakfast Club. |
| Ludacris Theater of the Mind | 3.5 |
| LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem | 3.5 |
| LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver | 4.5 |
| Janet Jackson Discipline | 3.0 |
While Janet’s last two albums had many thinking she had lost her pop touch, Discipline throws her back into the club with a number of righteous jams and a few duds.
First single “Feedback” opens with its namesake before dropping back to a steel-drum rhythm and Janet’s seductive, Michael-esque voice telling the listener that “tonight my body’s an exhibition baby / don’t be scared to touch it / so come and get it babe.” Hey, no one ever said Jackson was a lyrical genius, but the production on the song by D’Mile and Darkchild is irresistibly danceable.
Not all of the songs on the album are as club-ready, such as the boring “Rock With U” and the embarrassing ballad “Can’t B Good.” Jackson’s inexplicable decision to include a number of interludes where she talks to a robot or says unintentionally comedic nuggets like “four words: love, faith, hope, destiny” stunt the album’s momentum. |
| Gym Class Heroes The Quilt | 4.0 |
| When the Heroes falter, it’s usually because McCoy’s ideas tend to run dry around the end of the 14-song-long track list, and while his flow is generally acceptable, lyrically the Heroes will never be compared to Atmosphere or Mos Def. Luckily, the uniformly innovative, genre-bending production by Stump and Cool & Dre manage to keep The Quilt afloat through its hour run and produce a pop/rap album that manages to be catchy and progressive at the same time. |
| Jeezy The Recession | 3.0 |
Listeners don’t come to a Snowman album looking for lyrical nuance or subtle metaphors, but they definitely do come for the Dirty South production, the gangsta vibe, and Jeezy’s imitable wheezy drawl, and The Recession has all of this in spades.
What saves The Recession from being just another lame Dirty South record is the production by a series of semi-famous producers like J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and Drumma Boy, who create an appropriately dark, urban atmosphere replete with snare hits and rumbling bass to accompany Jeezy’s rants. While The Recession is never going to win any awards, it is a fitting late summer jam for those who like their hip-hop with more brawn than brains. |
| The Game LAX | 2.5 |
| The Fray How to Save a Life | 2.0 |
| Fountains of Wayne Utopia Parkway | 3.0 |
| Fountains of Wayne Welcome Interstate Managers | 4.5 |
| Fountains of Wayne Traffic And Weather | 2.0 |
| Foo Fighters One by One | 3.0 |
| Fiona Apple Extraordinary Machine | 4.0 |
| Madonna Hard Candy | 2.5 |
| The Dears No Cities Left | 2.5 |
| T.I. Paper Trail | 4.0 |
| Everyone knew house arrest couldn?t stop T.I. Going back to old-fashioned pen and paper to write down lyrics and finishing with around 50 songs for the album, Paper Trail?s 16 final cuts are some of mainstream rap?s best of the year. Hard-hitting beats combine with T.I.?s inimitable vocal dexterity and lyrics that fairly drip with venom to make an album of surefire commercial hits as well as a few that stand up to any cerebral rapper?s catalogue. And, of course, that Numa Numa sampling on ?Live Your Life? was true producing genius. |
| Clipse Hell Hath No Fury | 5.0 |
| Blur Blur | 4.0 |
| Blur The Great Escape | 3.0 |
| Blur Parklife | 5.0 |
| Blur 13 | 4.0 |
| The Black Heart Procession Amore Del Tropico | 4.0 |
| Ben Folds Way To Normal | 2.5 |
| Beck Odelay | 3.5 |
| Beck Sea Change | 4.5 |
| Beck Guero | 3.5 |
| Beck The Information | 2.0 |
| Beck Modern Guilt | 3.5 |
| Basement Jaxx Kish Kash | 4.5 |
| Britney Spears Blackout | 4.0 |
| Britney Spears Circus | 3.0 |
| Badly Drawn Boy About A Boy | 3.5 |
| Badly Drawn Boy The Hour Of Bewilderbeast | 5.0 |
| Badly Drawn Boy Have You Fed The Fish? | 2.5 |
| Badly Drawn Boy One Plus One is One | 2.5 |
| Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not | 3.0 |
| The Apples in Stereo Her Wallpaper Reverie | 3.5 |
| The Apples in Stereo New Magnetic Wonder | 3.5 |
| The Apples in Stereo Velocity Of Sound | 1.5 |
| ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead So Divided | 3.5 |
| ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead Worlds Apart | 3.0 |
| ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead Source Tags and Codes | 5.0 |
| The Raconteurs Broken Boy Soldiers | 2.0 |
| The Raconteurs Consolers of the Lonely | 4.0 |
| Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene | 2.5 |
| Broken Social Scene You Forgot It in People | 5.0 |
| Taylor Swift Fearless | 4.0 |
| Elliott Smith XO | 5.0 |
| Elliott Smith Roman Candle | 4.6 |
| Elliott Smith Elliott Smith | 5.0 |
| Elliott Smith Either/Or | 5.0 |
| Elliott Smith Figure 8 | 5.0 |
| Elliott Smith From a Basement on the Hill | 4.3 |
| Elliott Smith New Moon | 4.3 |
| of Montreal Skeletal Lamping | 1.5 |
| Kevin Barnes has been cruel to me. After the one-two punch Satanic Panic in the Attic and Sunlandic Twins turned Of Montreal into one of my favorite bands, the experimental squall of Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? was interesting, to be sure, but turned me off more than a little after the perfect electronica-meets-power-pop of the aforementioned records. Skeletal Lamping is perhaps even more disjointed and uneven than Hissing Fauna, a record that bounces from random idea to opaque lyric to out-of-the-blue musical flourish with the attention span of a ADHD-afflicted schizophrenic six-year-old with a sugar rush. Barnes is no doubt a kind of musical visionary; just not the kind I expected or really even wanted. |
| of Montreal Satanic Panic in the Attic | 5.0 |
| of Montreal The Sunlandic Twins | 4.0 |
| of Montreal Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? | 2.0 |
| Spoon Kill the Moonlight | 4.5 |
| Spoon Series of Sneaks | 3.0 |
| Spoon Girls Can Tell | 5.0 |
| Spoon Gimme Fiction | 4.5 |
| Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga | 5.0 |
| The Stills Oceans Will Rise | 3.0 |
| Kanye West 808s and Heartbreak | 2.5 |
| Black Kids Partie Traumatic | 2.0 |
| Conor Oberst Conor Oberst | 4.5 |
| Beyonce I Am... Sasha Fierce | 2.5 |
