Ol' Dirty Bastard / Graham Coxon

Album Reviews Ol' Dirty BastardThe Osirus Mixtape(JC Records)FRIENDS OF ODB DIG UP SOME GOOD DIRT ON HIS FIRST POSTMORTEM RELEASE.When Russell Jones, a.k.a. Ol' Dirty Bastard, collapsed and died in a recording stud ...   More

 

Wednesday, February 9, 2005 Chuck Terhark, Richard Shirk

Optimo / Low

Album Reviews OptimoHow To Kill the DJ [Part Two](Kill The DJ/Tigersushi)EVIDENTLY, THE MOST CONSISTENTLY FATAL TECHNIQUE IS TO CRUSH HIM UNDER MOUNTAINS OF BIZARRE VINYL.There are a couple of philosophies of DJ mi ...   More

 

Wednesday, February 2, 2005 Douglas Wolk, Jenny Tatone

The Fiery Furnaces / Rufus Wainwright

Album Reviews The Fiery FurnacesSelf-titled EP (Rough Trade)LINGUISTICALLY OBSESSED BROOKLYN SIBLINGS SPARE THEIR LISTENERS' ACHING BRAINS-A LITTLE.The Fiery Furnaces' Blueberry Boat was the densest, chewiest album ...   More

 

Wednesday, January 26, 2005 Douglas Wolk, Jeff Rosenberg

BEHOLD THE LOST COSMIC COWBOY CLASSIC

Album Reviews Terry Allen's debut, Juarez, originally released in 1976, was thankfully reissued in 2004 to claim its place as one of the greatest albums ever recorded in any genre. And if that's not enough of a pre ...   More

 

Wednesday, January 5, 2005 JEFF ROSENBERG

So this is the Future.

Album Reviews Stare into the crystal ball, children, if you dare.There are few things quite as useless as trying to predict the path of popular and underground music. Just look at this year: Who'd have guessed in 2 ...   More

 

Wednesday, December 22, 2004 MARK BAUMGARTEN

Jay-Z and Linkin Park / Eminem

Album Reviews Jay-Z and Linkin ParkCollision Course(Warner Bros.)ALBUM AMAZINGLY SPELLS OUT EVERYTHING THAT'S WRONG WITH MUSIC INDUSTRY...WITHOUT EVEN TRYING.Technically, Collision Course is a mash-up. The first in ...   More

 

Wednesday, December 15, 2004 Mark Baumgarten, Alex Valdivieso

Allen Ginsberg / Leonard Cohen / William Shatner

Old Jewish poets never go away, they simply say, "Oy vey." New testaments from Ginsberg, Cohen and Shatner

Album Reviews Allen Ginsberg's Wichita Vortex Sutra, though recorded 10 years ago and written almost three decades before that, might be the most timely of three recent, mostly spoken-word releases from the mouths ...   More

 

Wednesday, December 8, 2004 JEFF ROSENBERG

Nirvana

Box set hoards grunge gods' diamonds in the rough, reveals what all that fighting was about.

Album Reviews Nirvana's impact on pop culture was intense and confounding. To this day, those involved still sift through the material remains of the sardonic, sad and incontrovertibly talented songwriter Kurt Coba ...   More

 

Wednesday, December 1, 2004 Dave Clifford

The Magnificent 7

Album Reviews This month our roundup of must-hear songs breaks all the rules, recognizing that Omaha doesn't totally suck and naming a track you can't even get until January. We are bastards.1. Various artists, "Am ...   More

 

Wednesday, November 24, 2004 Amy Mccullough, Mark Baumgarten, Kelly Clarke

The Gun Club

Faceless hero of the L.A. punk scene, Jeffrey Lee Pierce's dark blues-punk sees the light with these excellent reissues.

Album Reviews Miami Death PartyThe Las Vegas Story(Sympathy for the Record Industry)True musical pioneers are essentially faceless. Granted, a rare few individuals attain "icon" status, but in the lore of American ...   More

 

Wednesday, November 17, 2004 Dave Clifford