Album Reviews Guided by VoicesHalf Smiles of the Decomposed(Matador)The most mythic rock band to crawl out of Dayton, Ohio, bows out with an album that isn't a complete embarrassment. Last spring, Guided by Voices ...   More

Album Reviews FuckThose Are Not My BongosFuture Farmer San Francisco goof-offs learn that quality trumps novelty; band members exclaim their own name in disgust.Ten years after Fuck first landed on shelves, the buz ...   More

Album Reviews The seven most blisterin' tracks of the month, and one that totally sucks, as dictated by the Mark Baumgarten, Kelly Clarke and Richard Shirk. In August, we dance.The Best1. Cut Copy, "Future"Melbourn ...   More

Album Reviews Northern StateAll CityColumbia RecordsWHINEY LONG ISLAND WHITE GIRLS RHYME ABOUT IKEA 'N' FEMINISM. SOCCER MOMS, REPRESENT.Since Northern State was inducted into the hipster hall of fame by the Roots, ...   More

Album Reviews FaithlessNo RootsAristaTHIS LAME-ASS TRIP-HOP ACT IS HUGE IN THE U.K. SO IS ROBBIE WILLIAMS. FUCKIN' BRITS.In the fine tradition of U.S.-U.K. music relations, an album like No Roots by Faithless toppe ...   More

Album Reviews Badly Drawn BoyOne Plus One Is OneAstralwerksDigging his songs out of a giant imaginary toy box beside his bed, the shaggy knit-capped Brit who goes by the moniker Badly Drawn Boy has wowed fans with ...   More

Album Reviews Various ArtistsDamned For All Time: Volume 4(National Dust)Consumed in a single chunk, the previous three volumes of the Damned For All Time series rank as the most satisfying collection of late-centu ...   More

Album Reviews Matthew DearBackstrokeSpectral SoundLeave Luck to Heaven, the last album from Detroit-based techno producer Matthew Dear, began with a gorgeous, dubbed-out synth loop and proceeded to map out the prev ...   More

Album Reviews Rogue WaveOut of the Shadow(Sub Pop)Pure and unfettered by collaboration, San Francisco's Zach Rogue has created an album filled with pop tunes that carry the weight of the genre's history while being ...   More

Album Reviews The CureThe CureGeffen/IMThere are only so many ways to describe the void of unrequited love, the bleakness of rain-soaked cement and the stupor of overwhelming gloom. Robert Smith has said them all. ...   More