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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
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