AltWeeklies Wire
The Fiery Furnaces Return With a Very Good Albumnew
If you've ever been on the fence about this band's experimental excess, but enjoyed their more-cohesive moments, you'll be pleased by I'm Going Away.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
07-23-2009 |
Reviews
'Bitte Orca' is Aggravatingly Goodnew
The newest album from Brooklyn's Dirty Projectors is downright parasitic: It's an album composed of often noxious components that is deftly able to worm its way into the listener's heart.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
07-23-2009 |
Reviews
Evan Dando's Cover Album 'Varshons' Could Easily Be Filed Next to Loretta Lynnnew
Unbelievably, Dando does Townes Van Zandt ("Waiting Around to Die") better than the late songwriter's disciple, Steve Earle, giving the song a hazy, horse-ride-at-dawn touch. If you enjoyed Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' Raising Sand or Cat Power's covers, the Lemonheads' Varshons will dazzle and delight.
Tucson Weekly |
Jarret Keene |
07-23-2009 |
Reviews
'If Tomorrow Comes ...' Doesn't Really Work as an Albumnew
Maino doesn't have enough variation in his style, too many of the songs sound alike, and the narrative skits throughout are not especially believable or interesting. Still, in an era when the traditional long-version album has all but disappeared as an art form, it's hard to hold these complaints against him.
Jenny Owen Youngs' Latest Album is a Charming 'Failure'new
Transmitter Failure is richly layered, confessional ballads snuggling up to wry admissions, strings that sweep sharing space with ukuleles that chirp, but Jenny Owen Youngs' voice is the eye of the lush, poppy hurricane.
Eugene Weekly |
Molly Templeton |
07-16-2009 |
Reviews
The Beautiful Harmonies of the Northern California Jesus Freaksnew
The two-disc Northern California Jesus Movement restores the post-gospel legacy of the Lighthouse Ranch, a seventies-era Christian commune in Humboldt County.
North Coast Journal |
Joel Hartse |
07-16-2009 |
Reviews
Jason Lytle's Debut is Like Granddaddy, Stripped Downnew
Three years after the breakup of Grandaddy, Jason Lytle returns with a collection of dreamy pop songs about nature and modernity, bathed in quirky pathos.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
07-16-2009 |
Reviews
The Portland Cello Project Strings Us Alongnew
Cello versions of indie, pop, metal and/or rock songs, can't be boring -- but The Thao and Justin Power Sessions is, sadly enough, a little boring.
Tucson Weekly |
Annie Holub |
07-16-2009 |
Reviews
Dinosaur Jr. Isn't Just Punching the Clock for Post-Reunion 'Farm'new
Farm, the band's ninth album and their first for the Jagjaguwar label, picks up where 2007's Beyond, a brilliant return from a 10-year hiatus, left off, even if it exchanges streamlined song structures for a varied attack.
Tucson Weekly |
Jarret Keene |
07-16-2009 |
Reviews
Sonic Youth's 'The Eternal' is Near Perfectionnew
The group's 16th full-length album is a singular work, with idiosyncratic salutes, via song dedications, to obscure beat poet Gregory Corso and punk rocker Bobby Pyn (aka Darby Crash), and folk hero John Fahey, who painted the cover art.
Tucson Weekly |
Michael Petitti |
07-08-2009 |
Reviews
Pete Yorn's Fourth Album is a Series of Conundrumsnew
Back and Fourth is definitely Pete Yorn's most commercial-sounding record -- but the lyrics are all too often cringe-worthy.
Tucson Weekly |
Annie Holub |
07-08-2009 |
Reviews
'Far' Feels More Serious Than Regina Spektor's Previous Albumnew
Sure, this is an album that contains a line about constructing a computer out of macaroni pieces, but sturdy production and easy, memorable piano melodies manage to ground nearly all of the songs.
Tags: Far, Regina Spektor
Sunset Rubdown's Latest is Perhaps its Best Yetnew
Dragonslayer is a sprawling, whimsical journey into Spencer Krug's psyche, it features ruminations on relationships; emotional calls to arms; and angry, near-vicious screeds against his detractors (including himself).
Dallas Observer |
Ben Westhoff |
07-06-2009 |
Reviews
Gospel Claws' Debut EP is Well Worth Your Currencynew
The five-piece from Tempe, Ariz., plays straightforward rock with the occasional soul flavoring -- somebody's been listening to a whole lotta Motown -- and damn, they're good.
Boise Weekly |
Brandon Nolta |
07-02-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Gospel Claws, rock music
Wilco's Latest is a Necessity for Wilco Lovers Old and Newnew
Wilco (The Album) doesn't provide listeners with anything truly groundbreaking but instead is more a blend of their recent material with sounds from their distant past.
Boise Weekly |
Mathias Morache |
07-02-2009 |
Reviews
