AltWeeklies Wire
Kanye West Has Finally Graduatednew
With producer Jon Brion back in the sidecar, West delivers another failsafe collection of sharp, soulful songs, exposing his new affinity for synths and electronic drums while adding new lyrical ground to that campus-sized ego.
NOW Magazine |
Jason Richards |
09-07-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Kanye West, Graduation
The Delgados' Emma Pollock Releases Solo Debutnew
Pollock seems to draw inspiration from the late-90s alt-rock heyday of piss-and-vinegar girls-with-guitars (think Juliana Hatfield and 4AD babes Tanya Donelly and Kristin Hersh).
NOW Magazine |
Sarah Liss |
08-31-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Emma Pollock, Watch the Fireworks
Maps Creates Pretension-free Psychedelic Popnew
The simplicity of James Chapman's modest 16-track home recorder leads to intimate, immediate results.
NOW Magazine |
Benjamin Boles |
08-31-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: maps, We Can Create
Ben Harper Sharpens Focus on 'Lifeline'new
The group occasionally slips into derivative territory, Beggars Banquet-era Stones in particular, but strong solo material saves Lifeline near the end.
NOW Magazine |
Jason Keller |
08-31-2007 |
Reviews
Rilo Kiley Goes Second-ratenew
What makes Under The Blacklight a true disappointment is the shoddy songcraft.
NOW Magazine |
Sarah Liss |
08-20-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Rilo Kiley, Under The Blacklight
'Challengers': Unabashed Mellownessnew
Gone are the wired-up anthems that are the New Pornographers' hallmark, replaced here by quiet introspection.
NOW Magazine |
Tim Perlich |
08-20-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Challengers, The New Pornographers
Interpol Rises Above Its Influencesnew
In terms of writing and production, this may be Interpol at their best.
NOW Magazine |
Sarah Liss |
07-13-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Interpol, Our Love To Admire
Perry Farrell Fancies Himself an Intergalactic Prophetnew
But the music on Ultra Payloaded sounds more like the work of a hippie magpie with a penchant for chaos and excess.
NOW Magazine |
Sarah Liss |
06-04-2007 |
Reviews
Maroon 5 Unleashes a Chart Destroyernew
If you're only into Maroon 5 for the music, then this album will be a solid purchase -- lyrically, though, it gets tired fast.
NOW Magazine |
Bryan Borzykowski |
05-25-2007 |
Reviews
The Bravery Mix it Upnew
By no means a terrifically unique or fantastic sophomore album, The Sun and the Moon still manages to avoid mediocrity, and not just because our expectations were so low to begin with.
NOW Magazine |
Evan Davies |
05-25-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: The Bravery, The Sun and The Moon
What Happened to the Tunes?new
It's like Bjork is still playing with the conventions of harmony, melody and rhythm but hasn't yet decided exactly what to do, so in the meantime she's issued an unconnected collection of new experiments as a progress report.
NOW Magazine |
Tim Perlich |
05-04-2007 |
Reviews
Intriguing but Weird Remixesnew
For all their sprawling diversity, you can always tell a Xiu Xiu song, so it's curious to hear Stewart's output deconstructed and reworked by esoteric artists in this two-disc comp.
NOW Magazine |
Sarah Liss |
04-13-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: Xiu Xiu, Remixed & Covered
