AltWeeklies Wire
'End Times' is Eels' Bleakest Work Yetnew
If you’re not in the mood to hear a guy falling apart on tape, this album most definitely isn’t for you. But if raw, heart-on-sleeve expression is your bag, and it’s a rainy Sunday morning, you’ll find a lot to love about this relationship apocalypse tale.
Modest Mouse's Latest Compilation is a Surprisingly Solid Offeringnew
No One's First and You're Next is a collection of b-sides and singles that didn't quite make it onto a LP. But the songs aren't just mere outtakes. Included with a couple of new tracks are full re-recordings of the previously shelved tracks, making the album feel far from a group of oddities thrown together.
'The Best of Jimmy Hughes' is a Long-Overdue Collectionnew
It only takes a verse and chorus of "I Worship the Ground You Walk On" to realize that Jimmy Hughes is one of the most criminally overlooked early maestros of the soul music explosion.
'Skeletal Lamping' Makes Clear that Of Montreal Doesn't Care About Pop Successnew
If this perennial indie band from Athens, Georgia, managed to break out as a mainstream pop force, it would make sense. And given the advance buzz for Skeletal Lamping, the band's ninth album, this seems to be its best shot yet ... until you listen to it.
Tags: Of Montreal, Skeletal Lamping
David Byrne and Brian Eno Collaborate Once Againnew
Thanks to the internet, this iconic pair of rock innovators realized their first collaboration since 1981's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. The long-distance results of Everything That Happens Will Happen Today are not merely cohesive but ultimately result in a textured and nuanced record of abstract, gospel-toned songs.
Songs Contain Strong Storytellingnew
While their penchant for snippet songs hasn’t been completely cast away, the shaggy and unpolished, unfinished nature of the songs largely has — at least on the band’s latest, Whitespace Differences (Tinhorn Planet) — and been replaced by loops, electronic sputtering and lush, synthetic arrangements.
'It's Britney, Bitch!'new
Is Blackout a "good" album? Not really. Is it "bad"? No, it isn't necessarily bad either. I guess the only way to describe it would be to say that it is, for lack of a better description, Britney.
Tags: Blackout, Britney Spears
Emmylou Harris Presents Her Bestnew
For Songbird, Harris compiles her favorite moments -- largely lost and unheralded tracks -- from her nearly 40 years in music. The 12-time Grammy winner has a lot of fine moments to cull from for this stunning five-disc compendium.
Tags: Emmylou Harris, Songbird
When the Piano Calls Joni Mitchellnew
Perhaps the biggest compliment you can give to Shine is that it makes you believe that a piano did actually beckon to its creator. The album sounds like something that had to be made.
Tags: Joni Mitchell, Shine
Far From the Straight-ahead Career Retrospectivenew
While The Future Is Unwritten offers some rarities that will leave Clash completists chuffed, the real story here is the textured aural verite that provides the panoramic musical tableaux of Strummer's life.
The Arcade Fire's Hue Testamentnew
Neon Bible is nothing short of marvelous.
Tags: Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
Box Set Celebrate's Elektra's Art Over Commercenew
Forever Changing speaks to the power of Jac Holzman's ideal.
Artvoice's Top 20 Albums of 2004
While it may have not have been the best year for some of our usual “stand-bys,” 2004 graced us with releases from new contenders for the prize like angular Scot guitar-poppists Franz Ferdinand and the unapologetically arty rockers Arcade Fire.
