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"8 Diagrams" by Wu-Tang Clan

"8 Diagrams" by Wu-Tang Clan

8 Diagrams marks the first album for the legendary Hip-Hop collective Wu-Tang Clan in six years and it's also the first album for them since the craziest member of the clan, Old Dirty Bastard, passed away in 2003. With ODB's death and all the infighting that's been going on between Ghostface Killah... [More]

[Fri Dec 28th, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall " by Rufus Wainwright

"Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall " by Rufus Wainwright

Artists covering other artists for a full album is nothing new. Bruce Springsteen's previous album before Magic was an album full of Pete Seeger covers, Robyn Hitchcock once did two discs worth of Bob Dylan covers and even a small Indie-Rock band like Dirty Projectors just did their own version of B... [More]

[Fri Dec 28th, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"Red Carpet Massacre" by Duran Duran

"Red Carpet Massacre" by Duran Duran

Let's call a spade a spade shall we: Duran Duran's 2004 comeback album Astronaut with all its original members back in tact was a big pile of rubbish. Instead of taking the world by storm yet again with their supposed return to the spotlight, Astronaut barely made a blip on the radar and those who e... [More]

[Fri Dec 14th, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"Yell & Ice" by Subtle

"Yell & Ice" by Subtle

Usually I find remix albums to be quite distasteful but Electronic/Hip-Hop act Subtle re-imagine the medium in a way that makes new versions of original songs seem refreshing and not redundant. Yell & Ice is a companion piece to last year's phenomenal For Hero: For Fool and instead of just adding a... [More]

[Fri Dec 14th, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"The Black and White Album" by The Hives

"The Black and White Album" by The Hives

Album number four for these Sweedish monochrome punks finds them tweaking their sound a bit to make them a tad more slickly commercial and radio friendly, but generally this is still the type of Hives album that will sit well with older fans. The Black and White Album starts off fast and ferociou... [More]

[Sat Dec 1st, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s the Way You Land "...

"It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s the Way You Land " by Soulsavers

Soulsavers technically consists of Rich Machin and Ian Glover, two gentlemen who specialize in making downbeat, dark and moody Electronic music that has a slight Gospel feel to it. To make their new album even more moody, Machin and Glover went out and hired one of the moodiest vocalists they could... [More]

[Sat Dec 1st, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"Hvarf/Heim" by Sigur Ros

"Hvarf/Heim" by Sigur Ros

A stopgap release until this absolutely masterful Icelandic band finally put together a proper follow-up for Takk - which just happened to be their third masterpiece in a row, Hvarf/Heim is a double disc set of hard to find/reworked tracks and an acoustic live album. Hvarf is the first disc and... [More]

[Sat Dec 1st, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"Flying Burrito Brothers Live at the Avalon Ballroom 19...

"Flying Burrito Brothers Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969" by Graham Parsons Archive Vol.1

The newest in the Amoeba labels series of archive releases present the Burritos a few weeks after recording their debut album, The Gilded Palace Of Sin. Lead singer Graham Parsons is very much steeped in the style of both R&B and the classic country of the likes of Hank William and Bill Monroe. The... [More]

[Sat Nov 24th, 2007] Written By: Tyler Sanders
"Once Upon A Time In The West" by Hard Fi

"Once Upon A Time In The West" by Hard Fi

The opening single "Suburban Knights" from this filmic titled opus basically sums up Hard Fi's sound and mission statement. British pop from The Clash and Oasis, owing dues to both terms of style, production and subject matter. "I Shall Overcome" is typical of this band's lyrics, the working class B... [More]

[Sat Nov 24th, 2007] Written By: Tyler Sanders
"Preparations" by Prefuse 73

"Preparations" by Prefuse 73

Only four months ago Scott Herren a.k.a. Prefuse 73 released Golden Pollen under his other widely used moniker Savath & Savalas to little acclaim and rightfully so(Electronic artists and DJ's singing on their own records should be flogged). It's unfortunate that most of Herren's work since his 2003... [More]

[Mon Nov 12th, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"Chrome Dreams II " by Neil Young

"Chrome Dreams II " by Neil Young

With the archival releases of two live concerts from 1970 and 71' respectively released in the last two years, it's not really a surprise that Neil Young's new studio album, his 31st to be exact not counting live records, soundtracks or scrapped albums, has him looking towards the past; 1977 if you... [More]

[Mon Nov 12th, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"La Cucaracha " by Ween

"La Cucaracha " by Ween

In the history of misunderstood bands, Ween certainly have to be considered near the top of the pile. Revered by a devout following who hang their hats on diversity and epic live shows, yet hated passionately by detractors who see the duo as nothing but a one-note drugged-out joke, brothers Gene and... [More]

[Thu Nov 1st, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"In Rainbows" by Radiohead

"In Rainbows" by Radiohead

If you've been living under a rock for the past month or so you may not have heard that Radiohead have had a new album out. What's that? You had no idea that one of the most influential Rock bands of this generation put out another record? Well then it's about time you stepped up to the digital age... [More]

[Tue Oct 30th, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"White Chalk " by PJ Harvey

"White Chalk " by PJ Harvey

One thing is abundantly clear when you look at PJ Harvey's 15 year career: not a single moment of it has been predictable. Just when it looked as if she was on her way to becoming an Alternative-Rock superstar after 2000's monumental Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea, Harvey goes and makes... [More]

[Tue Oct 30th, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"Cease to Begin " by Band of Horses

"Cease to Begin " by Band of Horses

For a band looking to make a follow-up to an extremely promising debut, Band of Horses sure went through a hell of a lot of transition to get Cease to Begin started. Mat Brooke, who was only one of two founding members of the band to begin with, decided to leave Band of Horses shortly after the comp... [More]

[Tue Oct 30th, 2007] Written By: Kyle England