Wednesday, January 25 2012
Circling the Sun Machine: Re-thinking David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’
Bowie's odd magnetism has long been interpreted as a function of his ambiguous sexuality, but could it be that he was transgressing more than just gender norms and heralding the rise of the man/machine?
Wednesday, November 9 2011
The Olivia Tremor Control Reissues ‘Dusk at Cubist Castle’ and ‘Black Foliage’
Overall, there is much to admire and frown upon in equal measure when it comes to Dusk at Cubist Castle and, more especially, Black Foliage.
Tuesday, November 1 2011
“Getting” Head… The Monkees’ Last Great Album
Forgotten even in it's own time, the Monkees' psychedelic swan song Head is a perfect snapshot of a bizarre and tumultuous musical era.
Tuesday, August 30 2011
Run Red Run: Funny Song, Serious Message
The Coasters aren't thought of as particularly revolutionary, yet a single they released in 1959 was the first pop record to challenge the racism of post-World War II America.
Friday, July 15 2011
Suede… Reintroducing the Band
In the '90s, many were bigger, but few were better than Suede at their best, led by the dynamic duo of "glamly androgynous Dickensian whippet" Brett Anderson and "Danger High Voltage" whirlwind guitarist Bernard Butler. Just don't call 'em Britpop.
Friday, June 24 2011
The Piano Bares Its Teeth: Reversals and Redemption in Nick Cave’s ‘90s Albums
Through a series of reversals -- of sound, of focus, of theme, of our expectations -- Nick Cave, ever the demonic circus hawker, turned his sights onto something different as he emerged from the '90s: Himself.
Thursday, June 9 2011
In the Lap of the Gods: The First Five Queen Albums
Consummate showmen and masters of the studio environment, in their first five albums the members of British rock group Queen transformed from ambitious contenders into elite practitioners of the genre.
Tuesday, April 26 2011
The Dismemberment Plan’s “Emergency & I”: A Record of Colossal Possibilities
This is an album that reaches out, grabs you by the throat, and just doesn’t relent. There’s not a misspent note or dishonest emotion.
Friday, September 3 2010
The Dream Syndicate’s Sophomore Album Stereo Blues
Is Medicine Show a blueprint for all that was wrong with bands signing to major labels 25 years ago or is it a truly great, overlooked gem of an album? Well, the answer is somewhere in the middle.
Thursday, November 5 2009
Nirvana: Bleach
Starting with Nevermind, Kurt Cobain intentionally simplified his compositions in order to emphasize their pop components. Less song-focused than later Nirvana works, Bleach acts as an interesting showcase of the band’s musical chops.
Thursday, September 24 2009
Various Artists: Factory Records: Communications 1978-92
Factory Records was as influential in design, sound production, and defining what a label could be as it was in music.
Thursday, September 10 2009
The Stone Roses: The Stone Roses: 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition
Imagine if you will: an album re-release that actually gets everything right, making an already-classic album sound even better than before, deepening our understanding as to what made it so iconic.
Tuesday, June 23 2009
Miles Davis: Sketches of Spain (Legacy Edition)
The secret to creating music that stands the test of time is to create timeless music: Sketches of Spain was, and remains, quite unlike anything else created in the jazz idiom.
Tuesday, May 12 2009
Sinéad O’Connor: I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got
Nearly perfect, and overflowing with determined beauty, one of the best recordings of the 1990s is given its due.
Wednesday, April 29 2009
Beastie Boys: Check Your Head
At first the Beastie Boys were brats, then they were bratty; with their third album Check Your Head they dropped an ebullient bomb that is both heartfelt and soulful.
Friday, April 3 2009
Pearl Jam’s “Ten”, Eighteen Years Later
Over the years, Sony Legacy has re-released countless albums, but rarely has it honored a record whose importance with regards to legacy has been debated since day one as Pearl Jam’s debut.
Wednesday, April 1 2009
Alan Parsons Project Redux
Now that the Alan Parsons Project catalogue has been reissued, it's time for a reappraisal. Will anyone bite?
Monday, November 24 2008
Various Artists: Love Train: The Sound of Philadelphia
You definitely know Motown. You probably know Stax. But it's time to get (re)acquainted with the other big player in the golden age of soul music -- Philly.
Thursday, November 6 2008
The Jesus and Mary Chain: The Power of Negative Thinking
The forefathers of modern-day noise-rock release practically all of their odds-and-sods, which includes songs that are terrible, funny, exciting, bland, and utterly spectacular in equal measure.
Friday, October 24 2008
The Moody Blues: Days of Future Passed
The Moody Blues are a band that history should have swept aside, a group forever left in the margins of the Big Book of Rock History, but their sheer gall and audacity made them endure in ways that most people never thought possible.
Thursday, August 28 2008
To Hell and Back: Black Sabbath’s Dio Years
Ronnie James Dio's original three-year sojourn with Black Sabbath was mercurial, but it completely transformed and re-energized the band.
Friday, June 20 2008
Grateful Dead: Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings
Ultimately, what I am trying to say is this: The Dead can be appreciated -- indeed, probably must be appreciated -- as a kind of continuing, evolving, shifty performance of “The Grateful Dead”.
Friday, March 28 2008
The Lemonheads: It’s A Shame About Ray: Collector’s Edition
This 1992 classic, a commercial smash and artistic peak for the Lemonheads, wants another bit part in your life. A walk-on would be fine.
Thursday, March 13 2008
Various Artists: City of Dreams
This collection spreads piano, blues, street beats, and slippery funk over four discs that are as joyous and imperfect as the Crescent City itself.
Friday, November 30 2007
Frank Sinatra: A Voice in Time (1939-1952)
Sinatra's reputation was a victim of the changing times, and I don't think it's possible to overstate the effect that this transition has had upon the perception of his music.
Tuesday, November 20 2007
Various Artists: The Brit Box
Tracing the evolution of UK alt-pop from just after new wave died, through the Britpop explosion, and ending right before Coldplay emerged, this four-disc box set is both an excellent survey and a very well sequenced mix.
Friday, November 9 2007
Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970
For the first time, the musical and attitudinal highs and lows of the Bay Area scene are on full, accurate, and coherent display. Forty years was a long time to wait.
Thursday, October 25 2007
Badfinger: Wish You Were Here
The Beatles' favorite pet project left a failing Apple to record a pair of albums with Warner Bros. that haven't been reissued until now. Thankfully, it was worth the wait.
Thursday, August 23 2007
Foo Fighters: The Colour and the Shape
For anyone who experienced the heyday of Nirvana, it's still surreal that the lanky, string-haired drummer is the guy who'd be on magazine covers and writing #1 rock radio hits 15 years later.
Thursday, August 16 2007
God Save Self-Indulgence
Resist adult life with the Kinks' backward-looking Village Green Preservation Society.
Friday, August 10 2007
Genesis: 1976-1982
Genesis is slightly different from typical prog rock. Yes, they had the 20-minute song "cycles" and the classical allusions all up in their lyrics, but they also had a few other things that their proggy peers did not: specifically, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins.
Wednesday, August 8 2007
Laurie Anderson: Big Science
Remastered for the 25th anniversary of its original release, Laurie Anderson's debut remains a uniquely compelling and surprisingly timeless statement on life in the modern world.
Thursday, July 19 2007
Master P: Ghetto D
You'd be hard pressed to make an argument for Ghetto D as one of the great rap albums of the '90s, or even, really, a very good album at all.
Thursday, July 12 2007
Pretenders: Learning to Crawl
Their cathartic third proper album was really the last one under the Pretenders banner that could be considered something more than just a vehicle for frontwoman Hynde -- which is remarkable considering the ashes from which the album rose.
Wednesday, July 11 2007
Charles Mingus: Tijuana Moods
This newly remastered version of the Mingus classic still sounds crazy after all these years -- crazy good!
Friday, June 29 2007
Blondie: Eat to the Beat
Almost half a million YouTube views later, Blondie's Eat to the Beat video receives a long awaited release on DVD with (yet another) remastered CD.
