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Thursday, July 9 2009

Bibio: Ambivalence Avenue

Bibio reinvents himself as a number of different people -- Neil Young, J Dilla, Ariel Pink, bands named after animals -- but retains a thematic proximity to the idea of the persistence of memory.

Voivod: Infini

If this is indeed Voivod's final album, you couldn't ask for a finer way to cap off a sterling career.

Otis Taylor: Pentatonic Wars and Love Songs

Taylor's best record in about half a decade, and a memorable development in his sound.

Spinnerette: Spinnerette

Former face of The Distillers exudes a blending of confidence and vulnerablity on this flawed debut.

Method Man and Redman: Blackout! 2

Method and Red don't recapture lightning in a bottle, but Blackout! 2 gives their patient fans a solid disc of party anthems ten years later.

Studio 1: Studio 1

Wolfgang Voigt compiles a series of 12”s that were barely recorded at all.

Wednesday, July 8 2009

Moby: Wait for Me

It sounds a lot like Play again, sure, but ten years older, wiser, and more exhausted in the best possible way.

Levon Helm: Electric Dirt

Overall, as delightful as Helm’s 2007 comeback was, Electric Dirt feels like even more cause for celebration.

Rock Plaza Central: ...at the Moment of Our Most Needing

If desire was a bone poking through the skin on their last album, here it is a coating of slick sweat over the body, making for a sweetly tiring listen, as these songs pull you into their world and make you work their dusty land.

Roni Size/Reprazent: New Forms 2

Drum-and-bass classic goes under the knife at the hands of its maker and emerges in potent, stripped down form -- but boy, are the fans going to be pissed.

Medeski, Martin and Wood: Radiolarians II

NYC's intrepid trio revert back to the adventurousness of their first three years on Blue Note with the second installment of their acclaimed Radiolarians series.

Michelle Malone: Debris

In true Malone style, Debris doesn't back off.

Tuesday, July 7 2009

Florence and the Machine: Lungs

Florence and the Machine deliver a stunning debut in the wake of overwhelming expectations.

Cage: Depart From Me

Cage is starting to move away from his past and out into the world on Depart From Me, but he's just not quite there yet.

Janis Joplin: The Woodstock Experience

In the voice of a talent like Joplin in concert, music is different. It’s redemption, salvation, deliverance, release, and emancipation all at once.

Amazing Baby: Rewild

Amazing, baby? Not quite.

Ojos de Brujo: Aocaná

Aocaná seems to me softer than their past work, more laid-back, with less scratching and fewer u-turns.

Heavyweight Dub Champion: Rise of the Champion Nation

Heavyweight Dub Champion’s sophomore album is the socially conscience sequel that leads the listener towards a spiritual revolution.

Monday, July 6 2009

Son Volt: American Central Dust

There is a timely resilience to this record, and Son Volt deliver it with energy, but they just don't take that earnest country feel as far as it could go.

Deer Tick: Born on Flag Day

Deer Tick's boozy and bloozy sophomore album finds no future in America's present, and a troublesome comfort in America's past.

J Dilla: Jay Stay Paid

This might be a "good" record by comparison, but it just doesn't stack up to Dilla's impressive legacy.

Various Artists: Kitsune Tabloid by Phoenix

Phoenix's mixtape for a hip French dance label is not what you'd expect at all.

Spyro: Biodegradable

It may sound esoteric on paper, but Spyro's Biodegradable is ineffably digestable for both soma and soul.

Beast: Beast

There's plenty of beauty in this Beast.

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Thursday, July 9 2009

The Love You Save: A Tribute to Michael Jackson

PopMatters concludes its tribute to the odd, turbulent rule of the King of Pop. Today: The MJ Top Ten Tribute by Diepiriye Kuku | The Fawn in the Burning Forest: Our Beloved Monster by Timothy Gabriele | The Teflon King: Ronald Reagan and the Death of Michael Jackson by Kevin M. Brettauer | Artomising MJ by Kiernan Curran | 'Thriller': The First in Meta Horror by Teresa Jusino | Michael Jackson Forever by Michael Caylo-Baradi

Charles Mingus: Mingus Ah Um 50th Anniversary (Legacy Edition)

Mingus Ah Um sounds like the 20th Century: it is a self-portrait of a man who helped define the direction of post-bop jazz, commenting on the country that created him.

Tuesday, July 7 2009

Eleni Mandell

Acclaimed songwriter Eleni Mandell answers PopMatters ‘Miss America’-like 20 Questions with self-deprecating humor.

Monday, July 6 2009

Viva Africa: An Interview with Amadou & Mariam and BLK JKS

African music, often exiled from the pop mainstream, is making a new incursion in the U.S. Darling speaks to two major African artists, plus highlights the best new releases.

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Monday, July 6 2009

You Can Call Her ‘Dr.’ Dolly Parton

With her honorary doctorate in hand, here's hoping she'll next broker peace in the Middle East, repair the economy, and explain the twisted plotlines of 'Lost' -- Lord knows, the woman is capable.

Friday, June 26 2009

Five Days in March: Uncle Tupelo’s Quiet Revolution

Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy may have left country behind, but in 1992, he helped redefine the sound of alt-country.

Monday, June 22 2009

For Summer Dancing in the Streets

Six spectacular world beat albums that will have you dancing through those sweet summer nights.

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Thursday, July 9 2009

The Sadies + Jenny Lewis: 5 June 2009 - Chicago

Watching the Sadies live is like bearing witness to a tornado, a sort of freak of nature that pays no mind to its surroundings in forging a path.

Wednesday, July 8 2009

Willie Nelson: 2 June 2009 - Richmond, VA

I hate to say it, but it seemed like he was just going through the motions. But for many people, that’s just fine.

Tuesday, July 7 2009

Elvis Perkins: 20 May 2009 - Brooklyn, NY

I described Elvis Perkins as “part Andrew Bird, part Arcade Fire, part Rufus Wainwright, part Leonard Cohen, part Dylan, and all good”, but this catchall fails to account for his periodic spurts of beer-hall charm.

Monday, July 6 2009

Speakers Series: Karl Rove vs. James Carville: 26 May 2009 - New York

As the debate wore on, the questions grew more prodding, the responses fiercer (complete with finger pointing), and the audience more aggravated than ever.

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Monday, July 6 2009

John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band: Live in Toronto ‘69

This was the moment that the Beatles broke up. It's tough to watch footage from that night as anything other than the beginning of the long denouement to an epic story.

Friday, June 19 2009

Iron Maiden: Flight 666

Only Iron Maiden could pull a world tour like this off. The ecstatic reactions from India, to Australia, to Japan, to Central and South America, to Canada are all essentially the same the world over.

Wednesday, June 10 2009

Bruce Springsteen Road Trip: 40 Years of the Boss

The second disc is a keeper; the first, flick it out an open window and watch it fly.