Music

AC/DC: Backtracks

By Adrien Begrand

This AC/DC grab bag is expensive, but you know you want it.

Sufjan Stevens: Run Rabbit Run + The BQE (CD/DVD)

By Jayson Harsin

Two wonderfully orchestral, conceptual albums: Osso re-arranging Sufjan, the other Sufjan re-arranging the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Caution: May require ritlin.

Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound

By Alex Ramon

A long-awaited survey of the life and times of a cultural icon.

Robyn Hitchcock: I Often Dream of Trains in New York [DVD]

By David Gassmann

Good performances of great songs, but there's nothing to see here, people.

Lowlights: Further/Free

By Matthew Fiander

Lowlights may operate on a well-worn country road, but they cut their own route there.

Jupiter One: Sunshower

By Chris Conaton

Jupiter One's second album has some great songs, but it also gets mired in mediocre '70s-style pop here and there.

Sondre Lerche: Heartbeat Radio

By Joshua O'Neill

The radio plays on and on. The heartbeat flat-lines.

Real Estate: Real Estate

By Anthony Lombardi

Cynics be damned: however the hype machine happens to play this one out, Real Estate have overcome the critics and released one of the most refreshing, satisfying and richly rewarding albums of 2009.

Rakim: The Seventh Seal

By Andrew Martin

A disappointing and ultimately average display from one of hip-hop's greatest artists. And, even worse, it's Rakim who is mostly to blame.

Ola Podrida: Belly of the Lion

By Matthew Fiander

All through the record, David Wingo succeeds at creating affecting, gauzy rooms of sound. Although once in a while, a song gets lost in them.

Q-Tip: Kamaal the Abstract

By Dave Heaton

For all the talk of it as experimental, Kamaal the Abstract satisfies and soothes more than it challenges or questions.

Stars of Track and Field: A Time for Lions

By C.L. Chafin

Stars' new record is a departure -- into U2 and Coldplay territory

The Band of Heathens: One Foot in the Ether

By Cody Miller

There’s some Drive-By Truckers, Little Feat, and Flying Burrito Brothers, but what’s interesting is how the band so effortlessly take these influences and twist them to their advantages.

Catie Curtis: Hello, Stranger

By Steve Leftridge

Veteran folk-rock songstress brings in a team of bluegrass heavyweights for a smooth-sounding, hit-and-miss hodgepodge of covers and a handful of her own old originals.

Annie: Don’t Stop

By Craig Carson

Don't Stop exudes polish, depth, and the sense that Annie is moving confidently forward as a pop artist of the first order.

Dunkelbunt: Raindrops and Elephants

By John Bergstrom

The Austrian producer pulls out all the stops and has a truly worldwide party. Cheers!

Hank Williams: Hank Williams Revealed: The Unreleased Recordings

By Christel Loar

This, the second three-disc set in a series, features recordings from the Mother's Best radio programs.

People Under the Stairs: Carried Away

By Andrew Martin

Fun-loving hip-hop is rarely as good as People Under the Stairs' seventh album, Carried Away.

Joakim: Milky Ways

By Ron Hart

France's clown prince of the disco continues to make hard left turns into the darker realms of his love for outsider rock on his finest album to date.

fun.: Aim and Ignite

By Estella Hung

Aim and Ignite lands somewhere between Queen, the Mars Volta, and the soundtrack from Hairspray, and so is pretty original to say the least. Unfortunately, it drowns under its own weight.

Various Artists: Shadow Music of Thailand

By Deanne Sole

The transition into Thai has given the Anglo-American music a penetrating note, as if high-pitched percussive instruments are being quickly struck and pieces of metal are being clashed.

50 Cent: Before I Self Destruct

By Anthony Henriques

One might think that the worst outcome for an artist like 50 Cent would be to alienate enough people to render himself completely alone in the music industry.

Beak>: Beak>

By Robert McCallum

Progressive experiments of time and sound? Must come out of Bristol, then.

Rammstein: Liebe Ist Für Alle Da

By Adrien Begrand

After three very good albums Rammstein simplify things on their newest, and the payoff is huge.

Mulatu Astatke: New York, Addis, London; The Story of Ethio Jazz 1965-1975

By Deanne Sole

Astatke has a great capacity for intelligent play, the James Joyce kind of innovation that isn't afraid to be slangy and entertaining at the same time that it chases a serious purpose.

Cherry Poppin’ Daddies: Skaboy JFK: the Skankin’ Hits of the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies/Susquehanna

By Christel Loar

Skaboy JFK collects the band's ska from the last 20 years, while Susquehanna is a more diverse, and accurate, representation of the band and its many influences.

Elvis Perkins in Dearland: The Doomsday EP

By Sarah Moore

The folk-rock EP features two takes on the same "dirge".

The 69 Eyes: Back in Blood

By Michael Lello

Finnish vampire rockers' new effort is an album that should find fans beyond the Helsinki undead community.

Them Crooked Vultures: Them Crooked Vultures

By Dan Johnson

Raw, unadulterated rock and roll from rock A-listers Dave Grohl, Josh Homme , and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones.

The Wingdale Community Singers: Spirit Duplicator

By D.M. Edwards

An album that will grow on you like moss, and stick to you like white on rice.

Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine: The Audacity of Hype

By Mike Schiller

Was it too much to expect an updated version of the revolutionary rhetoric?

Sparklehorse + Fennesz: In the Fishtank 15

By Ben Peterson

Sparklehorse's collaboration with Fennesz makes for a particularly dreamy and ambient installment of the In the Fishtank series.

Nicolay: City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya

By Andrew Martin

Nicolay takes it to another level on this, his latest City Lights volume. A misstep here or there, sure, but it's a damn good offering from one of music's best producers.

Phonograph: OKNO

By Steve Leftridge

Indie Brooklynites stretch to make their own Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The songs can't quite compete, but the record proves that the Wilco Effect continues to produce a vibrant American scene.

Eugene McGuinness: Eugene McGuinness

By Chris Baynes

The Brit troubadour has evidently developed a penchant for the past, which stifles the forward-thinking bent of his debut.

Skeletonwitch: Breathing the Fire

Various Artists: Footsteps in Africa; A Nomadic Journey

Camouflage: Spice Crackers

Various Artists: Mind Expanders Volume 2

The Red Chord: Fed Through the Teeth Machine

Jeffree Star: Beauty Killer

Colin Hay:American Sunshine

Masha Qrella: Speak Low: Loewe and Weill in Exile

Ray Charles: The Spirit of Christmas

Spider Bags: Goodbye Cruel World, Hello Crueler World

Kreng:L’Autopsie Phenomenale de Dieu

The Homemade Jamz Blues Band: I Got Blues For You

Ambarchi / Fennesz / Pimmon / Rehberg / Rowe: Afternoon Tea

The Headlocks: Cuckoobird

The Octopus Project: Golden Beds EP