Phrazes for the Young represents a creative departure for Casablancas and another milestone for his band.
Tarot Sport is a mix of harsh and smooth sounds that mirrors the prickly juxtaposition of classic jazz.
Painted a particularly severe shade of black, Six, despite the season and its sinister atmosphere, is not a Halloween album.
Christmas in the Heart comes off as something of an oddity, a feeling not lessened by the fact that this is a Bob Dylan Christmas album.
The Mountain Goats’s The Life of the World to Come isn’t the sound of John Darnielle finding religion.
With In and Out of Control, the Raveonettes squander an appealing concept.
Love 2 has the unruffled air of ’50s bachelor-pad cool.
It’s the interplay between cheesy and catchy that makes the album a worthy genre time-capsule piece.
Haih Or Amortecedor is a bizarre cocktail of rock n’ roll, Tropicalia, and lounge music.
Cory Chisel’s brand of rustic Americana feels like it came fully formed from a package.
It’s defined by two styles that never really gel, a sweeping orchestral side which at times feels at odds with its singer-songwriter side.
Manafon is far too preoccupied with unadorned stillness to be considered listenable.
Wild Young Hearts is a very good album that falls just short of powerhouse status.
Emotionally complex but bristling with prickly bluster, Us makes Brother Ali sound at times like he’s revealing more than he means to.
The collusion of punk-rock tempos with unusual chords, twisted instrumentation, and technical acumen is consistently impressive.
Susana Baca’s Seis Poemas presents summery South American pop stripped down to its elements.
If W.K.’s aim was to prove once and for all his capabilities beyond the insistent plinking of a single note, then mission accomplished.
Everything is connected in Tarantino’s world, bound by his religious sense of devotion to films and the music that goes with them.
Still a little dry at times, Curse Your Branches is saved by its attempts at lightness and levity.
These songs are icy ballads striving for breathy mystery.