The Leeds junglist tells a story in the wrong order, in the right way.
While most indie messiahs tend to wear out their halos once the hype dies down, this duo’s debut seems engineered for maximum replays.
Modest Mouse’s perfunctory b-sides collection is rich with the band’s trademarks: manic and self-deprecating disillusionment.
From his spiritual commitments to his choice of beats, Matisyahu does nothing without careful consideration.
The sheer force of La Roux’s best songs steel themselves against pretty boys as well as petty criticisms.
Drake’s ability to juggle standard bling-and-bluster narratives with intelligent narratives bodes well for his future.
See Mystery Lights is by turns buoyantly poppy and eerily satisfying.
You’d be forgiven for confusing Anjulie’s self-titled debut for an album by Nelly Furtado.
Upon first blush, there isn’t much to chew on in BLACKsummers’night. Upon second pass, the absences become haunting.
None of the album’s benign fluff comes close to exhibiting the raw energy Brooke White brought to American Idol
Horehound establishes the Dead Weather as a fully realized band with a sufficiently distinctive point of view.
The reverence that Sweet and Hoffs bring to their performances and arrangements give the record a genuine warmth.
Sparks is a pop artist and makes no bones about it here.
The music is defined by a few overpowering elements rather than its intelligence or melodic dexterity.
As good as Molina is at working with gloom, Josephine is thankfully not a one-note slog through the valley of the shadow of death.
It’s the tracks that play to Son Volt’s strengths that draw the album’s dour shortcomings into sharp relief.
That the material on Leave This Town is clearly so meaningful to Chris makes the experience worse.
Twista remains an acquired taste, and if you haven’t acquired that taste yet, now is probably not the time to try.
Oneida’s Rated O seems to thrive on its own difficulty.
If post-punk revival is the musical equivalent of fast food, then Civilized is most assuredly its Happy Meal.