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Scarlett's
Waits Tribute:
Unnecessary,
But Not Bad

MUSIC REVIEW

May 14, 2008 1:15 PM CDT

Scarlett's Waits Tribute: Unnecessary, But Not Bad

Johansson revisits legendary croaker's catalog

(Newser) - “Even the most sympathetic critics,” writes Tom Breihan for the Village Voice, have to grant that Anywhere I Lay My Head, Scarlett Johansson’s Tom Waits tribute album, “is a fundamentally ridiculous enterprise, almost stunning in its total lack of need to exist.” That said, Breihan...

Keys' Attack Releases Old Rut

MUSIC REVIEW

Apr 2, 2008 10:33 AM CDT

Keys' Attack Releases Old Rut

Garage band figures out how to expand

(Newser) - The Black Keys had hoped collaborating with Ike Turner would finally push the band out of its tired “garage minimalism,” writes Pitchfork’s Roque Strew. Though Ike died in December, the band already had material that expanded its sound. Attack & Release is its “most adventurous album...

Winehouse More Than a 'Genius Junkie'

OPINION

Mar 2, 2008 5:09 AM CST

Winehouse More Than a 'Genius Junkie'

Queen of 'retro soul' not just cribbing from the past, says Frere-Jones

(Newser) - It's tempting to chalk up the popularity of singer Amy Winehouse to her headline-grabbing bent for self-destruction, writes Sasha Frere-Jones in the New Yorker. But that would be a mistake. He takes a closer look at Back to Black, with its "perfect" single "Rehab," and finds much...

Black Crowes Squawk at Sham Maxim Review

Feb 27, 2008 2:42 PM CST

Black Crowes Squawk at Sham Maxim Review

Magazine gives 2.5 stars to an album it never heard

(Newser) - Pick a number, any number: Maxim's 2.5-star rating—out of 5—for the Black Crowes' latest album was little more than a guess, the magazine admitted yesterday. No advanced copies were released, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, but that didn't stop Maxim's critic from decreeing in the March issue...

Thriller Revives 'Prettiest Star'

NEW RELEASE

Feb 12, 2008 4:32 PM CST

Thriller Revives 'Prettiest Star'

25th anniversary reissue both 'lame' and 'legendary,' critics say

(Newser) - Thriller's 25th anniversary reissue shows why Michael Jackson was once "the coolest, slinkiest, prettiest pop star alive,” Rob Sheffield writes in Rolling Stone. Six “lame” remixes by stars like Fergie, Akon, and Kanye West apparently indicate the best-selling album of all time "cowed" the cover artists,...

Xiu Xiu's Women Breaks Ground

NEW RELEASE

Jan 30, 2008 2:06 PM CST

Xiu Xiu's Women Breaks Ground

Intense indie musician drops electronics in 6th album

(Newser) - One of indie music’s most intense projects, Xiu Xiu is always innovating, and sixth album Women as Lovers is no slouch—at least its first half, says Tiny Mix Tapes’ Julie. Frontman Jamie Stewart has dropped electronics, hired a virtuoso drummer and reversed his recent “stasis.” But...

Critics Split on Jukebox

NEW RELEASE

Jan 22, 2008 3:17 PM CST

Critics Split on Jukebox

Some love Cat Power's 2nd covers record; others dismiss it

(Newser) - Indie crooner Cat Power's second album of covers is dividing critics. Many agree that Jukebox is a state-of-the-career effort, but they part ways on where the musician (real name: Chan Marshall) stands. After transforming from blues folkie to soul singer and overcoming depression, the Marshall who “savored” her songs...

Magnetic Fields Score Again

NEW RELEASE

Jan 16, 2008 6:13 PM CST

Magnetic Fields Score Again

Stephen Merritt makes a glorious return to his indie pop roots

(Newser) - The Magnetic Fields have hit the jackpot on their eighth album, Distortion. Frontman Stephen Merritt ignored his penchant for “cleverness and theatricality,” turned up the “1960s pop fetish,” and let the feedback roll. It’s a rebound from 2004’s i, says Pitchfork’s Matt LeMay,...

Sia's Real Problems Pleases

NEW RELEASE

Jan 10, 2008 12:13 PM CST

Sia's Real Problems Pleases

First album from songstress in 4 years is a winner

(Newser) - Folk and acid-jazz queen Sia Furler has returned with her first record in four years, and critics are singing the praises of Some People Have Real Problems. The New York Sun’s Bret McCabe pokes fun at Furler for signing with the Starbucks label—provenance of “laid-back background music...

Blige Airs Growing Pains

NEW RELEASE

Dec 18, 2007 5:13 PM CST

Blige Airs Growing Pains

8th record a celebration of "hard-won happiness," says Boston Globe

(Newser) - Mary J. Blige has moved on from empowerment to soulful diva on her first disc in two years, the Boston Globe’s Joan Anderman writes. "A celebration of the artist's hard-won happiness," Growing Pains won Anderman over by "revealing her weaknesses." Blige still urges listeners to...

All Rivers Cuomo, All Alone

NEW RELEASE

Dec 18, 2007 2:52 PM CST

All Rivers Cuomo, All Alone

Rarities record is half-great

(Newser) - Onetime geek gods Weezer have been nothing but disappointing this century, PopMatters’ Evan Sawdey says, so thank heaven for Alone, lead singer Rivers Cuomo’s solo “album of one-offs, hard-to-finds, and unreleased material.” Much of the record dates from the band’s Pinkerton golden age, and the eight...

Cat Power Grows Up

NEW RELEASE

Dec 6, 2007 10:09 AM CST

Cat Power Grows Up

Always talented, Chan Marshall gains confidence

(Newser) - Singer-songwriter Chan "Cat Power" Marshall, has always been talented, but over time she has developed the confidence to be masterful, writes New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones. Frere-Jones traces Marshall's career from the mid-'90s to the present, when "now that she knows better who she is, perhaps she’...

Six Organs Scores With Shelter

NEW RELEASE

Nov 24, 2007 8:01 AM CST

Six Organs Scores With Shelter

The Ben Chasny record is his latest alt-folk, alt-metal triumph

(Newser) - Six Organs of Admittance’s latest guitar-based record, Shelter From the Ash, is another masterpiece, applying “polish” to trademark “drones, more atomized sounds (and) acoustic finger-picking,” writes Matthew Wuethrich of Dusted. It’s a triumphant gamble to clean up the band's space-age sounds—which have typically succeeded...

Keys Finds Her Groove

Nov 17, 2007 3:29 PM CST

Keys Finds Her Groove

Singer/songwriter's third studio album showcases a simpler, more confident Keys

(Newser) - Alicia Keys is an undeniable talent, and Entertainment Weekly finds ample evidence of that on her third and latest studio album As I Am, out this week. Whereas previous efforts showcased her mastery over a panoply of styles—hip-hop, soul, classical—those elements have been folded this time around into...

Os Mutantes Returns in Force

Nov 13, 2007 7:52 PM CST

Os Mutantes Returns in Force

Classic Brazilian psych-rockers still deliver the goods 30 years on

(Newser) - The reunion of Brazilian psych-rock pioneers Os Mutantes has been much celebrated by music enthusiasts. Now the band’s first new recording in 30 years shows the group hasn't missed a beat, says PopMatters’ Michael Keefe, who awards Live at Barbican 8 of 10 stars. Os Mutantes is “every...

Sigur Ros' Film Stirs, Tunes Safe

Nov 8, 2007 3:20 PM CST

Sigur Ros' Film Stirs, Tunes Safe

Icelandic rock gods' Hvarf/Heim is an awesome doc, even if music underwhelms

(Newser) - Icelandic rock gods Sigur Ros look stunning in their gorgeous new documentary Heima, which followed the band on last year’s whirlwind homecoming tour. The wilderness provides the perfect backdrop to their experimental post-rock and "homespun laissez-faire philosophy,” says LAist’s glowing Joshua Pressman, and "their national-hero...

Grizzly Bear Makes New Friend

Nov 6, 2007 11:55 AM CST

Grizzly Bear Makes New Friend

Band's new EP isn't just an encore, critic says

(Newser) - At first glance, Grizzly Bear's new EP, Friend, appears to be a reworking of material from the band's well-received Yellow House. Not so, writes Pitchfork Media critic Ryan Schrieber. Although the new disc contains old songs and covers, these are thoroughly transformed, making Friend "a very well-disguised, 31-minute mini-LP...

Justin Time: Duran Duran
Nets Timberlake

Nov 3, 2007 9:20 PM CDT

Justin Time: Duran Duran Nets Timberlake

'SexyBack' singer pitching in on band's 12th album

(Newser) - An ’80s British rocker, his supermodel wife and a US musical superstar walk into a bar. This is no joke, the Times of London reports: It’s the launch of another Duran Duran comeback. Four-fifths of the rockers who made girls swoon nearly three decades ago get some help...

Jay-Z Spins a Gangster Tale

Nov 1, 2007 11:23 AM CDT

Jay-Z Spins a Gangster Tale

EW enjoys concept album loosely based on Scott's film

(Newser) - ''Believe half of what you see/None of what you hear/Even if it's spat by me,'' declares hip-hop mogul Jay-Z on his new record American Gangster, framing himself and other rappers as "actors." Entertainment Weekly finds the record, titled and themed after the Ridley Scott film, diverse and...

Soundtrack Dylan Covers Score

Oct 31, 2007 3:23 PM CDT

Soundtrack Dylan Covers Score

Remade songs from 'I'm Not There' packed with great impersonations

(Newser) - In keeping with the movie it supports, the soundtrack for Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There is packed with imitators. Twenty-nine singers cover Dylan tracks on the 34-song tribute, which traces every phase of Dylan’s career—from folk highs to gospel lows—proving each to be “as...