Shwayze Shwayze
Suretone/Geffen
Most everything you need to know about horny, go-getting Los Angeles newcomer Shwayze can be gleaned from lines like this one from "Polaroid":...
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By Ben Westhoff
Published: August 14, 2008
Scars on Broadway Scars on Broadway
Interscope
In a wry comment on his reputation as a doctrinaire zealot, System of a Downer Daron Malakian kicks off the side project he shares with SOAD...
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By Michael Roberts
Published: August 14, 2008
UmConscious The Avenue
Self-released
The video for this album's title track — a guided tour of Colfax locales such as Casa Bonita — makes it clear that the members of...
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By Michael Roberts
Published: August 14, 2008
Dan Kaufman Superstar Eruption The Album of the Century Volume One
Pearsonified Records
With a title like this for an album, you'd be excused for thinking that former Thorazine Frisbee mastermind Dan Kaufman has an absurdist,...
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By Tom Murphy
Published: August 14, 2008
Mini Reviews
Death in June, The Rule of Thirds (Soleilmoon). Samples aside, you'd almost think this was a record straight out of the modern psych-folk...
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Published: August 14, 2008
Black Kids Partie Traumatic
Columbia
Last year, Black Kids released a blogosphere-revered EP full of electro-tinged dance songs addressing themes of incest and gender ambiguity. The...
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By Ben Westhoff
Published: August 07, 2008
Hercules and Love Affair Hercules and Love Affair
EMI/DFA
Despite all the chatter about Antony and Tim Goldsworthy — and make no mistake, they're both crucial to the success of this album —...
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By Kyle Smith
Published: August 07, 2008
3OH!3 Want
Photo Finish Records
3OH!3 is a group you either love or loathe. Judging from the response the act has gotten both here and across the country, most listeners land...
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By Dave Herrera
Published: August 07, 2008
The Swindlers The Swindlers
Self-released
Things don't always work out how you planned. Given the copyright date on the back of this one (when the band originally intended to release this...
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By Tom Murphy
Published: August 07, 2008
Mini Reviews
Alkaline Trio, Agony & Irony (Epic). Matt Skiba was once told he had two to three years before his voice would be completely gone, thanks to acid...
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Published: August 07, 2008
Nas Untitled
Def Jam
On Untitled, Nas is clearly hoping that by name-dropping big issues (reparations, single motherhood, media control) and dazzling you with his...
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By Ben Westhoff
Published: July 31, 2008
G Unit T*O*S: Terminate on Sight
G Unit/Interscope Records
Like corrupt politicians and David Hasselhoff, gangsta rap isn't going away — but the played-out quality of T*O*S suggests that it's headed...
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By Michael Roberts
Published: July 31, 2008
Tickle Me Pink Madeline
Wind-up
It was well nigh impossible to judge this recording objectively on its release date due to the startling death of bassist Johnny Schou —...
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By Michael Roberts
Published: July 31, 2008
Clinging to the Trees of a Forest Fire Omega Drunk on the Blood of Alpha
Debello Recordings
It takes extraordinary finesse to put a new spin on grindcore, to say nothing of keeping it interesting for an entire album. How exciting, then,...
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By Saby Reyes-Kulkarni
Published: July 31, 2008
Mini Reviews
Alice Cooper, Along Came a Spider (SPV Records). Alongside modern-day "slasher" films, this PG-rated tale doesn't deliver the same shock as...
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Published: July 31, 2008
Beck Modern Guilt
DGC Records
Danger Mouse is arguably the most adventurous producer to tackle a Beck project since the Dust Brothers helped birth a 1996 baby called Odelay...
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By Michael Roberts
Published: July 17, 2008
Coldplay Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends
Capitol
On Coldplay's fourth and latest album, producer Brian Eno attempts to use the same formula that worked for U2 by freshening up the band's...
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By Lily Moayeri
Published: July 17, 2008
Rachael Pollard A Good Thing
Self-released
Rachel Pollard's first full-length is filled with delicate, melancholic poetry and winsome reverie. While Pollard often sings about heartbreaking...
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By Tom Murphy
Published: July 17, 2008
The Knew Boom Bust
Self-released
No surprise that Boom Bust recalls last year's Holladay. Both EPs were produced by Hot IQ Bryan Feuchtinger, and they share an appreciation for...
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By Michael Roberts
Published: July 17, 2008
Mini Reviews
The Alarm, Guerilla Tactics (The Twenty First Century Recording Company). With this overall winning collection of mostly under-four-minute tunes,...
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Published: July 17, 2008
Mugison Mugiboogie
Ipecac Recordings
On his third album, Mugison has fully embraced his rock-and-roll demons. The award-winning Icelander (born Örn Elías Guðmundsson)...
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By Eryc Eyl
Published: July 10, 2008
Katy Perry One of the Boys
Capitol
Katy Perry's capable of remaking herself for any promising target demographic. In her teens, she delivered achingly sincere contemporary...
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By Michael Roberts
Published: July 10, 2008
The Epilogues The Beautiful, the Terrifying
Self-released
If you love the '80s, you'll love the Epilogues. The players, who introduce their new EP on Saturday, July 12, at the Marquis Theater, with the...
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By Michael Roberts
Published: July 10, 2008
A Shoreline Dream & Ulrich Schnauss Neverchanger
Latenight Weeknight Records
The latest release from A Shoreline Dream is an exploration of broader sonic vistas than those of the dream-pop wunderkinds' three excellent...
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By Tom Murphy
Published: July 10, 2008
Mini Reviews
Here Comes Everybody, The Veronica Project (Refrigerator Records). On its tenth release, the pleasingly twee and remarkably erudite duo of...
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Published: July 10, 2008