Album Reviews

Tim O

Anthrology: No Hit Wonders (1985-1991), features 30 re-mastered track. Songs, personally chosen by the band amongst their groundbreaking metal albums: Spreading The Disease(1985), Among The Living (1987), State Of Euphoria (1988), Persistence Of Time (1990), I’m The Man EP(1987), and of course “Bring Tha Noize” with Public Enemy from 1991

Chad VanGaalen

You can blame The Arcade for Montreal suddenly losing the biggest secret in rock title. And you can blame The Arcade Fire for bringing art rockers Wolf Parade out on tour and transforming them into the North Country

Most people who have heard of Orenda Fink know her as one half of
Azure Ray, but her CD, Invisible Ones, says that this lady can stand
alone.

The Rosebuds are one of those charming indie bands emerging from the storied North Carolina scene featuring such legends as Superchunk and Archers of Loaf.

In the true essence of keeping an old sound new again, Soulive has enlisted a number of very special guests for Break Out, their first release with the Concord Music Group after breaking ties with Blue Note. This time Ivan Neville, Corey Glover, Robert Randolph, Chaka Khan and Reggie Watts lend their talents in the key of soul to the mix. Not to be overlooked, the

hankfully once ever decade or so Neil Young gets back together with his most underrated band, The Stray Gators (in this case the surviving members of the band), and releases an album that is an immediate masterpiece. Young ditches his electric guitar and gets back to a rootsy, acoustic sound with songs that seemed ripped from some small Midwestern town that has tumbleweeds blowing down the street, and an old man on every porch with a story to tell. Completing the trilogy that started with 1972

It

Drums & Tuba

UK pop outfit Athlete has said that they followed such musical guides as the Flaming Lips, Massive Attack and Beck during the making of Tourist, the follow-up to their well-received debut, Vehicles and Animals. Bits of those influences can be found on
Tourist, but really, it would be difficult to pick Athlete

Having first butted heads over the respective merits of metal and pop-punk in middle school, King Elementary eventually made up over Strokes and At the Drive-In covers, and Kudzu, the second album from the still adolescent Mississippi quartet, moves them one step closer to the final post-teen realities of manhood. King Elementary still aren

No doubt the Fruit Bats have had to endure endless comparisons to their label and sometime tour mates the Shins. But with their second Sub Pop release, Spelled in Bones, the Fruit Bats challenge listeners to set aside those comparisons and to judge them on their own really, really catchy merits.

Poor Boston. Once Beantown was the crown jewel to alternative music, but now it finds itself cast aside the jetstream of Montreal to its northwest and New York City to its southeast for bragging rights amongst the Arcade Fires and Interpols. Enter Apollo Sunshine, labeled a

Steve Kimock and longtime drummer, Rodney Holmes, create an album that invokes many musical styles, and provides the listener with an interesting journey that is led by Kimock

New Monsoon shows increased maturity with this new release, both in their songwriting and confidence in the vocals by lead guitarist Jeff Miller and pianist Phil Ferlino.

Stereolab nearly defies criticism as their music exists in its own little dimension, waiting to be discovered and savored by sonic explorers. When you listen to any new release by Stereolab-this one included-the experience is deceptively nondescript. Their latest work is no exception; six songs on three 7-inch singles recorded in France, which are also available for download.

Proving to be more than just a looker for the ladies, James Blunt has recently achieved the momentous task of booting Coldplay from the top of the UK charts, a spot it proudly held for eight weeks. And to poor salt over Chris Martin

A handsome brother-sister pair. Good fashion sense. Great
instrumentals.

Tristan Prettyman