by Mark Saleski When this album arrived in 2003, part of me wanted to say that nothing much had happened since Blood Sugar Sex Magik. But the thought was really closer to “I haven’t gotten off on much of their stuff since BSSM. You May Also Like: When John FruscianteRead More

Three years into Battles’ existence, it had only issued a single and two EPs — until this, their long-awaited debut album. The wait was more than worth it. Where the EPs hinted at what was to come, they suffered a bit from a band struggling to define themselves. Mirrored provedRead More

by Tom Johnson An eclectic and, for lack of a better word, spazzy releases, Yo La Tengo’s Beat Your Ass actually worked because it lacked focus. Rather than get bogged down in one particular style, the band instead pretty much covered every bit of territory they have ever touched upon.Read More

by Tom Johnson Some music feels overwhelming. When Battles hit their stride with Mirrored, the first feeling was that, as tight as they were, they felt like the wheels were just moments from being flung off. Or they were strapping you into a tilt-a-whirl that would quickly go out ofRead More

by Tom Johnson There’s something really worrisome when you hear that any highly regarded artist is doing the soundtrack for a kid’s movie. It conjures images of Sting and Phil Collins destroying their careers and what little credibility they had left. But, you know, Paul Westerberg. I mean, come on.Read More

by Mark Saleski When R.E.M. toured on the Murmur record, they were the darlings of college radio. That’s certainly where I first heard them. “Radio Free Europe” and “Catapult” were getting a lot of airplay, and the band received some enthusiastic press reports You May Also Like: Why R.E.M.’s ‘LiveRead More

by Tom Johnson Can a band mature and continue to challenge themselves and listeners? Rather Ripped answers yes. Sonic Youth may not wail away with walls of squealing distortion like they used to but Rather Ripped‘s lyrical focus on relationship troubles is backed by their trademark angular pop that willRead More

by Tom Johnson Created as a benefit for Unicef, this is a bit of a unique remix album. Bjork allowed fans, or, well, anybody, to submit their own take on her song, “Army of Me” on her official website. The best results wound up on this album. You might needRead More

Chris Connelly, coming off key contributions to a pair of recordings by Al Jourgensen’s Ministry, neatly sidestepped the dreaded “industrial” tag here with simple musicianship (not to mention a dead-on Bowie vocal turn). Still can’t be sure how he made time for Phenobarb Bambalam, considering he was also touring andRead More

Frank Black is dead, but long live Black Francis as ‘Bluefinger’ brings back a little more Pixies-derived attitude.