The Libertines - Whitechapel Demos
2007-07-02 02:52:00
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, Demos
The Libertines - What Became of the Likely Lads EP
2007-07-02 02:51:00
Four of the tracks are live, and capture the utter abandon of this London band. The title cut and "Don't Look Back Into the Sun" are two of the most melodic songs the group recorded, and are a reminder what a musical treasure the Libertines
were.
The Libertines - Babyshambles Sessions
2007-07-02 02:49:00
Part 2
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, Sessions
Depeche Mode - Violator
2007-07-01 08:33:00
Violator is Depeche Mode
's most mainstream, chart-climbing album. Although it contains only nine tracks, half of them are tailor-made for the dance floor. This album was conceived when dance-club DJs were gaining recognition alongside original composers. Heavily influenced by techno-pop, the singles "Policy of Truth," "Enjoy the Silence," and "World in My Eyes" prove that DM did their homework. A particular highlight on this fantastic album is the bluesy guitar line Martin Gore lays down on top of the synth-dominated grooves on "Personal Jesus."
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Depeche Mode - The Singles 86>98
2007-07-01 08:31:00
Part 2Part 3So Depeche Mode
releases a singles compilation featuring only one previously unreleased song ("Only When I Lose Myself") in anticipation of a major tour. Sound suspiciously like a shameless cash-in? Sure. But The Singles
, 86-98 needed to be made. This is a worthwhile purchase for casual admirers and completists alike. The two-disc set contains revamped versions of the major singles from 1986 to 1998 and a version of "Little 15" that was first released only in France. The set's "grand finale" is the live recording of "Everything Counts," from the 101 album. Although the original studio version of the "Everything Counts" single appeared on 1984's People Are People DM fudged the chronology to justify including this astounding live recording on the album (a ploy to psych up concert-ticket buyers?). The live recording highlights the worshipful crowd applauding, cheering, and chant-singing "The grabbing hands / Grab all they can / Everything counts in large amounts" long afte
The Music - S/T
2007-07-01 02:48:00
Leeds, England’s much-touted the Music
signal their intentions with the opening track of their debut. "The Dance"’s swirling psych-rock intro, Beatle-esque "yeah yeah yeah," crashing guitars, and dub effects, topped by Robert Harvey’s vocals, tell one and all that this bunch is not about subtlety. The Music gives a sideways nod to the Stone Roses Second Coming, but it is mainly a wild mix blues metal and the stadium end of 1980s alt-rock. The lyrics are little more than excuses for Harvey to howl and wail, but the constant twin-guitar work of Harvey and Adam Nutter keep you enthralled by its sheer recklessness. It's a breath of fresh air to hear a British indie band that’s unafraid to rock.
Depeche Mode - Exciter
2007-06-30 17:52:00
Part 2One of Depeche Mode
's greatest strengths is also their greatest weakness. The band comes up with some of pop music's most inventive lyrics, and at the same time, they always give the impression that they'll arbitrarily sing about anything, as long as it's depressing. But on Exciter
there's an autobiography in the lyrics that, for the first time, strikes a chord with skeptics and believers alike. Singer David Gahan's battle with addiction and its horrendous pitfalls took its toll in DM's 1990s releases; Songs of Faith adn Devotion failed to measure up to their groundbreaking albums of the '80s, andUltra found songwriter Martin Gore less inspired, and a hoarse Gahan incapable of delivering his signature clear and booming vocals. Mercifully, the band has exorcised the demons and produced an album that places them squarely back on track. The opener, "Dream On," is a close cousin to "Personal Jesus," combining earthy guitar with electrified, pulsating synths. The track's phy
The Observatory - Blank Walls
2007-06-30 17:52:00
Their second album, Blank Walls
, elaborates on the band’s philosophy of perpetual change. Blank Walls is deliberately loose, eschewing particular themes and genres while embracing unconventional structures, progressive sounds and improvisatory forms, continuing an experimentation with song form, delving into greater depths of musical and lyrical tension, creating a diverse, experimental palette of words, sonic layering, and musical contrasts. The subject matter signals a mood-shift towards a more palpable intensity, exploring various themes from anger to disenchantment, from the quaint and humorous to self-mockery or plain indignation.
Depeche Mode - Playing The Angel
2007-06-30 17:51:00
Playing The Angel is the 11 Depeche Mode
studio album, and the first to include songs written by frontman Dave Gahan. Playing The Angel was recorded in Santa Barbara and produced by Ben Hillier, who has recently worked with The Doves, Blur and Elbow. Playing The Angel is already being cited by those that have heard it as one of the defining albums of the bands illustrious career.Arguably the only credible surviving stars of synthpop, theMode return with their eleventh album and follow-up to 2001's 'Exciter'. Recorded with producer Ben Hillier (Doves, Blur) and marking a return to form with a fresh, revitalized update of the band's classic sound, this is being hailed as their best work in years. Includes the single 'Precious'.
Depeche Mode - Music For The Masses
2007-06-30 17:51:00
Part 2This album is a culmination of Depeche Mode
's middle-period experimentation. More informed by goth than techno, it is still anchored by plenty of the larger-than- life-baritone melodrama so distinctive of David Gahan's vocals. The most experimental track is "Pimpf"--a song that heave-hoes along with the synthesised emulation of a Russian men's choir. Although nowhere near fast enough to be danceable, the commanding "Never Let Me Down" ranks as the best single on the album, with the most hummable "Strangelove" coming in a close second. Each song is a praiseworthy accomplishment, but the singles here set off the experimental tracks, making the album seem thematically schizophrenic.
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, Masses
The Libertines - Up The Bracket Limited Edtion
2007-06-30 17:50:00
This is the debut album by the East London four-piece indieact whose music has been compared to that of The Smiths andThe Strokes, amongst others. 'Up The Bracket
' was produced by ex-Clash guitarist, Mick Jones. Included is the single, 'Up The Bracket', and the double A-side tracks 'I Get Along' and 'The Boys In The Band'. This special edition features the bonus track 'What A Waster' and also a bonus DVD featuringthree of the bands videos.Can the debut album from London dandies the Libertines
live up to the hype? With the Clash's Mick Jones at the production helm, gravelly tracks such as "Horror Show" and "The Boy Looked at Johnny" rattle along like first-gen punk classics. But like the Strokes, the Libertines manage to imbue snotty garage rock with a sort of wistful romanticism that adds genuine soul to their raucous clatter. Although there's no sign of "What a Waster", the single that made their name, there's no shortage of excellent tunes here. "Boys in the Band" is an
The Libertines - The Libertines
2007-06-30 17:50:00
Recorded over a period of intense media scrutiny due to weakening relationships between main-men Barat and Doherty the band re-recruited ex-Clash guitarist Mick Jones to produce their follow up to 2002's 'Up The Bracket'. With lyrics openly discussing the band's personal problems the band stay to the format set on their debut. This time there is more of a nod towards 70's punk, but the band retain their huge sense of melody throughout the record. The album contains the single 'Can't Stand Me Now'.
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The Libertines - Can't Stand Me Now
2007-06-30 17:26:00
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, Stand
The Libertines - Can't Stand Me Now (Enhanced)
2007-06-30 16:56:00
For all the cruel arrows of fate that have struck The Libertines
in their short career, the most shuddering hits have always been struck by themselves. For fans and band members alike, this is perhaps the most masochistic love affair in modern music history, and it's this that gives the band their almost unbearable pathos. To call it a soap opera would be to completely understate the tumultuous ride it's been. Listening to 'Can't Stand
Me Now', it nearly hurts too much to get through this baring of souls. 'Have we enough to keep it together / Or do we just keep on pretending / And hope our luck is never ending?.' sing the doomed duo. What does get us through is that this is another 24 carat gold Libertines song, complete with call-and-response vocals and the usual headrush guitar pummelling. Hopefully this isn't the final 'adieu' in song form that many people believe it will be. You're too good for that.
The Libertines - I Get Along EP
2007-06-30 16:35:00
I Get Along EP was US-Only 5-Track EP by The Libertines
, released on CD and 12" vinyl. "I Get Along""Don't Look Back Into The Sun""The Delaney""Mayday""Skag & Bone Man"
The Stone Roses - Turns into Stone
2007-06-30 16:24:00
Perhaps no British rock band was as deservedly beloved as the Stone
Roses
, a band whose complex brand of rock shot them to meteoric fame (which ultimately wrecked the band). "Turns into Stone" is something fans will adore -- various B-sides and unedited tracks, some of which never were released before in the US.The albums opens with a panoramic mix of "Elephant Stone," laced with warm riffs and a thunderous percussion finale. "Fools Gold" gets the full treatment in a ten-minute cut of funky guitar rock, while "Where Angels Play" is an enchantingly soft-edged pop song. The remainder is mostly the gritty, mildly psychedelic rockers, before ending with the eerie experimental "Something Burning."In truth, "Turns into Stone" is one of THE most underrated albums it has been my pleasure to hear. Even their B-sides are rich, enticing and beautifully performed -- In a nutshell, this patchwork of B-sides is better than the majority of rock albums out there.Quite a few of the songs wouldn't seem
The Stone Roses - Second Coming
2007-06-30 16:20:00
How do you follow up one of the most influential modern rock albums, a universally beloved debut? Well... you can't. Sadly, the Stone
Roses
couldn't either, several years after their legendary self-titled debut. But after several years, "Second
Coming" has gotten over its initial bad rap, and proved itself a solid -- though not stellar -- piece of Brit-rock.A rising chord seeps into a growling bassline... followed by water trickling and some distant bird songs. "Breaking Into Heaven," is probably the most memorable part of the whole album, especially when it rises into some jungle drums, then a funky rock rhythm. The eleven-minute intro alone has more variety than most rock bands can manage in a whole album.And after the intro? The fiery rock of "Driving South," funkiness of "Daybreak," or the acoustic-led sweetness of "Your Star Will Shine" and "Tightrope." There are dips into pop, hard rock, and the occasional nod to Led Zeppelin's famous riffs. It ends on a robust note with "Love
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Suede - A New Morning
2007-06-30 16:12:00
Fifth studio from the coolest of British bands finds A New Morning
less of a stylistic new dawn than the album title implies. It's very much in the insistent pop mould of the immediately preceding Suede albums, Head Music and Coming Up. In fact, Brett Anderson has been known to describe it as Suede's most 'up' recording to date. Potential hit singles abound, particularly when loving the lady aliens of the future on the album's most Bowie-esque moment 'Astrogirl' or on the new Suede classic 'One Hit to the Body'. A New Morning is a shameless pop record. Thankfully, it's an excellent shameless pop record. Includes 3 bonus tracks 'You Belong To Me', 'Simon' & 'Superstar'.
Muse - Showbiz
2007-06-30 15:40:00
Often compared to Radiohead, the youngsters in Muse make no bones about their love of Thom Yorke and company. Like Radiohead and their other favorite band, Nirvana, the tracks on Muse's debut go straight for the quiet verses and windstorm choruses associated with those acts. Unfortunately, Muse don't have that crackling aura their idols possess, and that's something that no amount of production can fix. Still, it's hard to write them off completely after hearing the single "Muscle Museum," which hints at brighter days on the horizon. Radiohead's Pablo Honey wasn't that great an album either, and look at them post OK Computer If they're going to crash American radio, they'll have to wait until the next release.Site: Muse Similar Artists: Radiohead
Read more: Showbiz
Muse - Origin Of Symmetry
2007-06-30 15:39:00
Pomposity, bombast, pretension and prog-rock: they're four crimes that blight the landscape of modern music and Origin
Of Symmetry--the second record by Teignmouth, U.K. angst-rockers Muse--is guilty of every single one. But the truly astonishing thing about this record is the way it twists every one of these cardinal musical sins into spectacularly silly and starkly individual strengths. Where their debut album Showbiz was rightly dismissed as little more than Radiohead-lite, here Muse sound defiantly like their own band: on "New Born", they're torn somewhere between the purity of front man Matt Bellamy's angelic vocal tones and the corruption of a huge, dirty, distorted bass riff that electrifies the sound into crackling life; on the fraught, operatic "Bliss", they sound like an unholy--but very welcome--cross between synth-heavy Krautrock legends Tangerine Dream and youthful choirboy angst-peddlers JJ72; and even a wonderfully dippy take on the Nina Simone-popularised jazz stand
Muse - Absolution
2007-06-30 15:36:00
One can't listen to Muse without hearing Bends-era Radiohead, so it's necessary to start there. But for all the familiar grandeur and gloom, Muse's other catharsis-rock influences, like Queen, Slade, and even Black Sabbath, provide the band with a dazzling, heart-on-their-sleeves theatricality. Always threatening to layer on another falsetto from singer Matt Bellamy, or conjure more guitar crunch from the ether, Absolution is downright Baroque in parts, like a Rufus Wainwright-penned rock opera fantasy. Yes, the record is completely unoriginal. But when these guys let it rip, there's no doubt they have the fever. "Stockholm Syndrome," for one, could only be produced by True Believers with a lust for power chord drama, full of angst, envy, and the bitter end of it all. If you wish a certain Thom Yorke-led outfit from Oxford had made another record or two before evolving into minor-key art rockers, Muse carry the torch for another few miles, gloriously and tragically unaware that th
The Super Furry Animals - Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1
2007-06-30 08:40:00
Songbook: The Singles
, Vol. 1 collects all of the Super
Furry
Animals
singles released between 1996 and 2004 as well as B-side "Blerwytirhwng?" (which can be found on their 1995 Welsh only debut EP Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (In Space). Songbook... was released in the UK in October 2004, debuting at #18 on the UK album charts. The collection didn't see a U.S. release until January 2005.
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Schneider TM - Zoomer
2007-07-07 16:27:00
With giddy tunes and electronic whirligigs, Schneider
TM's Zoomer blips and beeps its way into your brain, causing the same hyper-happy effect on adults that sugary cereal has on a 9-year-old. While 1998's Moist and the 2000 EP Binokular helped define blip-pop, Zoomer is yet more accessible, even introducing some hip-hop into Schneider's digital confections. Tracks like "Reality Check" and "Cuba TM" would be Britney-style pop songs in a world run by robots, but there's no mistaking the carbon-based hooks and melodies. Even mini-symphonies like "Hunger" depend on good old song craft for their addictive effects, despite the layers of ultralight, mechanical glee. Schneider TM's sound won't appeal to those looking for beats, and it isn't quite out there enough for the experimental future crowd looking for the next Oval or Mouse On Mars. However, if you like Tortoise despite their overt pretension and adore Stereolab when they aren't wandering aimlessly, Zoomer is worth a listen.
Shipping News - Flies By Fields
2007-07-07 16:26:00
Shipping News are a Louisville band composed of members who contibuted heavily to that scene (therefore contributing to the evolution of all independent rock) throughout the '90s. This album, their fourth full-length (but third proper "album"), represents the natural progression of musicians who don't rock for the establishment and never did. These guys are real artists.That being said, Flies
the Fields
is a much more focused and mature effort. The prog aspects of the music are toned down some, but are still potent enough to grab your attention.This is the kind of album that grows on you. I wasn't so instantly impressed with this as I was with their first, Save Everything, but the songwriting skill and instrumental prowess are delicious and immediately gratifying. After having savored it for a couple of weeks, it has become my favorite Shipping News album. Very interesting and solid.Site : Shipping News Similar Artists: Don Cabellero, Shellac, Do Make Say Think, Dir
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Cat Power - Myra Lee
2007-07-07 15:38:00
Myra Lee is the second album by American singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power
. The album is named after Marshall's mother. It was released in 1996 on the Smells Like Records label, but was recorded at the same time of Dear Sir, her previous album.Site : Cat Power Similar Artists: Sufjan Stevens, Elliott Smith, Joanna Newsom, Feist, Iron & Wine, Devendra Banhart, Mirah
Cat Power - Dear Sir
2007-07-07 15:31:00
Dear Sir is the debut album by American singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, also known as Cat Power
. It was released in 1995 on Runt Records. The 2001 Plain recordings reissue switches the order of the last two tracks.Site : Cat Power Similar Artists: Sufjan Stevens, Elliott Smith, Joanna Newsom, Feist, Iron & Wine, Devendra Banhart, Mirah
Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One (Deluxe Edition) Disc 2
2007-07-07 14:47:00
[A double-CD version features nine additional songs, including covers of the Beach Boys' "Little Honda" and William DeVaughn's "Be Thankful for What You've Got."]Site : Yo La Tengo Similar Artists: Pavement, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sufjan Stevens, Animal Collective, Wilco
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, Deluxe
, Edition
Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (Bonus Danelectro EP)
2007-07-06 22:45:00
[The French edition of And Then Nothing
included the 2000 EP Danelectro in its entirety, as well as a cover of the Bonzo Dog Band's "Ready-Mades" and the Sonic Boom remix of "You Can Have it All."]Site : Yo La Tengo Similar Artists: Pavement, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sufjan Stevens, Animal Collective, Wilco
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, Bonus
Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
2007-07-06 22:25:00
Yo La Tengo's most consistently brilliant record is also their quietest, as husband and wife Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley turn the volume down while exploring decidedly grown-up relationship themes. It's definitely not the shoe-gazer-tinged barrage of guitars they've supplied in the past, but the silences here speak louder than an amplified guitar ever could.Site : Yo La Tengo Similar Artists: Pavement, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sufjan Stevens, Animal Collective, Wilco
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, Itself
LCD Soundsystem - Introns
2007-07-06 22:19:00
In a watershed year for the remix album, LCD Soundsystem
's latest drop, Introns, a collection of b-sides, remixes, and other rarities, is a fresh spin on the breakout success of their 2005 self-titled release. With some of the biggest names in electronic music onboard, well-known tracks like the siren-heavy "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House (Soulwax Shibuya Mix)" get high-energy updates for the dance crowd while others, such as "Tribulations (Tiga's Out of the Trance Closet Mix)", are washed with a darker mood, and "Your City's A Sucker" and "Slowdive (xfm session)" represent the more dissonant, experimental side of the project. All flawlessly executed, the range of styles are also a testament to James Murphy's ingeniously laconic vocals.Site: LCD Soundsystem Similar Artists: The Rapture, !!!, TV On The Radio, The Go! Team
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