Archive | Album Reviews
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Album Review: John Hurlahe “Cass River County Line”
It’s tough sometimes to discuss new artists without mentioning their influences — call it a feeble attempt on the reviewer’s part to ease the reader’s transition from the unfamiliar to the familiar via a laundry list of popular artists.
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Album Review: M.I.A. “/\/\ /\ Y /\”
After hearing the first single "Born Free" from M.I.A.'s newest album, I had expected a rap-turned-rock album a la Lil Wayne's Rebirth. Boy was I wrong. The Sri Lankan rapper is notorious for her political themes, particularly regarding third world violence and genocide.
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Album Review: Sun Kil Moon “Admiral Fell Promises”
In light of the experimentation and cluttered instrumentals that permeate contemporary music (think Passion Pit), Sun Kil Moon, a project from Red House Painters' Mark Kozelek, bring something unique to the field with their simplicity.
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Album Review: Big Boi “Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty”
Routine visits to Dr. Mannino’s dentistry office in Farmington Hills, Michigan treat you to the best pieces of musical trash. Waiting for your tri-monthly scraping, rinsing and fluoride, you’re likely to hear the absolute cream of smooth jazz radio.
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Album Review: M.I.A. “/\/\ /\ Y /\”
The virtually un-Google-able album title, the artist’s stage name built from gold bricks, Maya’s mouth, concealed by glitched-out YouTube bars — the cover of “/\/\ /\ Y /\”, like the album itself, is at once enticing, disorienting and cluttered.
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Album Review: M.I.A. “Maya”
There’s this old saying about good and bad publicity. It’s a cliché really and it hardly matters a lick whether it’s true or not, though I suspect it is a large percentage of the time. If Mel Gibson weren’t so unpleasant perhaps I’d ask him how he felt about the idea.
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Album Review: Carter Hulsey “A Note In Your Pocket”
Missouri-native Carter Hulsey is bringing his unique, yet familiar sound to the big stage with the release of his first album “A Note In Your Pocket.
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Album Review: Big Boi “Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty”
For every Batman there is a Robin; for every Conan O’Brien an Andy Richter, for every George Michael there’s that other guy from Wham. For André Benjamin there was Antwan Patton, and together they made the dynamic duo of Outkast.
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Album Review: M.I.A. “/\/\/\Y/\”
M.I.A.’s baby’s heartbeat was recorded for her new album, /\/\/\Y/\, according to her producer Rusko — but you can’t hear it above the album's noise. Then again, it’s hard to hear anything on /\/\/\Y/\ above the noise that’s been made lately about its artist.