Big Star Complete Third (Omnivore) A legendary band’s most legendary turn. After Big Star’s brilliant 1972 debut, #1 Record, stiffed, co-leader Chris Bell quit, leaving Alex Chilton as the band’s main mover for its 1974 follow-up, the sparkling Radio City—which also stiffed. Both albums are power-pop classics, routinely included in best-ever lists, but for many […]
Cluster Kollektion 06: Cluster 1971-1981 (Bureau B) In the ’70s, Cluster’s Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius were part of Germany’s glorious outpouring of synth-based instrumental rock, simultaneously extending ’60s experimentalism and pointing forward not only to the golden age of synthpop, but to bands like Stereolab, Tortoise and Boards of Canada. Cluster’s psychedelic soft bulletins […]
Sting 57th & 9th (Interscope) Listening to 57th & 9th is like joining your pretentious, albeit charismatic, uncle in his drawing room for a dram of some unfamiliar cordial. Uncle Gordon’s in a yearning mood: for belief; for artistic potency and the burn of adulation; for fallen geniuses and lost lovers. He was, indisputably, a […]
Lambchop FLOTUS (Merge) Kurt Wagner might deserve this year’s indie Lifetime Achievement Award. While recording as Lambchop for more than 20 years, he has ably covered a waterfront of styles, from string-laden alt-country to hipster soul and mellow indie-pop. To boot, he’s given us a bounty of wry titles like “Cigaretiquette” and “The Petrified Florist,” […]
Wilco Schmilco (dBpm) Wilco has always been a welcome sight, but I’ve never particularly invested much in Jeff Tweedy and his buds—Wilco’s ninth album, Star Wars, came out last year and I totally missed it. So here’s the 10th, and I’m feeling like a fool and a pushover, because Schmilco’s a total pleasure. Tweedy’s voice […]
Devendra Banhart Ape in Pink Marble (Nonesuch) Devendra Banhart seems like a good idea. Handsome, talented and raised in Venezuela and Los Angeles by free-spirited parents, Banhart dropped out of art school at 19 to busk on streets, and subsequently came to the attention of Swans’ Michael Gira, who released Banhart’s home recordings to wide […]
Amber Arcades Fading Lines (Heavenly) A stereotypical indie-rocker might work as a barista or telemarketer; Utrecht songwriter Annelotte de Graaf is a legal aide for the international war crimes tribunal and the Dutch immigration office. As such, you could expect Fading Lines, her debut as Amber Arcades, to be full of ponderous downers, but it’s […]
Frank Ocean Blonde (Boys Don’t Cry) In the midst of all the think pieces analyzing Blonde as an event, it seems worth restating the bottom line: Frank Ocean is a brilliant songwriter, musician and producer, and Blonde is overflowing with sonic and compositional gifts; it’s almost embarrassing. So when I played this for my dad […]
Thee Oh Sees A Weird Exits (Castle Face) Led by John Dwyer, garage-psych wrecking crew Thee Oh Sees has churned out 15 albums, the latest being A Weird Exits. It covers familiar territory, though previous forays into jangly, poppy material have been obliterated. For the uninitiated, A Weird Exits is not an easy introduction; song […]
William Tyler Modern Country (Merge) A tough one. As a member of Lambchop, guitarist William Tyler helped craft one of the more interesting sounds in alt-rock, a lush mélange replete with strings yet maintaining a welcome twang. The last element was Tyler’s contribution, his abundant gifts becoming more obvious on his own albums, filled with […]