The live scene is healthy, although with so many bands, there aren’t enough rewards to go ’round. As with here, the Internet has taken a huge bite out of CDs, but low album sales doesn’t mean a lot of people aren’t listening. They are. And thanks to the Internet, followings can be built overseas without […]
CDs
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Patti Smith — Outside Society
But you can easily imagine Smith swaying back and forth for three and a half minutes, plinking on a grand piano Elton John-style, her voice trembling for the punishment she’s soon to inflict with the song’s grand finale. In the liner notes of her forthcoming greatest hits compilation, the songwriter reflects that the track is […]
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Shabazz Palaces — Black Up
That was all true for their first two projects, the “Shabazz Palaces” and “Of Light” EPs, and nothing has changed with the new full-length, “Black Up.” The same adjectives might fit the man behind the mic, Digable Planets alum Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler, at least in his approach to rapping. His moderately paced, raspy and recognizable […]
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Kendrick Lamar — Section.80
People often expect highly anticipated albums to disappoint, but Kendrick leaves no room for disappointment. Lamar made this album as an ode to his fellow ’80s babies, products of the Reagan era. In fact, one of the songs is called “Ronald Reagan Era.” On this RZA-assisted composition and other tracks, Lamar mentions problems that have […]
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Washed Out — Within and Without
The end products, discovered on his MySpace page by excited bloggers, established Washed Out as a distinct house beat-driven sub-style in chillwave, contemporary to the likes of Toro Y Moi and Neon Indian. They also earned Greene a deal with Sub Pop. So not long after the former dropped his excellent “Underneath the Pine” and […]
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James and Evander — Constellating EP + 2
In its stead, I’ve sought out other gentle electronica projects in hopes of filling my Gibbard/Tamborello-shaped hole. Most acts fall short by appropriating the sound, but not writing great pop songs to match. Enter James and Evander. On the surface, it seems to be everything I want in a Postal Service replacement: two dudes churning […]
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Paul Simon — Paul Simon / There Goes Rhymin’ Simon / Still Crazy After All These Years / In Concert: Live Rhymin’
The accompanying notes state that the albums “feature the remastered sound, bonus tracks and expanded packaging from their first CD incarnations.” Translated: These are exactly the same as the 2004 CD releases, down to the liner notes. The only reason mentioned for re-releasing these albums is that a licensing agreement recently “brought Simon’s entire catalog […]