Spins
Fountain Of Youth
Sonic Youth Reissues (Geffen) The final installment of Geffen’s Sonic Youth re-release campaign lends an expanded, self-titled debut, the cryptic Whitey Album (under the pseudonym Ciccone Youth), and Thurston Moore’s lone solo effort, Psychic Hearts.
Band Of Gold
Mates Of State Bring It Back (Barsuk) That Mates Of State ever made more than one album, much less escaped almost certain novelty fate, has been a minor miracle. That they’ve turned it around into something as wonderful as Bring It Back is something else.
Volkswagon’s Herbie
Herbie Hancock Possibilities (Hear) On this star-studded effort (Sting, John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Damien Rice), erstwhile jazzman Herbie Hancock tries to stretch his marketing bounds and relevance.
Oxbow The Letter
Oxbow Love That’s Last: A Wholly Hypnographic & Disturbing Work (Hydra Head) In their prime, Oxbow were something of a disturbing San Francisco band that may have had something to do with The Jesus Lizard, or maybe the other way around.
Fahey Or Not Fahey?
John Fahey & Friends Tribute (Slackertone) In the five years since John Fahey died, posthumous reissues and albums have more or less consistently cast him as an avant-folk guitarist of impeccable skill. Here, his peers expand the palette considerably.
Hello, Parsons
Richard Parsons Until The Sun Dies (Not Likely Sober) Confessional singer-songwriters have a bad rap, so much so at IE we generally regard submissions such as this for the scrap heap, left to die with everyone else who “taught” themselves guitar and put G-C-D chord patterns together.
Back To The Future
Various Artists Future Retro (Rhino) Danced, thought I’d never stop. This spunky Rhino compilation throws mostly British ’80s cuts at some of the world’s top remixers.
Herbie Hancock CD Review
Herbie Hancock The Essential Herbie Hancock (Columbia/Legacy) Chicagoans who only know their prodigal son for “Rockit” have a chance to learn more about one of jazz’s consistently vital contributors.
A Bit Of Ultra Violence
Vitalic OK Cowboy (Pias) A Clockwork Orange is the bully of movies. You can’t just walk away from it; it follows you. Judging by OK Cowboy, it’s still harassing Vitalic honcho Pascal Arbez.
Los Lobos CD Review
Los Lobos Wolf Tracks: The Best Of Los Lobos (Rhino) You have to wonder, if Los Lobos could do it all again, would they still have signed up for the La Bamba soundtrack?
Studio Supreme
Various Artists The Best Of Studio One, Full Up: More Hits From Studio One, Downbeat The Ruler: Killer Instrumentals (Heartbeat/1st Studio) String of topnotch compilations from reggae’s ground zero.
Caroline CD Review
Caroline Murmurs (Temporary Residence) While plenty of alternatives exist, Japanese contributions to cutting-edge pop have been steered toward the cartoonish in mainstream media.
The Ocean CD Review
The Ocean Aeolian (Metal Blade) Sharing an album title with the music-theory name for the primary minor scale might lead you to believe this is a sea of guitar wankery.
The Rogers Sisters CD Review
The Rogers Sisters The Invisible Deck (Too Pure) What was once a dream gig, being named among the Williamsburg elite might hurt The Rogers Sisters.
Pharaoh CD Review
Pharaoh The Longest Night (Cruz Del Sur) With the advantage of retro fetishism at their side, Pharaoh figure out what ailed the combined efforts of Saxon, Venom, and the other bands Iron Maiden left in their wake.
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