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Charlie Simpson - Charlie Simpson - Young Pilgrim Every former pop star carries a certain amount of embarrassment, bordering on guilt, about their past life. Some worry that their public persona is a reductive and silly mask that no longer fits; others act like it’s the morning after a particularly wild party and they’re not entirely sure why they did the things they did, or to whom they should apologise. Charlie Simpson has worn his pop past with Busted like a hairshirt, ever since he walked out of the band in favour of his post-hardcore project Fightstar, the credible alternative to his teenybopper day job. It’s... Cant - CANT "Answer"from the album Dreams Come True2011On September 13, Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor goes solo when he releases Dreams Come True, his debut album as CANT. But you don't have to wait till then to hear the warped, bendy "Answer." The album was recorded with help from Twin Shadow's George Lewis Jr., and you can hear that in the decadent emptiness and synths here. But there's no trace of either dude's pop sensibilities here: This is pretty soundscape heavy and about as far away from Grizzly Bear as you can get.~ Andrew... Mann - Mann - Mann's World These days, one feels almost pathetically grateful for a new urban pop artist who doesn't default to the overdriven, Eurohouse chart template. When the first few tracks of Mann's debut album demonstrate the 20-year-old rapper's penchant for old-school G-funk and an actual light touch, it's enough to make you predisposed to look on it favourably. It's not a feeling that bears much scrutiny. The album is helmed by one JR Rotem, whose discography to date places him firmly into the ‘generic hack’ category of producers: Rihanna's SOS, Iyaz's Replay, so many Jason Derülo singles that you begin... Steely Dan - Steely Dan - Aja If ever a record knew its worth, it was Aja, the sixth album by Steely Dan. Released in late 1977 when half the world seemed to be down the disco and the other half were pogo-ing, here came an album that oozed detached sophistication, using every trick that keyboard player and vocalist Donald Fagen and guitarist Walter Becker had mastered over their first decade together. Following on from 1976's The Royal Scam, any notion of Steely Dan being ‘a band’ had gone, with a huge stream of well over 40 highly skilled session musicians creating textures to support... Fool's Gold - Fool's Gold "Street Clothes"from the album Leave No Trace2011iTunesOn its debut album, the L.A. band Fool's Gold presented an unusual marriage of influences, pairing African melodies with Hebrew lyrics. The record won over legions of fans and caught the attention of critics, who described it with words like "beguiling" and "joyous."Fool's Gold's newest album is called Leave No Trace, and there's little trace left of Hebrew on it â€" the lyrics are mostly in English. In a conversation with NPR's David Greene, vocalist Luke Top and guitarist Lewis Pesacov, the band's two founding members,... The Chemical Brothers - The Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole If their debut, 1995’s Exit Planet Dust, set the Chemical Brothers stall out as purveyors of large beats and chunkin’ funk, then Dig Your Own Hole shot them right into the stratosphere. With its number one singles, Grammy award and multi-platinum status, Dig Your Own Hole took Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons from the backrooms to the stadiums. In a year that saw some incredible albums such as OK Computer, Ladies & Gentleman..., and Homework, Dig Your Own Hole sits easily in such company, a joyous melange of psychedelia, acid house, hip hop, funk and colossal beats... Jeff Buckley - Jeff Buckley - Grace While Jeff Buckley’s sole complete studio document has achieved two million sales worldwide since its mid-90s release, its impact at the time was far from impressive. And that’s from both critical and commercial perspectives, as although today it’s regularly held in high regard come top-albums lists, a mixed reception greeted it on its initial emergence. Listening today, almost 17 years to the day after that first release, it’s easy to hear why reviewers weren’t universally moved by Grace. Its best-known track isn’t even one penned by Buckley, Hallelujah being a cover of Leonard Cohen’s haunting masterpiece. Nor is Corpus... Gomez - Gomez - Whatever's on Your Mind It’s a long time since Gomez won the Mercury Music Prize. Thirteen years, to be precise, since they beat The Verve, Massive Attack and Pulp to the award back in 1998. And after one spin of this, their seventh studio album, you’ll think it was even longer ago. Perhaps in another life altogether. To be fair, Gomez have been sliding towards middle-of-the-road mediocrity for a while now. Those first three albums - Bring it On, Liquid Skin, and In Our Gun - were rife with a sense of raw, youthful experimentation, blending British and American folk... St. Vincent - St. Vincent "Surgeon"from the album Strange Mercy2010iTunesA couple of Annie Clark's recent live performances under her St. Vincent moniker included covers of Big Black's "Kerosene" and "Big Black Mariah" by Tom Waits. There's a neat thematic link there, not just in the leap from one Big Black to the other, but also in her decision to remodel the work of artists who construct alluringly grotesque worlds out of basic "rock" tools. The best St. Vincent material does that, too. Here on "Surgeon," our first taste of the forthcoming Strange Mercy (Sept. 13), everything feels... Beastie Boys - Beastie Boys: Hot Sauce Committee Part Two The members of the Beastie Boys are responsible for many unforgettableâ€"and regrettableâ€"pop-culture fads. Whether it’s inadvertently pioneering the cringe-worthy rap-rock movement that dominated the mainstream musical landscape for most of the ‘90s, giving scrawny white boys everywhere the confidence to rap or bringing the angst of the urban skate ethos to the masses, the band members have proven themselves as sonic mavericks and cultural arbiters who lead and never follow. Providing the soundtrack for almost three generations of youthful rebellion, this veteran hip-hop trio proves that it can still churn out the ill beats and conjure the palpable sonic chemistry... |