Blondie - The Singles Box

After I got introduced to Blondie last spring with "The Curse of Blondie" I was in an all out search for everything Blondie I could consume. Several group albums & three Debbie Harry solo albums later, I'm close to accomplishing my goal. Though, on a many shopping trips to my local F.Y.E. store with my boyfriend, I saw this deluxe box set of Blondie's singles from their first self-titled album all the way through to 1982's "The Hunter", I had to have it. Though "One Way or Another" is a glaring omission, what you get still keeps this set with a five star rating.

I finally purchased it this summer & have to say that it was worth the price tag. You get all of the singles as they were presented in seven inch vinyl format, in a CD single format. This includes all the original artwork on the front & back of the original 45! You get many b-sides that were most likely unavailable from their first few singles off of "Blondie" & "Plastic Letters". You also get alternate versions of album tracks such as "Live It Up" from 1980's "Autoamerican", instrumental versions, twelve inch versions, French versions, Spanish versions, the whole lot basically!

Also, the singles come placed in beautiful box done up in 1977's "Parallel Lines" art design in chronological order. A booklet with color photo's of Blondie & Debbie is included as well. Of course the hit single "Maria" & subsequent singles from the 1999 reunion album "No Exit" are not here & neither are the singles from 2004's "The Curse of Blondie". But this set I believe was meant to highlight their peak period of singles.

I recommend this to the Blondie fan who may have these all on vinyl & wants them on CD, or for that new Blondie fanatic, who like me, had to have it all. I highly recommend. Count one two three four, boom!

The Maccabees - Colour It In

Lead singer Orlando Weeks has a wonderfully animated voice -- moving from pained and annoyed in "Tissue Shoulder" to smitten in the rolling "About Your Dress" to dramatic and emotional in the poppy "O.A.V.I.P." -- rich and just a little rough, which keeps the fact that the chords, the arrangements, and the rhythms of the album are all rather similar a show of strength, of realizing where your assets lie instead of signaling a lack of versatility. Weeks brings life and individuality to each of the songs, though, to be fair, his bandmates' bright arpeggios, sharp like broken glass, sixteenth-note, tom-filled drum lines and heavy bass don't make his job very hard. Colour It In bursts with vitality and youthfulness, with thick London accents and falling in love and breaking rules and simply enjoying one's self. So while the album may sound like it's been done before, it's just expressing the fact that all the things they're singing about, that all bands are singing about, really, have been done before, too. The Maccabees are in touch with the times they're living in, with the music and the energy around them, picking up on the trends they hear (i.e. the Futureheads, Dogs Die in Hot Cars) but only in a way that compliments their influences, making Colour It In an enjoyable, even if ephemeral, record.

Belle & Sebastian - Dog on Wheels

There's nobody named Belle or Sebastian in this Scottish septet, but that's just part of the self-effacing mythology with which the band has surrounded itself. Their low profile in the media and even on their own albums (no personnel or songwriting credits) is in keeping with the shy-boy aesthetic promulgated on this, their debut album. While the influence of lovable British wimps like Nick Drake, The Smiths and Al Stewart (!) and fellow Scot Donovan can be heard throughout, the band has an identity and highly developed sense of songcraft all its own. Led by Stuart Murdoch, Belle and Sebastian offer up a largely acoustic folk-pop sound with deep roots in the '60s. Their guitar-and-piano arrangements are often filled out by luxurious trumpets and strings, but the clever, sardonic lyrics keep things from ever getting too mushy. The bright, irresistible pop melodies stand in sharp contrast to decidedly downbeat lyrics that recall Morrissey at his sharpest. Timeless, gorgeous and just cool enough to avoid a mainstream breakthrough.

Blondie - Plastic Letters

Considered by many to be Blondie's best, their second album catches the group poised on the brink of global superstardom. Plastic Letters' first single, a gender-switched cover of the '60s pop hit "Denise" by Randy and the Rainbows, was a massive British hit which went far towards dispelling the band's second-tier status on the New York punk scene. The rest of the disc improves immensely on their self-titled debut, with sharper songwriting and better production. Jimmy Destri's Farfisa organ is still the band's main musical focal point, but his playing has evolved, along with the melodies, beyond the simple '60s pastiches of the debut. "Youth Nabbed as Sniper" and "Contact in Red Square" continue the band's fascination with trash culture, but the glorious "I'm Always Touched by Your Presence Dear," written by departed bassist Gary Valentine, is a genuinely heartfelt, if ironic, love song.

Marcy Playground - Shapeshifter

On their second album, this faceless alternapop trio tosses together more harmless songs that don't have much to say yet manages to lumber along anyway. The mannered climb toward the tunes' peaks isn't nearly as labored here as it was on their snooze-worthy debut, but leader John Wozniak, given more creative freedom, fashions Shapeshifter as a trip through sonic fields of wonder; there's yodeling, underwater echo, and even epic storytelling, but it all blends into a mush of fuzzy guitars and detached vocals by the end. And Wozniak's post-grunge guitar chops and melodramatic musings --"I've got some kind of disease/And there are no remedies" he sings all Cobain-like on the opening "It's Saturday" -- seem a bit old-fashioned by late-'90s standards.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Howl

A significant departure for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Howl finds the Los Angeles-based trio abandoning the cold, amped-up sound of Take Them On, On Your Own in favor of a more heartfelt, acoustic-oriented aesthetic. (It's noteworthy that frontman Robert Turner has gone back to his birth name, Robert Levon Been, and his father, Michael Been, of the 1980s band the Call, contributes piano to one track.) The album's artwork nods to classic '60s record sleeves, and it's no coincidence; the music here is stripped-down and folk-inflected, revealing a major change from the group's earlier reverb-heavy, Jesus & Mary Chain-influenced vibe. Elements of rural blues, soul, and even gospel work their way into these tunes, but the BRMC stills rocks--just in a more inspired and inventive way. Those who had written the band off after Take Them On will likely embrace Howl, which shows a promising act making bold steps to revitalize its career.

The Killers - Sam's Town

On the 2006 follow-up to their wildly successful debut, Hot Fuss, the Killers' continue their torrid affair with1980s New Wave, but manage to incorporate the sounds of that era, particularly heavy use of synthesizers, more seamlessly into the mix. This is due, at least in part, to the presence of veteran producers Flood and Alan Moulder (Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, U2), who help to make the tracks on Sam's Town both brighter and edgier than earlier Killers tunes. While the Las Vegas-based act's Britpop-influenced songs are still marked by Brandon Flower's emotive vocals and bold synth lines, Dave Keuning's guitar riffs are amped up on much of the record, as exemplified by the urgent single "When We Were Young," which easily stands as one of the quartet's finest tunes. Other highlights of this brooding album are the dramatic "Bones" and the yearning title track, songs that prove that the Killers may have unforeseen substance lurking under their carefully rendered style.

The Charlatans - Between 10th and 11th

Combining the retro-psychedelia of the Stone Roses with a large dose of The Doors' swirling keyboard-based sensibility, the Charlatans UK had an initially swift and painless rise to fame. Rocky times lay ahead however, including the mental illness of their bass player and the departure of their guitarist. Compounding these setbacks was the commercial disappointment of the otherwise outstanding Between 10th and 11th. Despite its lack of contemporary commercial success, this album contains the beginnings of a musical maturity and depth. More guitar-based than usual, Between 10th and 11th embraces a loose, jamming tradition not usually found in post '70s British pop, shown to greatest effect on "The End of Everything." The album has a harder edge than previous efforts, as if the band were trying to stay one step ahead of their demons. Unfortunately they'd soon suffer more setbacks when integral member and keyboard player Rob Collins would be arrested for armed robbery; a few years later he was killed driving drunk from a pub to the studio.

Manic Street Preachers - Send Away The Tigers

We've written about 30 songs for this album...and these are the best ten songs. It's short...38 minutes. We began writing for the album in late 2005, and began recording in earnest in March 2006 with Dave Eringa. The album was recorded at Stir Studios in Cardiff and Grouse Lodge in County Westmeath in Ireland, finished in November 2006 and then mixed in California by Chris Lord-Alge (Green Day, My Chemical Romance). The Clash and the Sex Pistols are our biggest inspirations. We've denied it for a long time. But they are. And on this album, we've gone back to source. We never contemplated splitting. We didn't have a friction-based disaster because we're not those kind of people. Send Away The Tigers is a phrase the comedian Tony Hancock used whenever he started drinking. I saw a parallel between that line and the animals being released from the zoo in Baghdad when the Allies invaded.

Maxïmo Park - Our Earthly Pleasures

Like fellow British post-punk revivalists Bloc Party and the Futureheads, Maximo Park followed up its Paul Epworth-produced debut with a more expansive sound and a different man behind the boards. On 2007's Our Earthly Pleasures, the Newcastle quintet enlisted veteran producer Gil Norton (best known for his work with the Pixies) to reinforce its already solid, tightly wound approach. While Norton's presence doesn't drastically change Maximo Park's wiry, restless aesthetic, it does lend some extra heft to the fierce opener, "Girls Who Play Guitars," and the pulsing, keyboard-driven "Our Velocity," a tune that fully showcases vocalist Paul Smith's passionate croon and the group's knack for crafting memorable hooks. And although Modest Mouse may have actually scored Johnny Marr as a member, "Books from Boxes" features shimmering guitar lines that recall the former Smiths six-stringer's signature tone, resulting in one of the most affecting tunes on Pleasures. Though the record isn't quite as consistent as A Certain Trigger, its high points, which include all of the aforementioned tracks, are undeniably compelling, and hold great promise for Maximo Park's longevity. Books from Boxes, Russian Literature are nice songs.

My Morning Jacket - Okonokos

My Morning Jacket sound like no one but themselves. Frontman Jim James is as charismatic and self-effacing as they come. Guitarist (and also saxophonist) Carl Broemel is a lyrical monster as both a fine melodic improviser and as a rock & roll lead guitar player. Listen to the way he handles "Gideon" and "Lowdown," and blows sax at the end of "Dondante." The three-piece rhythm section of Bo Koster's understated but emotionally and technically taut keyboards, Two-Tone Tommy's bass playing and baritone vocals, and drummer Patrick Hallahan is inventive, spot in the pocket, and full of surprising twists and turns. Near the end of disc two, where a drawling, dreamy, 11-minute "Steam Engine" (with all the solos) gives way to the stomping honky tonk rock of "Dancefloors" in a performance worthy of Lynyrd Skynyrd's One More from the Road, the picture would be complete if the Band were included as guests. My Morning Jacket are a band at the pinnacle of their power. Like great jazz musicians, they've learned to instinctively play together and make the most of every number. "Mahgeetah" sends the whole trip out on a sweet note. The feel-good rhythm and bluesed-up country-rock groove pours out so naturally and transcendentally that it's no surprise that the audience and band have bonded; they turn into something more, somehow, as they leave the Fillmore building than when they entered. Okonokos is one of the best live recordings of the last 30 years. My Morning Jacket rock!

Chris Isaak - Heart Shaped World

Chris Isaak's dark, sultry, reverb-drenched "Wicked Game" poured out of radios across the nation in 1990, pushing the sales of Heart Shaped World well past platinum. With its meandering melody, moody atmospherics, and Isaak's half-baritone, half-falsetto delivery, its popularity was no accident: the song is a piece of pop perfection. Isaak's aesthetic is heavily retro--he borrows from the high, poignant drama of Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley (and even his chiseled features and slicked-back hair seem like something off a Sun Records album cover)--yet he combines his influences in a fresh and compelling way. Heart Shaped World holds to the promise of "Wicked Game," making for a record that begs to be played at 2:00 in the morning, with neon light streaming through the blinds. It has a haunted, heartbroken quality to it, with the spare instrumentation allowing plenty of room for Isaak's knee-weakening croon to unfurl. Most impressively, Isaak's stylish update of a classic sound makes the record hard to date, assuring its relevance for years to come. I'm losing my favourite game

Blonde Redhead - La mia vita violenta

With their second release, La Mia Vita Violenta, Blonde Redhead maintain their organically low-fi aesthetic and continue to prove themselves as one of indie rock's real triumphs. Even after the departure of guitarist Maki Takahashi, they still make more noise with three people than most bands could make with ten. Guitars tear into the songs -- pointed, direct, and tough -- while the vocals of Kazu Makino and Amedeo Pace weave tightly into drummer Simone Pace's impeccably precise backing. Timing is everything, and Blonde Redhead certainly have it. They're dirty when they need to be and crystal-clear when the situation calls for it. Never angry, the trio plays hard and fast to the point where the instruments seem to play themselves with the deftest of precision. The production is so skillful that even with the most Spartan of recording gear, guitars end up sounding synthetic, in that painting-looks-like-a-photograph kind of way. And the volatile changes -- from sweet acoustic strums to drilling power chords -- make this album a whirl of unexpected surprises. La Mia Vita Violenta is math rock without the nerdiness and art rock without the pretentiousness.Misery is a Butterfly

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Neutral Milk Hotel leader Jeff Mangum is a popster who hears interstellar sounds as natural ingredients of his "pop." He was weaned with the inevitable four-track in his bedroom, schooled on a record collection stacked with John Cage and Captain Beefheart as well as the Beatles and the Kinks. There is an instant emotional intensity to Neutral Milk's music, and the seeds that were sewn on '96's lo-fi masterpiece On avery Island, bear an evolving fruit on In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Mangum's psych-folk songwriter musings dominate the album's landscape. Confusion streams out in hallucinatory phrases, trying to outrace a manic acoustic guitar, which in turn propels a band whose general sound is a four-track, punked-up version of Tom Waits' Rain Dogs outfit. Brass-heavy instrumentals akin to ambient, bayou funeral dirges skitter by. At times, sunny pop emerges from the busy squall , as on the title track. Occasionally, the squall itself latches onto a melody, exploding with Flaming Lips-like ferocity. All of it suggests that while Neutral Milk's grasp on inherent truths (musical and otherwise) is wholly unstable, its quest for them is a wonder to behold. (Yep this is cool)

Rufus WainWright - Release the Stars

AMG review
and the epic winged-grandeur of If ever there was an artist that embodied both the urbane popular songsmithing of Cole PorterRichard Wagner it is Rufus Wainwright. Having not so much perfected as succumbed to this yin-yang pull on his laboriously ambitious and intermittently inspired 2003 and 2004 albums Want One and Want Two, Wainwright once again delivers a baroque collection of songs on 2007's Release the Stars. Recorded at least partially in Berlin and London with Pet Shop Boys lead Neil Tennant, the album finds Wainwright casting himself as a kind of expatriate torch singer, a veritable Marlene Dietrich of emotion who, as he laments on "Going to a Town," is "so tired of America." In that sense, Release the Stars is at once intensely personal and utterly theatrical with Wainwright playing both ingénue and femme fatale in a series of increasingly cinematic pop-operas about true love gone not so much bad, but sad. He pleads to make it to the other side of town, and possibly the other side of monogamy, with his brown-eyed lover in "Tiergarten" and dreams lazily about, "the boys that made me lose the blues and then my eyesight" on "Sanssouci." While these songs are lushly produced, often with full orchestration, and while Wainwright has a knack for pretty, lilting melodies and concrete imagery there is nonetheless a distinct lack of pop hooks here. In fact, only the chugging T. Rex inspired glam rock of "Between My Legs" gets at any real pop meat. The main problem is that it's never quite clear if Wainwright, who has always been to pop music as cabaret is to Broadway, is dressing opera up as pop or vice versa. But when you wear custom Lederhosen as well as Wainwright does throughout the album liner notes, does it really matter?(nice recording)

Travis - The Boy With No Name

On 2007's The Boy With No Name, Travis's fifth studio album, the Scottish band steps back from the moody and politicized 12 Memories, returning to the lush, laid-back sound of The Man Who and The invisible Band. Not surprisingly, this shift marks the Britpop quartet's reunion with famed producer Nigel Godrich (Beck, Radiohead), who clearly knows how to bring the best out of the earnest ensemble. As always, frontman Fran Healy's plaintive voice is Travis's calling card, as exemplified by the resonant lead single, "Closer," and "Under the Moonlight," an uplifting duet with pop-folky KT Tunstall. For those who may have written Travis off after The invisible Band, this warm, welcoming album is the perfect occasion to revisit the considerably charming and amiable act. (i wanna get out!)(there's a sunny day out here, go out, meet friends! or just read Rindie)

Guided by Voices - Universal Truths and Cycles

Universal Truths and Cycles, sounds like a case of two steps forward, one step back. Produced by the band with Todd Tobias in their humble home state of Ohio, Universal Truths and Cycles lacks the high sheen of Do the Collapse and Isolation Drills, but it also reveals a much sharper focus and precise musical attack than anything this band released prior to Mag Earwhig!, and if the production has a rougher surface, Pollard's ambition has certainly grown, with a tighter sound, more details, and even a well-placed string section on a few cuts. However, Universal Truths and Cycles shows the band has lost touch with the most important thing outside producers brought to their TVT albums -- someone to help pick, choose, and sequence Robert Pollard's over-abundance of songs. While Pollard has, as usual, come up with a few great tunes here (most notably "Cheyenne," "Everywhere With Helicopter," and "Eureka Signs"), this album lacks the thematic coherence and unified impact of Isolation Drills. Universal Truths and Cycles proves that Robert Pollard and Guided by Voices have come a long, long way since Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes, but it also suggests the old high school football star needs a good coach to play at the top of his game.(brainy, brainy, brainy)

Blonde Redhead - Blonde Redhead

Recalling the no wave movement of the late '70s, the self-titled debut of New York City's Blonde Redhead is a glorious piece of dense, art-damaged noise, with songs that move from drifting melodicism to raging aural assaults in the course of a few measures. Taking their cues most directly from Sonic Youth (Steve Shelley produced the album), Blonde Redhead revel in noise and create vast sonic landscapes out of which songs naturally emerge. The focus here tends to be on atmospherics, and yet there is never the feeling of utter chaos; instead, the album functions like a work of controlled mayhem, referencing a wide range of musical approaches. The opening track, "I Don't Want U," starts off like jazz-rock, building momentum until it erupts in a blast of indie rock noise, anchored throughout by a steadily rolling bassline. "Snippet"'s quite-loud-quiet dynamics are offset by the driving rock of "Mama Cita," and the album's closer, "Girl Boy," comes across like delirious dream pop. The entire album is drenched in dense, multilayered feedback, with a rhythm section that works to keep the guitars in control, underpinning the attack. Blonde Redhead have created a great record, especially for fans of experimental rock: difficult, noisy, and exhilarating. (misery is butterfly, butterfly is misery, everybody loves a nut)

The Cardigans - Super Extra Gravity

On 2006's Super Extra Gravity (released in Europe during the previous year), the Cardigans mix the best elements from their surprisingly edgy Gran Turismo with the dreamy, laid-back sounds found on Long Gone Before Daylight to create a compelling and well-balanced album. Highlights of this confident set from the Swedish alt-pop ensemble include the fierce yet catchy "I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to Be Nicer" and the wistful "Don't Blame Your Daughter," both of which shine the spotlight on the breathy, always endearing vocals of Nina Persson.( Love me love me)

The Rakes - Ten New Messages

2007 release of the band's second album which was produced by Jim Abiss (Arctic Monkey�s, Editors, Kasabian) and Brendan Lynch (Primal Scream). The tracks were recorded at Mayfair Studios, The Chapel and West Point in London during the autumn of 2006. Singer Alan Donohoe remarked that "the album was inspired by a combination of choral music, the television show "24", Bond theme tunes, World War 1 poets and the Sugababes". release produced by Jim Abiss (Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, Editors) and Brendan Lynch (Primal Scream).Little Superstitions

Soundgarden - Superunknown

"Black Hole Sun" was also nominated for Best Rock Song, and Superunknown was nominated for Best Rock Album. Using the time-honored Led Zeppelin/Aerosmith approach as a jump-off point--not to mention influential bands like Black Sabbath, MC5, The Stooges and Killing Joke--Soundgarden has formalized their own approach to raw power. Whether they get dazed and confused on the vamping "Limo Wreck," or cut loose with a wham- bam-thank-you-ma'am 4/4 cruncher like "Kickstand," Soundgarden can rock and roll with all the jet-propelled, no-nonsense crunch of all your favorite bands, from Zeppelin to the Ramones--and lead guitarist Kim Thayil's chops never outrace his melodic imagination. But Soundgarden is doing a lot more than simply recycling their best bits for another run up the charts. With Superunknown , they're stretching out and putting some distance between themselves and their imitators, incorporating different styles into their own mix, and creating a fresh modern sound. The curious mixture of psychedelic blues elements, Near-Eastern tonalities and Indian ragas which make "Head Down," "Black Hole Sun" and "Half" so distinctive indicates that Soundgarden didn't simply cop their ideas from a Hollywood soundtrack. With his guttural Steve Tyler-like growl, frontman/songwriter Chris Cornell can turn a spoon player into a street shaman on "Spoonman," give in to despair on "Let Me Drown," or rail against authoritarian types on "Head Down." With slamming production by Michael Beinhorn, Superunknown is the hard rock event of 1994.(Black Hole Sun, won't you Come?)

Richard Ashcroft - Keys To The World

The former frontman for the Verve delivers his third solo effort with 2006's Keys To The World. Richard Ashcroft seems to be moving further and further away from the epic drone-rock of his former band with each release. If "Why Not Nothing," the opening track on Keys, were any clue, Ashcroft's third album might have signaled a trip to Muscle Shoals and an album fully steeped in horn-driven soul of a 1960s mode. Elsewhere, however, Ashcroft's sonorous voice is complemented by swelling strings, synthesizer, piano, and layered guitars, and, despite the groovy opening track, the vibe of the album is consistently downtempo, soulful, and moody, with none of the crunching rock of early Verve releases in sight. That said, Verve fans may want to proceed with caution, but fans of Ashcroft's solo work should give Keys a listen.(Drugs don't work)

Morrissey - You Are The Quarry

Armed with a new label (Attack Records), a new producer (Jerry Finn of Blink 182 and Green Day fame), and, on the album cover, a Tommy gun, Morrissey immediately lines up his targets at the outset of You Are The Quarry. The sharp-witted Brit-pop icon takes shots at the United States and England, respectively, on the biting "America Is Not the World" and the bold "Irish Blood, English Heart." Unsurprisingly, the rest of the album doesn't shy away from frustration-fueled topics ("I Have Forgiven Jesus," "The World Is Full of Crashing Bores"), revealing that the former Smiths singer hasn't missed a step lyrically or vocally in the seven years since 1997's Maladjusted. Enhanced by the guitars of longtime collaborators Alain Whyte and Boz Boorer, the sound here is vintage Morrissey, though a few tracks bear the energetic influence of Quarry's punk-pop-inclined producer. Standout songs include the gorgeous, dreamy "I'm Not Sorry" and "First of the Gang to Die," a love letter to his unlikely Latino fan base in Los Angeles. While the record clearly marks a new phase for the beloved crooner, it also reminds listeners of why they grew to love him in the first place.(Let Me Kiss You ohoho)

Pet Shop Boys - Back to Mine

Keyboardist Chris Lowe compiles the first set, which begins with tracks much in the vein of the Boys' own synth-pop, including Savage's "Don't Cry Tonight" and Mr. Flagio's "Take a Chance." As the disc progresses, the songs get more eclectic, most notably with Queen's melodramatic "The Show Must Go On" and "I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love," a smooth closing ballad by one-time Pet Shop collaborator Dusty Springfield. Frontman Neil Tennant's set goes even further afield, blending together ambient, electronica, classical, and pop. Fairmont's dreamy techno tune "Traum" opens the disc, followed by "Pulse Pause Repeat," a hauntingly minimal track by Harold Budd, Ruben Garcia, and Daniel Lentz. Later, Springfield appears again, this time with the gentle, string-laden "Goin' Back," and Tennant wraps things up with Emil Gilels's spare, solo-piano rendition of Edvard Grieg's "Melodie Opus 47 No. 3." Although none of the songs on either disc should surprise Pet Shops Boys fans, the duo's Back to Mine outing does reinforce the pair's impeccable taste.(Pet Shop Boys)(2)

LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver

His sophomore effort, Sound Of Silver, picks up where the debut left of, expanding an already diverse set of influences and honing the songwriting craft into a thematically cohesive whole. As wryly noted on LCD Soundsystem's debut 2002 single, "Losing My Edge," in the underground music arms race, aging hipsters are losing ground against young upstarts who are (perhaps) unaware of their own influences. And if influences are the stuff with which post-millennial musicians are made, Murphy has trumped us all. Touching on reference points ranging from disco, krautrock, Bowie, house, and post-punk, to singer-songwriter types, Sound Of Silver is a veritable catalog of left-field cool. Leading off with the slow-boil, hypnotic opener, "Get Innocuous"--which sounds a bit like a reprise of "Losing My Edge" crossed with Kraftwerk's "The Robots"--the album moves from dance-floor stormers to plaintive piano numbers without batting an eye. On "North American Scum," Murphy lampoons the often mistaken idea that LCD Soundsystem is a U.K. act; his nasal vocal echoing Jonathan Richman as he declares "for those of you who think we're from England--we're not." As humorously self-effacing as he is, Sound Of Silver also shows Murphy's growth as a songwriter. On the album's closer "New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down," he laments the passing of the old New York, "To the cops who are bored once they've run out of crime/New York you're perfect don't change a thing." It's a fitting tribute that holds up against the countless other great songs written about the Big Apple.( the next should be sound of gold?)

Echo & The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain

Ocean Rain was modestly described as "the greatest album ever made" during it's promotional campaign. While it doesn't quite live up to this rash claim, it remains Echo and the Bunnymen's most ambitious and cohesive '80s release--a stepping stone that really should have led the band to world-wide fame. This is where the band left any traces of post-punk shambling behind and reached for the stars. The majestic mood of the album is heightened by the extravagant string arrangements that underpin Ian McCulloch's plaintive croon. On "The Killing Moon," one of the band's finest moments, the orchestra is deployed to spectacular effect. McCulloch gives the performance of his life, while the group's often overlooked guitarist Will Sergeant plays with imaginative dexterity. Things turn spookily psychedelic during "Thorn of Crowns," with its memorable refrain "c-c-c-cucumber, c-c-c-cabbage, c-c-c-cauliflower." It's hard to tell whether McCulloch is exorcising some inner demon or just trying to remember his shopping list. Somehow, in the context of the sparkling Ocean Rain, it doesn't really matter.(Fate Up against your will, through the thick and thin, he will wait until, you give yourself to him)

Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism

Death Cab for Cutie finally delivers on its promise with its fourth album, Transatlanticism. Although the band's earlier outings have excellent moments, this collection of indie power-pop plays to Death Cab's strengths, wrapping Ben Gibbard's plaintive vocals and emotive lyrics in consistently dynamic and engaging arrangements. The album opens with the majestic surge of "The New Year," and moves to the instantly catchy "Lightness." While guitars chime over solid bass-and-drums backing, Gibbard's melancholy tales unfold, drawing the listener in further with each song, largely due to the perfect production of guitarist Chris Walla. By the time the wide-screen title track runs it course and the album ends with the oddly optimistic "A Lack of Color," it becomes clear that this is one of those albums that you'll listen to over and over again.(i love this band, especially the song Lightness)

Patti Smith - Horses

With the exception of Bob Dylan, few rock n' rollers explored poetry within the rock format as thoroughly as Patti Smith. By the mid-70's, Smith had been a regular poetry-reader in New York City clubs for years, and with a deep admiration for The Rolling Stones, it was only natural to set these poems to music. With an exciting rock band to back her up (including renowned music critic Lenny Kaye on guitar), Smith built up a following on the strength of the band's thrilling and trance-inducing live shows. Produced by ex-Velvet Underground bassist John Cale, HORSES was considered 'punk rock' when it was first released, but there was much more to it. Smith had a gift for being able to paint vivid pictures with her prose, as evidenced by a pair of 10-minute long epics, "Birdland" and "Land". (Gloria, Gloria, Gloria!)

Keane - Under The Iron Sea

Having won both critical and commercial acclaim for their debut album, Under The Iron Sea, British band Keane pushes the hook-infested keyboard-rock on their sophomore effort in a darker, moodier direction. But Under The Iron Sea features an intense, romantic brand of melancholy, with the trio of Tom Chaplin, Richard Hughes, and Tim Rice-Oxley vamping their way through vaulting rock melodies and power ballads, all without the aid of a single guitar. There are plenty of deliciously chewy guitar-like sounds, though, that Keane achieves by feeding electric pianos and synthesizers through various effects pedals and studio gear. The album begins with the gloomy pop gem "Atlantic," in which Chaplin broods over layers of swelling synths and insistent drum work before the song resolves into a clearing of pure melody. The song showcases Chaplin's soaring vocals, which are at points as tortured as Thom Yorke's and at others smoothly reminiscent of Freddie Mercury. On "Is It Any Wonder?" the verses strut along anxiously until a barely-in-control keyboard riff winds the song up into its gleeful chorus. Filled with moving, melodic rock, Keane's solid second effort points to further sonic expansions to come.( Kenny, i hope you like Is It Any Wonder)

Keane - Hopes And Fear

Often compared to countrymen Coldplay and Radiohead, the UK-based trio Keane plays a similarly majestic, sweeping blend of pop-informed rock music. Fueling the comparisons is the fact that lead vocalist Tom Chaplin makes heavy use of the same kind of Jeff Buckley-esque falsetto and emotion-filled wails favored by Chris Martin and Thom Yorke. On Hopes And Fear's epic tracks such as "She Has No Time," however, Keane takes the more dramatic elements of the aforementioned bands' sounds and magnifies them, creating piano- and synthesizer-driven cinematic soundscapes dripping with quiet heartache and existential angst. In addition, Keane incorporates minimalist trip-hop beats, which, in combination with Chaplin's strong pop melodies, evoke a male-led Portishead jamming with the Raspberries. One of the most sonically atmospheric groups of the Britpop scene, Keane ignores the notion of traditional guitar-based rock music in favor of something altogether quieter, yet equally as intense.(Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?)

David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World

By 1970 David Bowie was already hinting at his talent as a master pop manipulator. "Space Oddity," released in 1969, showed a performer with a keen sense of cultural detail (we had just put a man on the moon), but The Man Who Sold The World signaled Bowie's full entry into the rock domain. The album's eclectic pop stylings proved Bowie to be not only a watchful observer, but also a hip modifier of pop music trends. The Man Who Sold The World is a gritty tour through late '60s rockisms. The folky title track is wary and sensitive, while the bombastic "The Supermen" mixes crushing drums and Allman Brothers-esque guitar chimes. "All The Madmen" is Bowie at his vulnerable, evocative best, and "Black Country Rock" stomps along with the best of the White Boy Blues contingent. While it did not yet approach the space-age sci-fi atmosphere of Bowie's future releases, The Man Who Sold The World reaffirmed the themes introduced with "Space Oddity" and served as the launching pad for one of rock's most enigmatic and durable performers.
( oh baby baby it's a wild world!)

Kate Bush - The Whole Story

The Whole Story is a sampler of the early tracks that show the promise of Kate Bush, who never contented herself as an ordinary singer/songwriter. The always-experimental Bush had a knack for populating her songs with peculiar characters. There's Catherine of "Wuthering Heights"; there's Peter Reich of "Cloudbusting" (an extraordinary track in every way); there's the mother in the lilting "Army Dreamers"; and there's also the womb-confined baby who documents a nuclear blast in the moving "Breathing." Bush also looks to eclectic sources for inspiration. "The Dreaming" was inspired by Rolf Harris's "Sun Arise" and the Aboriginal song "Aeroplanes, Aeroplanes." "Hounds of Love" took its inspiration from the film "Night of the Demon." This compilation covers the first decade of Kate Bush's career (until 1986) and is a great place for discovering her myriad talents. Many have followed in her footsteps, but few have matched her. (Running Up That Hill)

10.000 Maniacs - Our Time In Eden

On their fifth album, 10,000 Maniacs adopt a lush, full sound that more thoughtfully integrates Natalie Merchant's vocals with the rest of the band. The balance also allows her the option to rise above the mix to far greater effect. Throughout the album, keyboardist Dennis Drew shines, especially on "Gold Rush Brides" and on the title track, where his playing adds tremendous depth to Merchant's tales of loss and loneliness. On both "Few & Far Between" and "Candy Everybody Wants," James Brown's horn section brings a previously absent Motown flavor to the Maniacs' folk-rock sound. The rhythm section provides an extremely sturdy backbone for Robert Buck's subtle guitar playing and understated violins on "Stockton Gala Days," EDEN's standout track. "Jezebel" concludes with a powerful, soaring string section after a long introduction that pairs Drew's keyboards with Merchant's vocals. "The sound you're hearing, the sound you're fearing is the hate that parades up and down our streets," announces Merchant over the distorted guitars of "Tolerance"'s chorus, offsetting the much sweeter-sounding verses. The album ends on the chilling notes of "I'm Not the Man," a wrongfully accused man's first-person narrative set to plaintive viola. (10k maniacos)

Grinderman - Grinderman

Beginning sometime in the mid-to-late 1990s, Nick Cave's output became increasingly nuanced, introspective, and even tender. While he was still capable of a snarling rocker now and again, he'd certainly mellowed by the turn of the new millennium. Then came 2007 and the arrival of the mighty Grinderman, a Cave-fronted band featuring longtime colleagues Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey, and Jim Sclavunos. The project marks the first time Cave has ever been featured on guitar, and the first time since nearly the Birthday Party that he's approached his music with such libidinal urgency and swaggering gothic machismo. The music screeches, lurches, and clangs with a loose abandon that reimagines Cave's earlier incarnations in a more self-effacing guise. While Cave's lyrics are as considered and darkly literary as ever, there's humor here ("No Pussy Blues," "Depth Charge"), and the general improvisatory, spontaneous nature of the project is obviously being enjoyed by all. Grinderman is delicious proof that Nick the Stripper isn't gone after all. Parents, lock up the kiddies, it's show time. (The Mercy Seat)

Gogol Bordello - Gypsy Punks Underdog World Strike

You can hear it on "60 Revolutions," and even more magnificently on the stomping "ThinkLocally Fuck Globally," whose rhythms subtly quicken into a furious flamingo fire, before sweeping into a tribal tattoo, finally flinging itself out in a gypsy swirl. "Not a Crime" careens into Arabesque, "Immigrant Punk" skanks straight into reggae, while "Underdog World Strike" heads underground, interweaving hip-hop, punk, and reggae to gypsy's own roots. Frontman/lyricist Eugene Hütz explains how his own history drives him on the autobiographical "Undestructable," accompanied by a cheery punky reggae backing that defies one not to sing along. And it's not the only one for much of the set is spectacularly anthemic, from the fist-in-the-air fervor of the Oi!-esque "Not a Crime," the fashion-fling command chorus of "Start Wearing Purple," to the life-affirming "Undestructable." One may even start phonetically parroting the lyrics of "Santa Marinella." That latter song is not sung in English, and there's foreign lyrics sprinkled about the set, but the emotional meaning is always clear. A truly universal album that encompasses America's eternal immigrant story, urban living, and a love of life and music that translates into every language on earth. It's the fire in not just the gypsy soul, but the soul of everyone, and Bordello ignite it into a blaze as bright as life itself. (Start wearing purple wearing purple NA na na na!)

The Bravery - The Bravery

There's a long history of American bands hitting it big in the UK before they become known at home, so the Brooklyn-bred, NME-feted Bravery is part of a hallowed tradition. While the Bravery is solidly in the mold of mid-2000s groups worshipping at the altar of the 1980s, they manage a canny syncretism on their self-titled debut album. While the Rapture, Out Hud, Interpol, and other NYC brethren may have picked up on specific aspects of the Cure, New Order, et al, the Bravery manages to craft an all-inclusive sound that incorporates the most infectious aspects of the aforementioned influences and more. Bleeping Depeche Mode synths, twanging New Order basslines, Robert Smith-inflected vocals, Duran Duran-tinged dance-rock beats, and effects-laden Echo & the Bunnymen-via-Smiths guitar riffs all vie for space here. The Bravery boys are clearly frothing with enthusiasm for the glorious era they're too young to really remember, and their passion for the sound of those halcyon days of eyeliner and synthesizers is bursting from the seams of this disc. (Bravery you've got a cool art work)

Starsailor - Love Is Here

Despite their enormous success in their native England and their inroads into the US market, Starsailor defies expectations at every turn. While the group takes its name from one of Tim Buckley's most experimental albums, there's nothing remotely Buckley-like or experimental about their sound. And though the quartet is often lumped in with Britpoppers, they share neither the laddish anthems and Beatles obsessions of Oasis nor the friendly pop sensibilities of Travis and Coldplay. Instead, Starsailor offers a moody brand of folk-rock that brings late-period Cat Stevens to mind more than any of the band's contemporaries. With a chiming, organic mix of electric and acoustic guitars and '70s-sounding keyboards, Love Is Here takes the listener through an often angst-ridden series of emotional extremes while never becoming too sonically taxing.( Why does it always rain on me?)

REM - The Best Of 1988-2003

R.E.M. began their Warner contract in 1988 as the biggest band to emerge from the college-radio-fueled American underground. Fifteen years later, they released In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003, the first overview of their long stint at Warner Records. During that decade and a half, R.E.M. had a turbulent journey. At the outset, their legend and influence as one of the key -- if not the key -- bands of the American underground was firmly in place, but their success kept growing, culminating in a breakthrough to international stardom in 1991 thanks to "Losing My Religion" and Out of Time. For a few years there, they were one of the biggest bands in the world, standing as role models and godfathers for the alt-rock explosion of the '90s; even as grunge ruled the U.S. and U.K., R.E.M. were having their biggest hits with the brooding Automatic for the People (1992) and the guitar-heavy return-to-rock Monster (1994). Then, midway through the decade, the road got a little bumpy. The Monster tour was plagued with problems, the most noteworthy being drummer Bill Berry's on-stage aneurysm in 1995. He left the band the next year, not long after the band parted ways with Jefferson Holt, their longtime manager who was immortalized in their 1984 song "Little America."(Nightswimming)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones

the Yeah Yeah Yeah's 2006 sophomore full-length, was one of the most anticipated releases of the year. The band's fiery, unhinged 2003 major-label debut, Fever To Tell, yanked the band out of NYC clubs and onto the world stage, and while most of the musical cognoscente anticipated a sonic shake-up of some sort for the sequel, in exactly what direction the YYYs would head was a source of much speculation. Would they follow Liars into the murky depths of willfully alienating avant noise, or would they Liz-Phair themselves right into glossy commercial irrelevance? In fact, it's neither of the above. As tracks like "Gold Lion," "Honeybear," and "Cheated Hearts" show, the band clearly isn't out to ruffle any feathers, but they're also not forsaking the infectious, art-tinged punk that got them where they are. Guitarist Nick Zinner and drummer Brian Chase are spot-on as usual, and Karen O is in lovely, if somewhat restrained, voice throughout. The production is bright and full, and enhances the glammy, anthemic underpinnings of the band's sound. And although it's not going to inspire any future prom themes a la "Maps," Show Your Bones has strengthened the YYYs claim to being that rarest of animals--a legitimate Top 40 rock band with a genuine artistic sensibility.(Phenomena)