Fountains Of Wayne - Utopia Parkway

Fountains of Wayne turn self-conscious alt-rock geekdom into an unassailable art form on their second album Utopia Parkway. They combine classic power-pop song structure with a knack for the killer hook and an endless supply of self-referential lyrics detailing the lives of East Coast hipsters growing up in the postmodern age. Perfect pop harmonies, ringing guitars and the occasional synth sweep (for retro new wave credibility) match lyrics about "playing in a cover band" and taking "the N train down to Coney Island."

It quickly becomes plain that the outsider edge of the songs comes from the fact that the songs' characters are kids from the 'burbs who enter the city in search of deliverance, or at least relief from boredom. This scenario's apex is reached on "Laser Show," about driving into New York City's Hayden Planetarium to see Pink Floyd and Metallica laser shows. God bless those who write about what they know.

Ian Brown - The World Is Yours

Limited edition two CD pressing of the 2007 album from Ian Brown features a bonus disc that contains orchestral versions of eight of the ablum's tracks. The World Is Yours is the fifth studio album from former Stone Roses vocalist Ian Brown and sees the legendary Mancunian at the top of his game. A lush, orchestral workout that recalls Marvin Gaye�s classic What�s Going On, The World Is Yours is arguably Brown�s best. Lyrically tough and mature, there is a wisdom dripping out of the songs that will cement Brown�s iconic status. TWIY features collaborations with Sinead O�Connor, Sex Pistols Paul Cook and Steve Jones, Happy Mondays� Paul Ryder, and The Smiths� Andy Rourke. 20 tracks including the first single 'Illegal Attacks'. Polydor. 2007.

Ben Kweller - Sha Sha

Sha Sha might be the first solo album from twenty-year-old Texas-born songsmith Ben Kweller, but it’s far from his debut musical statement. As the front man of precocious grunge tykes Radish, Kweller was one of rock music’s youngest ever child stars--and what’s more, he had a few cracking tunes in him that put his kiddie peers in the likes of Silverchair to shame. After Radish disintegrated, Kweller spent the late 90s hanging out with artists like Juliana Hatfield and Evan Dando, and began work on a new set of songs that owed nothing to the ugly end of the grunge explosion and everything to the sun-kissed pop melodies and geeky emotional confessionals of mid-period Pavement, Weezer and The Lemonheads.

Kweller has no need to hang off the coattails of any of his famous friends, though--his grasp of guitar pop is totally instinctive, and sweetly accessible. Check the likes of "How It Should Be (Sha Sha)", featuring a cooing Kimya Dawson of NYC anti-folksters Moldy Peaches, or the splendidly naive emo crunch of "Commerce, TX", both of which demonstrate an impressive grasp of quiet-loud dynamics and the occasional tantrum-like flurry of raw emotion that would put the excellent Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes to shame. This is highly recommended.

Mando Diao - Never Seen The Light Of Day

Never Seen The Light Of Day is the fourth studio album by Swedish band Mando Diao. Produced By Björn Olsson and engineerd by Patrik Heikinpieti. It was recorded in 2007 while the band were on an exhaustive tour of the world. The album was preceded with a single, If I Don't Live Today, I Might Be Here Tomorrow, all around the world on September 24th, 2007. The songs are said to be calmer and more sensitive than the band's usual style. A limited edition of the album will be released (on the same day as the regular edition) in a special digipak, but with no bonus tracks announced of yet. No bonus tracks have been announced for the Japanese release either.

The cover for the album (and the accompanying single) bears a strong resemblance to the covers used by Morrissey and The Smiths for many of their releases.

Before the album was released, a solo tour by Björn Dixgård was announced, leaving the future of the band in question. Whether the band will go on hiatus, break up, or neither has yet to be announced.

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Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine

Bookended by lush, vaudeville-like tunes created with Apple's longtime collaborator Jon Brion, Extraordinary Machine features production work by Mike Elizondo (50 Cent, Eminem) on all other tracks. Those expecting any hip-hop flourishes will be left empty-handed; this disc presents Apple working in her signature style, with her soulful, slightly mischievous voice carrying these confident, primarily piano-driven songs. The performer's penchant for confessional, witty lyrics is still apparent, but her approach is notably more subtle and mature here. While many tracks are gilded with adventurous arrangements that incorporate an arsenal of organs (Farfisa, Optigan, etc.), marimba, Moog bass, and other unusual instrumentation, Apple also shines when left to her own devices, as on the spare, melancholy ballad "Parting Gift." Listeners worried that the lengthy hiatus might have diluted Apple's potent, inventive aesthetic can sleep well; Extraordinary Machine more than lives up to the superlative in its title.

Kings Of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak

Kings of Leon's blend of bluesy raunch, countrified inflections, streamlined Strokes-like guitar jams, sleepy psychedelia, and post-punk stylings is a fresh, yet somehow familiar, cocktail. Aha Shake Heartbreak, the band's sophomore effort, follows closely on the heels of the honky-tonk rock of their debut, but it pushes the whole even further into unexpected territory. While "Pistol of Fire" cooks like John Lee Hooker with extra backbeat and a side of beans, other tracks on HEARTBREAK mix classic-rock boogie ("Four Kicks"), swagger and desperate yowls ("The Bucket"), and hillbilly yodels ("Day Old Blues") into an engaging indie aesthetic.

As if Kings of Leon's keen songwriting, stylistic amalgam, and gutsy attack weren't enough, there is the utterly unique singing of Caleb Followill, who usually sounds as though he is heavily intoxicated or has just woken up from a nap. Followill's lazy, idiosyncratic phrasing and intonation admirably take Kings of Leon out of the realm of potentially similar bands, with singers who are content to yelp and imitate. Aha Shake Heartbreak rocks, rolls over, dreams, and gets up with a pain in its heart--a process that merits numerous listens.

Siouxsie - Into A Swan

2007 release of the first solo single from the former frontwoman of Siouxsie & The Banshees as well as the splinter band The Creatures. This is the first output by the legendary punk/new wave singer after the dissolution of both bands as well as her marriage to guitarist husband Budgie and comes from her debut solo album, "Mantaray".

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The Clash - The Singles

Amidst all the punk history and revolutionary rhetoric, it's easy to forget that the Clash was one hell of a singles band, capable of releasing one propulsively catchy song after another. This collection, which moves chronologically from the band's early days at the heart of the UK punk movement to the funk experimentation of its latter career, serves as both stunning career resume and perfect introduction for the neophyte. The raging, righteous anger and blazing guitars of punk anthems "White Riot" and "Complete Control" rub shoulders with the reggae rhythms of "White Man in Hammersmith Palais."

Rap and funk rear their heads (in a distinctly British way) on "The Magnificent Seven" and "Radio Clash." Manic, post-punk rockabilly accompanies Joe Strummer's state-of-the-union address on "Know Your Rights," and the Mick Jones-sung "Should I Stay or Should I Go" makes a case for itself as a garage-rock classic on the order of "Louie Louie." For all the political smarts the group consistently displayed in its lyrics, The Singles shows that the band's music was never less than enthralling. No matter how stern the Marxist theories to which the band members subscribed in their early days, they could never resist an old-fashioned rock & roll hook.

Liz Phair - Somebody's Miracle

After shocking longtime fans with her slickly produced, radio-ready self-titled album, singer/songwriter Liz Phair took a tiny step back towards her indie-rock roots on 2005's Somebody's Miracle, bringing a few new younger fans along with her. Phair sounds a bit more like her 1990s persona here, with her vocals charmingly off-key at times. However, anyone expecting a grand return to EXILE IN GUYVILLE will be sorely disappointed; although Miracle has less of a blindingly bright pop sheen than its immediate predecessor, Phair stays the mainstream course by crafting another set of infectiously catchy, teen-friendly anthems. In fact, almost every tune on Miracle--from the soaring title track to the spare, melancholy "Table for One"--expertly taps into feelings of adolescent yearning and frustration. While it's unlikely that Somebody's Miracle will win back very many older fans, Phair seems perfectly happy with her new audience, and that shows on every track of this headstrong, confident record.

Ween - La Cucaracha

For the past 20 years, Ween has established itself as a major artistic force, combining off-the-wall musical antics with brilliantly creative songwriting. La Cucaracha, Ween's new studio record, is an eclectic, dark, humorous, and bizarre assortment of songs. In other words, it's a typical Ween record. These thirteen tracks, though strongly diverse, share a common theme: relationships. It's a theme that can be at once joyful, morbid, humorous, and often frightening. From the tenderly introspective "Lullaby" to the disturbingly offensive "My Own Bare Hands," Ween pulls no punches in its latest endeavor, which acheives its power through sharp wit, clever songwriting, and brutal honesty.

Radiohead - In Rainbows

Radiohead.com is open for business with pre-orders having begun today for their 7th studio album In Rainbows, which will be available from October 10 as a DRM-free MP3 download. Also available to pre-order from now is the Discbox, a special edition box set, details of which are below.

Radiohead’s fan service, WASTE, is currently taking advance orders for two formats: the album MP3 and the Discbox, which includes double vinyl and CD versions of the record and a second, enhanced CD with additional new songs, artwork, and photographs of the band, all exclusive to the box. Anyone purchasing this deluxe edition will automatically receive the bundled MP3 album on
October 10.

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The Strokes - Is This It

With all the media hype that dogged the Strokes before the release of their debut album, it's rather apt that they chose the title Is This It. On the strength of just five songs released on two singles, the Strokes were being hailed as everything from the saviors of rock & roll to the Savior himself. Surely, few bands could live up to the impossibly high standards set for this young five-piece, but the band needn't have worried: Is This It is one of the most exciting and energetic debut albums to spring from New York's long-dormant club scene. In fact, the Strokes are a New York City band through and through; like the Velvet Underground, these are a bunch of uptown artsy types elegantly slumming downtown to the tried and tested themes of sex, drugs, and rock & roll. Their singer-songwriter, the fantastically named Julian Casablancas, delivers his lyrics with a weary nonchalance that belies his age on songs like the title track, "Soma," "Hard to Explain," and the altogether wonderful "Barely Legal." And the band recalls the likes of Television and the Stooges on "Last Nite" and "The Modern Age." Let's hope this sexy, stylish, and undeniably cool band is the future of rock & roll.

Pulp - We Love Life

We Love Life, Pulp's final studio outing before dissolving in the early 2000s, is an oft-overlooked album, but it is easily one of the Britpop band's finest. While its predecessor, This Is Hardcore, was dark, slick, and urban, Life is bright, organic, and thoroughly rustic, with the theme of nature providing a thread throughout much of the record.

Although the disc doesn't have the standout singles of past Pulp albums, Life is remarkably consistent, due both to frontman Jarvis Cocker's newfound maturity as a songwriter and to the production work of his idol Scott Walker. While Walker doesn't apply the bombast of his revered late-1960s records, he does give Pulp's compositions a wonderfully widescreen scope that enhances every track, from the potent opener, "Weeds," to the chilling narrative "Wickerman," and the gloriously crescendoing "Sunrise." More than previous Pulp offerings, Life is a guitar-driven affair, with additional six-stringer Richard Hawley (an excellent solo artist in his own right) filling out the sound. Though it may not eclipse Different Class in the minds of most fans, We Love Life is an incredibly accomplished album that shows Pulp bowing out with vitality and grace.

The Breeders - Last Splash

Surf's up, but--oooh--what's that dark stuff in the water? Imagine if you can, the spectral spawn of the Ventures, the Ramones and the Beach Boys suddenly washing up with the high tide, and you get some idea of what to expect from The Breeders, a rogue girl group with a fresh point of view. Hard edged yet supremely lyrical, The Breeders spend much of Last Splash groping their way through the contradictions of good times in the sun and their ambivalence about the loss of innocence.

Comprised of former members of the Throwing Muses and the Pixies, the Breeders' riot grrrl brand of surf punk owes little to the happy naivete of the Ronettes or the Bangles. On a raveup like "Cannonball," fired by a dancing, jittery bass line and moody, careening power chords, the Breeders evoke girl group harmonies to suggest romantic surrender and its dark side. Elsewhere songs like "Roi" and "Do You Love Me Now?" (the later song a remix from their last EP) bemoan the loss of romantic expectations, even as the heart quickens with hope on "Divine Hammer." Thanks to LAST SPLASH, you may never hear surf music the same way again.

David Gahan - Hourglass

Hourglass is the second solo album by David Gahan of Depeche Mode, to be released on October 22, 2007 in Europe, and October 23, 2007 in the US. It was announced on June 26, 2007 on Dave Gahan's website. It will be the follow up to his 2003 solo album Paper Monsters and will be co-produced (and assisted by) Andrew Phillpott and Christian Eigner, who co-wrote all the songs with Gahan. (They also co-wrote his three Depeche Mode songs on Playing the Angel.) Phillpott will play Guitar and Eigner will play drums. Tony Hoffer will mix the album. The album is said to be more electronic than Paper Monsters.

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Men at Work - Cargo

Recorded at A.A.V., Melbourne, Australia and Paradise Studios, Sydney, Australia. Includes liner notes by David Wild.

Men At Work's followup to the hugely successful Business As Usual was an album with a lot riding on it, but the Aussies come through admirably, upping the songcraft and the production values simultaneously. There's less of a reggae undertone on Cargo, and the Aussie-centric "Down Under," which provided so much novelty appeal on the debut, has no equivalent here.

Instead, there's a more sophisticated compositional bent that sacrifices nothing in sheer catchiness. The album's centerpiece, "Overkill," is representative of the blend of introspective self-doubt and arresting melodic hooks that makes Cargo an unqualified success. If Business As Usual tickled your pop fancy, you'll find Cargo digs a little deeper.