Rush-released in secrecy, the story goes that The Raconteurs wanted their album to appear in shops without any fanfare, as if it had always been there. It didn't work that way, but Consolers of the Lonely can certainly lay claim to being an album that is at once familiar and accessible--indeed, it won't be long before it'll seem like an indispensable part of your collection. The two ...
Manufacturer: Third Man/XL Recordings
If, like most of the pop-listening public, you heard Timbaland's chart-topping remix of OneRepublic's single "Apologize" before you heard the original, you may be mildly confused about what kind of music the band makes. Timabaland's signature electronic swizzles and "eh-eh-eh"s leave the impression that OneRepublic is a style-heavy outfit a la Maroon 5, but frontman Ryan Tedder's plaintive words ...
Manufacturer: Universal
Carole King was famous as a writer of girl group hits in the 1960s. In 1971, she became more famous. That's the year Tapestry became one of the biggest selling LPs of all time. It's easy to hear why--the music is loose, earthy, L.A. session-pop. King is casual, intimate, and tough; she covers all the emotional ground of the post-liberated woman with ease. She brings adult nuance to "Will ...
Manufacturer: Legacy
How do you follow a debut record that achieved out-of-the-blue grandeur on its way to selling a quarter of a million copies? For Maine's Ray LaMontagne, it's all about shaking up the formula, evading repetition and delivering the unexpected. Till the Sun Turns Black finds the introspective singer/songwriter complementing his folk-country ways with traces of strings and horns and spooky ...
Manufacturer: 14th Floor
Before Sgt. Pepper's, no one seriously thought of rock music as actual art. That all changed in 1967, though, when John, Paul, George and Ringo (with "A Little Help" from their friend, producer George Martin) created an undeniable work of art which remains, after 3-plus decades, one of the most influential albums of all time. From Lennon's evocative word/sound pictures (the trippy "Lucy in ...
Manufacturer: Parlophone
Seven albums in, and Mercury Rev are again on the move. Snowflake Midnight finds New York's veteran sonic explorers downing the tools that resulted in 2005's disappointing The Secret Migration and discovering a whole new, largely electronic palette: computers and synthesisers, sequencers and vocoders. Which isn't to say the Rev have entirely abandoned their familiar brand of heady, ...
Manufacturer: V2 Coop
Manufacturer: Big Machine
Young James Morrison has "success story" written all over him. Drawing influence from soul greats like Cat Stevens, Otis Redding, and Van Morrison, debut album Undiscovered reveals this Rugby-born vocalist has the sort of world-weary voice and songwriting chops to take the Later…With Jools Holland path to mainstream success that's formerly made stars of Damien Rice, James Blunt, ...
The royalties must have seemed tempting at the time--hell, they still must--but it's got to feel galling to have written and recorded one of the genuinely great modern British soul songs, only to have it stolen from you and paraded in new bling from every speaker and screen. Anyone still under the impression that Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse cooked up the all-conquering "Valerie" themselves would ...
Manufacturer: SonyBMG
If The Feeling's slick high-crime pilfering of 70's AOR is missing anything in particular--and they do run a tight operation--then it's a bit of throttle, a hint of recklessness, if that's not too much of a contradiction in terms. Enter London-based trio The Hoosiers, who pogo like un-caged kids on Saturday morning TV hooked up to McFlurry drips, dancing to Twelve Stops and Home on ...
Manufacturer: RCA
