After the embattled recording of the Pogues’ Peace and Love, with Shane MacGowan clearly at odds with his bandmates and their musical direction while contributing little in the way of new songs, Hell’s Ditch seemed at once like a step forward and a step back for the group. While Peace and Love suggested the Pogues had grown weary of the hot-rodded Celtic sounds that had been their trademark, Hell’s Ditch found the band back in more familiar territory and sounding much refreshed; if there wasn’t anything as manic as the high points of Rum Sodomy & the Lash or If I Should Fall from Grace with God, these sessions reveal the Pogues had found their feet and were sounding like a band again, and while a few of MacGowan’s songs lead them through his fascination with Asian and Latin accents, the musicians were able to fuse them with their own trademark style rather than being subsumed by them; the Pogues rarely sounded as graceful or a comfortable as they do on Hell’s Ditch. However, MacGowan’s songwriting still hadn’t regained the fire and acidity that made the group’s first three albums so powerful, and Terry Woods and Jem Finer don’t quite pick up the slack. More importantly, while Joe Strummer’s production served the band well, he was seemingly too fond of MacGowan to tell him when his vocals were all but unintelligible, and many of the songs are all but sunk by Shane’s sloppy, mush-mouthed, and booze-addled delivery, which is difficult to unravel even by his standards. While there are many pearly moments on Hell’s Ditch that suggest the work of a happier and more unified band than on their previous albums, MacGowan’s poorly focused performances are a handicap the Pogues couldn’t overcome, and it seems appropriate this was the band’s last studio album with their primary songwriter and frontman.

Tracklisting
1. Sunnyside of the Street
2. Sayonara
3. Ghost of a Smile
4. Hell’s Ditch
5. Lorca’s Novena
6. Summer in Siam
7. Rain Street
8. Rainbow Man
9. Wake of the Medusa
10. House of the Gods
11. 5 Green Queens & Jean
12. Maidrin Rua
13. Six to Go

The “it” boy of early-’00s roots-rock, former Whiskeytown leader Ryan Adams has responded to the mountain of hype surrounding him with an arrogance worthy of his idol, mid-’60s Bob Dylan. Accordingly he follows his stripped-down solo debut with a two-disc, fully produced set that finds him grasping for the mantle of alt-country messiah. GOLD picks up where Whiskeytown’s swan song PNEUMONIA left off; a step removed from the country-rock hard line but still full of rootsy, organic, Band-like warmth.

The up-tempo opening tune “New York, New York” recalls vintage Steve Forbert, while “Answering Bell” sounds like David Gray fronting the aforementioned Band on a rewritten “The Weight.” The epic, acoustic guitar-based ballad “Nobody’s Girl” is one of the more overtly Dylanesque pieces here, and while trying to overshadow Zimmy is a fool’s errand no matter how big your britches, one has to admire Adams for the considerable chutzpah necessary to even take up the task. Whether you believe he’s the Gram Parsons of the 21st century or not, its that undeniable spirit and ambition that lay at the heart of GOLD’s appeal.

Tracklisting
1. New York New York
2. Firecracker
3. Answering Bell
4. La Cienega Just Smiled
5. The Rescue Blues
6. Somehow, Someday
7. When The Stars Go Blue
8. Nobody Girl
9. Sylvia Plath
10. Enemy Fire
11. Gonna Make You Love Me
12. Wild Flowers
13. Harder Now That It’s Over
14. Touch, Feel & Lose
15. Tina Toledo’s Street Walkin’ Blues
16. Goodnight, Hollywood Blvd.

Professional Reviews
Entertainment Weekly (9/28/01, pp.71-2) – “…This sprawling tour through American music…is like a dinner full of comfort food…” – Rating: B+

Q (1/03, p.54) – Included in Q Magazine’s “100 Greatest Albums Ever”

Q (10/01, p.117) – 4 stars out of 5 – “…Adam’s freewheeling nature remains irresistible. He’s a magpie, flitting between people, places and influences with equal enthusiasm…”

CMJ (9/17/01, p.4) – “…Sparkles with its creator’s shaky roots on the West Coast…with a slow, syrupy pace…”

No Depression (9-10/01, pp.129-30) – “…These songs are filled with hot emotion….There are more hooks here than at a pirate’s convention, and Adams’ gift for melody is so strong it’s almost scary…”

Mojo (Publisher) (1/02, p.69) – Ranked #9 in Mojo’s “Best [40] Albums of 2001″.

Mojo (Publisher) (10/01, p.114) – “…A beautiful trip…”

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Arriving on a wave of well-earned hype rooted in tight chops and a confident swagger, the Strokes offer a rock & roll antidote to the plague of boy bands, teen divas, and petulant rap-rock outfits. Despite this quintet’s prep-school background, their sound comes from the same primordial ooze that spawned Big Apple legends like the New York Dolls and the Velvet Underground.

Clocking in at 36 minutes, IS THIS IT packs its perfect length with stellar songs that draw inspiration from all over the map. Among the many highlights are “Last Nite” with its insistent Motown backbeat and choppy Johnny Thunders-like guitar solo, “Barely Legal,” sounding like 1980s-era Cure fronted by a saucy Iggy Pop, and the jangly “Someday” with its hairshirt of vulnerability from a bad break-up. While frontman Julian Casablancas (son of Elite Models founder John) drawls like Lou Reed through a busted intercom, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. do Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd proud as their sinewy chords intertwine to great effect on the angular “The Modern Age” and equally neurotic “Alone, Together.” Thanks to the Strokes, rumors of rock & roll’s demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated.

Tracklisting
1. Is This It
2. The Modern Age
3. Soma
4. Barely Legal
5. Someday
6. Alone, Together
7. Last Nite
8. Hard To Explain
9. New York City Cops
10. Trying Your Luck
11. Take It Or Leave It

Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (4/11/02, p.108) – Ranked #49 in Rolling Stone’s “50 Coolest Records”.

Rolling Stone (1/03/02, p.119) – Ranked #8 in Rolling Stone’s “Top 10 2001″.

Rolling Stone (10/11/01, pp.89-90) – 4 stars out of 5 – “…Pure New York rock & roll: all gray-pavement aggression wrapped in black-leather cool….The music leaves no doubts – more joyful and intense than anything else…heard this year.”

Rolling Stone (4/11/02, p.108) – Ranked #49 in Rolling Stone’s “50 Coolest Records”.

Rolling Stone (1/03/02, p.119) – Ranked #8 in Rolling Stone’s “Top 10 2001″.

Rolling Stone (10/11/01, pp.89-90) – 4 stars out of 5 – “…Pure New York rock & roll: all gray-pavement aggression wrapped in black-leather cool….The music leaves no doubts – more joyful and intense than anything else…heard this year.”

Spin (1/02, p.77) – Ranked #18 in Spin’s “Albums of the Year 2001″ – “…Super-catchy songs that make you wanna pogo…the male Elastica!”

Spin (1/02, p.77) – Ranked #18 in Spin’s “Albums of the Year 2001″ – “…Super-catchy songs that make you wanna pogo…the male Elastica!”

Entertainment Weekly (12/28/01, p.136) – Ranked #1 “Album of the Year”.

Entertainment Weekly (9/28/01, pp.71-2) – “…A blur of sooty grit and grind…” – Rating: A-

Entertainment Weekly (12/28/01, p.136) – Ranked #1 “Album of the Year”.

Entertainment Weekly (9/28/01, pp.71-2) – “…A blur of sooty grit and grind…” – Rating: A-

Q (9/01, p.120) – 5 stars out of 5 – “…A breathless, goggle-eyed, assuredly brilliant album…it works wonders.”

Q (9/01, p.120) – 5 stars out of 5 – “…A breathless, goggle-eyed, assuredly brilliant album…it works wonders.”

Alternative Press (2/02, p.65) – Ranked #25 in AP’s “25 Best Albums of 2001″.

Alternative Press (2/02, p.65) – Ranked #25 in AP’s “25 Best Albums of 2001″.

Magnet (12-1/02, p.57) – Included in Magnet’s “20 Best Albums of 2001″.

Magnet (12-1/02, p.57) – Included in Magnet’s “20 Best Albums of 2001″.

CMJ (10/15/01, p.6) – “…One big rock’n'roll orgy…”

CMJ (10/15/01, p.6) – “…One big rock’n'roll orgy…”

Mojo (Publisher) (p.63) – Ranked #33 in Mojo’s “100 Modern Classics” — “Rattled together hastily, The Strokes’ debut captured the Bowery-basement cool of ‘their moment’.”

Mojo (Publisher) (1/02, p.69) – Ranked #3 in Mojo’s “Best [40] Albums of 2001″.

Mojo (Publisher) (9/01, p.97) – “…A heartily uplifting brew of scruffy street style, swear words and stammering pop tunes which sweat musical history…and sound infuriatingly easy to make…”

Mojo (Publisher) (1/02, p.69) – Ranked #3 in Mojo’s “Best [40] Albums of 2001″.

Mojo (Publisher) (9/01, p.97) – “…A heartily uplifting brew of scruffy street style, swear words and stammering pop tunes which sweat musical history…and sound infuriatingly easy to make…”

NME (Magazine) (12/29/01, p.59) – Ranked #1 in NME’s 50 “Albums Of the Year 2001″.

NME (Magazine) (8/25/01, p.49) – 10 out of 10 – “…Concise and elegant rock music by 5 young men….Indispensable….There’s nothing unnecessary here…”

NME (Magazine) (12/29/01, p.59) – Ranked #1 in NME’s 50 “Albums Of the Year 2001″.

NME (Magazine) (8/25/01, p.49) – 10 out of 10 – “…Concise and elegant rock music by 5 young men….Indispensable….There’s nothing unnecessary here…”

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The Strokes – Room On Fire

One of the 90s’ early classics and a landmark album in dance music, Bristol’s Massive Attack invented the ‘trip-hop’ genre, an ambient form of hip-hop. Born from the ashes of pioneering sound system unit the Wild Bunch, the core trio of Daddy-G, Mushroom and 3-D were joined on Blue Lines by soul diva Shara Nelson, reggae singer Horace Andy and a young Tricky. Together they fashioned a strikingly modern urban soundtrack that added an emotional intensity to the sparseness and studied cool of hip-hop, with Nelson’s impassioned vocals on ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ helping to create one of the songs that defined the 90s.

Tracklisting
1. Safe From Harm
2. One Love
3. Blue Lines
4. Be Thankful For What You’re Got
5. Five Man Army
6. Unfinished Sympathy
7. Daydreaming
8. Lately
9. Hymn Of The Big Wheel

Professional Reviews
Spin (9/99, p.131) – Ranked #24 in Spin Magazine’s “90 Greatest Albums of the ’90s.”

Spin (8/91) – Highly Recommended – “…simply beautiful…assaults the ear and the ass, lulling and grooving…”

Q (12/99, p.70) – Included in Q Magazine’s “90 Best Albums Of The 1990s.”

Q (10/01, p.99) – Ranked #8 in Q’s “Best 50 Albums of Q’s Lifetime”

Q (6/00, p.85) – Ranked #9 in Q’s “100 Greatest British Albums” – “…It unwittingly gave birth to a new slow-burning, heavily atmospheric strain of dance music that…would very swiftly be termed trip hop….music designed for the head first and the feet second.”

Vibe (12/99, p.157) – Included in Vibe’s 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century

Melody Maker (12/91) – Ranked #23 in Melody Maker’s list of the top 30 albums of 1991 – “…”Blue Lines” was the album Soul II Soul never managed: a loose cross between ambient House, old Studio One-time reggae, swingbeat and the post-M.A.R.S. hippychick groove. Truly gorgeous…”

New York Times (Publisher) (10/30/91) – “…mixes rap, funk, and soul into something nicely relaxed and fluid.”

NME (Magazine) (10/2/93, p.29) – Ranked #97 in NME’s list of the “Greatest Albums Of All Time.”

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Massive Attack – Mezzanine

What do you do when you’ve already changed the face of music once in a decade? If you’re Bristol, UK sonic architects Massive Attack, you refine the model for the times. MEZZANINE, the third album from the producer/DJ crew who, for all intents and purposes, created the genre of trip-hop, is thicker, less spacious and far more guitar-heavy than their previous efforts. Then again, the blue-print remains: hip-hop beats, behemoth bass underpinnings and spare melodic overtones still control Massive Attack’s drive. After all, one doesn’t expect the inventors to abandon their discoveries just because every pop new jack is onto their gold mine.

Tracklisting
1. Angel
2. Risingson
3. Teardrop
4. Inertia Creeps
5. Exchange
6. Dissolved Girls
7. Man Next Door
8. Black Milk
9. Mezzanine
10. Group Four
11. (Exchange)

Professional Reviews
Spin (1/99, p.91) – Ranked #6 on Spin’s list of “Top 20 Albums of ‘98.”

Entertainment Weekly (5/15/98, pp.102-103) – “MEZZANINE is Victorian trip-hop–hulking, clangorous, and dank….It’s industrial music for the turn of the century–the 19th century.” – Rating: A-

Q (12/99, p.100) – Included in Q Magazine’s “90 Best Albums Of The 1990s.”

Q (6/00, p.80) – Ranked #15 in Q’s “100 Greatest British Albums” – “…Sonic murk and gloom…a punk-hop record about autism…”

The Wire (1/99, p.27) – Included in Wire’s “50 Records Of The Year [1998]”

Mixmag (1/99, p.49) – Included in Mixmag’s “Ten Best Albums of 98″ – “…Britain’s coolest band…”

CMJ (1/11/99, p.7) – “…The grandfathers of trip-hop pulled off yet another wise and wily album, redefining the future shape of pop, soul and trip-hop, while inspiring another wave of artists in the process…”

Musician (7/98, pp.84-86) – “…at once the best and most personal album of their career….MEZZANINE shows them creating exotic, bruised backdrops for battered relationships that feel as strangely alienating as a night out with Travis Bickle…”

Mojo (Publisher) (p.66) – Ranked #14 in Mojo’s “100 Modern Classics” — “[I]t evokes DARK SIDE OF THE MOON’s epic yet intimate dread, reflected in the obliquely monochrome title…”

Houdini is about as close as one gets to a representative Melvins album, and it vividly captures the band’s unreconstructed power, vision, and musical strangeness.

Tracklisting
1. Hooch
2. Night Goat
3. Lizzy
4. Going Blind
5. Honey Bucket
6. Hag Me
7. Set Me Straight
8. Sky Pup
9. Joan Of Arc
10. Teet
11. Copache
12. Pearl Bomb
13. Spread Eagle Beagle

Professional Reviews
Spin (11/93, p.133) – Highly Recommended – “…A few sections on [HOUDINI] are recorded so hot that the guitar distortion literally breaks up into white noise in your speakers: the hits are classic Melvins tuneage, which means they’ll make you wonder if the batteries are going dead in your radio…”

Musician (11/93, p.13) – “…[HOUDINI] is a slow-motion barrage of buzzsaw noize apocalypso, with tracks like “Pearl Bomb” achieving a formal brilliance that slams together the Ramones, Stooges, Glenn Branca and Rhys Chatham….”

Since the ’90s, the Deftones have clawed out their own specialized niche in music. Many have imitated them, but few have reached their heights. They were innovators of so-called nu metal and could easily have settled into complacency riding the wave they helped create. Instead they continue to make waves with their self-titled fourth album.

Deftones frontman Chino Moreno wastes no time in expressing his despair mere seconds into “Hexagram” with a blood-curdling scream that will make your skin crawl. The dense, down-tuned guitars of Stephen Carpenter form a solid backdrop for the vocals that’s more about creating a mood than a melody (”When Girls Telephone Boys”). Ironically one of the album’s most intense moments (”Lucky You”) doesn’t even involve guitar, it relies on Nine Inch Nails-type rhythm and keyboards to create an uncomfortable tension. DEFTONES winds down with the loud-soft-loud pattern they’re famous for on “Moana.”

Tracklisting
1. Hexagram
2. Needles And Pins
3. Minerva
4. Good Morning Beautiful
5. Deathblow
6. When Girls Telephone Boys
7. Battle-axe
8. Lucky You
9. Bloody Cape
10. Anniversary Of An Uninteresting Event
11. Moana

Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (5/29/03, p.60) – 4 stars out of 5 – “…This is metal that crushes, then soothes; collapses, then soars…”

Spin (7/03, p.105) – “…With DEFTONES, they’ve built a cathedral of suffering, filled to the rafters with agony, awe, and terror…” – Grade: B

CMJ (6/2/03, p.6) – “…These compositions are messy and contained, quiet and loud, aggressive and vulnerable–often within a single breath…”

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Deftones – Around the Fur

The songs on I SHOULD COCO play like missing pieces of the Buzzcocks’ SINGLES GOING STEADY, HUNKY DORY-era Bowie, and when the Stones still existed BETWEEN THE BUTTONS. At the same time, Supergrass fit perfectly into the very retro “punk” tastes of the mid-’90s charts, and make it all seem exciting again.

Combining breathless pop-rock with an ebullient and glamorous sense of humor, Supergrass are nervy and fun. “I’d Like To Know” and “Caught By The Fuzz” show off Supergrass’ undeniably British sensibilities (the chirping Cockney harmonies, the acoustic piano, the topsy-turvy bass lines), but it all works. The album is a rare breed–one that plays like an old favorite, but isn’t an exercise in redundancy or nostalgia.

I SHOULD COCO isn’t a painful reminder of eras gone by, but an adoring school-boy homage–exactly the one that Supergrass plays up to. Because anything too serious might ruin a good time.

Tracklisting
1. I’d Like To Know
2. Caught By The Fuzz
3. Mansize Rooster
4. Alright
5. Lose It
6. Lenny
7. Strange Ones
8. Sitting Up Straight
9. She’s So Loose
10. We’re Not Supposed To
11. Time
12. Sofa (Of My Lethargy)
13. Time To Go

Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (8/10/95, p.59) – 3.5 Stars – Good – “…regardless of how silly Supergrass become, the strength of their songwriting always shines through. Combining the best elements of classic British pop and melodic punk, the band leapfrogs decades and spans the gaps with wide, grinning hooks…”

Spin (9/95, p.113) – 6 – Reasonably Good – “…Supergrass is a mod band….I SHOULD COCO…works best when [the group] is careering about like Dickensian urchins in smeared lipstick, blinking through hula hoop-size pupils, gleefully anticipating corruption…”

Entertainment Weekly (7/21/95, p.64) – “…`Eclectic’ doesn’t begin to describe the deft plunderings of these barely legal-age lads, who, in their evocation of the Beatles, Bowie, and the Buzzcocks, seem equally at home as glamour-puss fops and snot-nosed hooligans.” – Rating: A

Q (2/96, p.66) – Included in Q’s 50 Best Albums of 1995.

Q (6/95, p.118) – 4 Stars – Excellent – “…petulant middle-class brats with an instinctive grasp of melody, midway between The Clash and Buzzcocks….the more Supergrass reveal of themselves, the more childish things are set aside in favour of an embracing of pop history…”

Option (1-2/96, p.120) – “…cobbles together ideas from the record collection, then pieces `em together in not-necessarily-novel but at least catchy arrangements–cheeky thievery being the sincerest form of flattery, of course…”

Melody Maker (12/23-30/95, pp.66-67) – Ranked #7 on Melody Maker’s list of 1995’s `Albums Of The Year’ – “…Druggy, deranged, bright-eyed, innocently sleazy, mercilessly addictive. Like mainlining a dose of uncut fun.”

Mojo (Publisher) (7/95, p.106) – “…I SHOULD COCO is absurdly crammed with musical intelligence….a massive heap of informed rock madness….Supergrass have a unique take on pop music…”

NME (Magazine) (12/23-30/95, pp.22-23) – Ranked #6 in NME’s `Top 50 Albums Of The Year’ for 1995 – “…the ‘Grass turned their day-to-day into cartoon, and still had you gasping at the sheer thrill of it…”

Drawing inspiration from revered 1960s/’70s U.K. rock luminaries, including David Bowie (their name stems from a tune on HUNKY DORY) and the similarly named Kinks, the Kooks excel at highly melodic Britpop on their confident and well-crafted 2006 debut. Despite their youth (some band members were still in their teens at the time of the album’s recording), the Brighton-based quartet is remarkably proficient at doling out sunny, often acoustic-based songs, as revealed on the folk-tinged “Ooh La” and lightly funky “Naive.”

Tracklisting
1. Seaside
2. See The World
3. Sofa Song
4. Eddie’s Gun
5. Ooh La
6. You Don’t Love Me
7. She Moves In Her Own Way
8. Matchbox
9. Naive
10. I Want You
11. If Only
12. Jackie Big Tits
13. Time Awaits
14. Got No Love

Professional Reviews
Q (p.124) – Ranked #11 in Q Magazine’s “100 Greatest Albums of 2006″ — “[E]qually in thrall to Dylan and Supergrass…”

Having won both critical and commercial acclaim for their debut album, HOPES AND FEARS, 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.

Tracklisting
1. Atlantic
2. Is It Any Wonder?
3. Nothing In My Way
4. Leaving So Soon?
5. A Bad Dream
6. Hamburg Song
7. Put It Behind You
8. Crystal Ball
9. Try Again
10. Broken Toy
11. The Frog Prince

Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (p.70) – 3 stars out of 5 — “[With] bigger doses of atmospheric keyboard…it offers some of the same tuneful pleasures of the debut, with big-voiced Tom Chaplin digging into his big bag of swooping choruses.”

Spin (p.90) – 3 stars out of 5 — “[With] lovely, piano-driven sounds….UNDER THE IRON SEA boasts an embarrassment of melodic riches…”

Entertainment Weekly (p.69) – “UNDER THE IRON SEA coats the group’s typically hand-wringing lyrics with layers of symphonic embellishment.” — Grade: A-

Q (p.108) – 4 stars out of 5 — “The lyrics may be downbeat, but musically there’s all sorts of festival-friendly, stomach-clenching brightness…”

Q (p.126) – Ranked #6 in Q Magazine’s “100 Greatest Albums of 2006.”

Mojo (Publisher) (p.100) – 3 stars out of 5 — “Opening track ‘Atlantic’ has dark, dreamy quality they haven’t displayed hitherto, ‘Broken Toy’ is jazzy and swoonsome…[and] ‘Hamburg Song’ is a gorgeously wistful ballad…”