V/A | Music from the HBO Original Series “Insecure” (RCA)
These songs will have you feeling like you’re the bomb and life is good.
cd reviews
Jon Garcia | Jon Garcia (Self-Released)
It sounds like a gentle lullaby, one that Ryan Adams might listen to before bed. Some people might pass this kind of music off as easy listening for the folk rock crowd, but that just […]
Hot Chip | The Warning (EMI/Astralwerks)
This is a thoroughly listenable platter in which most of the kicks come early, indeed.
Miles of Wire | Can You Feel It? (self-released)
While I’m not sure how much of Maurice’s material is autobiographical, when he roars the hook of “Frustrating Mess,” I feel the rage boiling up from beneath each syllable.
Oneida | Happy New Year (Jagjaguwar/Brah)
Never content to stay in one place too long, Brooklyn’s Oneida have developed a well-deserved reputation for continuous experimentation.
Prototypes | Prototypes (Minty Fresh)
Prototypes have already had a top-ten single in France, and it’s likely that clubgoers over here will soon learn what is already known in the underground clubs of Europe: These kids have got it, baby.
Regina Spektor | Begin To Hope (Sire)
Begin to Hope is truth in advertising: One hopes that Spektor’s profile will be dramatically raised with this latest release, and those once burned will be rewarded with one of the year’s most compelling records.
Eric Anders | Tethered To the Ground (Baggage Room)
This, friends, is what that whole singer-songwriter movement is all about: one man with a vision, a unique voice, solid instrumentation, and words that can—and will—open your eyes.
Alejandro Escovedo | The Boxing Mirror (Back Porch)
The Boxing Mirror is an album that takes its time getting to know itself; it’s perhaps a result of this that it ends up being a terribly uneven listen, its strong songs cluttering the second […]
Big Blue Marble | Stars In Suburbia (self-released)
RIYL: New Pornographers, Fruit Bats There is a place in the PLAYBACK:stl offices where CDs go to die lonely and unreviewed. Each month, we toss into a U.S. Postal Service container (or wherever there's space, […]