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Last Updated:
Mar 19th, 2008 - 07:43:02 |
Bob Dylan
Modern Times
Columbia
If you’ve always wanted to hear what “Subterranean Homesick Blues”
would sound like if you castrated it, you will find that song on Modern
Times. If you have been tirelessly seeking to hear the sad, old cousin
of “Lay, Lady, Lay,” sit down, my friend; take a rest. Modern Times is
here.
For as long as I can remember, each new Dylan album has been touted as
his “return to form” with the “Dylan is back” tagline. The thing is,
Dylan never went anywhere — and that might be the problem. We already
knew what this album was going to be — and we have for the last 10 or
more years of his blandly consistent output — only the average BPM
rates have gotten a bit slower. Dylan The Great and Wise, the one
you’re hoping to find, occasionally appears on Modern Times, but
otherwise this disc is full of “late-career album tracks” in the most
boring and predictable sense of that phrase.
If right now Dylan only releases a new album about every five years, I
propose he double that span and stop touring. Give us a little time to
rediscover him. - KND
Eric Bachman
To The Races
Saddle Creek
Bachman’s sound is warm and ponderous, minimalist and endearing. He
transcends the bland coffee house beatnik with an acoustic guitar and
attains an ominous and worldly repose; his dark, yet soothing,
reflective strumming akin to the sophistications of an Elliott Smith. -
JM
Kasabian
Empire
BMG
A full metal jacket of sludge guitar explodes into a hellish mushroom
cloud of stardust on Empire’s title track. The album’s aura attracts
the velvety acidic era of psychedelic freelove that’s Kraftwerk-laced,
seen through the eyes of a modern day Berkeley protester. Revivalist
records like “Me Plus One” channel hallucinations of Joel Gion on the
tambourine. Dig it man. - TM
Kelis
Kelis Was Here
La Face
When Kelis hit the scene in 1999 with “Caught Out There” most thought
she was drunk with anger. In 2003 she made everyone overindulge on her
“Milkshake.” With her third album, Kelis’ leadoff single “Bossy” is yet
another serving of attitude on the rocks. No longer working with
Pharrell Williams, Kelis’ Neptunes-free songs showcase even more of her
stylish, ever-changing approach. - JW
On The Last Day
Meaning In The Static
Victory
On The Last Day play catchy metal-emo that manages to not completely
annoy me. Basically, take Atreyu and swap the vocal roles of the
screamer and the singer/drummer guy, and they’d sound exactly like On
The Last Day. With Victory’s bucks behind them, these dudes should make
some major waves. Fairly predictable, but better than most stuff in
this somehow dominant genre. - BK
The Drams
Jubilee Dive
New West
Most of this band has its roots in alt-country, but barely any shred of
that is evident in the sound of The Drams — which brings the listener
somewhere between Uncle Tupelo and Spoon. The guitars are earnest and
energetic, though sometimes evoking an eerie, dated familiarity to this
brand of pop (perhaps we can start saying something sounds ‘90s-ish
now). - JM
The Thermals
The Body The Blood The Machine
Sub Pop
The Thermals blast into another disc, but their bizarrely political
lyrics and sloppy, raucous guitars impart an aesthetic that would be
better served with lo-fi production. Instead the disc is crisp and
clean, dulling the album’s teeth and casting The Thermals into a light
that unfairly projects them as industry hacks (which they’re not)
trying to make an odd, hip record. - BK
local
Queen Bee
Girl On Top
Hot Pants Records
Queen Bee is like a sex-charged Kim Gordon who looks like a pin-up.
Imagine Sonic Youth’s grunge era blended with Iggy’s Raw Power with a
half-naked blonde slithering on top of the mix. It’s loud, it’s raucous
— it’s got more sexual innuendo than Prince at his peak — it’s Queen
Bee. And it’s pretty damn good. - SA
in my ear
Unearth
Unearth are part of the new class of heavies, melding the ferocious
backbeat of Hatebreed hardcore with the brutal, low-end metal guitars.
The purveyors of seven-string guitars just released their latest
onslaught, III: In The Eyes Of Fire, and is it ever a scorcher!
Guitarist and all-around good guy Ken Susi let us peek at his recent
record rotation. Unearth will whip the Royal Oak Music Theatre into a
chaotic mass Sept. 8.
Megadeth
Rest In Peace
Jason Becker
Best of Anthrax
Amongst The Living
Killswitch Engage
Alive or Just Breathing
Every Time I Die
Gutter Phenomenon
Muse
Absolution
The Beatles
The Beatles (aka White Album)
Crowbar
Crowbar
August Burns Red
Thrill Seeker
Robby Roadsteamer
Postcards from the Den of Failure
dmrc top 10
1. Iron Maiden — “Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg” single • 2. Obie
Trice — Second Round’s on Me • 3. Ani DiFranco — Reprieve 4. Slayer —
Christ Illusion • 5. Gnarls Barkley — St. Elsewhere • 6. Mew — And the
Glass Handed Kites • 7. Johnny Cash — American V … 8. Pharrell — In My
Mind • 9. Nelly Furtado — Loose • 10. Sonic Youth — Rather Ripped
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