nearlyuseless

This is, no shit, a background noise record released on BRMC’s own label. In the band’s own words: “No apologies, no lyrics, no regrets, just abstract.” Well, an apology would have been nice.
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The debut EP from this Brooklynite features contributions from Asthmatic Kitty labelmates Sufjan Stevens, Shara Worden, and Rafter.
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Culled from two 1967 performances drawing on almost identical setlists, Live in London and Paris captures Redding at the full height of his powers as a showman, inviting even the casual fan to lean close to listen for each staging’s distinctive qualities.
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With guitar contributions from M. Ward and Marc Ribot, the fourth album from this Texas-born, New York-based singer-songwriter is both her most cohesive and most eclectic.
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This 25-year anniversary celebration of Trevor Horn and Paul Morley’s famous imprint makes the case that ZTT was Britain’s most interesting label for five years– and then it plodded along for another 20.
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Following his 2007 mixtape with DJ Drama, The Preview, Ludacris returns with a star-studded full-length that includes guest spots from the Game, Nas, Jay-Z, and T.I. and production from Swizz Beats, DJ Premier, and 9th Wonder.
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Three ex-members of the much-missed Beta Band continue to veer between experimentalism and pop songcraft as the Aliens.
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This English indie-dance trio’s debut shows an amplified, ambitious, and inventive attention to detail that helps steer them away from sounding like just another polished party band.
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This invaluable box set traces the legendary career of Nina Simone from her first recording session to one of her last, as she marches through Duke Ellington, Kurt Weill, torch songs, folk songs, and the pop and rock hits of her day.
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After seven years, the Flaming Lips’ Christmas film finally comes to DVD; not surprisingly, both the movie and its soundtrack reflect the Lips circa 2001 more than the group’s post-millennial output, which has emphasized the band’s cute and quirky qualities while submerging the strange.
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Dedpendable Scandinavian singer-songwriter Ane Brun returns with another record of spare instrumentation, slightly broken sentiment, and an unwavering devotion to prettiness.
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Through her solo work and as a member of Charalambides, Christina Carter has long been an expert avant-folk minimalist, mining depth from small, repetitive songs.
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Collecting recordings of small ensembles found in and around Baghdad in the late 1920s, this compilation sheds light on a misunderstood region whose recent history obscures its cultural legacy.
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This Amnesty International benefit album collects yuletide songs from indie heavyweights such as Blitzen Trapper, My Brightest Diamond, Sally Shapiro, Belong, Au Revoir Simone, and Jimmy Tamborello’s Figurine project.
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A quickie free mixtape intended to celebrate the launch of Clipse’s new clothing line Play Cloths, Road to Till the Casket Drops is well worth your half-hour and zero dollars.
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Young Oklahoma City band debuts with an album that references several strains of iconic indie rock, from the jangly pop of the Shins to the jammier moments of Wilco.
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This 4xCD box set is the most expansive and exhaustive summary of the rock’n’roll legend’s long career, which had its share of ups and downs and ended on an impossibly high note with his 1989 album Mystery Girl and his work with the Traveling Wilburys.
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On Be and Finding Forever, Common struck a winning, humanizing balance between moralism and hedonism, proving that the two needn’t be mutually exclusive. On Universal Mind Control, he– and the Neptunes– split his personalities into what seem like two wildly different EPs.
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Matador’s deluxe Pavement reissue campaign continues with Brighten the Corners, the underrated record that signaled the group’s turn toward the serious and mature. Also included are 32 outtakes and radio-session cuts that more accurately reflect the loose, ramshackle feel of the group’s early-to-mid 1990s work.
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An indie-rap supergroup of sorts, this Anticon act preesnts a furious, righteous, and not entirely subtle dissatisfaction with capitalism.
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