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Pitchfork: Record Reviews

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: The Effects of 333

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/GhM-CIYdE7Y/148232
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

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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DM Stith: Curtain Speech EP

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/uedX86sYlmU/147759
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

The debut EP from this Brooklynite features contributions from Asthmatic Kitty labelmates Sufjan Stevens, Shara Worden, and Rafter.
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Otis Redding: Live in London and Paris

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/veskxmgdg_g/147491
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

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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Jolie Holland: The Living and the Dead

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/JFz7XBFQYKU/147235
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

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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Various Artists: Zang Tumb Tuum: The ZTT Box Set

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/8SjDxlJeqIQ/148239
Monday, January 5th, 2009

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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Ludacris: Theater of the Mind

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/kBucrsT9aig/148072
Monday, January 5th, 2009

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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The Aliens: Luna

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/Kv3aimKDz3o/147910
Monday, January 5th, 2009

Three ex-members of the much-missed Beta Band continue to veer between experimentalism and pop songcraft as the Aliens.
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Friendly Fires: Friendly Fires

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/okRPqApTMb8/147106
Monday, January 5th, 2009

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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Nina Simone: To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/ZPQar2nqyUw/148055
Friday, December 12th, 2008

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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The Flaming Lips: Christmas on Mars

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/STB1YmfhNTc/147991
Friday, December 12th, 2008

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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Ane Brun: Changing of the Seasons

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/vl51ZeGAles/147817
Friday, December 12th, 2008

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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Christina Carter: Original Darkness

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/thW5a1_d8Oc/147725
Friday, December 12th, 2008

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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Various Artists: Give Me Love: Songs of the Brokenhearted - Baghdad 1925-1929

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/NnltBfDgXd8/146941
Friday, December 12th, 2008

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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Various Artists: I’ll Stay ’Til After Christmas

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/08zLqm1H_fk/148056
Thursday, December 11th, 2008

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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Clipse: Road to Till the Casket Drops

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/cTfoDJymS9w/147928
Thursday, December 11th, 2008

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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The Uglysuit: The Uglysuit

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/OUlpUqEoezc/147074
Thursday, December 11th, 2008

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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Roy Orbison: The Soul of Rock And Roll

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/oVIGmfbKUY4/146997
Thursday, December 11th, 2008

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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Common: Universal Mind Control

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/wuMX6qgvHj4/148036
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

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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Pavement: Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Ed.

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/0W__iCsLXF0/147823
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

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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Restiform Bodies: TV Loves You Back

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pitchfork/reviews/~3/nyWn4fOv9EI/147728
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

An indie-rap supergroup of sorts, this Anticon act preesnts a furious, righteous, and not entirely subtle dissatisfaction with capitalism.
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