Adele
Młoda, zdolna i atrakcyjna, nie tylko muzycznie. O kim mowa? Nie o Amy Winehouse ani o Amy MacDonald, ale o Adele....
John Matthias, Stories From The Watercooler
What Matthias conveys in electronically-tinged folk-rock feels more sad and reflective than seething or abstract.
Vandermark Ken
Ken Vandermark to absolutna ikona awangardy jazzu dnia dzisiejszego. Muzyk szalenie wielowymiarowy, a zarazem ze wszech miar oryginalny. Co nie mniej ważne - artysta aktywnie kreujący współczesną scenę. ...
Płyny
Warszawski zespół Płyny został utworzony latem 2004 roku z inicjatywy Igora Spolskiego - tudzież Igora Spolski - (gitara, wokal) i Szymona Tarkowskiego (bas, wokal). Muzycy poznali się dużo wcześniej w teatrze Stara ProchOFFnia....
Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club at Carnegie Hall
Artist: Buena Vista Social Club Review: In 1998, the aging members of this Cuban collective realized a lifelong dream: playing to a sold-out audience at Carnegie Hall. That show, captured on this two-disc set, is even more emotionally engaging than the group's eponymous album, which triggered a worldwide Latin-jazz revival. Highlights include a fiery vocal workout on "El Cuarto de Tula"; the intoxicating folk of "Orgullecida," featuring Ry Cooder's Hawaiian-style slide guitar; the wistful bolero "Dos Gardenias," sung with delicate nua... Rating: 4.5 Stars
The Raconteurs, Consolers Of The Lonely
Hardcore Stripes fans may bemoan the 'uncool' sheen of professionalism that coats this album, but this beats Icky Thump by a country mile.
Lou Reed - Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse
Artist: Lou Reed Review: Upon the 1973 release of Berlin, a Rolling Stone critic deemed the record "patently offensive." Thirty years later, Lou Reed's concept album about speed freaks on a downward spiral of infidelity, spousal abuse, parental neglect and death ranked 344 on this magazine's 500 all-time-greatest-albums list. Reed has always fed upon this kind of irony, and in 2006 he staged a concert adaptation of his rock musical in Brooklyn. (Painter-filmmaker Julian Schnabel shot the performances.) Where Reed once... Rating: 4 Stars
Neon Neon, Stainless Style
A post-modern wonder, as sleek as its subject matter.
These New Puritans
Jack Barnett śpiewa, gra na gitarze i bawi się komputerowymi dźwiękami, George Barnett pilnuje rytmu grając na perkusji, Thomas Hein gra na basie i perkusjonaliach, śpiewa w tle i sampluje, a Sophie Sleigh-Johnson wydobywa dźwięki z syntezatora -...
Ne-Yo - Year of the Gentleman
Artist: Ne-Yo Review: There's a difference between a ladies' man and a man who loves women, and Ne-Yo reps for the latter. The 28-year-old singer-songwriter says his latest collection of heartfelt love songs is a tribute to the Rat Pack's pressed-suit style, but it's actually a superb concept album about what a great boyfriend he can be — call it Songs in the Key of Nice. Having already penned lady-power hits for Beyoncé and Rihanna, he's the Gloria Steinem of R&B on "Miss Independent": "She move like a... Rating: 4 Stars
Marc Broussard - Keep Coming Back
Artist: Marc Broussard Review: Marc Broussard's early albums established him as the heir to Texas white-soul icon Delbert McClinton. But Keep Coming Back shows the 26-year-old Louisiana singer coming into his own. His coarse baritone fires up the Seventies-style funk of "Power's in the People," the disco-fied anthem "Man for Life" and the warm, strings-drenched piano ballad "Evil Things." He lapses into pedestrian pop-soul-disco on the ponderous "Another Night Alone," but he makes up for it on "When It's Good," a brawny... Rating: 3 Stars
Christine Perfect, The Complete Blue Horizons Sessions
Although hardly essential, a very welcome listen.
Nickelback - Dark Horse
Artist: Nickelback Review: What's a poor rock band to do when your last album sold 8 million copies at a time when nobody buys CDs anymore? You can hire a guy who produced AC/DC, Def Leppard and Shania Twain albums that sold even more. On Dark Horse, "Mutt" Lange lightens Nickelback's dreary post-grunge plod, applying guitar shimmer to prom ballads and detonating big beats under frat-party shouts and raplike vocal parts. Lyrics revel in dorkitude, hair-metal style: "No class/No taste/No shirt/'N shitfaced." The two... Rating: 3.5 Stars
Dirty Pretty Things, Romance At Short Notice
The second offering from this band is a crisp, polished collection of tuneful japery and pithy urban commentary.
Infadels, Universe In Reverse
Infadels will win over plenty of new friends on the festival circuit this summer.
The Verve - Forth
Artist: The Verve Review: Two of the best psychedelic rock shows I've ever seen were by this British band, in London and New York, in the summer of 1993, and most of the Verve's fourth record — their first after a decade apart — is a return to that whirlpool-guitar, shaman-song form. "Sit and Wonder" is what they meant by their 1993 album title A Storm in Heaven: the trancelike gallop of bassist Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury; guitarist Nick McCabe's creamy distortion and ascending rings of tremolo... Rating: 4 Stars
Katy Perry - One Of The Boys
Artist: Katy Perry Review: "I hope you hang yourself with your H&M scarf/While jacking off listening to Mozart," Katy Perry tells her metrosexual ex on "Ur So Gay." Risqué words, coming from the daughter of two Christian pastors who only let her listen to gospel tunes as a kid. Now 23, the L.A. singer bucks the WWJD'ers with a debut full of mall-punky, grrrl-power tunes produced by Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette) and Dr. Luke (Avril Lavigne). But her attention-grabbing doesn't feel very rebellious: On the New Wave-y club... Rating: 2 Stars
Nelly - Brass Knuckles
Artist: Nelly Review: Combining Will Smith's friendliness with St. Louis slang and a down-home drawl, Nelly has mastered his own brand of crossover appeal. On his fifth album, he mostly sticks to that pop-rap formula, cranking his distinctly melodic flow to hyper-speeds and playing the good-natured hedonist on cuts like "Party People." But when he tries to come off hard on a handful of Dirty South brawlers, he ends up sounding generic: "U Ain't Him" finds him rhyming about gunplay and warning no one in particular abo... Rating: 3 Stars
Hot Club De Paris, Live At Dead Lake
Liverpool trio Hot Club de Paris' second album trails adolescent awkwardness.
The Replacements - Tim
Artist: The Replacements Review: Released in 1985, Tim caught a great American garage band stretching out, working Big Star pop and Fifties-style rock into a mix of punky abandon and regular-dude romanticism. This version — reissued along with three other 'Mats albums, none of which is quite as tuneful as Tim — brightens the sound and adds six bonus cuts, including a bare-bones version of "Here Comes a Regular," Paul Westerberg's moving acoustic ballad about directionless barflies. Rarely did Westerberg write so... Rating: 4 Stars
Madonna
Przeciętna wokalistka, niezbyt utalentowana aktorka, niczym niezachwycająca tancerka. A mimo to na jej koncertach długo nie milkną owacje ryczącej z zachwytu publiki....