Goldfly
Artist: Guster
Community Score: 7.00

Bursting on to the sonic scene with the driving "Great Escape," Guster's major-label debut quickly mellows into the insightfully deceptive "Demon" and the island chock of "Perfect" before revving back up to the strikingly produced "Airport Song." Though the album has many high points, this first single is the highest. Drifting in like a distant... Read More

Aluminum Tunes: Switched On, Vol. 3 - JAPAN BONUS TRACKS
Artist: Stereolab

Stereolab's Switched On series is ingenious, one of the best services a band has performed for its fans. Since their inception, Stereolab have made it a practice to release non-LP singles, tour 7"s, split singles, special-edition EPs -- recordings that were available in small quantities for a limited time. In every case, the... Read More

Deserter's Songs
Artist: Mercury Rev
Community Score: 8.42

Four albums in and Mercury Rev remain as surprising and daring as ever -- exchanging the volcanic noise and twisted sensibilities of earlier releases for ornate arrangements and ethereal strings, Deserter's Songs unlocks the beauty always hidden just below the band's surface, its lush harmonics and soothing textures bathing in an almost... Read More

John Peel Sessions 1992-1995
Artist: The Wedding Present

The songs on this CD come from a period in the Wedding Present's career that most fans' would admit to be less than inspirational. The frenzied jangle of their early days had slowed considerably and the frustrated growl and unrelenting mope of the classic Seamonsters LP had been replaced by a seemingly blasé attitude and even worse, a spot of... Read More

All the Pain Money Can Buy
Artist: Fastball
Community Score: 5.93

When compared to their last album (the 1996 debut Make Your Mama Proud), Fastball's latest release shows that the group is steadily improving and honing their AAA/roots-rock sound. The biggest difference between All the Pain Money Can Buy and their debut is that by spicing up their songs with horns and classic synthesizer sounds, there is a... Read More

SYR 3
Artist: Sonic Youth
Community Score: 4.00

For their final self-released instrumental EP, Sonic Youth teamed up with Jim O'Rourke, the avant-garde/post-rock guru best known as a member of Gastr Del Sol. While the collaboration is a little long-winded -- the "EP" lasts nearly an hour -- and is the most difficult of the three SYR recordings, it also provides some of the best music of the... Read More

Redlight
Artist: The Slackers
Community Score: 8.33
1212
Artist: Barbara Manning

For all of her past recorded output, Barbara Manning has never been the most prolific of composers, her many albums relying instead on her gifts as an interpreter of other writers' songs; the achievement of 1212 isn't simply that it's made up largely of Manning originals, but that chief among them is her most ambitious creation to date, a... Read More

20 Vodka Jellies
Artist: Momus
Community Score: 9.00

Although 20 Vodka Jellies is, as the cover says, "an assortment of curiosities and rarities," it also turns out to be one of Momus' strongest and most accessible efforts. Most of this material consists of well-produced demos (many recorded by other artists), plus a few new songs and some B-sides and outtakes that hadn't made it onto an official... Read More

Deserter's Songs - JAPAN
Artist: Mercury Rev

Four albums in and Mercury Rev remain as surprising and daring as ever -- exchanging the volcanic noise and twisted sensibilities of earlier releases for ornate arrangements and ethereal strings, Deserter's Songs unlocks the beauty always hidden just below the band's surface, its lush harmonics and soothing textures bathing in an almost... Read More