A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular
Artist: Hooverphonic
Community Score: 7.91

The Belgian trio Hooverphonic haphazardly tinkers around with ambient pop on its debut album, A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular. Overall, it's a decent derivation of post-grunge and a healthy sampling of rising trip-hop and ambient electronica during the mid-'90s, so perhaps it's all right for the album itself to experience floppy production.... Read More

In a Doghouse
Artist: Throwing Muses
Community Score: 7.00

Throwing Muses' classic first album was never released in the U.S., nor was their follow-up EP, Chains Changed. For well over a decade, the two records were only available as imports through 4AD, which meant that Throwing Muses, one of the most influential and individual albums of late-'80s alternative rock, was very hard for anyone outside of... Read More

The Best of R.E.M.
Artist: R.E.M.
Community Score: 6.90
Scraps at Midnight
Artist: Mark Lanegan

With the Screaming Trees, Mark Lanegan is part of a dysfunctional family that can only pull its act together once in a while. As he's struggling to make the group work, he's taken away from his solo career, which has proven to be far more consistent than his band's. Scraps at Midnight, Lanegan's third solo effort (one arrives every four years or... Read More

Overcome by Happiness
Artist: The Pernice Brothers

Listeners expecting a continuation of the Scud Mountain Boys' slow, grim alt-country sound will be surprised by the wholesale changes wrought on Overcome by Happiness -- Joe Pernice has gone pop, and the results are quite promising. Recorded in part with a ten-piece orchestra, the record is closer to chamber pop than roots rock, with the bright,... Read More

Fantastic Pirate Satellite
Artist: Liquid Gang
Retrospective
Artist: Pin Group

Siltbreeze's Retrospective is a re-issued collection of recordings by New Zealand's seminal Pin Group (fronted by Roy Montgomery) -- the disc includes the "Ambivalence"/"Columbia" 7" (actually the first single issued on the Flying Nun label), the "Coat"/"Jim" 7", the Pin Group Goes to Town EP, a live cover of War's "Low Rider" and two low-fi... Read More

Egomania (Love Songs)
Artist: Cobra Verde

Atmospheric, earthy sounds are what Cobra Verde specialize in, and they deliver the goods yet again on Egomania (Love Songs). It's a compilation of new songs, unreleased material, and tracks that have been previously unavailable on CD (from 45s released on the Sub Pop, Scat, Wabana, and Get Hip labels from 1995-96). The band shows off its many... Read More

Fush Yu Mang
Artist: Smash Mouth
Community Score: 6.06

The groovy, '60s soul-funk of "Walking on the Sun" disguises the fact that Smash Mouth is a ska-punk band. With its organ riff and breezy melody, "Walking on the Sun" is a great one-shot single, yet Smash Mouth never come close to replicating its easy charm anywhere on Fush Yu Mang. Regardless, there are some moments that'll satisfy third-wave... Read More

Sparkle and Fade - UK
Artist: Everclear

Everclear's major-label debut is a tough, melodic set of gnarled post-punk hard rock. An easy comparison is Nirvana, but Everclear's music is closer to the country-rock leanings of Screaming Trees -- underneath their loud, grungy guitars there is a distinct rootsiness lacking in most Seattle bands and that gives Sparkle and Fade its edge. ~... Read More