Pitchfork: Album Reviews

Various Artists - Warp20 (Box Set) / Warp20 (Chosen) / Warp20 (Recreated) / Warp20 (Unheard)

Scott Plagenhoef — Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Warp celebrates 20 years in business with a massive box set collection that serves as high-end fetish object while containing a lot of great music. It's true that Warp20 is an expansive, expensive-looking (and, ok, expensive) box set that is in no way for the casual fan. Housed in a 10" slipcase, this thing has physical heft; and with a 192-page book detailing the complete visual history to date of the label, the full Warp set looks more like an item for your shelf. Even the CDs are housed in case-bound 10" folders rather than delicate little sleeves. The set works best when you allow yourself to live in it, to fully explore the label rather than simply skim off the top of it. That's true of any vinyl experience to a degree, but Warp's collection is a true pairing of art and sound, rather than one being supplemental to the other.

Soulsavers - Broken

Stephen M. Deusner — Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Mark Lanegan again teams with UK electronic vets, with guest spots from Spiritualized's Jason Pierce, Mike Patton, Richard Hawley, and Gibby Haynes. [Stephen M. Deusner]

Maps - Turning the Mind

Ian Cohen — Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Mercury-nominated producer with an ear for shoegaze textures returns with an album more invested in lyrics. [Ian Cohen]

Part Chimp - Thriller (Part Chimp)

Jason Crock — Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

On their third album, loud Londoners Part Chimp slow down, stretch out, and sometimes indulge their metal side a little more. [Jason Crock]

Jack Peñate - Everything Is New

Joshua Klein — Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

The sophomore full-length from the UK singer-songwriter finds him broadening his palette to include textures from genres like Afropop and Tropicália. [Joshua Klein]

Julian Casablancas - Phrazes for the Young

Ryan Dombal — Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Strokes singer makes his solo bow with a record of post-millennial synth-pop. [Ryan Dombal]

The King Khan & BBQ Show - Invisible Girl

Paul Thompson — Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Shaking off the Almighty Defenders misstep, King Khan and Mark Sultan collaborate for another distillation of Nuggets and Brit Invasion rock. [Paul Thompson]

Matias Aguayo - Ay Ay Ay

Andrew Gaerig — Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Kompakt star and former Closer Musik member returns with a record of maximal oddity, an album far from his minimal roots. [Andrew Gaerig]

Sleeping States - In the Gardens of the North

David Raposa — Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Bandleader Markland Starkie transforms lessons learned from his DIY home-taping years into fully-realized songs of all shapes and sizes. [David Raposa]

A.A. Bondy - When the Devil's Loose

David Raposa — Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

The second solo album from the one-time Verbena frontman continues his obsession with rough-hewn imagery and earthy song structures. [David Raposa]

Weezer - Raditude

Rob Mitchum — Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Melodic sing-alongs, fuzz-guitar riffs-- Weezer are going back to basics, making music that sounds for (but also often by) 13-year-olds. [Rob Mitchum]

Molina and Johnson - Molina and Johnson

Stephen M. Deusner — Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Magnolia Electric Co./Songs: Ohia's Jason Molina and Centro-Matic's Will Johnson team for a sleepy, evocative record. [Stephen M. Deusner]

Pants Yell! - Received Pronunciation

Marc Hogan — Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

The Boston trio continues the tradition of wordy, tuneful, earnest underdogs from Small Factory and the Trashcan Sinatras to the Lucksmiths. [Marc Hogan]

Spider Bags - Goodbye Cruel World, Hello Crueler World

Stuart Berman — Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

It's been a long time since you've heard a band pull off this sort of southern-fried slop-pop with such charm, craftiness, and self-deprecating wit. [Stuart Berman]

Heavy Trash - Midnight Soul Serenade

Stephen M. Deusner — Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray continue to reinterpret the early days of rock'n'roll, emphasizing the rawness and raunchiness of it all. [Stephen M. Deusner]

Morrissey - Swords

Stephen Troussé — Tue, 3 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Twenty-track compilation gathers the B-sides of the indie legend's recent comeback years. [Stephen Troussé]

Foo Fighters - Greatest Hits (Foo Fighters)

Matthew Perpetua — Tue, 3 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Despite missing early single "I'll Stick Around", and including blah new songs, these modern rock survivors prove their singles band cred on this comp. [Matthew Perpetua]

Baroness - Blue Record

Grayson Currin — Tue, 3 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

The second LP from this Savannah, Ga., metal quartet finds producer John Congleton coaxing more sound out of the band than they've ever allowed. [Grayson Currin]

Various Artists - Eccentric Soul: Smart's Palace

Joe Tangari — Tue, 3 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

A soul music empire from Wichita, Kansas, and nearly lost to history is resurrected by the Numero Group on the latest comp from the imprint's winning series. [Joe Tangari]

2562 - Unbalance

Nate Patrin — Tue, 3 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Dave Huismans, aka A Made Up Sound, uses dubstep as the center rather than the totality of his sound as he here also explores techno and broken beat. [Nate Patrin]

U2 - The Unforgettable Fire [Deluxe Edition]

Ryan Dombal — Mon, 2 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Reissued in expanded form for its 25th anniversary, The Unforgettable Fire remains a special album in the U2 canon. It isn't U2's biggest commercial success (that would be The Joshua Tree) or its most rewarding artistic coup (Achtung Baby), but without it those records would not exist. It's a transitional album of the highest magnitude. The hits-- "Pride", "Bad"-- still hit, and even its sometimes-derided abstractions like "Promenade" and "Elvis Presley and America" contain enough mystery to keep unraveling a quarter-century years later.

DOOM - Unexpected Guests

Ian Cohen — Mon, 2 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

DOOM has the more scattershot pieces of his already scattershot discography compiled on this LP of lesser-known tracks. [Ian Cohen]

Isaac Hayes - Shaft OST [Deluxe Edition]

Nate Patrin — Mon, 2 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Isaac Hayes' game-changing film score, which launched the soul/funk soundtrack craze in the early 1970s, is given a deluxe reissue. Here, Hayes reached an ideal midpoint between film scoring convention and R&B auteurism, and Shaft is full of cinematic cues and motifs that came naturally to a musician who'd already pushed the boundaries of symphonic soul two years before on Hot Buttered Soul. While his music never really regressed-- Truck Turner, soundtrack or no, might be his best album of the 70s-- Shaft is where Hayes' meteoric popularity peaked. And for damn good reason.

Panther - Entropy

Rebecca Raber — Mon, 2 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Portland dance-rockers offer an album of tightly constructed piano pop nuggets replete with overdubbed, harmonized vocals and loosely jazzy rhythms. [Rebecca Raber]

Richard Youngs - Under Stellar Stream

Marc Masters — Mon, 2 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

British multi-instrumentalist mines fertile repetition on the latest compelling record in a compelling career. [Marc Masters]