3 Minutes, 49 Seconds

The unique thing about The New Pornorgraphers is that there's no clear hipster consensus on which of their albums is best. One camp says their debut, Mass Romantic , was the bee's knees, and subsequent albums have been a disappointment. Others find the first album too strident, and believe the group really got it together on Electric Version . Still others feel Twin Cinema was where it all came to fruition. Critics and the fans who care about them love nothing more than a good galvanizing mass opinion, regardless of whether or not there's any truth behind it. This would seem to speak well of the Pornographers, saying that each of their albums has merit. And go ahead and try to find me a critic or fan who has bad things to say about band leader A.C. Newman's solo jaunt The Slow Wonder . You won't be able to do it. The New Pornographers' new album Challengers , is actually getting some comparisons to The Slow Wonder . This is good. But in the same breat...

It's safe to assume that the Schwartzman household had a pretty good record collection, including - but not limited to - Cheap Trick, The Raspberries, E.L.O. and early Elvis Costello and the Attractions. Rooney frontman Robert Schwartzman's songwriting owes a huge debt to these power pop powerhouses. So did the sound and sensibility of his brother Jason's old band, Phantom Planet. The cover art for Calling The World even looks like a Badfinger album. Rooney's first record was a keeper. It was one of those CDs I kept trying to leave off my end-of-the-year top ten but just couldn't. On first blush, Calling The World is even better, more varied, layered and mature. And it better be! Word has it that the band recorded TWO albums between their debut and Calling The World , and weren't happy with either. Only three songs survived from the two interim albums. As a result, Rooney sound much more seasoned than any band on its sophomore record has any busi...

Writer's Note: This was the second album review I ever wrote. I composed it at work one February day to amuse myself and my friend Shalini , who found the record for cheap and loaned it to me. The Bacon Brothers' 1999 album Getting There is further proof that entertainment crossovers are just a bad idea. Just as Britney Spears' acting failed to redefine cinema as we know it, no one should expect much from a musical project by Hanes pitchman Kevin Bacon. Surprisingly, this is actually the second effort from the band (which is filled out by bassist Paul Guzzone , drummer Marshal Rosenberg and Kevin's brother Michael). Lest you think this just the whim of a bored star, consider that Kevin himself wrote or co-wrote 9 of the 15 songs on this album. He appears to be at least as serious about being a rock star as Keanu , Jared, Minnie, Juliette or Russell. The album isn't unlistenable , but it isn't good either. The opener Ten Years In Mexico has a pleasant Jam...

Writer's Note: This was the second album review I ever wrote. It appeared in the Augustana Observer on March 26, 1999. Wilco is one of those rare prolific bands that never seems to run out of quality material. From 1995 to 1999 the band released the equivalent of a record per year and always managed to show up on critics' end-of-the-year lists. Wilco rose from the ashes of country rock darlings Uncle Tupelo . The group's two songwriters started rival bands, Jay Farrar formed Son Volt, Jeff Tweedy (and drummer Ken Croomer ) formed Wilco . Both bands continued the roots rock sound of their former group, with a bit of twang and a debt owed to Neil Young. Summerteeth , Wilco's fourth album, found the band sneaking away from the genre that defined them, showing barely a hint of twang. Instead of Hank Williams, it seems Tweedy was listening to the Beach Boys. The band still made singable songs with lyrics that are sweet ("When I forget how to talk I sing...

145. Brother Ali: The Undisputed Truth (2007) No doubt Brother Ali is talented, with a gift for narrative and a mesmerizing tone, but the real star on The Undisputed Truth is beatmaker Ant. Even Ali knows it: "Ant give me 10 beats a week / so fuck it / I put the record how it need to be." Need further proof? Try Watcha Got 's early '80s hip-hop throwback of a bridge, the Bollywood bounce of Tr uth Is ... or Freedom Ain't Free 's reggae-with-strings backing. No other hip-hop producer works with such a wide variety of sounds while still building such coherent, even commercial, songs. The highlight of the album is a final suite of autobiographical songs. Walking Away details the dissolution of Ali's marriage with brutal honesty and a little bit of controlled anger. Faheem is a love song for his son and avoids being cingeworthy by being straightforward and brief. And finally the '80s soulfulness of Ear To Ear allows Ali's to get his priorit...

I've been away from music writing for over two months, though not purposefully. I have been ensconced in major life changes: turning thirty, moving for the first time in 8 years, and finding a new job. Call me crazy, but having several aspects of my life in flux is just not conducive to creativity. That doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about and listening to music just as much as usual. I just haven't been putting those thoughts into words. And maybe that's good. Okay, I'm being dramatic with that. I love writing album reviews and have no intention of stopping. But I must admit to lately finding it difficult to truly express how certain songs and albums make me feel. I don't think I'm alone in this. Even in some of the great books about pop music ( Song Book by Nick Hornby , anything by Chuck Klosterman , Love Is A Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield) the rate of me truly identifying with the author's love of a song or album or artist is alarming...

Fountains Of Wayne have taken some unexpected lumps lately. The former critical darlings' 4th release, Traffic And Weather , has been met with some harsh assessments, especially from Paste and Pitchfork. Paste writer Marc Hirsh claims that the band has run out of steam. Pitchfork reviewer Matt LeMay concludes that the album finds FOW "treading water in the worst possible way." Both of them give the Traffic And Weather one of the most insulting comments an album can recieve, that it's mediocre and boring. But is it true? After a few listens, carefully aware of his own bias, this long-time diehard Fountains fan is happy to say no, it isn't true at all. Of course, that leads to another question: What's wrong with Marc and Matt? I've prepared a list to try to suss out their problem. 1) They hate Fountains Of Wayne and always have. Right off we get Marc out of the way, because this is obviously his issue. Read how he begins the second sentence of his revi...