Arts Life - Pick it Up
Hot Chip
Made in the Dark
After a tour-filled 2007, which included stops at major U.S. festivals Coachella and Bonnaroo, Hot Chip settled down to record what would be its first true studio album. Read story.
Aphrodesia
Lagos by Bus
Near the coast of West Africa, in both urban slums and crop-covered countrysides, there beats a quick and steady rhythm. Read story.
Various Artists
Juno: Music from the Motion Picture
The soundtrack to Jason Reitman’s touching feature film is not your average movie mixed tape, but then again, the flick’s pint-sized, pregnant heroine is not exactly your average teenager. Read story.
Foreign Born
On the Wing Now
On its first full-length release, L.A.-based Foreign Born succeeds in melding pop hooks, haunting vocals, carefully injected dissonance, and chilling lyricism through tunes that call out to contemporaries (The Walkmen, Rogue Wave), and rock luminaries (U2, David Bowie) alike. Read story.
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall
Part touching homage, part delightful camp, Rufus “That’s Entertainment” Wainwright’s latest double disc has the potential to open up the pop opera connoisseur to a whole new audience — even if that means alienating a couple casual fans in the process. Read story.
Calexico
Tool Box
Before there was Calexico, there was Spoke. Joey Burns and John Convertino — the rhythm section for Howe Gelb’s Giant Sand and recent refugees of Friends of Dean Martinez — beautifully sculpted an album out of fully formed songs that combined with a collection of atmospheric musical sketches. Read story.
Sugarchild
The Black Dog and Other Stories
Having released two recordings at the very beginning of a decade that threw forth some sublime independent pop (Sugarchild) and a divine offering of electronica (Watch These Walls), in 2002 Sugarchild’s next recorded undertaking, Make It Happen, saw the trio venture into alt-country terrain. Read story.
Sunset Rubdown
Random Spirit Lover
Spencer Krug, the Wolf Parade frontman and occasional member of Frog Eyes, confounds us with yet another delightfully cacophonous and lyrically vexing chamber pop/art rock album from his solo project, Sunset Rubdown. Read story.
Sigur Rós
Hvarf/Heim
Despite the fact that I can’t understand a word they sing, Sigur Rós once again brings to the table an otherworldly sound that gives me chills every time I listen. With lyrics sung solely in Vonlenska (the band’s made-up language based loosely on their native Icelandic), the focus here is on the music. Read story.
Annuals
Frelen Mas
Pick It Up...Or rather, download it. With the success — and hype — afforded such recent digital-only releases by Radiohead and that wonderfully bizarre Trent Reznor/Saul Williams collaboration, it’s no wonder that more bands are jumping on the download-only bandwagon. Read story.
Olivier Dahan's La Vie en Rose
Unknown to many of this generation, the French singer Edith Piaf led a remarkable life of equal parts triumph and tragedy. In this biographical film — now out on DVD — actress Marion Cotillard plays Piaf to perfection in what the New York Times called “the most astonishing immersion of one performer into the body and soul of another.” Read story.
Bachata Roja
Acoustic Bachata from the Cabaret Era
A compilation of the greatest acoustic players of bachata — a musical form developed in the Dominican Republic and first played on backyard instruments made from trashcans, fences, and even trash — this album reveals what the music was like before it got plugged in. Read story.
Junk Science
Gran’Dad’s Nerve Tonic
Brooklyn lyricist Baje One and his deejay/beat-busting teammate DJ Snafu — whose breakthrough was winning a 2005 music contest sponsored by Scion — drop a deftly produced and witty sophomore album, a thoughtful and smooth elixir that’s needed much more in the materialized world of hip-hop. Take a sip. Read story.
Blaqk Audio
Cex Cells
Whether he’s doing front flips into the mosh pit or wearing green eye makeup, AFI frontman Davey Havok is full of surprises. And here’s another one: His side project with AFI bandmate Jade Puget is pure electronica/’80s New Wave, and thus quite a stretch for these two East Bay/hardcore guys. It a dance-lover’s dream, and anyone who even remotely likes Davey’s distinct voice should run, not walk, to the nearest store to buy it. Read story.
Sondre Lerche
Soundtrack to Dan in Real Life
When searching for a sonic backdrop for Dan in Real Life — the latest Steve Carell vehicle, about an advice columnist/widowed family man who gets his love wires crossed — director Peter Hedges wanted something cohesive and iconic, like what Simon & Garfunkel did for The Graduate. Read story.
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