Martin L. Gore Counterfeit2 Mute/Reprise By: Eric Greenwood As Depeche Mode's sole songwriter for over twenty years, Martin Gore has painted himself into a bleak corner. It's almost as though he's run out of ways to write about drugs or sex or death or betrayal. He released an EP of obscure covers back in 1989 […]

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Blur Think Tank Virgin By: Eric Greenwood When an original member leaves an established band – no matter what the reason – the respectable thing to do is to break up. Too often, though, the band, thinking itself invincible, soldiers on like a staggering amputee, embarrassing itself and its fans with a swift and certain […]

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…and You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead The Secret Of Elena's Tomb Interscope By: Eric Greenwood Since …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead fears nothing in its path, its inherent pretentiousness is so much easier to swallow. That's the thing about pretentiousness- if one can balance it out […]

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Cursive The Ugly Organ Saddle Creek By: Eric Greenwood If all emo were as good as Cursive's The Ugly Organ, it wouldn't be the embarrassing cliché it is today. Alas, all emo is nowhere near as good as this record is, so it will have to wade through the usual minefield of prejudgments and knee-jerk […]

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Hot Hot Heat Make Up The Breakdown Sub Pop By: Eric Greenwood Idiosyncratic rock rarely extends as big a welcome as Hot Hot Heat's first full-length, Make Up The Breakdown…never mind that the band is from Canada. Equally dividing new wave, prog, garage, and all the eccentricities of early XTC and, perhaps even, the poppier […]

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Peaches The Teaches Of Peaches Kitty-yo By: Eric Greenwood I could maybe see how this would have been slightly offensive twenty years ago when sex was still cause for alarm in pop music, but having been through Lydia Lunch and Wendy O. Williams on the underground side and Madonna and even Courtney Love on the […]

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Ms. John Soda No. P. or D. Morr By: Eric Greenwood A band with a bad name can come up with the goods, occasionally, especially when said band features a member of The Notwist behind the controls. The Notwist's Neon Golden hit me harder than any other album in 2002; its mix of sparse electronics, […]

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