Morrissey You Are The Quarry Attack By: Eric Greenwood The seven year stretch between Morrissey's last album, 1997's nice enough but forgettable Maladjusted, and his triumphant return, 2004's You Are The Quarry, has turned the former Smiths frontman into a bit of an underdog. Based on the unprecedented hoopla surrounding his latest release, the public […]

[Read more →]

Elvis Costello North Deutsche Grammophon / Universal Classics By: Eric G. Costello has easily proven himself to be a multi-dimensional musician over the course of his 20-album, 26-year career, but his dilettantish forays into anything other than bile-infested rock ‘n’ roll almost always ring hollow. (When was the last time you put on The Juliet […]

[Read more →]

Various Artists Redder Records Presents Metaphysics For Beginners Redder By: Eric Greenwood The art of the mix tape is one that almost any self-respecting, record-collecting music obsessive takes deadly seriously, and record-label sponsored compilation albums, despite the slightly commercial touch (even from the most underground of labels), can sometimes reach that holy grail of intimacy. […]

[Read more →]

Electrelane The Power Out Too Pure By: Eric Greenwood It's weird how certain bands can remind you of so many others within seconds, yet still sound unique and invigorating. Electrelane is a female quartet from Brighton, England, playing jangly guitar-rock rooted in post-punk with flourishes of Stereolab and The Pretenders. The spooky organ bits subtlely […]

[Read more →]

The Cure Join The Dots: B-sides And Rarities, 1978-2001 The Fiction Years Elektra By: Eric Greenwood Box sets are always indulgent and scary prospects, as few bands have enough good material to sustain multiple discs much less the four that The Cure covers here with every one of its b-sides and rarities in chronological order, […]

[Read more →]

The Cure Join The Dots: B-sides And Rarities, 1978-2001 The Fiction Years Elektra By: Eric Greenwood Box sets are always indulgent and scary prospects, as few bands have enough good material to sustain multiple discs much less the four that The Cure covers here with every one of its b-sides and rarities in chronological order, […]

[Read more →]

Ryan Adams Rock N Roll Lost Highway By: Eric Greenwood Hating Ryan Adams is just way too easy, so I decided to try to like him. His embarrassingly impetuous, tabloid-mongering behavior makes him seem like a talentless hack, even though, admittedly, I'd never given his music much of a chance. I'd heard some Whiskeytown and […]

[Read more →]