Long Over Due Reviews

ONE-SENTENCE REVIEWS:

The Black Keys - Brothers

Rating: 83/100

Enjoyable from start to finish, Brothers is the Black Keys doing work.

High Point Tracks: "Next Girl", "Tighten Up", "Sinister Kid"

Drake - Thank Me Later

Rating: 71/100

After the incredible So Far Gone mixtape and a handful of promising singles, Drake delivers a somewhat disappointing major label debut that reveals the young rappers fatal flaw: he just doesn't have much to say.

High Point Tracks: "Over", "Up All Night ft. Nicki Minaj"

Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (II)

Rating: 80/100

While somewhat repetitive and noisy, a healthy number of strange and satisfying tracks redeem Crystal Castles' self titled sophomore album.

High Point Tracks: "Baptism", "Suffocation", "Not In Love"

Sleigh Bells - Treats

Rating: 94/100

Treats is unabashedly loud, inventive, fun and easily one of the best albums of the year.

High Point Tracks: "Kids", Infinity Guitars", "Rill Rill", "Crown On The Ground"

Eminem - Recovery

Rating: 84/100

Relapse was only ok; Recovery is much better.

High Point Tracks: "Won't Back Down ft. P!nk", "No Love ft. Lil Wayne", "Almost Famous" "Havoc"

Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

Rating: 89/100

Big Boi's hip-hop epic is fresh and flawlessly executed.

High Point Tracks: "Daddy Fat Sax", "Shutterbug", "Fo Yo Sorrows", "Shine Blockas"

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Rating: 98/100

The Suburbs is another remarkable release from one of the best bands of the past decade; I believe there is no stopping them now.

High Point Tracks: "Half Light II (No Celebration)", "We Used To Wait", "Month of May", "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"

Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP

Rating: 83/100

The title track which is more than 11 minutes long makes two appearances on the EP and they're both different, and uniquely enjoyable in a way only Sufjan Stevens can deliver; as is everything else in between.

High Point Tracks: "All Delighted People (Original Version)", "Enchanting Ghost", "Djohariah"

M.I.A. - Maya

Rating: 73/100

The chaotic splashes of noise and sound effects over deeply effected pop melodies sometimes seem more like a schtick than an artistic choice here, however they still seem work for her most of the time.

High Point Tracks: "Steppin Up", "XXO", "Meds and Feds"

I have a few more to do. Stay tuned.

I've Got Good News and Bad News...

Space Rabbits. I never thought I'd live to see the day.

The good news is that brilliant indie singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens is releasing an album on October 6. Yaaaaay!! It's been over four years since good ol' Suf-Jan introduced the latest installment in his mythical '50 States Project'. The plan was epic: record an album representing each of this here countries 50 states, beginning with the 2003 release Greetings From Michigan and (as it would seem) ending in 2005 with Come On Feel The Illinoise! That was pretty much the last we'd heard of The Project, though the past few years haven't been entirely devoid of new releases; both The Avalanche - Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album (2006) and Songs For Christmas box set had plenty of quality material. But lets be real B-Sides and Christmas albums ain't jack shit compared to a real-life-honest-to-god-new-full-length-LP.

This brings me to the bad news: the album Stevens is releasing this fall is not a real-life-honest-to-god-new-full-length-LP. It's called Run Rabbit Run and it is a string quartet retelling of Stevens' 2001 release Enjoy Your Rabbit. It ought to be interesting, if nothing else. Its interesting to note that the idea was originallly concieve by Bryce Dessner, guitarist of The National. For more info and historical context for Run Rabbit Run check this out. Hopefully, October 6 gets here fast, so that way a Sufjan can release a 'real' new album already.

Sufjan Stevens Gets Hip-Hopped

The NYC hip-hop duo Metermaids has transformed Sufjan Steven's brilliant Illinoise album into a hip-hop album titled Nightlife In Illinoise. From what I've listened to it's pretty interesting. They are clearly striving for Grey Album status, but it's not that good (but what is?). If you appreciated the sweeping beauty of the Sufjan Stevens and have an appreciation for hip-hop, it might be worth your while. You can download individual tracks or the entire album here.