Best New Music
Rating:
Malawian-born, London-based singer Esau Mwamwaya teams with the European production team Radioclit for a hugely eclectic mixtape that veers from South Africa's marabi and kwaito music to Hans Zimmer scores to French and American hip-hop to Michael Jackson. While strong collaborations with M.I.A., Santogold, and Vampire Weekend include some surprising left-turns, tracks that lean away from the familiar work even better.
Rating:
Microcastle and its bonus disc, Weird Era Cont., sidestep much of the art-damaged squall of previous Deerhunter records, but they don't embrace 1950s and 60s pop as dramatically as lead singer Bradford Cox had intimated in early interviews. Instead, this 2xCD set captures urgent and imaginative songs that reorganize 4AD haze, off-kilter indie pop, crashing garage-punk, forward-leaning krautrock, and hypnotic Kranky ambience into a singular-sounding call-to-arms, or at least call-to-guitars. Black Lips' Cole Alexander guests.
Most Read Record Reviews
- Portishead: Third
- M83: Saturdays=Youth
- Weezer: Weezer (The Red Album)
- Coldplay: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
- Scarlett Johansson: Anywhere I Lay My Head
- Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III
- Death Cab for Cutie: Narrow Stairs
- Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes
- No Age: Nouns
- Cut Copy: In Ghost Colours
- Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend
- Sigur Rós: Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
- Girl Talk: Feed the Animals
- Beck: Modern Guilt
- Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Lie Down in the Light
- My Morning Jacket : Evil Urges
- Flight of the Conchords: Flight of the Conchords
- Radiohead: The Best Of / The Best Of [Special Edition]
- Tapes 'n Tapes: Walk It Off
- Madonna: Hard Candy
- Wolf Parade: At Mount Zoomer
- Nine Inch Nails: The Slip
- Titus Andronicus: The Airing of Grievances
- Spiritualized: Songs in A&E;
- Sun Kil Moon / Mark Kozelek: April / Nights
- Air France: No Way Down EP
- Spoon: Don't You Evah EP
- The Roots: Rising Down
- Islands: Arm's Way
- The National: The Virginia EP
- Crystal Antlers: EP
- Muse: H.A.A.R.P.
- Animal Collective: Water Curses EP
- Fuck Buttons: Street Horrrsing
- N.E.R.D.: Seeing Sounds
- Boris: Smile
- The Last Shadow Puppets: The Age of the Understatement
- HEALTH: DISCO
- Santogold: Santogold
- Liz Phair: Exile in Guyville (15th Anniversary)
- The Replacements: Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash / Stink / Hootenanny / Let It Be
- Frightened Rabbit: Midnight Organ Fight
- The Cool Kids: The Bake Sale EP
- The Notwist: The Devil, You + Me
- Silver Jews: Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
- Atmosphere: When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
- The Kooks: Konk
- Mates of State: Re-Arrange Us
- Free Kitten: Inherit
- Tokyo Police Club: Elephant Shell