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Monday, May 26,2008
Van Morrison
Keep It Simple (Lost Highway)
Van Morrison's explorations into Americana continue on Keep It Simple, a follow-up to the jazzy What's Wrong With This Picture? and, more recently, the country escapades of Pay the Devil. And with residual elements of each—the B-3 organ of the former, the dobro twang of the latter—Morrison adds a Ray Charles-esque . . .
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Monday, May 26,2008
Santa
My Bones
The second EP from Champaign, Ill.’s Santa solidifies and tweaks the band’s brand of infectious, psychedelic indie-pop. Throughout the six songs, Santa shows a distinctive sound while allowing room to experiment with song structure and textures . . .
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Monday, May 26,2008
Elvis Costello
Momofuku (Lost Highway)
Roseanne Cash and Loretta Lynn co-wrote a couple of songs with Elvis Costello on Momofuku, but Costello’s new album isn’t Americana or alt country. If anything, it explores another foundational influence for one of Britain’s great songwriters of the past 30 years: ’60s rock. Although there are specific echoes . . .
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Monday, May 26,2008
Boy Dirt Car
Spoken Answer to a Silent Question (Aftermusic)
Milwaukee's Boy Dirt Car (BDC), among the elite of American industrial bands in the 1980s, returns for the group’s first studio recording in about 20 years. Where once they engaged in metallic, percussive excursions, the mood has changed. Drones, throbs and the sounds of various modes of transportation dominate . . .
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Tuesday, May 20,2008
Goldfrapp
Seventh Tree (Mute)
On their last two albums, 2003's Black Cherry and 2005's Supernature, the duo of Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory—known together under her surname—achieved the uncommon feat of making dance music that didn't require its listeners to stop thinking. Their latest, Seventh Tree, keeps the musical intelligence, but . . .
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Tuesday, May 20,2008
Steve Wynn
Crossing Dragon Bridge (Blue Rose Records)
The title of Crossing Dragon Bridge was inspired by the landmark that Steve Wynn regularly traversed during a recent three-week stay in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where the founder of ’80s alternative-rock pioneers The Dream Syndicate recorded his first solo album since 2001.
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Tuesday, May 20,2008
Barb & Tom Webber
Only Way Home (Fair Webber)
Milwaukee's Barb and Tom Webber describe their third disc as "roots/Americana/folk," but that may actually be selling them a tad short. Yes, Tom has a craggy baritone that suggests the lost brother of Jim Post or John Prine, and chief songwriter Barb sounds like she could have come from a family that includes Joan . . .
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Tuesday, May 20,2008
Ilya Monosov
Seven Lucky Plays, Or How to Fix Songs For a Broken Heart (Langu
His bio maintains that Ilya Monosov was shaped by dissident Russian culture in the late Soviet period and that this influence can be discerned in his music and English-language lyrics. Collaborating with members of the acoustic, medieval psychedelic group Fern Knight, he has shaped a moody album sung in a . . .
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Monday, May 12,2008
The Replacements
Deluxe Reissues (Twin/Tone/Ryko/Rhino)
OK, so The Replacements hung around for an album too long (maybe even two albums), but their arc is the stuff of legend with good reason. Gather ’round, children, and you will hear stories of the early ’80s, when “alternative” music was still called “college radio” and good old punk rock was still relevant. Well, kinda . . .
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Monday, May 12,2008
Dosh
Wolves and Wishes (Anticon)
Dosh is a prodigiously talented pianist and multi-instrumentalist who crosses many borders with his music. His latest album, featuring violinist Andrew Bird, blends Terry Riley minimalism with rock on “Don’t Wait for the Needle to Drop,” rolling African rhythms with Krautrock on “Bury the Ghost” and generally goes . . .
Read more...Elections 2008
Obama seeks greater rein on financial institutions
(AP)
AP - President Barack Obama says he wants Congress to pass legislation giving the government greater regulatory authority over financial institutions like American International Group.
Sources: Pentagon to stop forced tour extension
(AP)
AP - The Army will substantially reduce use of the unpopular practice of holding troops beyond their enlistment dates and will pay $500 to those still forced to stay in the service, defense and congressional officials said Wednesday.
AIG head shares US anger of bonuses but backs them
(AP)
AP - The chief executive officer of failed insurance conglomerate AIG acknowledged Wednesday that the company's multimillion-dollar bonuses were "distasteful" to many and had provoked a firestorm of wrath. "I share that anger," Edward Liddy, chairman and CEO of the American International Group Inc., said in testimony prepared for Congress.
Analysis: White House, Dems backpedaling on AIG
(AP)
AP - For the first time since last fall's election, Democrats and the Obama administration are backpedaling furiously on an issue easily understood by financially strapped taxpayers: $165 million in bonuses paid out at bailed-out AIG.
Pence: Return AIG donations
(Politico)
Politico - House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence is urging politicians from both parties to strongly consider returning campaign contributions from AIG.
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Top Stories
AIG head shares US anger of bonuses but backs them
(AP)
AP - The chief executive officer of failed insurance conglomerate AIG acknowledged Wednesday that the company's multimillion-dollar bonuses were "distasteful" to many and had provoked a firestorm of wrath. "I share that anger," Edward Liddy, chairman and CEO of the American International Group Inc., said in testimony prepared for Congress.
Obama seeks greater rein on financial institutions
(AP)
AP - President Barack Obama says he wants Congress to pass legislation giving the government greater regulatory authority over financial institutions like American International Group.
Consumer prices rise by largest amount in 7 months
(AP)
AP - Consumer prices rose in February by the largest amount in seven months as gasoline prices surged again and clothing costs jumped the most in nearly two decades.
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