1331. Flaming Lips - Embryonic

A return to form - a return to structureless pop - a return to experimenting and ultimately a return to critical and fan acclaim. Easily one of the best releases last year...

8.9 out of 10

1330. Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics

In the early 2000's the Lips were at the height of their popularity. Yoshimi had given them radio play and critical appreciation, something they had never got both at the same time. I guess the pressure was on to follow it up with an album that would be as equally successful commercially as the previous. At War is half good, and half bad. The bad contains weak attempts at crafting pop nuggets as poetic as Do you Realize - keep in mind this is the flaming lips, so I would never assume that they literally sat down wanting to make a carbon copy - but they did seem to want to follow a familiar path. The other half that's good veers away from that path with genuine Lips songs that take you from the insanely mundane to the mundanely insane. or something like that.

7 out of 10

1329. Chad Vangaalen - Soft Airplane

I really like this guy. Why? Because he sits in his room all by himself and makes up all this crazy shit. Sometimes I feel like my entire life should be like that - 24/7, sitting with my own thoughts making weird shit with all my little projects. He's an inspiration and his music is pretty great too.

8.2 out of 10

1328. The Go! Team - Proof Of Youth

I got this because I did enjoy the first Go Team cd and this follow up was released on Sub Pop. The first release managed to avoid sounding cliche - but this collage of a second cd often sounds just too familiar - a shame, but it still is a strong effort.

7.2 out of 10

1327. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

I must admit I thought these guys were all hype and no substance mainly because of all the dumb kids who were dancing to 'kids', but having revisited this disc and enjoyed the latest release These guys are shaping up to be quiet geniuses who may be responsible for some of the most exciting music to come out of this country for years to come.

7.5 out of 10

1326. Beck - Modern Guilt

Another classic by Beck. He puts down the drum machine for a bit and picks up his guitar and makes his most rock based record since Odelay - Danger Mouse's production allows it to still have that digitized, processed vibe which works perfectly with the mood of the record - a mood that is reserved yet somewhat funkified - like tapping your feet while sitting at your desk.

8.1 out of 10

1325. Beck - The Information

It bears repeating: I love Beck. The man is a genius of tremendous scale. The artwork, concept and execution of this disc is great. Classic.

8.4 out of 10

1324. Archer Prewitt - Gerroa Songs

This was the only Prewitt disc that iluded me and I finally did find it. When I heard it I was somewhat surprised. Archer's music to me always had a harp like quality to it and was uplifting and sad at the same time. Gerroa Songs has a haunting quality to it - you can hear the room it was recorded in, the atmosphere on each song is dense and thick.

7.3 out of 10

1323. Black Francis - Svn Fngrs

I'm not sure what inspired this little ep, but what inspired me to get it was Meadow's playing me "Garbage Heap", an exercise in control, played perfectly by Frank Black. The rest of the seven tracks are as loose as you'd expect and have a slight darker tone to them. Good stuff.

7.5 out of 10

1322. Black Francis - Bluefinger

This disc marries the Pixies sound with Frank's rockabilly stuff with the Catholics into one fine mess. There are the classic Pixie like mechanics in 'Threshold Apprehension' and the quieter more contemplative country roll in 'Bluefinger'.

7.4 out of 10

1321. Frank Black - Frank Black

Frank Black is a genius. He's also such a prolific artist it's hard to keep track of all of his releases. It's funny how no matter how many times you hear a Frank Black song or a Breeders song they never come close to matching the intensity and brilliance of a Pixies song. But this solo debut is fun and is filled with moments that are very reminiscent of Bossanova.

7.9 out of 10