RJD2 | Since We Last Spoke | Def Jux

May 27, 2004 by

RJD2's music has been dubbed "instrumental hip-hop" by the categorization-hungry music press, and it's a classification that confuses some.
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Snow Patrol | Final Straw | A&M

May 13, 2004 by

Some vigilant observers of musical trends have expostulated that the field of indie rock lacks musical variety. Taking into consideration the striking similarities between many of the genre's current ...
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The Magnetic Fields | i | Nonesuch

May 6, 2004 by

After 69 Love Songs, the Magnetic Fields' three-disc 1999 epic, fans of singer/songwriter/instrumentalist/band mastermind Stephin Merritt could only have had one question floating in their minds: "Whe...
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Bowie Brings a Breath of Fresh Air

April 22, 2004 by

In today's troubled musical climate, one wonders how to escape the choking morass of teenage weltschmerz, slipshod technical ability and half-baked political dissent so prevalent in live shows.
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Blondie | The Curse of Blondie | Sanctuary

April 8, 2004 by

The life of a music critic has its ups and downs. Sometimes you’ve got to trudge through seemingly endless streams of dreck, but occasionally – just occasionally – you get to hear an...
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Franz Ferdinand | Franz Ferdinand | Domino

April 8, 2004 by

Every so often, a foreign band that's already been hyped to such a degree that many music fans are pre-convinced of its greatness comes across the water.
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The Cooper Temple Clause | Kick Up the Fire, and Let the Flames Break Loose | RCA

March 4, 2004 by

While listening to Kick Up the Fire, and Let the Flames Break Loose, the second album from British up-and-comers the Cooper Temple Clause, I couldn't help but adopt the persona of a desperate high sch...
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John Frusciante | Shadows Collide with People | Warner Brothers

February 26, 2004 by

I concede that, even before hearing Shadows Collide with People, the latest solo album from Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, preconceptions were formed.
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Kanye West | The College Dropout | Roc-a-Fella

February 19, 2004 by

Kanye West is alleged to be the next big thing in the realm of mainstream hip hop, and on this, his debut album, he's chomping at the bit to convince the world of his importance.
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Elbow | Cast of Thousands | V2

February 12, 2004 by

British rockers Elbow say they play "progressive rock without the solos." While the first half of that quote delighted me, the second half induced a wave of crushing disappointment.
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The Special Goodness | Land Air Sea | Epitaph

February 5, 2004 by

During Weezer's hiatus in the late 1990s, drummer Patrick Wilson's ennui motivated him to form the Special Goodness, a side-project featuring himself on vocals and guitar with Moth's Atom Willard drum...
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Kelis | Tasty | Star Trak

January 22, 2004 by

Brought to stardom by legendary production team the Neptunes, R&B singer-songwriter Kelis Rogers is back with Tasty, her third and most elaborate album to date.
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The Darkness | Permission to Land | Atlantic

January 8, 2004 by

Having already made a sizable dent in the U.K. charts, 1970s-influenced hard-rockers the Darkness have brought their product stateside, and what an in-your-face product it is.
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