Sufjan Stevens Branches Out With Age of Adz

One of music’s most inventive yet elusive artists breaks his five years of silence with a very unexpected sound.
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Folk Ensemble Impresses Extravaganza Attendees

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros lived up to their reputation, and brought their vintage, traveling folk band act to the stage in a most crowd-pleasing manner.
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They’ve Got It Together ***

The greatest challenge that comes with trying to praise The New Pornographers’ latest release is that the album may actually be the band’s best yet — something that is certainly a difficult thin...
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Gorillaz Gone Wild ****

A sure-fire way for an artist to build up anticipation is to release nothing but excellent music and to only release an album once every half-decade. This is exactly what the Gorillaz have done in ord...
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A Winning Round of Songs ****

One of the indie-folk world's most eccentric artists has released this year's most ambitious project to date. Joanna Newsom's latest release, Have One on Me, is an impressive three-disc effort that al...
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“Chip” Off the Old Block ****

A band that's put out a couple records and developed a solid fan base can usually take one of two seemingly contradictory paths -- consistency or musical evolution. Hot Chip's One Life Stand shows how...
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This Spoon Isn’t So Sharp **

Austin-based band Spoon has garnered a reputation for dependability, releasing solid album after solid album for the last 10 years or so. The band's last effort, 2007's bizarrely titled Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga...
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Weekend Delights Again ****

Despite the backlash from its much-hyped debut album, the NY-based Vampire Weekend avoids showing any signs of a sophomore slump with its latest album, Contra. The foursome of Ivy-Leaguers preserves t...
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Mountain Goats Explore New World ***

If you have trouble finding the new The Mountain Goats' album when it is released Tuesday, you might want to try and see if it was mistakenly stocked in the Christian music department. No, the trio ha...
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