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- Nneka - Concrete Jungle
Artist: Nneka Review: "What is life without knowing that death comes?" asks the Nigerian-German singer-songwriter Nneka Egbuna in "Mind vs. Heart." If you're going to wax philosophical on a pop record, you better be able to back it up with gravitas and some great music. Luckily, Nneka has plenty of both. She has a husky, supple voice and is equally adept at blasting out guitar anthems ("Focus") and sauntering through neosoul rave-ups. She's clearly listened to Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, but the production on Concre... Rating: 3.5 Stars - Hot Chip - One Life Stand
Artist: Hot Chip Review: The best song on this U.K. electro-pop group's 2008 disc Made in the Dark was an ode to disco abandon called "Ready for the Floor." The best one here is a marriage proposal called "One Life Stand." Hot Chip's excellent fourth record shows how compatible those sentiments can be. Frontman Alexis Taylor, a new dad, hungers for commitment and ponders the big picture over sweeping songs that set searching Yaz-like synth melodies to elegiac house throb. The Chipsters lace their songs with references... Rating: 3.5 Stars - Sade - Soldier of Love
Artist: Sade Review: Sade has a lot in common with AC/DC. Both have spent long and glorious careers refining their signature sound, to the point where it's basically one song with different titles. They wait years between records, then deliver the same album they made last time — which means it's unimpeachably excellent. Neither gets caught doing anything stupid like trying a new hairstyle or making a Balearic dubstep record. They stick to their strengths. And they both sing about the tender emotions, from Sad... Rating: 3.5 Stars - Gil Scott-Heron - I?m New Here
Artist: Gil Scott-Heron Review: "Standing in the ruins of another black man's life," intones Gil Scott-Heron over muted electro beats on "Your Soul and Mine," his baritone ravaged but unmistakable. The lines must resonate for the veteran singer, activist and proto-rapper, who has spent the past decade in and out of prison on drug charges. This comeback abandons his signature soul jazz: There's a lone acoustic guitar on the title track, a Smog cover; noir strings and electronics à la Thom Yorke's The Eraser elsewhere. It's... Rating: 3 Stars - Yeasayer - Odd Blood
Artist: Yeasayer Review: Like their Brooklyn neighbors Dirty Projectors and Animal Collective, Yeasayer are pioneers of a scene that refuses to choose between a sense of experimental adventure and pure pop pleasure. It's a balance they're perfecting as they grow older: On their 2007 debut, they were freak-folkies with a knack for creating hot Eastern-flavored grooves (check out the hallucinatory video for "Wait for the Summer"). On their follow-up, they dive deeper into electronics and big Eighties beats (literally: The... Rating: 4 Stars - The Soft Pack - The Soft Pack
Artist: The Soft Pack Review: These San Diego garage rockers got some heat for originally calling themselves the Muslims, but such risky judgment does not extend to their taste in used noise. The Soft Pack are revivalists who keep it interesting by messing around in the margins. "More or Less" and "Flammable" connect Feelies trance-strum to leather-jacket Sixties stomp, "Mexico" revives Lee Hazlewood as a surf-rock nomad, "Parasites" extends a two-minute guitar blitz into five minutes of zoned-out sprawl (and it's all the... Rating: 3 Stars