René Spencer Saller

Bettie ServeertAttagirl (Minty Fresh) Indie rock, like most cultural enterprises, is not a meritocracy. Consider Bettie Serveert, the Amsterdam-based outfit fronted by Canadian expat Carol van Dyk. Thirteen years ago, the group ruled the college-radio playlists enchanted critics with debut full-length Palomine, and toured with all the major dudes of the day. Thanks in large […]

John LegendGet Lifted Getting Out Our Dreams/Sony As a producer, rapper, and talent scout, Kanye West effected a kind of hip-hop hegemony in 2004, gobbling up all the industry awards and A-list collaborators, cranking out radio hits like the next Neptunes, and generally imposing his will on a public that was all too ready to […]

Marianne Faithfull has led a larger-than-life life, neatly divisible into iconic phases: aristocratic ingenue, folk/pop princess, Stones consort, street junkie, comeback queen. In the beginning she sang like a convent girl, a gorgeous teen with a gorgeous soprano, as sharp and bright as an icicle. In the famous words of Stones impresario Andrew Loog Oldham, […]

Various ArtistsSunday Nights: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough (Fat Possum) Few album concepts are as unappealing as a bunch of irony-fortified, eccentrically coifed white rockers “paying tribute” to a rural bluesman. No matter how well-intentioned, such endeavors usually come off as condescending. (“Hey, kids! You probably think all music sucked before the Pixies, but we’re […]

Styrofoam Nothing’s Lost (Morr Music) Guitars and computers have been cohabitating peacefully and profitably for years now. First there was New Order, then there was Radiohead, then there were a whole slew of Volkswagen ads: Like peanut butter and chocolate, Les Pauls and laptops are two great tastes that taste great together. If you’re looking […]

Richard BucknerDents and Shells (Merge) A former acquaintance of mine — pretty, intelligent, seemingly sane, and legally married — used to be obsessed with Richard Buckner. She claimed that they were in a serious secret relationship, that he’d already immortalized her in a well-known song lyric. Every time he passed through town, which was often […]

Beans Shock City Maverick (Warp) Two years after the demise of his trio Antipop Consortium, hip-hop iconoclast Beans is keeping busy. In 2003, the New York-based MC and producer released his first solo album, Tomorrow Right Now, and an EP, Now, Soon, Someday. In late 2004, after attention-getting stints touring with such underground-rock hotshots as […]

Bettye Swann Bettye Swann Honest Jon’s/Astralwerks You’ve probably never heard of Bettye Swann, which is sad for many reasons; on the bright side, though, it means you’re in for a treat. Thanks to the UK label Honest Jon’s, which specializes in resurrecting neglected treasures from soul’s golden age, 22 revelatory tracks from Swann’s too-brief career […]

Le TigreThis Island (Strummer/Universal) After two full-lengths and a couple of EPs on the now-defunct indie label Mr. Lady, Le Tigre has apparently tired of preaching to the choir. Predictably, many longtime fans of the New York-based electropunk trio are crying sell-out; aside from the fact that This Island is on Universal, the biggest, baddest […]

Rufus Wainwright Want Two (Geffen) What’s the term for a male diva? Divo? Heva? There may not be a word for Rufus Wainwright, but there should be. After all, he’s hardly the first boy singer to flaunt a great big voice, a flamboyant personality, and outrageous ambition; Scott Walker and Jeff Buckley, among others, proved […]

Eminem Encore (Aftermath/Interscope) If you’re curious about how Eminem’s art has evolved during the two-and-a-half years since his last full-length, The Eminem Show, the Encore cover andbooklet tell you everything you need to know. On a fancy stage, in front of a sumptuous velvet curtain, hip-hop’s Elvis takes a graceful bow while hiding a revolver […]

Chicks on Speed 99 Cents (Chicks on Speed Records) The shopping season is upon us, a grim reminder that ours is a fat, frivolous, reckless nation, drunk on debt and self-destruction. Still, even Adbusters subscribers and anarchists deserve Christmas presents, and it’s a safe bet that they won’t recoil in horror to find 99 Cents, […]