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Album Reviews
No Global Warming Here!
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 01, 2010

Icy cold vistas, shards of broken electronic glass, relentless thumping disco beats and possible mysteriously encrypted bits of dialogue may not sound like something that would be particularly inviting on a full range audio system, but somehow Fuck Buttons makes it so on this album of artificial mayhem and just plain noise.

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Album Reviews
The Original Al Kooper-Led Blood Sweat & Tears
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 01, 2010

The first Blood, Sweat and Tears group led by Al Kooper and including his former Blues Project bandmate Steve Katz, was the sophisticated assemblage that produced but one album. This one.

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Album Reviews
Nellie's Sweet Tribute to Doris Day
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 01, 2010

In the wake of Norah Jones’ smash debut Come Away With Me, Nellie McKay issued the Geoff Emerick produced double CD set Get Away From Me.

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Album Reviews
Mannered Musical Brilliance From Renaissance Man
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 01, 2010

Jim O’Rourke’s latest solo release, his first in nearly a decade, is a bold act in today’s dumbed down, sonically parched musical environment.

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Album Reviews
Legendary Stones Concert Gets Box Set Respect
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 01, 2010

Was this the greatest rock and roll concert recording ever as some suggest? Is it deserving of deluxe box set status? The producers of this ultra-sumptuous box obviously thought so!

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Album Reviews
Veteran Popsters Surf Melodic Wave
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 01, 2010

This album was issued back in 2008 but gets reviewed here because though the name Nada Surf has popped through my consciousness for years, I’d never heard them. I know, I can go online and listen and probably even steal all of their stuff for free but I’m not wired like that, so I actually went out and bought this album on vinyl without hearing a note.

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Album Reviews
Classic's "Little Train" Can!
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 01, 2010

Villa-Lobos’s folk-oddity “The Little Train of the Caipira” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2 is a delightful, evocative piece of music, as colorful as the cover artwork and a sonic spectacular guaranteed to delight even the most classical music-averse audiophiles.

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Album Reviews
Mo-Fi Gives The Cars Just What It Needed!
Michael Fremer  |  Feb 01, 2010

(Corrected version: Elliot Easton is still with us. Ben Orr, unfortunately, passed away in 2000. I mistakenly said "the late Elliot Easton" in the original review. My apologies!)

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Album Reviews
Exclusive Preview: Van Morrison's Legendary Astral Weeks on 180g Vinyl
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 01, 2010

Some analog recordings shouldn�t be allowed be reissued on any digital format. There should be a law! You want to hear, say, Van Morrison�s rococo, acoustic/folk jazz masterpiece Astral Weeks?

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Album Reviews
Capitol Delivers a Digital-Based Pet Sounds (REVISED REVIEW)
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 01, 2010

This is neither the time nor the place to extol the virtues of this classic album that has more than stood the test of time. You already know about it and perhaps own a copy or two. If you don't, then you can buy this new Capitol 180g reissue and be sure you have a competently produced, reasonably priced reissue, though clearly cut using a digital source that produces a record that's a thin, pale imitation when compared to earlier reissues.

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