Going for immediate and real, Young ends up with a disc that resembles a tentative early demo for what could have been a decent (albeit strange) Crazy Horse album.

The hooks are in short supply, and the production, as on "Flashover," overstuffed and claustrophobic. That cat photo almost saves the day, but not quite.

Yes, it is Christopher Bridges’s best work (relatively) but ultimately, he might not be capable of a Whut?! Thee Album-level classic. Top track: I Do It For Hip Hop, co-starring Nas and Jay-Z NOW | November 26-December 3, 2008 | VOL 28 NO 13 Go to Music Post a comment : All comments are reviewed.

TPC keep their songs taut and mostly under three minutes, so Elephant Shell whips by in a charging whirl of indie rock urgency but skips on substance.

TNV’s latest rises above previous efforts thanks to anthemic No Time, No Hope, which might jog memories of a barely coherent Lou Reed.

Recorded in various New York studios, it has a live, intimate feel despite its overdubs.

Sadly, this is a posthumous offering that sounds half-finished and, considering they must have known this would be their final statement, like a missed opportunity.

It's not exactly a fun listen, but fans will eat it up.

Move Like This doesn't so much rebuild the Cars' old engine as take the classic model for a cruise in the country.

At times the album feels just a bit too airy, but it finds its footing when Jessie Stein's ghostly falsetto blends with the band's unique orchestral-psychedelic instrumentation more directly.

The more aggressive bangers are effective, though Bieber gets eclipsed by everything else going on in the tracks.

There's still space for reliable 'Driver fare: paranoid, vocab-intensive rhymes, self-deprecation and absurd imagery woven into a frayed lyrical tapestry that begs to be unravelled.

As endearing as Jorge Garcia's face is, shining warmly from the cover of Weezer's eighth release, the timely pop reference to a Lost character is the perfect symbol for a band on a continued downward spiral into meme-based gimmickry and music with zero staying power.

The novelty of it all has quickly worn thin.

The more introspective moments show songwriting potential that's worth getting excited about, but at times the disc coasts along too comfortably to be truly remarkable.

The album is surprisingly full of acoustic sounds and wistful balladry reminiscent of her 90s material, but it also plugs into a load of dark, restless and weird club rhythms with help from a coterie of in-demand producers.

Throwback factor aside, there is a lot of shameless fun on offer, though little imagination. But what they lack in originality they make up for in hooks and enthusiasm.

Chasing Yesterday breaks no new ground but does show more range than we normally expect from Noel Gallagher, possibly a result of his taking on production duties this time.

A tighter track list homing in on its sombre (and stoner) moods would’ve been bolder, but to his credit Ross avoids commercial trendiness in favour of more personal--if familiar--forays into Philly soul, funk, 90s hip-hop and South Beach glam.

With Subtitulo, Josh Rouse may just prove to be the missing link between Jack Johnson and Conor Oberst.

It’s ambitious for a debut, and for the most part Miranda is able to keep up.

Though the songs here are so much crisper and more exciting, they don't sacrifice the easygoing looseness of Apostle's Folkloric Feel debut.

The contrast between the adrenaline rushes and nihilistic machismo and the score’s cold serenity is strangely intoxicating.

It might have fewer surprises and off-kilter oddities than we’d hoped for, but it definitely won’t kill your buzz.

As accessible as most of it is, though, the band can’t seem to resist throwing strange electronic sounds and off-kilter ideas into the mix, which helps offset some of their blander tendencies.

The result is a very quiet record (possibly reflecting her admittedly timid nature--stage fright was once a big problem for her), but one that rewards a close listen.

At first, the minimalist acoustic guitar and Canning’s murmured vocals sound almost nonchalant, but his deft playing and nuanced arrangements elevate tracks like However Long and Bullied Days.

Building on the connections between slow hip-hop rhythms and double-time footwork beats, Archives is a further exploration of some of its predecessor’s roughly sketched-out ideas.