earwax


Hi-Five/Low-Five

 

High-Five

Common
One Day It'll All Make Sense (Relativity)

Breezy 'n' bumpin' rap with a soulful beat and a bevy of guest stars including Lauryn Hill (of The Fugees), De La Soul, Erykah Badu and Tariq (of The Roots).

 

Ivy
Apartment Life (Atlantic)

Head-bopping strummy pop that updates the '60s Brill Building sound by way of The Primitives. Get out your hairbrush and get ready to sing along.

 

Liquid Liquid
Liquid Liquid (Grand Royal)

A collection of seminal recordings from the rhythm-driven New York no-wave group that inspired the sound of Grandmaster Flash's hit "White Lines." If there's such a thing as "art funk" this is it.

 

Moviola
Glen Echo Autoharp (Spirit of Orr Records)

Raucous and dreamy indie rock that layers pining harmonies atop screechy and sloppy guitar parts. It'll bring you back to the golden era of early-'90s lo-fi.

 

X-ecutioners
X-pressions (Asphodel)

This group of hip-hop DJs sets a new standard for scratching - to say they've got madd skillz on the steel wheels is an understatement.

 

 

 

Lo-Five

Asia
Live in Nottingham (Blueprint)

Yes, that infamous 1990 recording of Asia live in England is finally available again. There is, um, a God.

 

Audio Adrenaline
Some Kind of Zombie (Forefront)

Audio Adrenaline? Chuh, more like Sonic Sewage.

 

Enya
Paint The Sky With Stars - The Best of Enya (Reprise)

"The Best of Enya" - oxymoron of the month.

 

Celine Dion
Let's Talk About Love (550)

Let's talk about schlocky, overproduced torch songs.

 

Duran Duran
Medazzaland (Capitol)

All right, Duran Duran's recent album of cover songs, Thank You, already proved they'd run out of original ideas. Meddazzaland's third-rate disco just belabors the point.

- Neil Gladstone


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