Here’s a rundown of the best and worst albums available online and in record stores today:
Belle and Sebastian, Write About Love
Belle Époque: Famed chroniclers of that awkward stage stay classy
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Die Antwoord, $O$
So zef and so unclean, Cape Town kooks go global
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The Postelles, The Postelles
Natty NYC networkers give Britpop a soulful jolt
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Compact Discs: Sound of the Future
The Secret Sisters, Silver Threads and Golden Needles
White Stripe ably mentors would-be young Lorettas
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Yann Tiersen, Dust Lane
Moody folk transported by wall-of-sound grandeur
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Old 97’s, The Grand Theatre Volume One
Feisty y’allternative elders twang with a spiky kick
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The Orb vs. David Gilmour, Metallic Spheres
Little fluffy clouds on the dark side of the moon
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Working for a Nuclear Free City, Jojo Burger Tempest
Eclectic tricksters shuffle the deck, again and again
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Doug Paisley, Constant Companion
No relation to Brad, and the songs are twice as sad. Some things you say out loud, others you mutter under your breath.
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Gold Panda, Lucky Shiner
U.K. upstart’s beats flit from glitchy to glistening
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Antony and the Johnsons, Swanlights
Sexual Healing: Omnivorous auteur proudly put the trans in transcendent
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