Fiona Apple, Extraordinary Machine (Epic)
According to a New York Times interview with Apple, during her six-year hiatus she spent her time “[m]aking little pine-cone people with razor blades…. That’s all I did.” Apparently the pinecone folk were just part of her creative process, though, and helped Apple sort out her latest album Extraordinary Machine, her first since 1999’s When the Pawn…. Buy: Amazon | iTunes
Franz Ferdinand, You Could Have It So Much Better…With Franz Ferdinand (Domino/Epic)
Singer Alex Kapranos’ voice is a marvelous wide-eyed sneer, the perfect vehicle for expressing how wonderful he finds everything that bores him, like materialism (“This Boy”), passive-aggressive people (the title track), and you (“Walk Away”).
(read more).
Buy: Amazon | iTunes
Broken Social Scene, Broken Social Scene (Arts & Crafts)
If there’s an argument for the collective musical process, let it be Broken Social Scene’s third full-length and the bonus EP that comes with the first pressing. Together, these sprawling, unwieldy, frustrating, genre-snubbing constellations boast jazzy rock jams, slide-guitar-fed wank-offs, ambient squall, and even a paean to an indie-rock slacker mainstay. (read more).
Buy: Amazon | iTunes
Liz Phair, Somebody’s Miracle (Capitol)
Former fellatio princess gets on her knees…to pray. Last time Phair’s dirty-30s desire was too adult for the kiddies; this time, despite the jam-band filigree she’s added for distraction, her lyrics are too self-involved for mainstream sing-along.
Buy: Amazon | iTunes
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Compact Discs: Sound of the Future
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