Music

1. 

   1. King Khan & the Shrines: What Is?!

   Originally released in 2007 in Germany only, What Is?! finds the unstoppable (then and now) King Khan leading his charges through his now-patented brand of soulful, high-voltage garage and blues, w...read more

2. 

   2. Thee Oh Sees: Help

   Thee Oh Sees on In the Red: In this age of suffering and unenlightenment, finally, something just plain makes sense. John Dwyer & Co.‘s latest follows in the style of their lastest, ??The...read more

3. 

   3. Ty Segall: Lemons

   Viewing the second album by the young San Franciscan Ty Segall as merely a part of some non-trend, say the new wave of lo-fi garage-scuzz, does a disservice to him, you, me, and Don Van Vliet. Sega...read more

4. 

   4. Ty Segall: Melted

   Ty Segall is shaping up to be one of those fractured-genius sorta rockers, in the style of his buddy Johnny Dwyer (of the Oh Sees). After dropping a debut slice of garage-brilliance, Lemons, last y...read more

5. 

   5. Sic Alps: Napa Asylum

   Lazy, trippy and full of all-right-now kinda energy, Sic Alps slack their way back into our basement hearts with the acid sprawl of Napa Asylum, a 22-song album that clocks in at 47 minutes. Meanin...read more

6. 

   6. The Dirtbombs: Party Store

   What people don't know about the Dirtbombs' frontman/big brain/baddest mutha Mick Collins is that he is a freakin' wildman. This band will be forever confined to the garage-rock ghetto, but a surve...read more

7. 

   7. Vivian Girls: Share the Joy

   Three albums in and the Vivian Girls continue to remind us why they're the ones to beat when it comes to fuzzed-out garage pop. The songs on Share the Joy always have memorable melodies shining t...read more

8. 

   8. Thee Oh Sees: Castlemania

   Wait a minute, something is wrong here. Garage bands are not supposed to evolve. They are supposed to release album after album of simple guitar chords, tight drumming and hooks, hooks, hooks. That...read more

9. 

   9. Reatards: Teenage Hate

   For those of us who don't live in Memphis, this is a very necessary reissue: the first album by then-teenage Jay Reatard and his band Reatards, with two subsequent cassette releases tacked on to ma...read more

10. 

    10. Black Lips: Arabia Mountain

    Count me among those who thought Atlanta's Black Lips had sort of outlived their usefulness a few years ago. And now, count me among those who were wrong: Arabia Mountain is what we call in the mus...read more

11. 

    11. Ty Segall: Goodbye Bread

    Ty Segall's weird and we dig it. His debut for Drag City is a killer rock record—just not the one we thought he was gonna make. In his past work for the Goner label (and others), Segall has shown a...read more

12. 

    12. Unknown Mortal Orchestra: s/t

    Here's one to slot into your hypnagogic-pop shelf -- not too close to Ariel Pink but, you know (between P and U, I suppose). Unknown Mortal Orchestra began as a sort-of studio project based around ...read more

13. 

    13. Jeff the Brotherhood: We Are the Champions

    Rock fans, you cannot front on Jeff the Brotherhood. Yes, these two dudes are brothers (not "bros"); no, neither of them are named Jeff. But as rock duos are concerned, you'd be hard-pressed to fin...read more

14. 

    14. Group Doueh: Zayna Jumma

    It's a fantastic and disorienting time to be a fan of African music. While genius imprints like Analog Africa, Soundway and (now) Dust-to-Digital excavate the incredibly rich musical history of the...read more

15. 

    15. Ty Segall: Singles 2007-2010

    Um...whoa. What would you expect from this record's title? A bunch of good-to-great rock songs, sure, okay. So why does this assembled batch of singles come off like one of the best rock albums of ...read more

Tags: 70s , 80s , acid , african , anthemic , awesome , folk , fuzz , garage , girl-band , guitar , indie , jangle , pop , power-pop , psychedelic , punk , quirky , reissue , retro , rock , techno