 | Imperial Wax Solvent by The Fall
Buy new: $32.99 / Used from: $5.98 I take it back. This probably isn't ever going to be a favorite of mine, but it's better than a lot of other stuff this year. I'm just glad odd rock albums are still being made by someone. 7.5/10
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 | Accelerate by R.E.M.
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $1.97 Whiners stop whining! R.E.M. are past their best work, but this is a solid album and more than I expected after ATS. 7/10
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 | Stainless Style by Neon Neon
Buy new: $12.99 / Used from: $3.21 Basically 80s synth pop and rap music. Good not great. 6.5/10
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 | Volume One by She & Him
Buy new: $14.49 / Used from: $10.26 The first two songs are terrible, but it picks up on track 3. Ultimately it's like this though: okay, I see you're making old-timey music, yeah, and that's cool for awhile, but after awhile it's just not that cool. Kinda unrelated/related: I used to have a crush on Zooey until I watched an episode of Tin Man. Her sometimes annoying voice here doesn't help either. 5/10
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 | The Bedlam in Goliath by The Mars Volta
Buy new: $13.98 / Used from: $4.89 I forgot this one came out this year. It's very much Mars Volta by numbers and I can't seem to care about Mars Volta by numbers. I'm tired with TMV's sound and they need to change it up. Not horrible, but their weakest release indeed. Maybe they're just not as talented as I suspected when I was a teen? It's possible. 5/10
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 | Mountain Battles by The Breeders
Buy new: $14.98 / Used from: $6.20 All their records, except Last Splash, sound practically the same to me. Kim Deal still has a great voice, but that's only half the equation. 4.5/10
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 | There Will Be Blood
Buy new: $18.98 / Used from: $5.49 A completely orchestral soundtrack, not what I expected after Bodysong. It's still got that Greenweird flavor though. Pretty solid. The movie is probably pretty awesome too and the music probably works better in its context. 7/10
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 | Hey Venus! by Super Furry Animals
Buy new: $14.98 / Used from: $8.26 This band is always a breath of fresh air, even if this is their weakest one for awhile. Still better than a lot of stuff. For those that do not know, SFA are a Beatles-esque band that experiment with their sound (except on this one; it's pretty straight-forward). 7/10
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 | Do You Like Rock Music? by British Sea Power
Buy new: $14.98 / Used from: $3.20 Yeah, I probably don't have the right to judge this because I listened to two tracks and turned it off. The title just makes me think "I used to." 2/10
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 | Oracular Spectacular by MGMT
Buy new: $9.96 / Used from: $5.50 I'm not into any of this indie hip dance junk but then I'm not into any mainstream music either (who is anymore? besides almost-morons). Where's the new music for me? It's somewhat scarce I guess. 4/10
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 | Distortion by Magnetic Fields
Buy new: $16.98 / Used from: $2.86 Everything I've heard before this by them has been decidedly gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that (harhar), it just doesn't really appeal to me in music form (I don't care what you say about Elton or Bowie, they made some great ungay albums). Now they kinda want to be rock stars for some reason. But it's pretty decent, really. 7/10
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 | Rip It Off by Times New Viking
Buy new: $13.98 / Used from: $7.64 Mostly catchy 2 minute pop-punk songs that are intentionally recorded lo-fi, I assume, to sound "old-school." Blame Jesus and Mary Chain for accidentally broken amps or Pavement for incidentally having crappy recording equipment. 5/10
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 | Svn Fngrs by Frank Black
Buy new: $9.98 / Used from: $4.87 Bluefinger was weak but promising and this proves that he can still write the tunes. It's an EP though; come on Frank, you should have given it a few more months and made it into an album. 6/10
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 | In the Future by Black Mountain
Buy new: $14.98 / Used from: $4.44 Ummm... amazing? Yeah, I'd say so. Finally, a worthwhile new prog-rock album with the emphasis on "rock." 8.5/10
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 | Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $7.91 Okay, this is pretty good, but I'm not getting all the strange descriptors like "afro-beat" etc. It sounds like the Kinks at their prime. That's it. 7.5/10
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 | Made In the Dark by Hot Chip
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $5.36 Just... bad. 2/10
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 | Third by Portishead
Buy new: $12.99 / Used from: $5.49 Just... GOOD. 8.5/10
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 | Saturdays=Youth by M83
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $6.49 Not having been a huge fan of the past "bombast" albums, I was glad to see this is just a solid pop record. 7/10
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 | Tanglewood Numbers by Silver Jews
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $4.25 My friend suggested the new one to me saying Berman was the best lyricist in the past 20 years. When you've got to hype things like that it is proof that indie fans do sometimes ruin the genre for the rest of us. So after I listen to it, the lyrics are pretty good, and the music is interesting. He's no freakin' Zimmerman though. 6.5/10
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 | Witching Hour by Ladytron
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $7.43 Velicofero isn't listed yet, but this review is for it. It's a solid album with a more shoegaze-sound to it. However it's hard to recommend because there are zero moments that make me go "this is the best music ever" like a couple of moments on every other past release. 6.5/10
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 | Weezer (Blue Album) by Weezer
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $2.14 This is for the Red Album. Anyway, Weezer has been on a downward spiral ever since the reaction to Pinkerton got Rivers all unhealthily alienated. And I'm pretty sure they've finally reached the point where it goes back around. The Red Album is so bad it's good. -10/10
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 | Loveless by My Bloody Valentine
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $3.24 They might put something out this year, isn't that exciting. I don't really like Loveless much, and a weak Loveless doesn't sound much more appealing. We'll see though won't we.
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 | Playing the Angel by Depeche Mode
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $2.24 They're apparently working on something; due late 08 or early 09.
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 | Aerial by Kate Bush
Buy new: $15.98 / Used from: $7.35 She is supposed to be working on something new too. Yay.
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