[xrr rating=3.5/5]I’ve harbored a secret fantasy since the Walkmen went on hiatus. As the former members announced solo albums, I had a vision in my head: after the release of each (hopefully) stellar album, the Walkmen would announce a reunion tour, featuring songs from each member’s solo discography, and, like an indie-rock Voltron, it would combine into something stunning. The …

20. Cat Power Sun [Matador] Cat Power’s ninth studio album is filled with unexpected studio flourishes—overdubs, synthesizers, electronic beats—and yet retains all the lyric edge and raw, minor-key emotion that distinguish the best of her work. Sun has moments as introspective as anything in Chan Marshall’s catalog, notably the hangover ruminations of “3,6,9” or the understated rage of “Always on …

[xrr rating=4.5/5]The sounds of settling are sometimes monotonous and uninventive. Who wants to hear an aging indie rocker sing about putting the kids to bed or having a barbecue with the neighbors down the block? Indeed, rock ‘n’ roll has long been the domain of the young and the restless, those who grab life by the horns and dance recklessly …

Sky Blue Sky by Wilco (2007) Drugs help. When Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy went to rehab (no, no, no) in 2004, the band had just come off the masterful one-two punch of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002) and A Ghost Is Born (2004), two of the most experimental, sophisticated albums of the decade. Then after he cleaned up, they produced Sky …

Let’s start the year by looking back. Here are our favorite albums that didn’t make Spectrum Culture’s Top 20 of 2010. Each of us is happy to present a record that deserves more attention than it received. We hope you learn about something great. The Apples in Stereo Travellers in Space and Time [Yep Roc] When the Apples in Stereo’s …

The Walkmen Lisbon Rating: 4.0/5.0 Label: Fat Possum Simply put, the Walkmen are one of our best and most underrated bands. Emerging from the briefly hot Jonathan Fire*Eater and the Recoys, the Walkmen appeared almost fully formed on their 2002 debut, Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone. Breaking around the same time as NYC bands the Strokes and …

Five years allows albums to mature like fine wine or be forgotten like a tasty Happy Meal. We learned this lesson last year with our Best of 2003 feature . When coming up with this feature, the question the Spectrum Culture staff pondered was this: “How well do these albums play NOW!” Not five years ago, but how have they …

On the surface, New York quintet the Walkmen and Baltimore duo Beach House don’t seem to have much in common. The Walkmen are dramatic, passionate and consummate showmen, while Beach House is gauzy and narcoleptic, playing at tempos that make Mazzy Starr sound like the Ramones. Yet both make records that are ideally suited to late night listening. The Walkmen’s …