Jay Reatard – Matador Singles ’08

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:16:56 +0000

Jay Reatard – Matador Singles ’08

October 7, 2008
Matador
Rating: 4.1 / 5

The Music Rag One Sentence Review: This compilation of Jay Reatard singles is fast, dirty, and fun – a bit less hard punk and a bit more accessible pop than his other singles collection released earlier this year – and is, despite being far from original, undeniably addictive.

Unplugged: Some of the most effective tracks on this collection are the last three, which present a more acoustic, calm sound. The same is true of Jay’s Singles 06-07. In the end, melodically brilliant acoustic songs like “No Time” and “I Know a Place” (from 06-07) are far more interesting and enjoyable than the more impassioned, punk stylings that fill the rest of the compilations.

One Busy Reatard: The singles collected here were originally put out by Matador as extremely limited edition vinyl-only releases. As mentioned above, this is the second singles collection by Reatard released this year, the other being released by his former record label. Jay Reatard has been making music since the late nineties and has performed with The Reatards, The Lost Sounds, The Bad Times, The Final Solutions, Angry Angles, Nervous Patterns, and Destruction Unit, as well as a number of collaborations and his solo debut a few years ago. His next solo album is slated for early 2009. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a man who knows how to stay busy.

Beck – Modern Guilt

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:12:13 +0000

Beck – Modern Guilt

July 8, 2008
Interscope
Rating: 4.2 / 5

The Music Rag One Sentence Review: Beck gets it right with this collection of excellent Danger Mouse-produced tracks, finally learning how to reign in his creative urges and get down to the basics, resulting in some of the best work of his career.

Best moments: “Gamma Ray” is a fuzzed-out piece of pop gold and “Chemtrails” is a serene and epic song with a great “Strawberry Fields Forever” ending. The closer, “Volcano”, sounds like a great lost track from Sea Change, with a bit of a Danger Mouse beat added to it.

Reatarded: Prolific and slightly scary garage punker Jay Reatard did a cover of “Gamma Ray” that appears on the single. Check it out at Last.fm or download it illegally on your own time.

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Jay Reatard – Matador Singles ’08