DUD OF THE MONTH

Battles
"Mirrored"
(Warp)

Just when I'd made my peace with pop prog and begun to hope arty prog would prove another casualty of the age of digital instantaneity, these postrock warriors get the bright idea of adding tune and humor to their higher mathematics. Just goes to show how hard up some aesthetes are for the hooks and jokes that are still so plentiful in less rarefied precincts. Swing less than Jeff Beck, Dixie Dregs or Big Lazy, rock more than Gentle Giant, Love Tractor or Tortoise. Will mean a lot to anyone who cares deeply about a few of the above-named and, no matter what you've read, not much to anyone who doesn't.

MORE DUDS

Deerhunter
"Cryptograms" (Kranky)

"Hairspray" Soundtrack (New Line)

Albert Hammond Jr.
"Yours to Keep" (New Line)

KRS-One and Marley Marl
"Hip-Hop Lives" (Koch)

Pissed Jeans
"Hope for Men" (Sub Pop)

Jonathan Richman
"Revolution Summer: Original Soundtrack to the Film" (Vapor)

The Roches
"Moonswept" (429)