Inside Music: Consumer Guide
Consumer Guide by Robert Christgau (Images: Common/Fountains of Wayne/Bright Eyes)
Common, Fountains of Wayne, Bright Eyes Make the Dean's List
By Robert Christgau
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CHOICE CUTS

They Might Be Giants
"The Mesopotamians" ("The Else" [Idlewild])

Garth Brooks
"Please Operator (Could You Trace This Call)" ("The Lost Sessions" [Pearl])

Meat Puppets
"Light the Fire" ("Rise to Your Knees" [Anodyne])

 

DUD OF THE MONTH

Battles: 'Mirrored' (Warp)

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.

Grade: B MINUS


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)


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  • Sept. 2009: Black Eyed Peas, Jay-Z, MIranda Lambert and More Get Nods; Major Lazer, Chrisette Michele, Maxwell and More Receive Honorable Mentions; Ginuwine's "A Man's Thoughts" Is Dud of the Month
  • Aug. 2009: J Dilla's "Jay Stay Paid," Patterson Hood's "Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs)," Regina Spektor's "Far" and More Get Nods; J Dilla, Ida Maria and More Receive Honorable Mentions; Grizzly Bear's "Veckatimest" Is Dud of the Month
  • July 2009: Moby's "Wait for Me," Mos Def's "The Ecstatic," Sonic Youth's "The Eternal," Allen Toussaint's "The Bright Mississippi" and More Get Nods; Pet Shop Boys, Cut Copy and More Receive Honorable Mentions; "21st Century Breakdown" by Green Day Is Dud of the Month
  • June 2009: Leonard Cohen's "Live in London," Doom's "Born Like This," Bob Dylan's "Together Through Life," the Hold Steady's "A Positive Rage," New York Dolls's "'Cause I Sez So" and More Get Nods; PJ Harvey, Conor Oberst, Marnie Stern, Cursive and More Receive Honorable Mentions; "Relapse" by Eminem Is Dud of the Month
  • May 2009: Art Brut's "Art Brut vs. Satan, Lady Sovereign's "Jigsaw," the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' It's Blitz!," Neil Young's "Fork in the Road" and More Get Nods; Mr. Lif, Neko Case, Flight of the Conchords, Lady GaGa and more receive honorable mentions; Bat for Lashes' "Two Suns" is Dud of the Month
  • April 2009: Lily Allen, Amadou & Mariam, Marianne Faithfull and More Get Nods; M. Ward, the Prodigy, Leela James and more receive honorable mentions; Shearwater's "Rook" is Dud of the Month
  • March 2009: Clipse, K'Naan and the Living Things Get Nods; Ludacris, Soulja Boy Tell 'Em and More Receive Honorable Mentions; the Knux Are Dud of the Month
  • February 2009: Calle 13, Glasvegas, Guns N' Roses and Nine Inch Nails Get Nods; Fall Out Boy's "Folie à Deux" is Dud of the Month
  • January 2009: Taylor Swift, T-Pain and Kanye West Get Nods; Darius Rucker, Akon and More Receive an Honorable Mentions; Beyoncé's "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" is Dud of the Month
  • December 2008: Buena Vista Social Club, GZA/Genius, T.I. Get Nods; Lucinda Williams, Ice Cube, Young Jeezy and More Receive an Honorable Mentions; Plies Is Dud of the Month
  • November 2008: TV on the Radio and Poet Robert Creeley Get Nods; Iron & Wine, Todd Snider and Blitzen Trapper Get Honorable Mentions; Bon Iver Is Dud of the Month
  • October 2008: Jenny Lewis Gets a Nod; Jeffrey Lewis Is Dud of the Month
  • September 2008: The Hold Steady, Conor Oberst and Randy Newman Get Nods; Natasha Bedingfield Is Dud of the Month
  • August 2008: Nas Names Names (But Not His Album), Death Cab For Cutie Get Complimented and the Dean Deep Sixes the Three 6 Mafia
  • July 2008: Lil Wayne Gets a Good Review from the Dean (He's Also "Dud of the Month"
  • June 2008: Magnetic Fields, Santogold and More Get Compliments; Leona Lewis Is Dud of the Month
  • May 2008: The B-52's, Drive-by Truckers and the Roots All Receive High Marks
  • April 2008: Kate Nash, Los Campesinos!, Erykah Badu, Mika, Kathleen Edwards, Snoop Dogg and More
  • March 2008: Daft Punk, Lupe Fiasco, Willie Nelson, Herbie Hancock and More
  • Feb. 2008: Mary J. Blige, Manu Chao, Jill Scott and More
  • Jan. 2008: Hail Hip-Hop! Ghostface Killah and Wu-Tang Clan, Soulja Boy and More
  • Dec. 2007: M.I.A., Gogol Bordello Rate Perfect
  • Nov. 2007: White Stripes Not Icky But Nick Rates Low
  • Oct. 2007: Kanye Graduates With an A-Minus but 50 Cent's a Dud
  • Sept. 2007: Common, Fountains of Wayne, Bright Eyes Make the Dean's List
  • Aug. 2007: Lucinda Is Laudable but Pretty Ricky Is a Dud
  • July 2007: Miranda Lambert, Arctic Monkeys and More
  • June 2007: Wilco, Apples in Stereo, Hot Chip and More
  • April - May 2007: Beck, Nas, the Arcade Fire and More
  • Feb. - March 2007: Beyoncé, Lily Allen and More
  • Dec. 2006 - Jan. 2007: Bob Dylan, the Hold Steady and More
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