Michael D. Ayers

It's easy to dismiss Cat Power's covers CD Jukebox as a lazy way for a label to deal with its artist's latest bout of writer's block. But Chan Marshall is known for stuffing her live shows with other people's songs and already has one Covers Record under her belt. Besides...

The New Pornographers have a leg up on most groups, in that two of their members are accomplished solo artists: Neko Case has her alt-country thing, and Dan Bejar has Destroyer, his retro-weirdo Bowie thing. Together with New Porns principal A.C. Newman, they make near-perfect power-pop albums, culminating with 2005's...

Like a Beyoncé album, Queens of the Stone Age records typically have two awesome tracks and are otherwise filled out by mediocre ones. The act's latest effort, Era Vulgaris, is no different. Lead single "Sick, Sick, Sick" is a simple power-guitar anthem that speeds along during the verses, then slows...

A lot of posthumous albums seem like vain attempts to make a buck off the name of someone who died prematurely. To that end, Kill Rock Stars should be commended for its decision to wait four years to issue New Moon, a two-disc set of unreleased Elliott Smith songs. Recorded...

At this point in her career, Björk probably isn't going to win over any new fans. Those who didn't like her before won't start with this release. Volta is challenging, confusing and likely to grate on the nerves, similar to the beatbox-driven Medulla. Björk has always relied on the patience...