am/fm

The Bosstones are back at it again!

So is Lenny Kravitz!

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30 Rock's Tracy Jordan brings us his "Thriller."

But, honestly, are there any really good Halloween songs (besides, of course, the aforementioned "Thriller")? Holiday songs in general pretty much suck (you better believe we're gonna do this again at Christmas). "Do They Know It's Halloween", from a few years ago is pretty good, but "Monster Mash" kind of drives me crazy. And I'd like to take a stand and say, "Time Warp" is not a Halloween song.

Let me know in the comments.

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Nothing says "rock star" like a model train set, right? No? Well, don't tell Rod Stewart.

Stewart offered Model Railroader magazine exclusive access to his 1,500-square-foot model-train layout that takes up the third floor of his Beverly Hills home.

Least exciting cover story ever, I'm tempted to say. What's next, Slash dishing about passing up sex for drugs? Ozzy Osbourne sharing his recipe for Yorkshire Pudding? Oh. Come on, aging rock stars, is that the best you can do?

Sigh.

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• Man vs. Machine: the music geeks at Spinner.com go head to head with Pandora.com to see who's better at recommending music. Interesting experiment, although I wonder if the results would have been different if the lists were blind, i.e., if the person evaluating the recommendations didn't know from whence they came until after the experiment. The second guy in particular seemed biased against Pandora from the start. I think it makes sense that Pandora won because (and I think this is part of their mission statement, IIRC) the algorithm doesn't have all the baggage that a human does in recommending bands that are "uncool" or in seeking out groups with a particular cultural relevance.

• Evidently, Britney's album drops tomorrow. Idolator rounds up the reviews.

• Also, Neil Young. All Songs Considered had some interesting commentary a few weeks ago (starting at about 18:23). Robert Christgau is especially lovably curmudgeony.

• Oh, yeah. Go Sox! That's all I'll say.

• And Pitchfork has a few goodies: Videos by The Go! Team and Stephen Malkmus. News: New Magnetic Fields due Jan. 15; Le Loup gets a UK distributor, is back in NYC Dec. 13. And a Devendra Banhart interview that is really interesting. That guy is totally weird, but the more I read about him, the more I think that's actually who he is. He's not just being quirky for quirks own sake. He's also insanely smart and thoughtful, and really knows his music history. I particularly liked this digression (redatcted curse words all on this end):

But I'll use the example of the Nick Drake Volkswagen commercials. So many people had this attitude: They've taken something that is mine and f***ed it up. "Now everybody knows about this thing that's my secret. It was my thing, the music I turned to when I was alone and needed it. It's what helps me get through these times. It's just between me and music, and now it's been shared with the world." Everyone felt really hurt by it.

At the same time, f***, man, that's really a snobby attitude. It's a human one. But, f***, everyone gets to hear it now! This is wonderful! Nick deserved it. Nick deserved it during his lifetime! It's so exciting, too, to think of the f***ing horrible s*** you hear in commercials and at the mall, then suddenly Nick Drake comes on. It only takes one profound experience to change somebody's life. I know Nick's records went up in sales because of that. There's something totally positive about that.

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I just heard this local band today, catching up on my "Open Mic Music" podcast feed — an outgrowth of NPR's All Songs Considered that features a new unsigned band each day. As is my wont, I let a whole bunch pile up, and just got around to listening to Oct. 2nd's featured band: The Grey Race.

That they performed a cover of The Zombies' "Care of Cell 44" immediately peaked my curiosity — I think The Zombies is a classic group which just doesn't get enough attention. GR's treatment of the song is beautiful, and I wanted to hear more. Their MySpace page, linked above, reveals that the band is currently touring Spain with none other than Rufus Wainwright. Good for you, boys!

Further research reveals that they just played a killer set at CMJ, and I missed them. Boo. But, they'll be at Arlene's Grocery Dec. 12. Yay!

Anyway, enough facts. What do they sound like? Very Zombies-like. A little bit dark, with retro-sounding harmonies. Carefully crafted pop with a falsetto-voiced frontman, who you wouldn't mess with because he'd probably sad you to death. Noir-ish and interesting, but not so intellectual that the thoughtfulness of the music gets in the way of itself.

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I watched a good amount of TV while I was home sick last Tuesday, and one thing that caught my ear was a spot for FX show "Nip/Tuck." But I don't think that it was this one:

Which features Anne of Giant Drag singing a cover of "Wicked Games." It's still pretty cool, but I don't think that this is the spot I meant to point out. But it's the only one I could find on YouTube. Oh well. If I remember, I'll let you know.

Also, The Boy Least Likely To's "Be Gentle With Me" was featured on "Aliens in America." Which means I've just admitted publicly that I've watched an episode of "Aliens in America." It was kinda cute. And I was SICK, people!

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UPDATE: Saw the "Nip/Tuck" commercial again last night. I can't find it on YouTube, but their spot uses Weezer's "Beverly Hills." It just seems fitting that the band sold out with a song about selling out that everyone saw as a sellout (on an album almost universally panned) from the beginning. That's all.

But I'm going to give one to you anyway. CMJ took more out of me than I expected, and I succumbed to illness earlier this week.

I promise that next week I'll be up to my full posting strength. There will even be more video! While we're on the subject, what do you guys think of the videos. Do you want more? Did you even watch them? Stand up and be counted!

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Here's a sampling of what I saw at CMJ. See below for continuing coverage.

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Friday night I managed to hit seven bands! I'm very proud of that, if you couldn't tell.

I started the night off at Arlene's Grocery, arbitrarily picking that spot 'cause I really like the venue.

A band called Tom Schrader and His Ego was playing as I walked in. I'd never heard of them before I walked in the door. They played basic acoustic Americana folk, and the lead singer, who I'd assume is the eponymous Tom, sounded a little like Zach Condon of Beirut in his timbre and inflection. He's also very cute in an All-American kind of way.

They were followed by Unique Chique. Off the bat, I kind of hate their name. They play basic rock and roll that, truthfully is a little boring, although some of their stuff shows promise (and oddly enough, very influenced by Bjork — interesting phrasing and rhythms), and they have some cool bass lines going on. In a year or two, if they get more comfortable playing together (their stage presence was very, well, not there), these guys could be pretty cool. They left the stage with a, "This is our favorite town on earth. Don't tell Chicago."

After the jump, we head on over to Mercury Lounge...

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First off, Terminal 5 is HUGE. It is just massive. Really, really, really big. For those of you that don't know, the brand new mega club is the latest addition to the Bowery Presents family, and is situated in the building that used to house the dance club Exit.

Staying true to its loungey roots, the two balcony levels have couches and tables strewn across the floor — although to see the treatment they received on Thursday night, I wonder how long those pieces of furniture last; kids (your correspondent included) were standing on anything and everything they could find some balance on just to get a glimpse of the stage. Which, brings up the point: The sightlines in the club are not optimal. If you don't get a spot on the railing, it's pretty hard to see from upstairs. Lower level is your basic open box; feels similar to the floor at Hammerstein.

So, yeah, to sum up: Space is big. But M.I.A. totally took control of the room. Her global, world beat, dance rock, hip-hop sound got everybody grooving, and she seemed to be devoting every ounce of energy she had to her performance. There was not a moment she was up there that she wasn't dancing her little butt off and/or inciting the crowd to frenzy. She's an engaging force of nature, basically. The breaks between songs were filled with chanting with the crowd, over that ubiquitous machine gun noise she uses so well.

more after the jump...

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I only caught the end of the Le Loup set, but they were excellent. Really good. High energy, tight playing with a real dreamy pop sound. After a song or two, I realized that there were way more people (eight, to be exact) on stage than I originally thought. But they were all put to good use; the doubling up of guitarists and vocals and everything creates a live indie "wall of sound."

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The Papercuts were up next. I wasn't so into them. When they announced that they were from San Francisco, I kind of rolled my eyes and thought to myself, "Of course they are." Very hippie-dippy sound — they were capable, but not my thing. They have a dreamy, downtempo, psychedelic vibe.

The bassist was one interesting looking dude, though. Long and lanky with a haggard old man face that looks like he's seen some things.

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Yeah, this song is in my head. Now it's in yours. And, Muppets!

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The CMJ coverage is still trickling in — man that was a rough week — so watch this space for reports from the weekend.

Special correspondent Lane Johnson weighs in on his Wednesday and Thursday night (complete with his photos).

I showed just in time for the Cool Kids, and they were just that. If there's an "80's rap for dummies" book out there, no doubt this Chicago duo has studied it — and if there's not, they should write it, even if they are, like, 12.

And if the Cool Kids put on an eponymous show, so did — unfortunately — follow up act and fellow Fool's Gold label mate, Kid Sister. There's no better analogy than the little sister who goes through an older siblings stuff, smearing on hot pink lipstick here, putting a fuchsia leg warmer on there and not exactly sure how to tie up that top. That's how it sounded to me at least — a series of under-enunciated and too-quick rhymes over too-techno club beats. But she WAS fast — I mean the bvpm (that's body
vibrations per minute) of Kid Sister are in the thousands.

And A-Trak? Just killed it — totally restored my faith in dj's. That is
until I heard he's dating Kid Sister...

More of Lane's photos here.

His Thursday night report after the jump ...

Special correspondent Emily Ngo:

They’re young (twin brothers Matt and Jesse Kivel are but 22), but they have a surprisingly mature sound. Princeton, like the Jersey Ivy League school, is a simple, comforting mix of folk and pop. Their lyrics are witty and original, especially with hit “The Indifference Curve.”

Princeton played an enthusiastic show at Union Hall on Saturday night, but afterward, like the California guy he is, Jesse was enthusiastic about the venue’s bocce ball courts. He also complimented the crowd and the neighborhood. Optimism all around.

They’re fresh, they’re determined and they’re very, very impressive. Check them out.

Emily Ngo, www.amNY.com

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Special correspondent Sara:

The Biffy Clyro show started about 30 mins. late, but we were there to see some Datarock, so, at that point, we were only waiting for them to leave the stage. However, when the shirtless Simon Neil got on stage, looking like a coke-metal version of Devendra Banhart, I got somewhat interested. They were poppy at some points, but then had brief interludes of face-melting guitar ... noise.

At some point, Simon's mic stopped working, so, of course, he threw it on the floor and went to the other mic. More face-melting, more pop-rock, the sound is off, the mics go in and out of working ... then, the lights go up and the filler music starts playing, but Biffy hasn't had enough ... so they play over the filler music. They finish that song and, again, the lights go up and the filler music starts playing ... they start playing again, the filler music gets louder ... the lights are still up. The band leaves, except for Neil ... who grabs a mic stand and throws it to the ground. He grabs a mic and throws it over the audience straight at the sound guys. He's lost it. He grabs another mic stand, takes the mic and throws it over the audience. My friends say this mic hit someone in the audience. I just hear a thud.

Datarock takes the stage. They're in their red track suits, hoods up. They look so cool. The tall guy who was standing next to us, head banging at the Biffy concert, is the sax player/keyboardist. The band seems immensely happy to be here. They play "Computer Camp Love," "Bull Dozer," "I Used To Dance With My Daddy," and finally, "Fa-Fa-Fa," which turns into an epic sing-along.

The crowd is singing the chorus and Fredrik Saroea, the front man, is singing the verses. The band is rocking over the singing. Saroea says, "Wow. This is the coolest thing ever. Thank you! Thank you New York!"

"Fa-Fa-Fa" keeps playing, the saxophonist is amazing, the drummer does the snake on stage, the crowd is jumping. The song is over and we want more. But the set is over, and nothing will top what we just saw. But then, they pull out a song that has possibly never been abused in this way before. They play "Time Of My Life," by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. At this point, the boys are lip synching, but more importantly, they are showing off their track suits and their back sides and stripping off each other's hoodies. They are hamming it up on stage, when the sax solo comes on. Nobody is really sure if the sax player is actually playing along with the track, but it looks and sounds like it.

It's the best ending to a concert ... possibly ever.

more...

Photos from Thursday night's Datarock, Biffy Clyro, Death of Fashion, The Epochs, and Tiny Masters of Today shows.

Crap. So this happens to everyone at one time or another, and tonight it's happened to me. I typed up a big long review of last night's show, and as I was proofing it, the whole thing went up in smoke.

OK, here it goes again.

I went to the Fools Gold showcase last night, with Lane and Sara (this is important, because I will be jacking their quotes later in this review). The room filled up pretty quickly, and even though I didn't know what to expect from the night, I was ready for fun.

Nick Catchdubs warmed up the crowd spinning rap mixed with vintage and modern rock beats (I particularly like the ones that used samples from The Zombies' "Time of the Season" and Gary Numan's "Cars").

Next up, is what may have been an impromptu set by Kid Cudi. Not that he wasn't prepared, but it seemed as if the show wasn't ready for him, so they just tacked a short set on the front.

My take: Fast paced rhymes that were gleefully boastful.

Sarah: "It sounds like bad karaoke."

more after the jump...

I promised you pictures, so here they are, the insanity that is Adept.

And, of course, "the finest shoes in the world."

One of Malkovich, for good measure.

So a not entirely CMJ-related post:

The DJ played this song between sets at last night's Fools Gold show (more on that later), and I was just reminded that I absolutely love everything about Slick Rick's vocal delivery. He could sing the alphabet, and I would eat it up.

That is all.

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Special CMJ correspondent Emily Ngo on a show she saw last night...

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I caught the Midwest-based Northern Room somewhat by accident because they began playing after my friend’s show. And just like that, I was hooked on their mellow, U2-esque sound. The four band members were also pretty easy on the eyes.

Northern Room is apparently already a hit in Japan. Now they want the same love in the U.S.

Outside Arlene’s Grocery, lead signer A.J., or Andrew Jonathan, of Milwaukee did a great job selling his band. “It’s universal music,” he said. “If you like that kind of music, you’ll like us.” All right, A.J. You’re right! Who doesn’t like universal music?

Northern Room’s “We’re On Fire” seems the most marketable cut on their demo CD. There is something very comforting and familiar about A.J.’s voice, and this band is sure to widely appeal to the masses. This song is something you would hear blasting very loudly at Abercrombie. (That’s a good and a bad thing.) It’s a sweet love song of sorts, and Northern Room has got it right: They’re on fire. Check them out.

Emily Ngo, www.amNY.com

For my metal fan, Ryan, I saw speed metal band Malkovich at the Dutch music showcase last night. It was intense. I don't, as you may guess, listen to a heck of a lot of metal, but I really got into it. The luxuriously coiffed frontman gyrated and writhed, and held the audience rapt. It took me a while to tell if they were singing in Dutch or English — in the end, I think it was mostly English with a little bit of Dutch.

"I'm glad I live in New York City, not in Holland, man" the frontman growled between tunes. "I hate Dutch parties."

The mostly Dutch crowd (which received an admonishment by the house to "tip your bartenders" between sets) ate it up. There were kids moshing up front — well, it was only 2 or 3, but even when only 2 or 3 kids are moshing, it feels like more.

Adept after the jump...

And it begins...

I'm always amazed at how many people watch live concerts through their cell phones/cameras, but last night, shooting video for this here site, I joined their ranks ... leading me to wonder, does anyone go to concerts and not blog about them? Is "mediated experience" the new "live"?

Alright, cut the Carrie Bradshaw.

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My first random pick of the festival was excellent! I got out of work in time to catch Rocketship Park at Pianos — which I settled on because they were the band before Two Man Gentlemen Band, and, as I said yesterday, I like TMGB's (hey!) name.

I was blown away! The mp3s up on their MySpace don't do them justice. Their sound is melodic (with actual sung harmony, which seems rare these days), twangy, laid back and kind of reminiscent of early Neil Young. It's good music to feel bad to, I wrote in my notes last night (I was in a terrible mood when I started this musical odyssey).

I particularly enjoyed whatever whiskey-soaked lament that started, "Your drinking buddies are your drinking buddies — don't get used to that." So true.

Anyway, these guys are in Brooklyn, so I hope they start playing around more.

Two Man Gentlemen Band after the jump...

I picked up my credentials this morning, which came with a gift bag chock full of flyers (just what I wanted!) and promotional CDs. Awesome!

• The official "CMJ Player" didn't play right on my computer. Boo. I'm going to try to track down another copy.

• "You've Been Saved: From Mediocre Music"
Presented by Ourstage — site dedicated to the democratic process; artists upload their songs and fans vote on the ones they like best. Understandably, then, this comp is pretty eclectic.
Notable tracks:
Wonderfool, "Venus to Vertigo" — Midtempo college rock.
SB, "I know Sean" — Fun hip-hop with retro samples.
The Go Station, "All Together Now" — I'm just surprised to see someone I've heard of before on one of these.
Una, "Fading in C# Minor" — Portishead-like electropop.
Overall, I would say there's a surprising amount of bands on here doing a very late-'90s sound.

• Severe Records sampler
Severe is a label out of Nashville. The artists represented here have very acoustic, feelings heavy (but not emo) singer-songwritery stuff. Not really my thing. ... Actually, as I get further into the CD, there's more diverse stuff, but nothing's really impressing me so much. There's some startlingly aggressive rap mixed in there, between all the Hootie-lite, of the "I'm getting rich, bitch"-variety.

• amp.com presents: Groove Automata
This is a freeware electronica samples library. That's kind of cool.

• Austin Texas Mean Music Comp
These bands sound a lot more polished than those on the previous CDs. I've never heard of Mean Music, but Austin, as I understand it, is a pretty musical town.
I actually really like this one. The overall style is very progressive, snotty post-punk. Purportedly, there will be more info about these bands here, but as of this writing, the page just says, "Stay Tuned."

Notables:
Good Times Crisis Band, UME, Gorch Fock (who get the Best Lyric award for: "trees don't love you/trees, they want you dead!" (I really, really hope this is what they're actually saying)).

• Filter Magazine, "2007 Subway Series"
OK, this doesn't have so much to do with what's actually happening at CMJ. In fact, with groups including Counting Crows, PJ Harvey, Joy Division and Ryan Adams, it doesn't seem to have much to do with anything that's happening anywhere. I guess someone just wanted to make a mixtape.

Now I gotta get going to go listen to actual live music, so more tomorrow...

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Every year before CMJ I like to make up a wish list of bands to see. I usually ignore it completely and end up going wherever's close to the club where I start the evening and/or where my friends end up going. Around Thursday, I realize that I don't really want to stay out until 4 a.m. five days in a row. Around Saturday, I'm desperate to hear anything remotely familiar (too much new music at once gives me "listener's ear"), and it's only out of a strong sense of obligation to the struggling bands and loyalty to the underdog that gets me out of the house at all.

But that's to come. Right now, I'm psyched to listen to six bands (of whom I've never heard) a night playing all over Lower Manhattan and Williamsburg for the remainder of the week.

Who I'm really excited about, and why, after the jump...

Sifting through the extensive band list for CMJ is a little daunting. So I thought I'd take a break and take a look at what else the mammoth music — and now media — festival has to offer. Some pretty cool things, if you ask me. The complete list is here. My picks are here:

"I’m Not There," Directed by Todd Haynes
Tuesday, October 16, 2:00pm, Regal Union Square
My excitement for this movie is well documented. Too bad all the employed kids have to work. NYU students, do it up!

"Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show," Directed by Ari Sandel
Friday, October 19, 4:00pm, IFC Center
Loving Vince Vaughn is so over these days, but despite his appearance in "The Santa Claus 2" (or whatever) he's still a hilarious guy. Stick around for a post-screening Q&A with the man himself.

"Frank & Cindy," Directed by G.J. Ekternkamp
Tuesday, October 16, 7:00pm, Pop Rally at The Museum of Modern Art
This documentary was excerpted in the television version of "This American Life" (which was picked up for a second season! Do yourself a favor and watch it this time around). Ira Glass himself moderates the post-screening discussion with the director and his subjects (who are also his mom and step-dad).

"Wristcutters," Directed by Goran Dukic
Thursday, October 18, 5:45pm, The Grand Screen
This hotly anticipated indie flick stars Tom Waits and Will Arnett!

"The Clash: Westway to the World," Directed by Don Letts
Saturday, October 20, 11:30am, 2:15pm, Tribeca Cinemas
This traditional documentary of The Clash paints an intimate portrait of the band's rise and fall.

"Before The Music Dies," Directed by Andrew Shapter
Friday, October 19, 3:00pm, Tribeca Cinemas
From CMJ's site: "Filmmakers Andrew Shapter and Joel Rasmussen traveled the country, hoping to understand why mainstream music seems so packaged and repetitive, and whether corporations really had the power to silence musical innovation."

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• New Jose Gonzalez cover of Massive Attack's "Teardrop," (via).

• It's not just now, popular music kind of always sucks. Vote on the worst hits of the late '90s-early '00s.

• Paul McCartney in convo with PETE DOHERTY!

• Zep goes digital.

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You may have picked up on this, but I love trashy TV. Something I love even more than this, is reading snarky commentary on trashy TV. This is where the sharp and incisive Television Without Pity comes in. if you're not reading their recaps ... well, you're missing out.

And it is from this magnificent site I found this fantastic quote:

I am on the record as a longtime hater of Fergie. I think she's vapid and trashy and inspires trashiness and vapidness in others, and thus makes America worse and not better. She also pees in her pants.

Hee hee!

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Before we begin, I'm in the middle of listening to every single one of the Beatles' albums compressed into a one hour MP3 file. (Listen here.) It's really interesting, to both see if you can recognize the songs sped up 800% (Revolution Number 9 is immediately identifiable), and here how the basic overall pattern of the songs evolve.

Anyway, like I said, this was a really musical weekend for me. I started out Thursday night at Pianos' upstairs lounge. They no longer have their schedule up, so I have no idea what I saw there. I just know it was all in Spanish, and I sent myself a text message that says "simple pianos." I have no idea what that means.

From there, we hit Bowery Ballroom to catch Luke Temple and The Good Life — a show for which I do have some (barely legible) notes. I am a really big fan of Temple's low key, delicate voice on album, but live, he kind of struggled to carry the room. He was giving his all, but the crowd was just kind of indifferent. Don't get me wrong, it was still beautiful in a raw kind of way. He has, to borrow a phrase from Miss J, a broke-down dolls aesthetic, ranging from beautifully rough to "grand statement."

Sadly, my notes from The Good Life's portion of the show are completely undecipherable, except for this one quote from the stage: "This is a truly amazing show — I'm not saying how you feel about it; I'm just saying how we feel about it." So the band has a sense of humor. And I remember it rocking.

more after the jump ...

This video is awesome. I especially like the kid at the beginning who proclaims herself post-punk.

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While I did stay up until about 2 am this morning, it wasn't to listen to the new Radiohead album. Sorry guys, just listening to it now. But, thanks to the power of the internet, I can direct you to the tons of people that have listened to it, and already have Opinions! The overwhelming consensus seems to be. "It's different, but we love it. (Some fans might be unhappy.)" Seriously, everyone is saying that some people won't like it, but I haven't found anyone who says that they themselves don't like it.

Anyway:

• Pitchfork — track-by-track review.

• Rolling Stone — minute-by-minute live-blog review.

• Brooklyn Vegan — Making-Of video.

• Stereogum — Promise of a review later today; commenter discussion/war on who paid what.

• Idolator — snark with a side of positivity (that one's for you, Jon).

• Kids Pushing