Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category

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The Oscars Make Me Want to Dance…

Did you catch any of Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin hosting the Oscars the other night? They had some funny parts, and some parts that felt a little stilted because the jokes that were written for them were not really their kind of jokes. Overall, I thought the awards were pretty well done. […]

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Who Gives a Fuck About a Vampire Weekend?

I do.
At least I did at first, then I got over it.
Then I hated it and after that I just became indifferent.
Then I liked them again and it’s just in time for their new CD Contra to come out.
It’s good.  I like it, but I’ll get over it.
Then in a little while I’ll hate it […]

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Pretentious Record Store Guy’s Favorite Records of 2009

Art Brut
Art Brut vs. Satan

The Thermals
Now We Can See

Julian Plenti
Julian Plenti Is Skyscraper

Modest Mouse
No One’s First, and You’re Next

Ben Kweller
Changing Horse

Girls
The Album

XX
XX

Animal Collective
Merriweather Post Pavilion

Telekinesis!
Telekinesis!

Sonic Youth
The Eternal

White Rabbits
It’s Frightening

Mos Def
The Ecstatic

Wilco
Wilco The Album

Grizzly Bear
Veckatimest

Maximo Park
Quicken the Heart

Pearl Jam
Backspacer

Arctic Monkeys
Humbug

Monsters of Folk
Monsters of Folk

Muse
The Resistance

A.C. Newman
Get Guilty

Heartless Bastards
The Mountain

Julian Casablancas
Phrazes For […]

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Top 10 Disappointing Comics of 2009

1. Fantastic Four (Marvel)
by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch
What happened?  Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch came out of the gate with guns blazing and threw everything but the kitchen sink at this title.  Fresh off his fantastic second run on Ultimate Fantastic Four that produced Marvel Zombies, a kick ass young punk-rock Namor, an exceptionally tragic […]

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Top 10 Comics of 2009

1. Scalped (DC/Vertigo)
by Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera

2. Incognito/Criminal (Marvel/Icon)
by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

3. The Unwritten (DC/Vertigo)
by Mike Carey and Peter Gross

4. Fables (DC/Vertigo)
by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham

5a. Batman & Robin (DC Comics)
by Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly

5b. Detective Comics (DC Comics)
by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III

6. Beasts of Burden (Dark Horse […]

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The Flaming Lips are Embryonic

Buy this record now!

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The British Invasion - Beatles Remastered CDs in stores 09.09.09

Dial 9-9-9 if you really want the truth.
The Beatles (Remastered Stereo Box Set)
Release Date 09.09.09
The albums have been re-mastered by a dedicated team of engineers at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios in London. The result of this painstaking process is the highest fidelity the catalogue has seen since its original release.
Box Set Includes:
-Hard black glossy lift […]

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Art Brut vs. Satan vs. Frank Black vs. Pretentious Record Store Guy

So Frank Black, one of my all time favorite musicians and head of one of the greatest bands ever (The Pixies, duh!) just produced the third album from one of my favorite bands of the last few years, Art Brut and it’s called Art Brut vs. Satan!  What?  Where do I sign up? Seriously. I […]

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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1910 Review

From the visionary co-creator of Watchmen Alan Moore comes another adventure for the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Along for the ride as always is co-creator and illustrator Kevin O’Neill (Marshal Law), but just about everything else has changed for the League. Now published by Top Shelf instead of Wildstorm’s America’s Best Comics imprint, The League […]

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GQ’s 20 Graphic Novels You Should Read Plus After Watchmen

Who watches the Watchmen?  Apparently lots of people, but on opening weekend.  What did Pretentious Record Store Guy think of the movie adaptation of the unfilmable comic?  I thought it was good, not great.  Like most of the time with movies based on books, I thought the book was much, much better.  But I think […]

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Best Albums of 2008

The Stills
Oceans Will Rise

Q-Tip
The Renaissance

The Walkmen
You & Me

Blitzen Trapper
Furr

TV On The Radio
Dear Science

Okkervil River
The Stand Ins

Ryan Adams
Cardinology

Oasis
Dig Out Your Soul

Little Joy
S/T

Bloc Party
Intimacy

Conor Oberst
S/T

The Anniversary
Devil on Our Side

Ben Folds
Way to Normal

Jenny Lewis
Acid Tongue

Deerhunter
Microcastle

Verve
Forth

Kings of Leon
Only By The Night

Del The Funky Homosapien
Eleventh Hour

Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes

One Day As A Lion
One Day As a Lion

Albert Hammond, Jr.
Como Te Llama?

The […]

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Chinese Democracy is Imminent

Chinese Democracy will finally arrive! Long delayed and highly anticipated (in the 90s and early 2000s), Guns N’ Roses (or whatever passes for Axl Rose and company’s rotating bandmates these days) opus nearly 15 years in the making is finally hitting stores a month from today.
The bad news is that the CD is a […]

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Consider the Zombie: a Zombies vs. Robots vs. Amazons Review

Consider the zombies. The zombies represent the id, the uncontrolled part of man that is driven on instinct and impulse and only seeks immediate satisfaction of its primal urges and desires. In the case of the zombie, they are driven by the need to eat in order to survive, feasting on human flesh and brains. […]

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The Verve Go Forth

The Verve
Forth
In 1997, The Verve finally broke through and reached the worldwide success that they had been dreaming of with their third album Urban Hymns. They toured in support of the album for the next year and half and then promptly broke up in 1999 due to internal strife among some of the band […]

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Radiohead is Amazing Live!!!

So the other day I finally got a chance to see one of my all time favorite bands, Radiohead, live and in concert. I was a little hesitant because they were playing at the crappy Verizon Amphitheater which has the lovely benefit of making all bands sound like crap, and as a bonus you […]

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