SPIN’s 300 Best Albums of the Last 30 Years

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READ IT AT SPIN

I went big for this, taking on 30 of the 300 albums. Click through this hulking document for my posts on (in alphabetical order, no spoilers): Arcade Fire, At the Drive-In, Beastie Boys, Beck, Belle & Sebastian, Björk, Bright Eyes, Broken Social Scene, Clipse, Cloud Nothings, Dirty Projectors, the Flaming Lips, the Fugees, Frank Ocean, GZA, Interpol, Jimmy Eat World, Justin Timberlake, the Microphones, My Bloody Valentine, Neutral Milk Hotel, Pixies, Portishead, the Postal Service, Radiohead, TV on the Radio, the Unicorns, Vampire Weekend, the xx, and Wilco. So many of my all-time favorites in here, and so many I’d never had the chance to write about.

Review: Meet Chikita Violenta, Mexico City’s Answer to Broken Social Scene

Alternate album art for "TRE3S" by Chikita Violenta

“On its third album overall and first for Toronto’s Arts And Crafts label, Mexico City quartet Chikita Violenta recalls what was so initially alluring about Broken Social Scene: TRE3S is filled with heavily affected, panoramically epic lo-fi pop. Vocals swoon, guitars climb over one another messily, drums fade in and out of the picture, pastoral bridges abound, and catchiness prevails …”

Read the rest via the A.V. Club.

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LA Upcoming: Do Make Say Think, Wale, Prefuse 73 + Gaslamp Killer + VOICEsVOICEs

A short list of recommended L.A.-area shows for the coming week (plus videos for instant gratification). Click “details” for descriptions.

  • Region: West Hollywood
    Music: Do Make Say Think, Happiness Project, Years
    Vitals: The Troubadour on Monday, February 1
    (details at LA Weekly)
  • Region: Sunset Strip
    Music: Wale, Chiddy Bang, Audible Mainframe…
    Vitals:
    The Roxy on Tuesday, February 2
    (details at LA Weekly)
  • Region: West Hollywood
    Music: Prefuse 73, The Gaslamp Killer, VOICEsVOICEs
    Vitals:
    The Troubadour on Wednesday, February 3
    (details at LA Weekly)