IAMX - Kiss + Swallow (2004)

*First pressing featuring the original mix. 

Contains 13 tracks total.

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Synth Pop
Label Number: LFLP02
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© 2004 Loser Friendly Records
AllMusic Review by Joshua Glazer
This first solo album by Chris Corner, joint-operating member of 1990s trip-hop runner-ups Sneaker Pimps, is a deceptive affair. First off because anyone who fondly remembers the fluid traces of original Pimps vocalist Kelli Dayton, who appeared on the groups most memorable work -- but left as the band's later work faltered -- are nowhere to be found. In exchange, Corner's own voice dominates this record in an over-romanticized darkwave approach that pins its hopes on the '80s taste of today, rather than the placid beauty of the mid-'90s Bristol sound, which most feel is not quite ready for its retro 15 minutes. But if Corner essentially fails as a vocalist, he still knows how to write a killer hook. "Naked but Safe" swaggers with Corner gasping "Keep me fed, keep me watered." While "Sailor" is a Gary Glitter-inspired tome to three-way prison sex, with all the dark cabaret hustle such a subject affords. The production across the record is obviously perfect, although perhaps a bit too much so in places, particularly when the strings flutter in on "Your Joy Is My Low." Not even Depeche Mode (whose fans will find plenty to enjoy on this CD) ever had bleeps that sounded so crisp. But Corner is no David Gahan, and despite a few glimpses of a muse worthwhile, this disc will no doubt find most of it's action in the used CD bin.

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IAMX - Kingdom of Welcome Addiction (2009)

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Synth Pop
Label Number: SOSR0010
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© 2009 61seconds
AllMusic Review by Mark Morton
KINGDOM OF WELCOME ADDICTION is the third release by IAMX, the cybernetic alter-ego of electro-pop composer Chris Corner (Sneaker Pimps). The follow-up to 2006’s THE ALTERNATIVE, the album features a tightly-wound post-pop aesthetic and cynical yet impassioned lyrical base. Vaguely reminiscent of early Nine Inch Nails, KINGDOM is a less a dance floor opus than a cold, calculated soundscape that echoes one man’s insomnia-induced depression.

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IAMX - Volatile Times (2011)

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Synth Pop
Label Number: 53800097 2
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© 2011 BMG
*No professional reviews are available for this release.

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IAMX - Metanoia (2015)

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Synth Pop
Label Number: ORP001CD
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© 2015 Orphic
*No professional reviews are available for this release.

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Shades - Shades (Promo CD) (1997)

*Promotional disc. 

Contains 13 tracks total. 

A photo of the disc is included in the RAR file.

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: R&B
Label Number: 314530736-2
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© 1997 Motown
*No professional reviews are available for this release.


 

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5ive-O - If U R Not Part Uv Da Solution... (1994) ☠

*A photo of the disc is included in the RAR file.

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Conscious Rap, Hardcore Hip-Hop
Label Number: WRA 8129-2
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☠: Selected by Sentinel

© 1994 Wrap Records
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Gary Numan - Strange Charm (1986)

*U.K. first pressing. 

Contains 8 tracks total.

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Pop
Label Number: CDNUMA 1005
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© 1986 Numa
AllMusic Review by Ned Raggett
For the first time in nearly half a decade, Numan, to a large if not total extent, recaptured the sense of compelling darkness at the heart of his music on Strange Charm. Though Numan himself had a difficult time with the recording of the album, speaking in later years about his struggles with then-new technology and how best to make it work for his music, the end results often justify the expense of effort. For the first time in a long while, Numan actively uses silence and less-crowded arrangements to create a more dramatic impact -- it lets the songs breathe a bit more, while further foregrounding his vocals. Flat-out successes such as "The Sleeproom," with its haunting, quite beautiful chorus, and the concluding ballad "This Is Love," with heavily echoed piano and singing leading the way, show how his decision worked wonders. Even more impressive was how he resolutely refused to simply revisit the past -- songs like the compelling "My Breathing," with its blend of Arabic-tinged orchestrations and rhythms with Numan's more familiar electric nightmares don't actively ape the approaches of Replicas or Dance. Equally noticeable was how the use of elements which previously seemed to only serve in the creation of unsuccessful commercial sludge (saxophones, prominent female backing vocals, wailing guitar solos) here often contributed to a nightmarish, mysterious atmosphere instead. Numan has a strong sense of how to employ those additions to the advantage of the song, to throw everything just a little off-kilter. Even those cuts that derive all too clearly from the Berserker aesthetic, like "Unknown and Hostile" and "I Can't Stop," come across as more unsettled and unexpected, making Strange Charm an imperfect but still noteworthy success. That said, "The Need" probably didn't need to make it past the demo version.

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IAMX - The Alternative (2006) ☠

*This is the first pressing featuring the original mix. 

Contains 11 tracks total.

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Synth Pop
Label Number: 000 217 2MRC
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☠: Selected by Lass

© 2006 Major Records
AllMusic Review by Dave Shim
I AM X is the solo vehicle for Sneaker Pimps vocalist/guitarist Chris Corner. Taking advantage of that band’s hiatus to explore an edgier electro-industrial sound, his second album, THE ALTERNATIVE delves into ever darker lyrical and sonic territory. Combining the brooding melodicism of Corner’s vocals with exquisite guitar and piano-driven bluster, I AM X delivers a stately blend of melancholic reverie and rugged post-industrial atmospheres.

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Da Lench Mob - Guerillas In Tha Mist (1992)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Gangsta Rap
Label Number: 7 92206-2
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© 1992 Street Knowledge/EastWest Records America
AllMusic Review by Stanton Swihart
Looking like a cross between the Black Panthers and the Zapatistas on the album cover, Da Lench Mob fully embrace an urban revolutionary rhetoric consistent with their image. Unrepentantly political music of any sort can be difficult to listen to -- particularly when it is almost blindly angry and coming from an inherently (though understandably) biased point of view, and also when it sidesteps some of the subtleties of the issues it raises. Guerillas in tha Mist, the group's debut album, is guilty of all those things, and yet it is an often brilliant, always invigorating, sometimes infuriating scowl of an album. The album is a relentless onslaught of attitude, but it is not misplaced vehemence or finger-wagging.The final song on the album is titled "Inside tha Head of a Black Man," and that is exactly the psychic and psychological space that Guerillas in tha Mist occupies: confused, chaotic, complex, righteous, angry, and turbulent, but also permeated with a sense of braggadocio and looseness. Just because they have trouble on their mind doesn't mean they can't swing, too, and Ice Cube's production does just that, especially on tunes such as "All on My Nut Sac," "Freedom Got an A.K.," and the title track. He loads the songs with rolling fatback bass and funky keyboard riffs, and fills in every empty space with some sort of noise, generally a horn or siren or whistle. When listening to Guerillas in tha Mist, it is virtually impossible to catch your breath; in fact, it is so powerfully urgent that it feels as if you've just been punched in the gut. But when experiencing something this significant and consequential, you shouldn't want the blow to be pulled just to increase your comfort level.

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Da Lench Mob - Planet of Da Apes (1994)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Gangsta Rap
Label Number: P2 53939
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© 1994 Priority/Street Knowledge Records
AllMusic Review by Alex Henderson
Music's best political propaganda -- which ranges from Merle Haggard on the right to Joan Baez, Public Enemy, Bob Marley, and U2 on the left -- offers more than just rhetoric. It makes its case with coherent, well-reasoned arguments. Whether you agree or disagree with Haggard's stridently conservative "The Fighting Side of Me" or Marley's left-leaning Rastafarian manifesto "Get Up, Stand Up," those songs are political masterpieces. Planet of da Apes, Da Lench Mob's second album, is a fiercely political effort that doesn't contain any masterpieces. Combining a strong Public Enemy influence with West Coast gangsta rap, Ice Cube's L.A. colleagues provide a lot of inflammatory, militant rhetoric, but don't provide any lyrics that you could call brilliant. None of the tunes are in a class with Ice-T's "Colors," Public Enemy's "Night of the Living Baseheads," Boogie Down Productions' "South Bronx," or Grandmaster Flash's "New York, New York"; those sociopolitical rap classics are nothing short of brilliant, whereas Planet of da Apes is merely an exercise in angry rhetoric for the sake of angry rhetoric. Da Lench Mob often mines the same black nationalist waters as Public Enemy and BDP, but without being as coherent or as lucid -- agree or disagree with them, Chuck D and KRS-1 have provided some of the most memorable political rhymes in the history of hip-hop (just as Haggard has provided some of the most memorable Republican propaganda in the history of country music). But despite its shortcomings, Planet of da Apes is an enjoyable, if limited, effort. The beats are often infectious, and, like Rage Against the Machine, Da Lench Mob can pull you in with its grooves and its passion even though its lyrics are too clichéd and rhetorical for their own good.
 

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Dred Scott - Breakin' Combs (1994) ⚓

*U.S. first pressing. 

Contains 16 tracks total.

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: 69712 4016 2
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© 1994 Tuff Break Records
AllMusic Review by Vincent Thomas
Dred Scott's 1994 debut suffers from two things. Musically, Scott was always a better producer than rapper and the album happened to drop in the midst of hip-hop's golden era, when it seemed like classic albums were released every week. Breakin' Combs was preceded by seminal albums like Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), 93 'Til Infinity, and Midnight Marauders, and then Illmatic and Ready to Die hit the streets months later. Anything less than something stellar got lost in that shuffle. But musically, although Scott's rhymes were a bit simplistic and he is caught borrowing styles from peers -- whether ODB ("Can't Hold It Back") or Sadat X ("Swingin' from the Tree") -- the album is expertly produced and sports the nostalgic vibe of one of, perhaps, hip-hop's greatest eras.

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CunninLynguists - Will Rap For Food (2002)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: UA-0002
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© 2002 Urban Acres Entertainment
*No professional reviews are available for this release.

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Papoose - The Nacirema Dream (2013)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: HR001CD
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© 2013 Honorable Records
AllMusic Review by David Jeffries
A couple years before this official debut landed, Papoose was hip-hop's great East Coast hope, but by the time the much anticipated The Nacirema Dream landed at least five years late, the million-plus-dollar Jive Records contract and the aboveground "buzz" had both vanished. Nacirema -- and that's "America" backwards -- barely cracked the Top 100 its first week, but you can blame the long birthing period and the miles of bad road to get here because Papoose is as angry, as snide, and as clever as the man who burned up the mixtape circuit. He's no serpentine or subtle rapper either, preferring to pull curious listeners instantly into his "Motion Picture" by telling a paranoid story of his crew and their willingness to mutiny, rather than the usual don't-jack-my-swagger track. Titles like "Pimpin Won't Die," "Die Like a G," and "Where I Come From" lead to tracks much more meaty and fresh than those beat-up words might suggest, and with dancehall don Mavado (toasting on the stately anthem "On Top of My Game"), fellow cold gangsters Mobb Deep (sounding perfectly at home on "Aim Shoot"), and the legendary DJ Premier (a massive production asset on the infectious smackdown called "Turn It Up") all here, this is the non-crossover, not-so-radio-friendly guest list fans always hoped would happen. What doesn't happen is that satisfying overall album flow, and when it comes to production, the highlights are mentioned above with the rest of the album sounding mixtape rough or just plain old. It might not be the grand arrival showcase that was expected but Papoose hasn't fallen off the "ones to watch" list quite yet, even when he's been on there longer than most anyone else.

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Little Dragon - Little Dragon (2007)

Country: Sweden
Language: English
Genre: Synth Pop
Label Number: PFG110CD
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© 2007 Peacefrog Records
AllMusic Review by Vincent Thomas
For years now, the world of music has been too global and interconnected for one to truly be surprised at an outfit such as Little Dragon, but it's no less a wonder that a sound as American as soul and R&B can infuse the music this pervasively of a group of high school buddies from Sweden. Little Dragon is a dynamic self-titled debut that is yet another credible and enchanting Euro-approximation of soul and rhythm & blues. Vocalist Yukimi Nagano displays all the subtle inflections and conspicuous acrobatics that have identified the R&B genre for years, but specifically the more recent paradigms of the Chaka Khans and MJBs, noted easily on the album's highlight "Constant Surprises." Meanwhile, "Wink" is a sexy, synth-heavy club banger that might conjure some of the more poppish acts (Rihanna). But the album -- and group -- don't stop there, thankfully. They give you everything from quaint piano ballads ("Twice") to jazz-drenched pieces, like "After the Rain" where keyboardist Håkan Wirenstrand makes like Herbie Hancock with his sparse and dissonant chording. "Forever" is an ambient number meant for dark lounges with a lot of pheromone activity. It's a genuine album bolstered by the group's collective artistry. It proves, once again, that geography has very little to do with authenticity.

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Little Dragon - Machine Dreams (2009)

Country: Sweden
Language: English
Genre: Synth Pop
Label Number: PFG134CD
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© 2009 Peacfrog Records
AllMusic Review by Andy Kellman
Lest you believe Little Dragon lack an aesthetic spine, their shift away from low-key left-field hip-hop, plaintive piano ballads, and acoustic jazz -- a combination that helped make their debut a cult classic -- seems more natural after a couple spins. There's no way around the fact that most of Machine Dreams is icy electro-pop, but it is not as if the truly singular Yukimi Nagano, an enamoring vocalist, has switched to drone mode, forsaking her grounding in R&B. She has kind of perked up, in fact, with her hooks carrying more lift to suit her band's rubbery rhythms and liquid synthesizer patterns. Just as "Twice" was the standout on Little Dragon, the songs here that resonate most, however -- the opening "A New," "Thunder Love," and the closing "Fortune" -- are this Swedish group's version of (electric) quiet storm, deceptively intense and even sensual.

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Little Dragon - Season High (2017)

Country: Sweden
Language: English
Genre: Synth Pop
Label Number: BEC5156851
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© 2017 Because Music
AllMusic Review by Andy Kellman
Little Dragon reaped their greatest commercial success with fourth album Nabuma Rubberband, a Top 25 Billboard 200 hit nominated for a Grammy. After its release, Little Dragon's guest appearances likewise increased in profile from being sought out by ODESZA, Mac Miller, Kaytranada, De La Soul, and Flume. While Season High, the band's follow-up to all that acclaim and activity, adds some new twists and roams from weightless Scandinavian soul ballads to zipping synth pop, the albums is deficient in emotional depth and congeals into a mass of adequate mood music. It doesn't offer much more once the themes -- including romantic fulfillment, solace, and longing, with a little materialistic frivolity, eyelash batting, and cutting loose -- come into sharper focus. The album's best moments evoke past highlights. The potent "Butterflies," for instance, has a lightly frosted delicacy similar to that of "Fortune and "Cat Rider," and those that are just behind it, such as "Sweet" and "Strobe Light," don't have the bite of standouts from the second and third albums. The band still keeps the outside input to a low-profile minimum: barely detectable assistance from Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford on "High," "Boom Clap" co-producer Patrik Berger on "Sweet," and a squealing solo from Agge, a guitarist who played on the debut, on "Celebrate." Up to this point, Little Dragon's preservative self-containment was refreshing. The safe, routine feel of Season High calls for some risks, whether they're several returned favors or a whole-session co-producer for album six

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Hi-Five - Hi-Five (1990)

*A photo of the disc is included in the RAR file.

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: R&B
Label Number: 1328-2-J
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© 1990 Jive Records
AllMusic Review by Ron Wynn
Kiddie-pop, New Jack vocals, and hip-hop flavored uptempo tracks were Hi-Five's stock-in-trade as they tried to ride the wave of popularity for youthful groups in the early '90s. Their first album did decently and even got them a hit single, but was far from the level of the champion in this genre, Boyz II Men.

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Smalltown Poets - Smalltown Poets (1997) ☠

*A photo of the disc is included in the RAR file.

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label Number: FFD5163R
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☠: Selected by Lass

© 1997 ForeFront Records
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
he Smalltown Poets' eponymous debut album is a pleasant collection of mature, latter-day jangle-pop, sounding like a cross between the Gin Blossoms, Toad the Wet Sprocket and the Rembrandts. Although the group hasn't written anything as catchy as their idols' big hits, Smalltown Poets, with its gentle acoustic guitars and harmonies, is an engaging record for fans of those groups.

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D12 - Devil's Night (2001)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Pop Rap
Label Number: 0694908972
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© 2001 Shady/Interscope Records
AllMusic Review by Jason Birchmeier
It's tempting to dismiss D12's debut album, Devil's Night, as exploitative juvenilia, similar to how fellow Detroit hardcore rap acts such as ICP and Esham had been treated in the past. In fact, it's hard not to dismiss this album as shock rap because that's exactly what it is -- there's no denying it. As witty as Eminem may be -- and he's by far the most creative member of the group -- the countless forays into theatrical perversity far outnumber the more literate moments. But to dismiss the album strictly because of its themes would be unfortunate. As challenging as it may be for many to stomach the constant and incredibly explicit sex, violence, and drug references, there is a stunning album lurking beneath that deserves recognition. Functioning as the album's executive producer and as the producer for most of the album's beats, Eminem has done a wonderful job crafting this album and its foreboding feel. Influenced by the style of sparse beats Dr. Dre employed on Eminem's past solo hits, the troublemaking MC's beatmaking steals the show here, particularly on the album's standout moment, "Purple Pills." In fact, Eminem's beats often contest the couple equally impressive tracks that Dre contributes. Besides the remarkable production, Eminem also showcases his songwriting genius on several of the song's hooks, bringing a catchy pop-rap approach to hardcore lyrics. Yet no matter how accomplished this album is from a production and songwriting angle, it's impossible to look past the disturbing lyrics, especially those of Bizarre, and also Eminem's moments of unnecessary instigation. This album is obviously targeting those with a taste for perversity. If that means you, then you'll love this; if that doesn't mean you, then the album is still worth investigating, if only for Eminem's show-stealing performance as not only an MC but also as an adept producer and songwriter.

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D12 - D12 World (2004)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Pop Rap
Label Number: B0002404-02
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© 2004 Shady/Interscope Records
AllMusic Review by David Jeffries
"My Band," the debut single from D12's sophomore album, D12 World, is the group's greatest moment and a great introduction to the way they work. Very little else on D12 World is as exciting as "My Band," the catchy explanation of what this group (or band, or whatever you want to call it) is, and one of the best productions to ever come out of Shadyville. It's also the tamest track on D12 World, an album that's proudly sick in the head. D12 are B-list players in the world of Shadyville (addressed on "My Band" when a fan asks, "Where's Obie and Dre?"), but they're the Three Stooges meets Andrew Dice Clay with that Detroit horror-show edge, which makes them like nothing else in the rap world. ICP might trade in the same sickness as the group, but D12 have better skills and more street cred, and they also have Bizarre. He's Kool Keith on earth, smoking Newports, carrying a blowup doll, and owning every track he appears on. His grotesque masterpiece is "Just Like U," a horrific exchange between parent and child that's so disgusting the edited version of the album totally drops it. Bizarre declares, "When Mos Def hear dis/He probably suffocate me," but it's hardly the only track that would make a humanist's stomach churn. "Get My Gun" and "Bitch" are just as irresponsible, but the group must not be sick enough to repel the socially conscious hero of the moment, Kanye West. His production work on the title track gives the album another highlight, while Dr. Dre is at the helm for the quirky and dark "American Psycho II," killer track number three. Eminem rules the first two songs, and sporadically pops up throughout the album, but don't expect any of the usual reflection. His raps are concerned with his relationship to D12 and hip-hop in total or they focus on his numerous beefs, most prominent being his one with Benzino. That's hard to relate to unless you have a beef with Benzino yourself, but fans who look at D12 albums as updates on the soap opera that is Eminem's career should eat it up. The album feels more slapped together than their debut -- and there's a dry spell in the middle -- but since Eminem spends a lot of time in the background it does do a better job of developing the careers of Swift, Proof, and mostly Bizarre. Check it for his raps and the excellent "My Band," but leave your taste and morality at home.

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Future Bible Heroes - Memories of Love (1997)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Synth Pop
Label Number: SRR 24
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© 1997 Slow River Records
AllMusic Review by Michael Jourdan
The lyric sheet for Memories of Love is composed of a variety of wacky puzzles -- anagrams, cryptograms, jumbles and the like -- that you need to solve to get to the words. This sets the tone for the entire album -- a playful collection of puzzlers that's more fun than the Sunday crossword. Stephin Merritt has a facility for twisting clichés and hackneyed images into delightful new shapes. This -- along with his inherent tunefulness -- puts him in the same league as songwriters like Robyn Hitchcock and Elvis Costello. "Death Opens a Boutique" is a case in point. It recounts the tale of a specialty shop that sells dangerous commodities such as poison, Black Plague and socialism to universal acclaim: "There was no reason to exist if you weren't on the mailing list." Merritt and Claudia Gonson share vocal duties, Gonson with her breathy and delicate chords giving perfect counterpoint to Merritt's dour delivery. And Merritt works with Christopher Ewen, formerly of Figures on a Beach, to create musical soundscapes that seamlessly blend electronics with acoustic instruments that have been treated almost to the point of being non-recognizable. The resulting tunes are surprisingly organic and, above all, catchy.

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Future Bible Heroes - Eternal Youth (2002)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Synth Pop
Label Number: INS608-2
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© 2002 Instinct Records
AllMusic Review by Tim DiGravina
Eternal Youth sees the Future Bible Heroes hitting a wonderfully compelling and mature stride and never wavering from their romantic electro roots. A cute sleeve and gamey lyric transcriptions are here as on past albums, and the band is still playful through and through, but there's a gravity at work from the album's hazy concept of love and aging to its beautifully dark and rich arrangements. Though Christopher Ewen might be the musical brains of the affair and Stephin Merritt is the witty lyrical mastermind, Claudia Gonson is the heart and soul of the band on Eternal Youth. Her droll but pretty delivery is the band's new trademark. Besides providing every vocal, lead and background, except for two or three background utterances from Merritt on "Kiss Me Only With Your Eyes," her sweet swagger and confidence infuse the album with charm galore. Ewen has really outdone himself here, from his six cinematic instrumental interludes to the electroclash meets new romantic keyboard pop meets Hollywood musical mix of sounds he crafts throughout the album. Merritt is his usual curmudgeonly romantic self, offering up loads of lyrical highlights, such as "I would rather be the queen at the guillotine in a bloody insurrection...than be losing your affection" and "I am neither sweet nor sincere, and I'd rather drink blood than beer, 'cause I'm a vampire." Though Eternal Youth is strong from start to finish, the endlessly clever "Doris Daytheearthstoodstill," the stormingly humorous and catchy "I'm a Vampire," "No River" (Merritt's answer to "Climb Every Mountain"), and the tender "The World Is a Disco Ball" emerge as true highlights. On Eternal Youth, the Future Bible Heroes erase any idea of the band being a side project and work together as a trio striving for the same artistic goals. In doing so, they may have created their masterpiece.

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