Musical genius and mega-nerd Ben Jacobs is the mastermind behind the delightfully feverish songs of London's Max Tundra, one of the most eccentric and enjoyable acts you may ever experience. Drawing from anything and everything he can get his eager hands on, Jacobs loads his robust dance tracks with musical references so eclectic and bizarre, you would think he's listened to every song ever written.

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The Silence of Love ends up being a revolving door of folk rock tunes; whether or not you knew the original artists, who strummed up these lyrics over the combined course of 40 years, you'll love the way Alela Diane delivers them so much, you'll want more, and find yourself bouncing back and forth between this great compilation and the original records.

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Chris Palko a.k.a. Cage is the kind of person who shouldn't worry about rumors, mostly because it would be damn near impossible to even come close to competing with the truth. While his new EP I Never Knew You -- which he's giving away to promote the upcoming 7/7 album -- is certainly not lighthearted, it does contain promising evidence that Palko is willing to expand his artistic horizons beyond the confines of his fascinating, albeit horrifying past.

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"It does not seem like the band was out to break the mold with Untitled #23, but why should they? For nearly thirty years, The Church has been putting out genuine space rock that manages to sound youthful, regardless of the bandmembers' increasing ages. Further, I'd say that there's not enough makeout rock music released these days."

[8/10]

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Scary Fragile, the most recent release from this Down Under singer, is only her second record, but shows just how far Butterfly Boucher has come from her debut in the early 2000s. Bearing all the grit and gusto of notorious femmes fatale like Pink and the cheeky chic that only girl-rockers like Gwen Stefani can emit, this is a delicately computed but hard-driving record.

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After a successful month-long revival at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. and a series of previews in New York, the Tony Award-winning musical West Side Story officially returned to Broadway and opened at the Palace Theatre on March 19, 2009.

Attending the premiere of the 2009 revival was Carol Lawrence, who created the role of Maria in the original 1957 Broadway production directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins. It is the original cast, which also included Larry Kert as Tony and Chita Rivera as Anita, that is featured on this recording of the music and songs of West Side Story.

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Check out the sleepy, dreamy songs of Athens, GA quintet Venice Is Sinking:

"Venice Is Sinking rivals the best ambient rock bands. The harmonies and orchestral feel of the tracks transcend their genre, making it not simply slow music, but experimental, uplifting, and fascinating." ~ Paste Magazine

"...some of the lushest, most beautifully orchestrated pop I've heard this year." ~ NPR

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On this debut LP for Domino Records, Kendal's Wild Beasts spill their guts across the room with a lusty flamboyance unrivaled in its uniqueness. Vocalist Hayden Thorpe is a force to be reckoned with; transitioning from feral growl to soaring falsetto with arresting proficiency, he declares "I'm not a soft touch and I won't be seen as such."

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The Baltimore foursome that makes up The Seldon Plan balances on the cusp of a collegian's slowly developing taste in the indie-rock world and the sophisticated post-grad's easy listening preference. The very timely Lost and Found and Lost emerges at a time when both groups -- those hanging on to their youthful love of post-rock pop and those attempting to devote their ear to more meaningful, inspired lyrics -- are looking to the airwaves to find some meaning in today's world.

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"If she never uttered another word into a microphone, Debelle could content herself with the knowledge that she said it all on Speech Therapy's penultimate track. 'Finish This Album' starts with a thumbnail lyrical sketch of passengers on a bus, spidering out into a rhapsodic note to self, Debelle balancing regrets about the past with worries about the children she has yet to have, like a South London hybrid of Lauryn Hill and Tracy Chapman."

[★★★★★]

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