#542 - If You're Feeling Sinister, Belle & Sebastian

"Probably the finest articulation of youthful longing and the best record for starry-eyed shut-ins since the Smiths' debut, the band really found their voice on their second album. Wonderful story-songs arranged like the most baroque, lost '60s album imaginable but with sly lyrics that could only arise through modern obsessions on love, cynicism and the past." (real music guide)

#541 - Fun House, The Stooges

"Fun House is where Iggy Pop's mad genius first reached its full flower; what was a sneer on the band's debut had grown into the roar of a caged animal desperate for release, and his rants were far more passionate and compelling than what he had served up before." (allmusic guide)




#540 - Survival, Bob Marley & The Wailers

"Containing what is considered Marley's most defiant and politically charged statement to date, Survival concerns itself with the expressed solidarity of not only Africa, but of humanity at large. The album was controversial right down to the jacket, which contains a crude schematic of the stowage compartment of a typical transatlantic slave ship. Survival is intended as a wake-up call for everyman to resist and fight oppression in all of its insidious forms." (allmusic guide)

#539 - Oh, Inverted World, The Shins

"Although this Albuquerque-based quartet wears a fondness for '60s-style pop on its collective sleeve, the end result far exceeds mere idol worship. Clever lyrics and ultra-tight harmonies color the Shins' flower power landscape, allowing tracks such as "Girl Inform Me" and "Know Your Onion!" to bloom in Day-Glo colors." (real music guide)


#538 - Turning Point, John Mayall

"Mayall and his band, as his typically overblown liner notes state, "explore seldom-used areas within the framework of low volume music." But it does work. The all-original material is flowing and melodic, with long jazzy grooves that don't lose sight of their bluesy underpinnings. Lyrically, Mayall stretches out a bit into social comment on "The Laws Must Change" on this fine, meditative mood album." (allmusic guide)

#537 - Mortal City, Dar Williams

"On the first track of her second album, Dar Williams makes clear her intention to break out of the acoustic singer-songwriter ghetto: "As Cool As I Am" is full-out rock & roll with funky drums and a chorus built on massed choo-choo harmonicas. She doesn't stay in rock mode for long, but the more aggressive approach continues to inform her sound even when she retreats into a more typical acoustic setting." (allmusic guide)