Robert Thomas Christgau is an American music journalist and essayist. He began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became an early proponent of musical movements such as hip hop, riot grrrl, and the import of African popular music in the West. Christgau spent 37 years as the chief music critic and senior editor for The Village Voice, during which time he created and oversaw the annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. He has also covered popular music for Esquire, Creem, Newsday, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Billboard, NPR, Blender, and MSN Music, and was a visiting arts teacher at New York University. CNN senior writer Jamie Allen has called Christgau "the E. F. Hutton of the music world – when he talks, people listen."
Electric Version is the second studio album by Canadian indie rock group The New Pornographers. It was released on Matador Records and Mint Records on May 6, 2003.
Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival, also known simply as The Carnival, is the debut studio album released by Haitian hip hop musician Wyclef Jean. The album was released on 24 June 1997, Wyclef Jean also served as the album's executive producer. The album features guest appearances from Celia Cruz, The Neville Brothers and multiple appearances from Jean's former Fugees bandmates, Lauryn Hill and Pras.
Rough and Ready is the third studio album by the Jeff Beck Group and the first of two by the second Jeff Beck Group. Released in 1971 by Epic Records, it featured more of a jazz, soul and R&B edge to counter Beck's lead guitar. As a songwriter, Beck contributed more pieces to Rough and Ready than he had before, or ever would again. Beck enlisted Bobby Tench as vocalist and it is also the first time keyboardist Max Middleton is heard. Other members of this line up are drummer Cozy Powell and bassist Clive Chaman.
Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper The Village Voice and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year absence from the Voice, each year from 1974 onward. The polls are tabulated from the submitted year-end top 10 lists of hundreds of music critics. It was named in acknowledgement of the defunct magazine Jazz & Pop, and adopted the ratings system used in that publication's annual critics poll.
Los Angeles is the debut studio album by American rock band X, released on April 26, 1980, by Slash Records. It was produced by ex-Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek and includes a cover of the 1967 Doors song "Soul Kitchen".
The Woods is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock band Sleater-Kinney. It was released in 2005 on Sub Pop. The album was produced by Dave Fridmann and recorded in late 2004. The album received widespread critical acclaim.
Quasi is an American indie rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1993 by former spouses Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss. Joanna Bolme performed and recorded with the group as a bassist from 2007 to 2011.
Janet Lee Weiss is an American rock drummer, best known as a former member of Sleater-Kinney and a current member of Quasi. She was the drummer for Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, leaving after the album Mirror Traffic, and contributed to the Shins' fourth studio album, Port of Morrow (2012). She was also the drummer for the supergroup Wild Flag.
Hot Shit is the fifth studio album by indie rock band Quasi. It was released in 2003 on Touch and Go Records. Early copies as well as the European edition released by Domino Recording Company include a bonus CD entitled Live Shit.
The Sword of God is the 2001 album by the Portland indie-rock duo Quasi, released on Touch and Go Records in the United States, and Domino Recording Company in the U.K.
Dig Me Out is the third studio album by the American rock band Sleater-Kinney, released on April 8, 1997, by Kill Rock Stars. The album was produced by John Goodmanson and recorded from December 1996 to January 1997 at John and Stu's Place in Seattle, Washington. Dig Me Out marked the debut of Janet Weiss, who would become the band's longest-serving drummer. The music on the record was influenced by traditional rock and roll bands, while the lyrics deal with issues of heartbreak and survival. The album cover is an homage to the Kinks' 1965 album The Kink Kontroversy.
R&B Transmogrification is an album by the American indie band Quasi. It was released on March 25, 1997, on Up Records.
Field Studies is an album by the American indie band Quasi. It was released by Up Records on September 7, 1999.
The Hot Rock is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Sleater-Kinney, released on February 23, 1999, by Kill Rock Stars. It was produced by Roger Moutenot and recorded at the Avast! recording studio in Seattle, Washington in July 1998. The Hot Rock marks a considerable change in the band's sound, veering into a more relaxed and gloomy direction than the raucous punk rock style of its predecessors. The lyrical themes of the album explore issues of failed relationships and personal uncertainty.
Stephen Malkmus is the debut album by Stephen Malkmus, released on February 13, 2001 by Matador Records. Malkmus had planned to create the record by himself, or through a smaller, local label, but eventually accepted the offer Matador made, and he released it. Pre-release promotional CDs of the album exist under the working titles Jicks and Swedish Reggae. Malkmus intended to release the album as The Jicks, but Matador insisted that the album be released under his own name. The album peaked at number 124 in the US and number 49 in the UK.
The Moldy Peaches is the debut album by American indie rock band The Moldy Peaches. It was primarily recorded in a basement in Port Townsend, Washington and was released in 2001. The album has the dubious distinction of being released in the U.S. on September 11, 2001, the date of the attacks on the World Trade Center, while coincidentally featuring a song called "NYC's Like a Graveyard".
When the Going Gets Dark is an album by Quasi. It was released on March 21, 2006, on Touch and Go Records. It was released in Europe by Domino Records.
Volume One is the first album by She & Him, a collaboration between M. Ward and singer/songwriter and actress Zooey Deschanel. It was released by Merge Records on March 18, 2008.
American Gong is the eighth album by Portland based indie rock band Quasi. It was released on February 23, 2010, on Kill Rock Stars. It was released in Europe by Domino Records. A deluxe 2-CD version of the album exists, featuring a compilation disc entitled So Far So Good: A Quasi Anthology.
