Bobby Conn
King for a Day ⁵
ITUNES MYSPACE
Crazed chameleon bares his
soul with utter abandon
Chicago rock-onteur Bobby
Conn has donned many masks:
ex-con financial guru, glammed-
out conspiracy theorist and
“antichrist,” anti-Bush soul
crusader. But the irony of his
sixth album—a near-operatic
concept record about fantasy
and delusion that begins with
an electric mass…in Latin
(“Vanitas”)—is how honest
Conn’s deadpan camp comes
off in an age when pop’s imagi-
nation is bracketed by tedious
confessionals on one side and
abject material desire on the
other. J. NIIMI

obviously melodic tracks kick in. But both sides would be well served by a bit of mingling—the watery orchestral wash of “Providence” melds gorgeously with Cryptograms’ brightest moment, the Brian Jonestown Massacre–like “Strange Lights.” JOSH MODELL

 

El-P
I’ll Sleep When
You’re Dead ⁵
ITUNES
New York hip-hop’s DIY
kingpin tweaks his sound
El-P’s second solo album
navigates the schism that has
characterized this indie-rap
figurehead’s career as a
producer, MC, and label
chief. I’ll Sleep When You’re
Dead’s blood type is B-boy-
positive, but it’s imbued with
El’s ever-changing moods and
styles. Equal parts faithful-
but-twisted boom bap
(“EMG”) and avant-indie rock
(the epic, Mars Volta–guested
opener “Tasmanian Pain
Coaster”), the album drips
with elbow grease. And as
the dense production echoes
the Bomb Squad’s sound
collage, El lets his rhymes
overflow, trying to make
sense out of the noise.
CHRIS R YAN

Bobby Conn:
The mind reels.

Deerhunter
Cryptograms
ITUNES MYSPACE
From brooding soundscapes
to sublime dreaminess
Fans of dark, psychedelic
pop who tunnel through
the drone-heavy first half of
this Atlanta band’s second
album will eventually find
rewarding sweet spots, while
those who prefer beauty in
repetitive swirls may want
to jump ship when the more

Explosions in
the Sky
All of a Sudden I Miss
Everyone
ITUNES MYSPACE
Music without vocals that
leaves you speechless

This Austin, Texas instrumental combo writes lurching, crashing rock exaltations that are a joy to absorb, but virtually impossible to describe. “The Birth and Death of the Day” is an eight-minute

negotiation between spiraling guitar lines and galloping percussion, while “It’s Natural to Be Afraid” is an ominous epic of loud-quiet-loud dynamics. It’s not all intensity, though—“What Do You Go Home To?” drapes a Tangerine Dream–style piano line over a blurry echo. Let’s just put it this way: Throw All of a Sudden on while playing GameCube, and you’ll have the most dramatic LEGO Star Wars experience imaginable. BRIAN RAFTERY

Fu Manchu
We Must Obey
ITUNES MYSPACE
Meet the Ramones of pot-
clouded, bad-vibe riffage
As Queens of the Stone Age
and others move on, Fu
Manchu dig in their heels for
their tenth album, a contin-
ued distillation of California
stoner rock: Black Sabbath in
form, Black Flag in attitude.
Next to its iron riffs, the
album’s hardest surface is
frontman Scott Hill’s voice,
as much a study in cool
malevolence as the band’s
fictional namesake. On
the Cars cover “Moving in
Stereo,” he out-chills ice king
Ric Ocasek; and when he
demands release in “Let Me
Out,” all sympathy goes to
whoever’s outside the cage.
ANDREW MARCUS

Albert
Hammond Jr.
Yours to Keep
ITUNES MYSPACE
Stroke is more like his father
than he’d likely admit
Until he rocketed to neo-
garage glory as one of two
guitarists of the Strokes,
Albert Hammond Jr.’s claim
to fame was that his dad was

They Still Need More
No longer deranged and scary, punk’s godfathers return

The Stooges The Weirdness ⁵ ITUNES MYSPACE

Asheton brothers are models of professionalism: Ron spews out trashy, concise guitar solos as Scott batters the drums in suitably brutal fashion. Still, their full fury is reined in, making this another Iggy Pop project in everything but name, albeit a superior one.

They’re well-aged men now, not drug-crazed delinquents who sound like a train wreck. So why a new Stooges record more than three decades after the last? Following Iggy Pop’s 2003 album, Skull Ring, when the wrinkled satyr collaborated with fellow Stooges Ron and Scott Asheton on four pretty good tracks, the prospect of a full reunion was perhaps inevitable—despite the impossibly high expectations it raised.

Iggy is his usual sleazy, fascinating
self, a noble savage who looks to get
laid (“Trollin’”) and condemns the
privileged (“Greedy Awful People”)
This is another Iggy Pop
project in everything but
name, albeit a superior one.

Both a big relief and a mild disappointment, The Weirdness is a slick hard-rock set (recorded by Steve Albini) that doesn’t try to match the magnificent chaos of ¹⁹⁷⁰’s proto-punk landmark Fun House. Joined by ex-Minutemen bassist Mike Watt, the

with equal fervor, occasionally pondering deeper meanings. Prodded by the gloomy sax riffs of original Stooges sideman Steve Mackay, he describes “the ache in my bones” on the title track and recalls his days of “living just for doping” in “Passing Cloud.” Both a freak show and a wise philosopher, Iggy refuses to grow old gracefully. JON YOUNG

Whatever you
can imagine,
these guys
have done it.

FROM TOP: JIM NEWBERRY/COURTESY THRILL JOCKEY; CHAPMAN BAEHLER/COURTESY VIRGIN RECORDS

 

¹⁸ MARCH ²⁰⁰⁷ WWW.SPIN.COM