Iggy Pop, 'Préliminaires' (Astralwerks)
Is Iggy Pop aware that Leonard Cohen has returned to the stage?
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Tori Amos, 'Abnormally Attracted to Sin' (Universal Republic)
On her tenth studio album, Tori Amos writes no less penetratingly than she did on her first about the way women navigate the intersection between sex and power.
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Depeche Mode, 'Sounds of the Universe' (Mute/Capitol/Virgin)
This is Depeche Mode's 12th studio album, but it's only the second they've released since the dance-rock style they helped invent caught fire among crate-digging hipsters half their age.
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The Horrors, 'Primary Colours' (XL)
These U.K. goth-garage ghouls made a splash in 2006 with "Sheena Is a Parasite," 100 seconds of strobe-seizure guitar and creepshow organ accompanied by a video in which actress Samantha Morton shimmied so hard her guts fell out.
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The Crystal Method, 'Divided by Night' (Tiny E)
Business is booming for big-beat nostalgia this year: First Norman "Fatboy Slim" Cook returns to active duty with the BPA (and checks into rehab!), then Liam Howlett reunites with Keith Flint for a blast-from-the-past Prodigy disc. Now here's the Crystal Method with a not-so-fresh batch of rave-rock jock jams seemingly designed to advertise a car you can no longer afford.
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Super Furry Animals, 'Dark Days/Light Years' (Rough Trade)
The quality of a Super Furry Animals record usually increases in proportion to its ebullience. So with an opener titled "Crazy Naked Girls," the Welsh psych-pop band's ninth studio disc initially appears to be a career-best candidate.




