New Rock&Roll& column at Barnes & Noble Review: Thurston Moore/Byron Coley: No Wave; John Cook: Our Noise; Stuart Berman: This Book Is Broken.

• Constructed Social Scenes

New Consumer Guide for September 2009. Featured albums:

• The Dead Weather: Horehound [A-]
• Deer Tick: Born on Flag Day [A-]
• The Morells: The Best Bar Band Ever! Live in '84 [B+]
• Willie Nelson: American Classic [B+]
• Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel: Willie and the Wheel [A]
• Brad Paisley: American Saturday Night [A]
• Various artists: The Panic Is On [A-]
• Bobby Pinson: Songs for Somebody [A-]
• Wilco: Wilco (The Album) [A-]
• Rascal Flats: Greatest Hits Volume 1 [C+]

Honorable Mentions: The Bottle Rockets, Willie Nelson, Hank III, In the Pines, Tanya Tucker, Swamp Dogg; Kitty, Daisy & Lewis; Deer Tick, Levon Helm, John Anderson, The Wingdale Community Singers, Elvis Costello, The Monks, Aaron Tippin, James Luther Dickinson, Kissing Cousins, Pat Green, Zac Brown Band, Eric Church, Rodney Carrington.

Choice Cuts: Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks, Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women, Charlie Robison, Keith Urban, The Boxmasters.

More Duds: Jason Aldean, Rodney Atkins, Billy Curlington, John Doe and the Sadies, Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride, Sonseed, Yim Yames.

New Rock&Roll& column at Barnes & Noble Review:

• Unbeautiful Winner: Leonard Cohen

New Consumer Guide for August 2009. Featured albums:

• An Horse: Rearrange Beds (Mom & Pop) [A-]
• J Dilla: Jay Stay Paid (Nature Sounds) [B+]
• Patterson Hood: Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs) (Ruth St.) [A-]
• Kronos Quartet: Floodplain (Nonesuch) [A-]
• The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (Slumberland) [A-]
• Panama! 2 (Soundway) [A-]
• The Rough Guide to Dub (World Music Network) [A-]
• Oumou Sangare: Seya (Nonesuch) [A-]
• Regina Spektor: Far (Sire) [A-]
• Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest (Warp) [C+]

Honorable Mentions: The Rough Guide to Cuban Street Party, J Dilla, Metric, Bjork, Ida Maria, Crystal Castles, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, Général Defao, Tiny Masters of Today, Touchers, Jarvis Cocker, The Clean, The Rough Guide to Latin Street Party, Busdriver, Manchester Orchestra, The Rough Guide to the Music of Brazil: Rio de Janeiro, Mika Miko, Xrabit + DMG$

Choice Cuts: The Juju Orchestra, Grizzly Bear, Sultana, Los Exagerados, Megapuss

More Duds: Crystal Antlers, Crystal Stilts, Department of Eagles, Grizzly Bear, Jason Lytle, The Music Tapes, Eddi Reader

New Rock&Roll& column at Barnes & Noble Review:

• Forty Years of History, Thirty Seconds of Joy: Rhumba Rules: The Politics of Dance Music in Mobutu's Zaire

New review in the July 9-23, 2009 Rolling Stone:

• Olatunji: Drums of Passion ***(*)

New Consumer Guide for July 2009. Featured albums:

• Mulatu Astatke/The Heliocentrics: Inspiration Information (Strut) [A-]
• Rhett Miller: Rhett Miller (Shout! Factory) [A-]
• Moby: Wait for Me (Mute) [A-]
• Mos Def: The Ecstatic (Downtown) [A]
• Serengeti: Dennehy (Lights, Camera, Action!) (audio8.com) [A]
• Todd Snider: The Excitement Plan (Yep Roc) [B+]
• Sonic Youth: The Eternal (Matador) [A-]
• Allen Toussaint: The Bright Mississippi (Nonesuch) [A-]
• Jozef van Wissem: A Rose by Any Other Name: Anonymous Lute Solos of the Golden Age (Incunabulum) [A-]
• Green Day: 21st Century Breakdown (Reprise) [C]

Honorable Mentions: Helicoentrics, Pet Shop Boys, Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara, Nils Petter Molvaer, Marshall Crenshaw, Hi-Fidel, Cracker, Rancid, Busta Rhymes, Tom Morello/Boots Riley, Dubblestandart, DJ Muggs & Planet Asia, Cut Copy, Roy Nathanson, Bell Orchestre, Placebo, Yoome, A.R. Rahman, Airborne Toxic Event, Bike for Three, Friday Night.

Choice Cuts: Joey + Rory, Serengeti & Polyphonic, Justin Townes Earle.

More Duds: The Brighton Port Authority, Steve Earle, Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman, Thermals.

New Rock&Roll& column at Barnes & Noble Review:

• Character References

New Consumer Guide for June 2009. Featured albums:

• African Pearls: Senegal 70: Musical Effervescence (Syllart) [A-]
• Leonard Cohen: Live in London (Columbia) [A]
• Doom: Born Like This (Lex) [A-]
• Bob Dylan: Together Through Life (Columbia) [B+]
• Béla Fleck: Throw Down Your Heart (Rounder) [A-]
• PJ Harvey & John Parish: "A Woman a Man Walked By (Island) [A-]
• The Hold Steady: A Positive Rage (Vagrant) [A-]
• New York Dolls: 'Cause I Sez So (Atco) [A-]
• Occidental Brothers Dance Band International: Odo Sanbra (Occidental Brothers) [A-]
• Eminem: Relapse (Aftermath/Interscope) [B-]

Honorable Mentions: Extra Golden, Strange Boys, PJ Harvey, On Ka'a Davis, Asher Roth, Buraka Som Sistema, The Rough Guide to Afrobeat Revival, Conor Oberst, Marnie Stern, Sir Lord Von Raven, The Girls, Marnie Stern, brakesbrakesbrakes, Cursive, Titus Andronicus.

Choice Cuts: Keri Hilson, Anjani, Lucky Dube.

More Duds: Bon Iver, Ciara, Peter Doherty, Fleet Foxes, Peter Bjorn and John, Jayme Stone & Mansa Sissoko.

New Rock&Roll& column at Barnes & Noble Review:

• Positive Harangues: The Hold Steady: A Positive Rage

The May 2005 issue of Blender did not, and will not, appear. Some leftover reviews intended for the issue have, however, appeared on the website:

• The Coathangers: Scramble (Suicide Squeeze) ****
• The-Dream: Love vs Money (Def Jam) ***(*)
• Neil Young: Fork in the Road (Reprise) ****

For more info on Blender, see here.

New Consumer Guide for May 2009. Featured albums:

• Art Brut: Art Brut vs. Satan (Downtown) [A-]
• Jonatha Brooke: The Works (Bad Dog) [A-]
• The Coathangers: Scramble (Suicide Squeeze) [A-]
• The Fugs: Greatest Hits 1984-2004 (Fugs) [A-]
• Lady Sovereign: Jigsaw (Midget) [A-]
• The Lonely Island: Incredibad (Universal Republic) [A-]
• Wussy: Be Here Now (Shake It) [A]
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz! (Interscope) [A-]
• Neil Young: Fork in the Road (Reprise) [A-]
• Bat for Lashes: Two Suns (Astralwerks) [C]

New Rock&Roll& column at Barnes & Noble Review:

• Charity Cases: Dark Was the Night

New Consumer Guide for April 2009. Featured albums:

• Lily Allen: It's Not Me It's You (Capitol) [A]
• Amadou & Mariam: Welcome to Mali (Nonesuch) [A]
• The Baseball Project: Vol. 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails (Yep Roc) [A]
• Dark Was the Night (4AD) [A-]
• Marianne Faithfull: Easy Come Easy Go (Decca) [A]
• Golem: Citizen Boris (JDub) [B+]
• Staff Benda Bilili: Très Très Fort (Crammed Disc) [A-]
• White Denim: Workout Holiday (Full Time Hobby) [A-]
• Shearwater: Rook (Matador) [C-]

PS: Original post repeated March's "More Duds"; this will be corrected.

New reviews:

• Buddy Holly: Memorial Collection (Geffen/Decca/UME) ***

New Rock&Roll& column at Barnes & Noble Review:

• Remembrance of Seasons Passed

New Consumer Guide for March 2009. Featured albums:

• Abe Vigoda: Skeleton (PPM) [A-]
• Buck 65: Dirtbike (no label) [B+]
• Clipse: Re-Up Gang Records Present: Re-Up Gang: The Saga Continues (BCD) [A-]
• DJ /rupture: Uproot (The Agriculture) [A-]
• Eddy Current Suppression Ring: Primary Colours (Goner) [A-]
• Kal: Radio Romanista (Asphalt Tango) [B+]
• K'naan: Troubadour (A&M/Octone) [A-]
• La Cherga: Fake No More (Asphalt Tango) [A-]
• The Living Things: Habeas Corpus (Jive) [A-]
• The Knux: Remind Me in 3 Days . . . (Interscope) [B-]

New Rock&Roll& column at Barnes & Noble Review:

• Lily Allen: The Same Everygirl After All

New reviews:

• Living Things: Habeas Corpus (Jive) ***(*)

New Consumer Guide for February 2009. Featured albums:

• Calle 13: Los de Atras Vienen Conmigo (Norte) [B+]
• Calle 13: Residente o Visitante (Norte) [A-]
• Glasvegas: Glasvegas (Columbia) [A]
• Guns N' Roses: Chinese Democracy (Geffen) [B+]
• Nine Inch Nails: Ghosts I-IV (The Null Corporation) [A-]
• Jay Reatard: Blood Visions (In the Red) [A-]
• Jay Reatard: Matador Singles '08 (Matador) [B+]
• Sleeping in the Aviary: Expensive Vomit in a Cheap Hotel (Science of Sound) [A-]
• The So So Glos: Tourism/Terrorism (Green Owl) [A-]
• Fall Out Boy: Folie à Deux (Island) [B-]