Music news, album reviews and release dates, updated frequently

With one exception, Criticulture will no longer be updated on a daily basis. We thank those of you who have been using the site, and apologize that it will not be continuing in its current form (we have determined that, for the most part, there is unfortunately little to be gained by doing a better job of what is done elsewhere). We hope to re-launch the site later this fall with a different approach that we hope is equally, if not more, useful to our readers.

The one exception: During this time, and for the foreseeable future, we will continue to update our CD Release Calendar on a daily basis (at least on those days when there are items to add to the calendar).

Thanks,
The Management

Believe it or not, Radiohead isn’t the only band releasing an album this month. This week’s releases include new albums from Bruce Springsteen, PJ Harvey, and Annie Lennox, the solo debut for Siouxsie Sioux, a Bob Dylan box set, and, as they say, a whole lot more. Here are all the major releases expected in US record stores on Tuesday, October 2nd:

Aceyalone: Lightning Strikes
Apollo Heights: White Music For Black People
Brooks & Dunn: Cowboy Town
Cake: B-Sides and Rarities [Compilation]
Care Bears On Fire: I Stole Your Animal
Matt Costa: Unfamiliar Faces
The Cult: Born Into This listen at AOL’s Spinner
Dashboard Confessional: The Shade Of Poison Trees
Division Day: Beartrap Island
Bob Dylan: Dylan [3xCD career retrospective]
Felix Da Housecat: Virgo Blaktro And The Movie Disco
Fire Engines: Hungry Beat [Compilation]
John Fogerty: Revival listen at AOL’s Spinner
PJ Harvey: White Chalk listen at AOL’s Spinner
Richard Hawley: Lady’s Bridge listen at AOL’s Spinner
Faith Hill: The Hits [Compilation]
Mick Jagger: The Very Best Of Mick Jagger [Compilation] listen at AOL’s Spinner
Merle Haggard: The Bluegrass Sessions
Annie Lennox: Songs Of Mass Destruction
Matchbox Twenty: Exile On Mainstream [Greatest hits + 6 new songs]
Mobius Band: Heaven listen at AOL’s Spinner
The Most Serene Republic: Population listen at AOL’s Spinner
The Pipettes: We Are The Pipettes
Chuck Prophet: Soap and Water
John Ralston: Sorry Vampire listen at AOL’s Spinner
LeAnn Rimes: Family
The Sadies: New Seasons
Siouxsie: Mantaray
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: Magic listen at AOL’s Spinner
Sunburned Hand Of The Man: Fire Escape
Various Artists: Brit Box [4xcd box set]
Various Artists: Heavy Metal Box [4xcd box set]
We Are Wolves: Total Magique
Tim Williams: When Work Is Done listen at AOL’s Spinner

UK record buyers can also pick up these titles beginning on October 1st:

Babyshambles: Shotter’s Nation [out 10/23 in US]
Canon Blue: Colonies
Idlewild: Scottish Fiction - Best Of 1997-2007 Greatest hits
iLiKETRAiNS: Elegies To Lessons Learnt
Katie Melua: Pictures
Oceansize: Frames
Jack Penate: Matinee
Jim White: Transnormal Skipperoo

Full release calendar

British Sea Power
February 12th is the US release date for the band’s third LP, “Do You Like Rock Music?” UK fans can pick it up beginning January 14th.

The Charlatans
The UK band have announced that their next album, “You Cross My Path,” will be available as a free download on the band’s own website and on the site Xfm. Although the album won’t be ready until next year, the first single will be available (for free) beginning October 22nd.

Deerhoof
The experimental indie-rockers have made an entire album of live tracks and rarities available for free download on its website.

Eve
The singer’s next album, “Here I Am,” which has already been delayed several times, has been pushed back once again, from October 16th to an unspecified date in 2008.

Mars Volta
The release of the band’s next album has been pushed back into next year. “Bedlam in Goliath” will now arrive in stores on January 29th.

Radiohead
As previously reported here and elsewhere, “In Rainbows” arrives next week (via the band’s website) in two formats: a download-only version, for which you can name your own prices, and an approximately $80 “discbox” version that includes a bonus disc and a ton of extra materials. For those of you who want a physical version but don’t want to pay the high cost of the deluxe edition, word comes today that a conventional CD of the album will be released in early 2008.

Full release calendar

Pitchfork has some very surprising details on the next Radiohead album, which, contrary to earlier reports and rumors, will be released on October 10th, rather than next year. The highlights:

1. The album is titled “In Rainbows.”
2. Radiohead still do not have a record label or contract. As a result, they are self-releasing the album via their website, which will be the only place to purchase it.
3. If you want a download-only version of the album, you can obtain it from the Radiohead site for as much (or as little) money as you want to pay for it.
4. A special “discbox” edition comes with lots of extras, including a second disc with eight additional new tracks, a vinyl version of both discs, artwork, and more. That version will run you £40, or approximately $80.

Official Radiohead site

Although Winnipeg’s they are led by John K. Samson of the punk band Propagandhi, The Weakerthans are known for their hyper-literate, story-like lyrics rather than hard-edged rock. (In fact, musically, they are often compared to Death Cab For Cutie.) Their fourth album and first release in four years, “Reunion Tour” follows pretty much the exact same template as its predecessors, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping the critics from singing its praises.

Find out if you should reunite with The Weakerthans in our Review Roundup:
The Weakerthans: Reunion Tour

Natasha Bedingfield
The artist’s second album, “N.B.,” will get a US release (with an extra song) on December 18th. It was released elsewhere in April.

Cat Power
Chan Marshall’s second covers album, the aptly-named “Covers II,” will arrive on January 22nd. No word yet on a tracklisting.

Richard Lloyd
The former Television member will release a new solo album, “Radiant Monkey,” on October 30th (or next week, if you live in the UK).

Full release calendar

Yes, that’s Siouxsie, as in Siouxsie Sioux, leader of Siouxsie And The Banshees and The Creatures. After a nearly thirty-year career–much of it spent in those two bands with drummer and now-ex husband Budgie–the singer has recorded her very first solo album. While “Mantaray” (out Tuesday in the US)  is far from an innovative album, it’s also far from her past work, exploring a variety of new styles and taking on a more personal tone. Judging from the reviews, Siouxsie has built up quite a bit of goodwill over her career, and does little to change that with this solid debut.

Find out more about the critics’ takes on Mantaray in our Review Roundup:
Siouxsie: Mantaray

Although it was released digitally in July (the same week it was mastered!), the fourth album of dramatic indie-pop stylings from Canada’s Stars didn’t arrive in compact disc form (with bonus content) until this week. Stars fans should find something to like here, but be warned: many reviewers felt that it was a bit of a letdown after previous releases “Heart” and “Set Yourself On Fire.”

Should you welcome Stars into your bedroom? Find out in our Review Roundup:
Stars: In Our Bedroom After The War

Battles
How to follow the extremely well-reviewed LP “Mirrored”? Why, with an EP, of course. The six-track “Tonto+” will include remixes from The Field and Four Tet and a bonus DVD.

Mary J. Blige
The singer drops “Growing Pains” on November 27th. It is the follow-up to her huge 2005 hit “The Breakthrough.”

Stephen Malkmus
The former Pavement leader will release his fourth solo album in March, according to label Matador Records.

Mates Of State
The duo is about halfway through recording its next album, which it plans to release early next year. Billboard has details…

Mudvayne
The rockers will release “By The People, For The People” on November 27th.

Radiohead
It looks like March 2008 will be the month that the band’s next album finally arrives. Details about the album, such as they are, have been trickling out of Radiohead HQ via a series of coded messages posted on the band’s website. The latest message, “March Wax,” has been interpreted as a hint about the release date, although it could also be a command intended for anthropomorphic candles.

To Rococo Rot
The electronica act’s first release in three years will be the six-song EP “ABC123,” due in the UK on October 22nd on Domino.

Full release calendar

The Icelandic indie-electronica outfit Múm (and we use “Icelandic” as code for “strange and childlike”) have lost two of their members over the past few years, and thus “Go Go Smear The Poison Ivy,” their fourth album, represents a chance for a fresh start. The core remaining duo are joined here by two new vocalists and additional musicians, and the result is a disappointment for some critics, and a pleasant surprise for others.

We sort through the reviews for Múm ’s latest in our Review Roundup:
Múm: Go Go Smear The Poison Ivy