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-]

The long-awaited 2008 Dean's List is now available here.

The Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll results are available here.

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

• Bohemias Lost & Found

New reviews:

• The (Inernational) Noise Conspiracy: The Cross of My Calling (Vagrant/American) ***
• Franco: Francophonic (Sterns Africa) *****

New Consumer Guide for January 2009. Featured albums:

• Arriba la Cumbia! (Crammed Discs) [A-]
• Group Inerane: Guitars From Agadez (Sublime Frequencies) [A-]
• Los Campesinos!: We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (Arts & Crafts) [B+]
• Rich Man's War (Ruf) [A-]
• The Rough Guide to Colombian Street Party (World Music Network) [A-]
• Taylor Swift: Fearless (Big Machine) [A-]
• T-Pain: Thr33 Ringz (Jive) [B+]
• Kanye West: 808s & Heartbreak (Roc-A-Fella) [A-]
• Beyoncé: I Am . . . Sasha Fierce (Music World/Columbia) [B]

By the way, Robert Christgau writes an occasional blog for the National Arts Journalism Program. There's a link on the sidebar to the blog (NAJP Blog), which includes other posts from NAJP writers. Recent posts by Christgau, covering a little more than two months (oldest is 10/24/2008):

• Birth Announcement--Unidentical Twins
• The Vanguard of Something
• A Sonic Sample
• Inbreeding
• Prog-ress
• Freebie Jeebies
• Straight Dope
• Hip-Hop's Brand Loyalties
• Late Registration
• Call for Papers

Slate has published a new set of "The Music Club" roundtable discussions between Jody Rosen, Ann Powers, and Robert Christgau.

1. Jody Rosen: My Top 10 Albums and Top 25 Singles
2. Ann Powers: Twilight of the Pop Gods
3. Robert Christgau: My Lists
4. Jody Rosen: Pop Stars Are Not M.I.A.
5. Ann Powers: In Defense of Axl Rose
6. Robert Christgau: TV on the Radio Unites Us
7. Jody Rosen: The Best Recording of 2008 Was the Oldest
8. Ann Powers: Is the Internet Making Us Love Insular Music?
9. Robert Christgau: Do You Ever Fantasize About Being A Movie Critic?

We should be adding notices every time Robert Christgau appears on NPR's "All Things Considered," but haven't managed to update the website in a timely enough matter. Since August:

• 12/17/08: A "Francophonic" Take On Congolese Pop
• 10/29/08: Sex, Gender Equality In New Girl Talk Album
• 10/01/08: Jean Grae Shows There's No Better Femcee
• 09/23/08: TV On The Radio: Complicated "Science"
• 08/20/08: Old 97's "Blame It On Gravity": Taut and Delicate
• 08/08/08: Conor Oberst: When Love Turns Sour

The whole list is accessible via the NPR link on the sidebar. At the bottom of that page is a link that searches NPR for more recent pieces -- info that should be up to date even when we aren't.