Christina Aguilera
Bionic
RCA / Sony
In 2002, when Christina told you she was ‘dirrty’, she wasn’t kidding. Marriage and motherhood haven’t extinguished the sassiness of this songstress. This bizarre collection of tracks left me a little confused. Woohoo is all about eating out. Nope, not at a fancy restaurant. She sells it with ‘you don’t even need a plate, just your face ha!’ But wait! A few tracks in and she’s singing about her son Max. The sex laced album is even dedicated to her son! That said, I liked it. Her unique voice is undoubtedly bold and clean, unlike the album, which is filth. – Ollie Pincott
Thirsty Merc
Mousetrap Heart
Warner
Sometimes you hear something good and then sometimes you hear something great!
The third album from Australian band, Thirsty Merc, falls into the latter. Here, front man Rai Thistlethwayte’s piano playing and singing are much more expressive than previous efforts. Some tracks have a Billy Joel feel about them most notably Tommy and Krista while others, like my favourite All My Life, bring a more notable LA sound to the band’s work. Every track is more diverse than the last, marking Mousetrap Heart as one of the best Australian band albums of 2010. – Terry Larder
Sarah McLachlan
Laws of Illusion
Sony
With her trademark ethereal voice and enchanting lyrics, Sarah McLachlan’s new album is exactly as expected – soulful and pleasant. Nothing new here. The first track, Awakenings is promising, with a more upbeat tempo than usual but McLachlan soon slips back to her slower, softer comfort zone. While it may not seem as long because of her featured songs on soundtracks and various collaborations, it has been seven years since the divine Sarah released her last studio album. It doesn’t give me the gorgeous chills Fumbling Towards Ecstasy or Surfacing did but it’s still a good chill-out listen. – Amy Henderson
LCD Soundsystem
This Is Happening
Virgin / Parlophone
I was never a fan of LCD Soundsystem. Never. I’m not sure why. I think I’m allergic to hipsters. So it was with trepidation I put this album in, ready to pop my LCD hipster cherry… and I secretly liked it. No, sorry: loved it! What you have here is close to a sonic ramble of songs, all brought together by brilliant lyrics. Opening track Dance Yrself Clean mumbles along before exploding into a sparkling anthem, while standout I Can Change is a creed to live by, all Bowie and Gary Numan in its aesthetic and swagger. You can live off the first five tracks alone. Stunning. – Scott-Patrick Mitchell
Glee: The Music
Journey To Regionals
Sony
This EP is the final release of Glee’s tumultuous first season, documenting the penultimate showdown as they compete for the title of Regionals and the opportunity to continue on to Nationals. Embodying the theme ‘it’s the journey, not the destination,’ they revisit their token cover of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’, pairing it with a fervently over the top (but still rather heart-wrenching) cover of Faithfully. Although high-power pieces are the focus, the highlight of this EP is definitely Matt Morrison and Mark Salling’s acoustic Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Short, sweet and a lovely wrap up to the season. – Mikey James
Janelle Monáe
The Archandroid
Bad Boy / Atlantic
This album is epic. Truly epic. At over 70 minutes in length and comprising of 18 tracks, Monáe’s follow up to her 2007 EP has firmly placed her on the map. It shifts and melds between funk, rap, disco and even dives headfirst into cinema, cabaret, rock and pastoral folk. Yes, that is a lot of ground to cover, but Monáe does it with daring and panache, the whole album virtually seamless. Some people are touting this as a potential Album Of The Year, and it certainly has the ambition to pull that title off. Monáe has arrived… and you better be paying damn close attention! One to watch! – Scott-Patrick Mitchell
Oasis
Time Flies 1994-2009
Sony
Loaded with thick Manchester drawl, Oasis’ new record Times Flies… 1994-2009 revisits some of the best moments from the ’90s and new century for this British super band. The beauty of this compilation is that everybody will have their own special moments as the two-disc record chronicles all of Oasis’ hit singles. For me, little treasures such as Songbird cropped up, a song that would have been skipped due to an ingrained preference for the better known tracks. Well-worn favourites are also rallied such as Wonderwall, Champagne Supanova and Don’t Look Back in Anger. – Benn Dorrington
Laurie Anderson
Homeland
Warner
There is something so incredibly potent about this sweeping tribute to the late great burning billboard of the world: America. Here, Anderson harks back to the vocoder twinges of her 1981 hit O Superman, her voice liltingly robotic. Stand out track Only An Expert, fuelled by her husband Lou Reed’s soaring electric guitar, is a foot stamping falsification of the expert, and how they create problems only they can solve (i.e. sub-prime market crashes). Elsewhere and Anderson is esoteric and transparent, such as the sensitive Falling. All up it’s a hypnotic testament to one of the greatest musicians of our time. – Scott-Patrick Mitchell
Cyndi Lauper
Memphis Blues
Inertia
I’m not a blues fan – not even at a pinch – but you have to give it to Cyndi Lauper: her voice is remarkably suited for singing the blues. This her 11th studio release is a tribute to all things rhythm and blues, and as such might be a slight letdown for those who loved the eclectic rollercoaster of semi-seminal Bring Ya To The Brink. Theme albums are good and all, but they can tire in parts. Lauper gives it her old, but one is left wondering if she offers the genre anything new. Except for her voice. Which is perhaps redemption enough. Rewarding, but only if you like it low, smoky and slightly broken. – Scott-Patrick Mitchell
Various
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Warner
The latest mega-movie franchise, Twilight, steps it up again with the release of the soundtrack for the third installment, Eclipse. Like attracts like here, with big names in indie pop converging for an epic 18 track album. Highlights include Florence & The Machine, The Dead Weather, Vampire Weekend and a beautifully delicate ballad from Sia. Noticeably even Lisa Mitchell and Muse offer up some incredible gems as does a collaboration between Beck and Bat For Lashes – a-maz-ing! Overall, the album has the heavy heartfelt yearning of the movies, which can drag on the soul a little. In parts though, it is amazingly dark, broody, nostalgic yet bristling. Worth it. – Scott-Patrick Mitchell
The Chemical Brothers
Further
EMI
All those techno-heads out there are going to love this one! Designed as a continuous mix rather than stand-alone tracks, Further starts slowly and picks up speed along the way, each track seamlessly morphing into the next. The first track is a little too ‘groundbreaking’ (read weird) for me but the album takes off with the epic 12-minute second track, Escape Velocity and keeps getting better. The diversity of techno styles included, from minimalist to industrial and back again, gives insight into how this duo has adapted to stand the test of time- this being their seventh studio album. – Amy Henderson
Usher
Raymond vs Raymond
Sony
The last time I heard a track from this award-winning album was at the traffic lights being blasted from the boot of supped-up Holden Capri. The car was vertically bouncing under the weight of the hit OMG…. and as I looked out the window and thought OMG! Usher consistently reinvents and his material, while still in the R&B/Rap style, is lyrically very polished. Love, lose and anger are the central themes to his writing and this he delivers in spades especially in Hey Daddy and Fooling Around. Wonderful production and solid bass lines add to the enjoyment. – Terry Larder
