Masters Of My Make-Believe – Santigold – The poor man's MIA only kills once, the mindbending beats ahoy Karen O "GO!". The rest of this eagerly awaited dance pop album, is jam packed with modern tropes from soulful ballads to Africana tom tom hooks. But it is less than ithe sum ts parts, even though the parts can be very sturdy – Grade: B+
Born Villain – Marilyn Manson – The giveaway is a "You're So Vain" where all MM can do with it is MM it. The same remains true for all these ace songs. They are static, framed in time, beautiful people singing beautiful songs. It is like a nostalgia act with new songs – Grade: B+
Little Broken Hearts – Norah Jones – Norah Jones Njs one slow, moody, song afternoon. For what it is, it might be her best album yet. I just don't like what it is: it's like she has taken Chris Isaak circa San Francisco Days and made him much much worse – Grade: B-
Hard 2 Love – Lee Brice – It's the "2" that proves that singing about sipping on whisky won't make you Eric Church, let alone Jamey Johnson. Shit, it won't even make you Brad Paisley. As ordinary as country boys get – Grade: B-
Los Monsters – Elvis Crespo – On the verge of a crossover US breakthrough, Crespo never quite made, he got dogged by Wow Flash, his big attempt to reach the US markets and his worst album to date. So he settled into a career as a giant of Latin American dance. Especially Merengue.. But it's been 13 years since "Besos de Coral" and nothing here, all but one with featured artists, that comes close- Grade: B+
Up All Night – Kip Moore – Remember what I said about Lee? This is worse but poppier – Grade: B-
Strange Clouds – B.o.B. – I guess Bobby is serious about becoming a popstar, HE IS THE MALE NICKI MINAJ. Not bad. A handful of potential hits and if they do hit? Better than not bad – Grade: B+
Avengers Assemble – Various Artists – And various current hard rockers lead by Soundgarden with PUSHERJONES bringing up the rear and Black Veil Brides somewhere in the middle – Grade: B+
Blown Away – Carrie Underwood – Geez, she is like Miranda Lambert for dumbass hicks. Atrocious live, worse on record – Grade: C-