The recent news that the brothers Gallagher had severed ties, yet again, got this reviewer to thinking about the time when Oasis was known for more than just bickering and onstage meltdowns.

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It’s been a long time since I listened to, watched, or bathed in the bodily secretions of GWAR. Yet it’s hard to forget the ultra-theatrical, uber-juvenile, wet-and-splashy antics of the band that called KISS’s showmanship and raised it by multiple decapitations and several buckets of blood.

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Radiohead’s Kid A has always invoked the sharpest mental images. When the falling keys of “Everything in its Right Place” blends with Thom Yorke’s garbled lyrics to begin the album, I cannot help but picture a boat harboring an unexplored continent, a shore land expedition/coastal invasion, and the good-willed mess that follows.

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Old and new favorites dominate this week’s new release round-up. Two smoking live sets from venerable figures in contemporary jazz offer the latest disproof of the music’s demise. A collection of soundtrack music from the 1970s challenges the myth of “blaxploitation,” and a pair of releases from young musicians in Brazil and Texas promises the world a bright and funky future.

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Mission of Burma’s reunion hot streak continues with the powerful The Sound, The Speed, The Light.

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The title of the new Flaming Lips album, Embryonic, refers to how most of the songs were recorded during the very early stages of their creation. The result is an album which sounds completely foreign to what the band has been releasing since 1999’s The Soft Bulletin.

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