New posts this week in Robert Christgau's Expert Witness blog:

• Our Dreams Are Our Weapons/Plastic People:
  • Our Dreams Are Our Weapons: From the Kasbah/Tunis to Tahrir Square/Cairo and Back (Network) B+
  • The Plastic People of the Universe: Magical Nights (Munster) A
• Emperor X/Merle Haggard:
  • Emperor X: Western Teleport (Bar/None) A-
  • Merle Haggard: Working in Tennessee (Vanguard) A-

Also new on NPR:

• Woody Guthrie's 'Note Of Hope' From Beyond The Grave

New posts this week in Robert Christgau's Expert Witness blog:

• Radioclit/BLNRB:
  • Radioclit Presents: The Sound of Club Secousse Vol. 1 (Crammed Discs) B+
  • BLNRB: Welcome to the Madhouse (Out Here) A-
• Ry Cooder/Note of Hope:
  • Ry Cooder: Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down (Nonesuch) A-
  • Note of Hope (429) A-

Also new on NPR:

• Mates of State: Reaching Surprising New 'Mountaintops'

New posts this week in Robert Christgau's Expert Witness blog:

• Jens Lekman/Fruit Bats:
  • Jens Lekman: An Argument With Myself (Secretly Canadian) A
  • Fruit Bats: Tripper (Sub Pop) A-
• Das Racist/Ice Cube:
  • Das Racist: Relax (Greedhead) A
  • Ice Cube: The Essentials (Priority '08) A-

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

• Brag Like That: Jay-Z

Also, new on MSN Music News:

• Teddybears Live: Not So Cuddly

New posts this week in Robert Christgau's Expert Witness blog:

• Klezmatics/Ravid Kahalani:
  • The Klezmatics: Live at Town Hall (Klezmatics Disc) A-
  • Ravid Kahalani: Yemen Blues (GlobaLev) A-
• Wild Flag/Mates of State:
  • Wild Flag: Wild Flag (Merge) A-
  • Mates of State: Mountaintops (Barsuk) A-

New posts this week in Robert Christgau's Expert Witness blog:

• Jay-Z:
  • Jay-Z: Reasonable Doubt (Roc-A-Fella/Priority '96) A-
  • Jay-Z: The Black Album (Roc-A-Fella '03) A
• Gilberto Gil:
  • Gilberto Gil: Gilberto Gil (Universal '98) A-
  • Gilberto Gil: Expresso 2222 (Universal '93) B+

New posts this week in Robert Christgau's Expert Witness blog:

• Louis Armstrong/King Oliver:
  • Louis Armstrong: The Complete Town Hall Concert 1947 (Fresh Sound '04) A
  • King Oliver: Off the Record: The Complete 1923 Jazz Band Recordings (Off the Record '06) A-
• Terakaft/Tinariwen:
  • Terakaft: Aratan N Azawad (World Village) A-
  • Tinariwen: Tassili (Anti-) A-

New posts this week in Robert Christgau's Expert Witness blog:

• Jay Z Kanye West/Classic Rock Gold:
  • Jay Z Kanye West: Watch the Throne (Roc-A-Fella) A-
  • Classic Rock Gold (Hip-O '05) A-
• Fountains of Wayne/Stephin Merritt:
  • Fountains of Wayne: Sky Full of Holes (Yep Roc) A-
  • Stephin Merritt: Obscurities (Merge) A-

New posts this week in Robert Christgau's Expert Witness blog:

• Fountains of Wayne:
  • Fountains of Wayne: Fountains of Wayne (TAG/Atlantic '96) A-
  • Fountains of Wayne: Utopia Parkway (Atlantic '99) A-
• Steve Cropper/The 5 Royales:
  • Withered Hand: Good News (Absolutely Kosher) A-
  • Lykke Li: Wounded Rhymes (Atlantic) A-

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

• Not Fade Away

• Fountains of Wayne: Tender Behind the Tartness

New posts this week in Robert Christgau's Expert Witness blog:

• Mamani Keita:
  • Mamani Keita: Gagner l'Argent Français (No Format) B+
  • Mamani Keita: Yelema (No Format '06) A-
• Steve Cropper/The 5 Royales:
  • Steve Cropper: Dedicated: A Salute to the 5 Royales (429) A-
  • The 5 Royales: The Very Best of the 5 Royales (Collectables '04) A-

New posts this week in Robert Christgau's Expert Witness blog:

• SebastiAn/Skrillex:
  • SebastiAn: Total (Big Beat/Atlantic/Ed Banger) A-
  • Skrillex: Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (Big Beat/Atlantic) B+
• Neil Young/David Bowie:
  • Neil Young International Harvesters: A Treasure (Reprise) A-
  • David Bowie: Station to Station (Special Edition) (EMI) A-

Robert Christgau wrote an introduction, Writing Personally, to three papers written by his student at NYU, and published on Perfect Sound Forever.

New posts this week in Robert Christgau's Expert Witness blog:

• The Staple Singers:
  • The Staple Singers: Freedom Highway (Columbia/Legacy '91) A
  • The Staple Singers: Stax Profiles (Stax '06) A-
• Lobi Traore/Sorry Bamba:
  • Lobi Traore: Bwati Kono "In the Club" (Kanaga System Krush) A-
  • Sorry Bamba: Volume One 1970-1979 (Thrill Jockey) A-

• Tom Zé Live: An Elfin Triumph

New posts this week in Robert Christgau's Expert Witness blog:

• Serengeti:
  • Serengeti: Noticeably Negro (Audio 8 '06) A-
  • Serengeti: Family & Friends (Anticon) A-
• Jill Scott/Dave Alvin:
  • Jill Scott: The Light of the Sun (Blues Babe/Warner Bros.) A-
  • Dave Alvin: Eleven Eleven (Yep Roc) A-

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

• Making Out Like Gangsters

New posts this week in Robert Christgau's Expert Witness blog:

• Rave On Buddy Holly/Grin:
  • Rave On Buddy Holly (Fantasy) A-
  • Grin: The Very Best of Grin Featuring Nils Lofgren (Spindizzy/Epic Associated/Legacy '99) A
• Shabazz Palaces/Street Sweeper Social Club:
  • Shabazz Palaces: Black Up (Sub Pop) A-
  • Street Sweeper Social Club: The Ghetto Blaster EP (SSSC) A-

New posts this week in Robert Christgau's Expert Witness blog:

• Shabazz Palaces:
  • Shabazz Palaces: Of Light (Switchblade Music/Templar) A-
  • Shabazz Palaces: Shabazz Palaces (Switchblade Music/Templar) A-
• Teddybears/Russian Futurists:
  • Teddybears: Devil's Music (Big Beat/Atlantic) A
  • The Russian Futurists: The Weight's on the Wheels (Upper Class) A-