The reviews

The Eraser
Thom Yorke
Xl Recordings

Some writers and fans have taken to calling this album Kid B, the implication that it’s the companion piece to Radiohead’s masterpiece of electronic rock.
And while The Eraser does compare favourably to that work, it’s no longer ahead of its time, just simply of its time. We can’t all be visionaries all the time, however, and it’s understandable that Yorke wants to play with his computer more than he gets to with his rock and roll band.
Looped bubbly bloops, sleight drones, and curious bleeps complement Yorke’s distinctive vocals throughout.
It’s tough not to expect the rest of the band to come in and "complete" a particular song. But once you get used to the fact that this isn’t going to happen, the album reveals itself as a delightful, occasionally brave work that’s as playful as it is melancholic.

Yell Fire!
Michael Franti and Spearhead
Anti

One thing you know you’ll get from Franti and Spearhead is a certain kind of crystal clarity — on the production, musicianship, and, of course, in the righteous political message.
Released two years after Franti travelled by himself to war-ravaged Baghdad, Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, each of these songs deals with the human cost of war poignantly and pointedly.
The lyrics may seem simplistic when removed from the songs —"Those who start wars never fight them/And those who fight wars never like them" — but very few artists have the honesty and balls that Franti does. Bless him for that.
From the jam band accents of Time to Go Home to the reggae of  to the U2-ish ballad I Know I’m Not Alone, it’s easily Franti’s best album yet.

Nineteeneighties
Grant Lee Phillips
Zoe Records

Though he has often shown a debt to REM and the Smiths, Grant Lee Phillips’s most successful recordings — both solo and with Grant Lee Buffalo — represented a break with the sonic largesse and studio affectations of the 1980s.
These 11 tracks serve to reconnect him with the bands and songwriters of his 20s, when he was just discovering his own voice.
With a consistency that borders on singlemindedness, he drapes songs by New Order, Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen, the Psychedelic Furs, the Church, and the Cure in his trademark acoustic warmth and draws forth the melodies and sense of longing in these Gen-X anthems.
Somehow he has managed to take the low acoustic sound and use it on 11 wonderful songs.