Nikka Costa
Pebble to a Pearl
By Matt Bauer

Nikka Costa has always been lost in the shuffle. Whether being overshadowed by Amy Winehouse (with whom she shared producer Mark Ronson) or being signed to Virgin (which woefully under-promoted her last two albums), mainstream acceptance and acclaim have eluded Costa. Co-produced with hubby Justin Stanley and released on the re-launched Stax label, Pebble to a Pearl allows Costa to go for broke, in turn offering her best set to date. There's a refreshing analog-soaked atmosphere on the upbeat Stax-/Volt-inflected opener "Stuck to You" that sets the template for the rest of the album. Session vets like James Gadson, J.J. Johnson and James Poyser contribute throughout but it's Costa's full-throated, uninhibited and authoritative vocal delivery that dominates on the strutting music industry kiss-off of "Keep Wanting More" and the positive thinking jam "Keep Pushing." For those that have slept on Nikka Costa, Pebble to a Pearl is the perfect wake-up call. (Stax)
The Slew / Rise Ashen
Bumbershoot
Interpol - Interpol
Siskiyou - Siskiyou
Malevolent Creation - Invidious Dominion
Boston Spaceships - Our Cubehouse Still Rocks
The Thermals - Personal Life
The Great American Beast - Domestic Blood
Neon Bastard - Meikhaus
Sam Prekop - Old Punch Card
The Victory Square Block Party
Festival De Musique Émergente En Abitibi-Temiscamingue
Flying Lotus / Ultragamma / Mymanhenri
Scissor Sisters
Angry Samoans / Class of 1984
Ra Ra Riot
City and Colour / Tegan and Sara / Wintersleep / Ra Ra Riot
Jenny and Johnny - I’m Having Fun Now
DJ Muggs vs. Ill Bill - Kill Devil Hills
Prosanctus Inferi - Pandemonic Ululations of Vesperic Palpitation
Profanatica - Disgusting Blasphemies against God
Luke Doucet & the White Falcon - Steel City Trawler
Sonny and the Sunsets - Tomorrow Is Alright
Reid Jamieson - Staring Contest
Various - Kompakt Total 11
Lou Barlow and the Missingmen
The Specials
Vampire Weekend / Beach House / Dum Dum Girls
Ra Ra Riot - The Orchard
S. Carey - All We Grow
Sarah Jezebel Deva - A Sign of Sublime
Cotton Jones - Tall Hours in the Glowstream
Neil Hamburger - Hot February Night
Oneida / Cowards
Ion Dissonance - Cursed
Various - Bloody War: Songs 1924-1939
Mogwai - Special Moves/Burning
Reason - Fools
Bars of Gold - Of Gold
Jon Langford & Skull Orchard - Old Devils
Brad Laner - Natural Selections
Surgeon / Various - Fabric 53
!!! - Strange Weather, Isn’t It?
Wildbirds & Peacedrums - Rivers
Fennesz / Daniell / Buck - Knoxville
SMMR BMMR featuring Meercaz, Fist City, Sex Church, Timecopz, Woven Bones
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