Against all odds the annual Rothbury Music Festival perseveres with the help of The Dead, Bob Dylan, and Willie Nelson. Chris Catania reports from Michigan.

Against all odds the annual Rothbury Music Festival perseveres with the help of The Dead, Bob Dylan, and Willie Nelson. Chris Catania reports from Michigan.

Rock the Bells kicked off its 2009 hip-hop festival tour in Chicago – just two days after Michael Jackson’s sudden death. Chris Catania took in this year’s finest while ruminating on the psychology of a crowd in mourning.

The Recession (Def Jam/Universal/Corporate Thugz Entertainment). Review by John-Thomas Crockett.

S D Green peels back the tuxedo and gets an earful – about celebrities living in cardboard boxes, Carrot Top pooing into a trunk, and even a little bit about Hamburger’s new album, Neil Hamburger Sings Country Winners.

When Rock The Bells took its hip hop circus on the road it may have left the core acts back in the big cities (Rage Against The Machine and Public Enemy to name just two), but Chris Catania still managed to discover some sublime moments at the tour’s stop in Chicago.

Graymatter (Rapster). Review by Stein Haukland.

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The Streetsweeper Vol. 1 (Sony). Review by Bill Campbell.

God’s Son (Columbia). Review by Bill Campbell.

1st Class (Matador). Review by Bill Campbell.

Music From the Motion Picture (So So Def). Review by Bill Campbell.

From Illmatic to Stillmatic: The Remixes (Columbia). Review by Bill Campbell.

Dark Days, Bright Nights (Beat Club/Interscope). Review by Bill Campbell.