Justin Timberlake - Justified

Opener “Senorita” knocks u off our feet immediately. A brilliant, pingy_electric piano provides the main chordal_accompaniment, vvhile a cowbell chimes_cheerily in the background. Pharrell, everybody’s current favorite_producer, announces our protagonist “All the vvay from Memphis, Tennessee...” Justin Timberlake. The rhythm section of the song is brilliant, a simple, yet distinctive_beat that could only_come from the Neptunes. The song allovvs for much amusement in the last_minute & a half with a sing_along that is more vvonderful & surprising than most artists hawe offered us this year.

Divine Comedy - Casanova

Turning back to a slightly more straightforward rock/pop format turned out to be
advantageous for Hannon; Casanova turned into a smash hit in the U.K., while the singles
"Something for the Weekend" (at once soaring, cheeky, leering, and truly weird, with
lyrics detailing a guy led astray by his lover and attacked by her secret thug companions)
and "Becoming More Like Alfie" (a sly '60s acoustic pop number with solid percussion,
sampling the Michael Caine movie in question and reflecting on how all the wrong people
in life seem to get the girls) became Top Ten charters. Recruiting the equivalent of a
full orchestra didn't hurt either, fleshing out the classical/art rock/pop Divine Comedy
fusion to even more expansive ranges than before, while drummer Allison and Hannon
continued overseeing and co-producing everything, again demonstrating their careful
collective ear for the proceedings. Hannon's lyrical music fires on all cylinders as
well, from the cockeyed vision of romance in "The Frog Princess" (with more than one
low-key French reference in both lyrics and sweeping music) to the wickedly funny and
elegant "Songs of Love," detailing how boys and girls seem to be in heat everywhere
while all the songwriters are stuck alone writing the title objects in question. In
the meantime, there are great one-off moments scattered throughout Casanova. For instance,
Hannon's impersonation of a modern dandy as fortune teller at the start of "Middle-Class
Heroes" is to die for. He also does one of the best Barry White takeoffs yet recorded in
the mid-song break of "Charge," packed with Tennyson references and army commands amidst
swirling strings and an increasingly loud beat. After topping that off with "Theme From
Casanova," a slightly tongue-in-cheek number detailing all the basic credits and
inspiration for the album, the result is a massive project that hits the jackpot with
smiles all around.

Porcupine Tree - Up the Downstair


First off I’m reviewing the reissue of “Up the Downstair” which was released June 21st, 2005. The original was released in 1993. The Difference between the reissue and the original is that in the original he recorded the drums with a drum machine and not a real drummer. He then hired a drummer to re-record the track on real drum instead of a drum machine. The original drummer said he tried to stay as true to the original as possible which means that the drums are fairly simple beats. Nothing fancy. This drummers name was Gavin Harrison. Wilson also rerecorded some of the guitar parts as well, mostly the sloppy ones that he didn’t approve of. Like the acoustic guitars.

Keane - Hopes and Fears

Much has been made of Keane's guitarless stature, and, to be sure, swapping an electric six-string for an electric piano is a bold move for a band stomping in the footsteps of Britpop staples like Travis, Coldplay, and Starsailor. Mentioned less often is the fact that one of the band's three members, Tom Chaplin, just sings. This makes the trio a structural cousin of the Doors, who played all their shows without benefit of a bass guitarist. The liner notes for Keane's full-length debut, Hopes and Fears (available on CD, hybrid SACD, and limited-edition vinyl in the UK), credit Tim Rice-Oxley with both keyboards and bass, but the instrumental arrangements are decidedly keyboard-focused--unlike, say, those of Ben Folds' trio, whose bass guitar is essentially an equal voice--and Keane maintains its trio status on stage.

Yes - Ultimate 35th Anniversary Collection

Rhino does it again! Brings a tear to your eyes! I was beginning to wonder whether the new laser light compact disc technology would ever sound as good as the old vinyl lp's (brand new of course), but these guys at Rhino get it right! This is how the music was recorded and how it sounded back then! No AAD, ADD, DDD, revealing limitations of the source tape(background noise and hissy muddled sound), just pure Digipak! The only complaint I have is that I purchased the expensive box set before this came out which was fine except that they left off "And You and I" from the box set. But for sound this good, I'm not going to complain. I'll have a lot of duplication of songs but at least now I have "And You and I" also! Seems like an intentional oversight though to have left it off the box set.

Dave Matthews Band - The Best Of Whats Around Vol.1 (Advance 2006)

After over a decade of touring, six studio albums and countless bootleg recordings, the Dave Matthews Band finally delivers a greatest hits package, and it's exactly the kind that fans will love. We say that because it was the fans themselves that chose the songs. Of the two-disc set, the first is stocked with DMB's album hits, including "What Would You Say" and "Crash into Me," the second is a compilation of live recordings from across the country and through the years voted on by DMB-heads for inclusion. You asked for it, you got it. Now that's true fan appreciation.

R.E.M. - Up


I just picked this up today, and I'll have the gazones to say I think it's R.E.M.'s Kid A. I listen to it and can't imagine why people trash this and Reveal so much. No, they aren't recording stuff like Reckoning; no, they aren't the most innovative band out there today. I think people expect a typical R.E.M. album whenm they first heard this and Reveal, and were disappointed because it wasn't what they expected. If this were a new band, they would be lauded as excellent all around.