the View - Hats Off To The Buskers
Kyle Falconer's distinct tone shines through on every View song, blending his Scottish accent with a mixture of Bobby Gillespie and Robert Plant. Overall he's got a great rock 'n' roll voice which makes Superstar Tradesman and Wasted Little DJs far more interesting than they would otherwise have been.
The rest of the record throws up a few suprises. I’d never heard Scots do 2-tone until I’d heard the insanely catchy ‘Wasteland’ and ‘Face for the Radio’ is a witty and beautifully melodic number that recalls Hurricane #1’s brilliant but unappreciated ‘Monday Afternoon.’ But, for the most part, Hats Off To The Buskers is just two or three songs too long and one step off the pace set by Arctic Monkeys last year. The similarities between the two bands are uncanny at times but ultimately The View’s debut album is on the second tier, but demonstrates massive scope for improvement if tracks like ‘Face for the Radio’ and ‘Don’t Tell Me’ are anything to go by.
Kings of Convenience - Riot On An Empty Street
Sin City - Soundtrack
Pere ubu - Modern Dance
Sisters of Mercy - Vision Thing
Opening with the monster riff of the title track, VISION THING is a note-perfect parody of metal, while also pushing the boundaries of goth, something the Sisters have done consistently with each of their releases. Standouts include "Ribbons," where the guitars alternately call to mind crashing waves and thunderclaps, and the caustic lyrics end in a desperate howl. "Doctor Jeep" is a jittery, caffeinated swipe at American commercialism, and "More," a masterpiece of bombast built on a big, chugging guitar riff, incorporates everything from sawing, synthesized violins and a piano fade out, to gloriously selfish lyrics and swooping backing vocals.
Radiohead - Live in Paris
David Vandervelde - the Moonstation House Band
year 2007 review: Chicago native David Vandervelde obviously likes doing things his way -- why else would he play almost every single instrument heard on his full-length debut, 2007's The Moonstation House Band? While whirring electronics play a significant role in the proceedings, Vandervelde's Marc Bolan-esque vocals add an interesting spin on the whole one-man-band angle. A modern day T. Rex would be a fitting description overall, especially on the album-opening rocker, "Nothin' No," as well as the spacey ballad, "Feet of a Liar" (which sounds straight off of Tanx). Elsewhere, "Jacket" shows that Vandervelde has a pop sweet tooth, while he puts on his boogie woogie shoes for "Wisdom from a Tree." Marc Bolan reincarnated? It comes pretty darn close on The Moonstation House Band.
Iggy pop - New Values
Belle & sebastian - For your hands
Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow
Audioslave - Audioslave
the Stranglers - Dreamtime
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet - Nine Tonight
the Decemberists - Her Majesty
Colin Meloy, the songwriter and lead singer for the band, has said that he is tired of writing about the angsty lovelives of twentysomethings. Here he turns to tropes of exoticism and the past that are even more tried – like clipper ships scented with cardamom and myrrh, and the seduction of young men by attractive Japanese geishas – proving that what may be played out in the context of an 18th century adventure novel for young boys is startlingly fresh material for a rock song. Meloy freely adopts historical personae and locales for his songwriting, placing the Decemberists out at sea in one song and picking up the part of a young gymnast in another.
Greg Koch - 4 Days In The South (2005)
Track list:
01 Bored To Tears
02 When Were The Good Old Days
03 Can't Get There From Here
04 Your Face
05 Thems The Breaks
06 Fool's Gold
07 Keep On Singin'
08 Love Contractor
09 Folsom Prison Blues
10 Chicken From Hell
11 JSK
Notes: An exceptional guitarist for any other guitarists out there besides myself. This is a fun bluesy to country rock album.
Jackie Brown - Soundtrack (o.s.t.)
Bobby Womack,Guess Who,Little Feat,Delfonics,Supremes & More
the Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God
year 87 Album Genre British Folk: review: The rest of the album takes Celtic trad (fifes, accordions, bodhráns and all) into similarly uncharted stylistic waters, from the crazy cornball Orientalia of "Turkish Song of the Damned" and the effervescent pop of "The Broad Majestic Shannon" to the almost-out-of-control "Fiesta" (a sort of Spanish beer-hall raveup) and the bittersweet going-to-America anthem "Thousands Are Sailing." There are also straight trad snippets (most memorably the woozy "Worms"), a tumultuous big-band excursion ("Metropolis") and even a sod's lullaby (the gorgeous "Lullaby of London"). Obviously the Pogues can do it all. And it sounds as if they've only just begun.
Cars - Soundtrack
Dead Can Dance - Aion
Tom Waits - Orphans
Luke Haines - Off My Rocker At The Art School Bop
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Greendale
year 2003 review: Neil Young has created a fictional place filled with characters and incidents and written an album about them. The album, and the place, is Greendale, and the people are the Green family. The songs are among the most personal he's ever penned, ranging from the dark and biting to the light and humorous. still surprising and still stirring it up, Young adds a stunning new album to his place in rock history. "One of the most ambitious works of his career...a great artist once again at the peak of his game."
Van Morrison - Avalon Sunset
Robbie Williams - Greatest Hits
He’s the all round entertainer vvho has everything:_style, charisma and an uncanny knack for_knocking out killer_tune after killer tune. He is Robbie Williams;_probably the biggest_pop star to emerge_from the UK in the last twenty_years. This ‘Greatest Hits’ package features_so many chart-bothering super_songs that_every listen delivers absolute pop_perfection. From the_beautiful ballads ‘Angels’ & ‘Feel’ to the storming ‘Rock DJ’, ‘Old Before I Die’ and nevv single ‘Radio’, this record_proves once and for all_that Robbie Williams is a pop genius. If u only buy 1 record this year, make sure it’s this 1.
George Harrison - Living In The Material World
the Stone Roses - the Stone Roses
the Stranglers - Greatest Hits
Portishead - Portishead
When Beth Gibbons starts singing in a pinched, affected voice, we know that success hasn't improved the band's mood. "All Mine" may begin like a hiccuping James Bond theme, but it turns out to be a tale of coolly detached possessiveness: "There's nowhere to hide from me..../All mine, you have to be." In "Only You," the singer is imprisoned in a circle of abject dependence – love is never seen as liberating but as binding, confining. "Half Day Closing" is as chilly as a cold wind blowing on a desolate plain – the instruments sound as if they are miles behind Gibbons' voice, wrapped in a creepy gauze of vinyl hiss.
By the time we reach "Mourning Air," it becomes obvious that the Bristol, England, combo uses the same tricks on every song, and that's when morbid fascination turns into ennui. Paradoxically, the music can simultaneously sound huge (Barrow is an amazing sonic architect) and be tensely coiled onto itself. The entire record is an exercise in barren claustrophobia, as if Portishead had spent the past three years burrowing deeper and deeper into a self-obsessed, self-contained world. At this point, we can only hope – for their sake and for the listeners' – that they come up for air soon.
Lou Reed - New York
Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape
Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
Mars Volta - Scabdates
Regina Spektor - begin to hope
Duran Duran - Astronaut
Faithless - To All New Arrivals
Off the back_their extremely successful greatest hits album, Forever Faithless (1.2 million sales), Faithless release_their nevv studio album, To All New Arrivals. A classic ‘the morning_after the night before’ album: melodic, but sonically_pushes the boat out. And in true_Faithless style, they’re not afraid of experimenting, or to say what_they think. It’s a big, warm, passionate album. Faithless_have teamed up vvith some amazing artists on this album (Cat Power, Robert Smith, One Eskimo, Dido), vvith the first_single to be released from the album, Bombs featuring Harry Collier. This track is hugely confident & emotionally alive, lush and emotional with hard hitting brutally honest lyrics.
The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen
Marc Almond - The Stars We Are (remastered)
Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey
Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band
Stereophonics - Just Enough Education To Preform
Supertramp - Breakfast in America
Style Council - Greatest Hits
Cream - Fresh Cream
Muse - Absolution
Kaiser Chiefs - Employment
year 2005 review: "Employment" is one of the greatest albums of 2005. The opening three songs are brilliant. The song, 'Modern Way" which is not as popular as the first two: "Every Day i Love you Less and less" and "I Predict a Riot", however it is my favourite on the album. The Kaiser Chiefs are not unique, but they stand out against similar acts such as Maximo Park, The Futureheads, and bloc party.
Timo maas- Pictures
01. Timo Maas - Slip In Electric Kid
02. Timo Maas - Pictures (feat. Brian Molko)
03. Timo Maas - First Day (feat. Brian Molko) - BEST!
04. Timo Maas - High Drama (feat. Neneh Cherry)
05. Timo Maas - Enter My World
06. Timo Maas - 4 Ur Ears (feat. Kelis)
07. Timo Maas - Release
08. Timo Maas - Big Chevy
09. Timo Maas - Devil Feel
10. Timo Maas - Burn Out
11. Timo Maas - Like Siamese (feat. Brian Molko)
12. Timo Maas - Haven't We Met Before
Tim Buckley - Return of the Starsailor
Tom Waits - Mule Variations
Bob Seger - Back in '72
Kiss - Hot in the Shade
year 89 review: Realizing that their last albums weren't even close to being in league with their output from the '70s, Kiss made a conscious effort to get back on track with 1989's Hot in the Shade. The group began trying out new material, and was soon forced to issue a record in conjunction with an upcoming tour. Hence, Hot in the Shade is a slight improvement over its flat predecessors (Asylum, Crazy Nights), but not by much. The songwriting is still unfocused, but at least the keyboards that plagued Crazy Nights had thankfully been put away, and the production isn't as pop-oriented as most of their other '80s albums. The album did spawn Kiss' first Top Ten single in ten years with the syrupy ballad "Forever," but again, the group missed the mark by padding the album with lots of filler ("You Love Me to Hate You," "Love's a Slap in the Face," "Cadillac Dreams," etc.). Also included were a couple of obvious attempts at hit singles ("Rise to It" and the dreadful "Hide Your Heart"), and a track that sounds like a total ripoff of Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me," titled "Read My Body." Drummer Eric Carr's only lead vocal on a Kiss record, "Little Caesar," is one of the album's few bright spots, but Hot in the Shade unfortunately proved to be Carr's last album with Kiss; he died from cancer in 1991.