the View - Hats Off To The Buskers

year 2007 review: The View appeared on the scene in the early part of 2006, touring with Babyshambles and releasing a limited EP on the Two Thumbs label. They've since played shows in the US and Japan, supported Primal Scream and released two top-20 singles. After the band's first single Wasted Little DJs graced the indie radio waves, it became obvious that they'd go places rather fast.

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

year 2004 review: Riot on an Empty Street ends a long period of inactivity for Kings of Convenience. During their three-year layoff Erlend Øye could be found making solo records and DJing while Eirik Glambek Boe was finishing his psychology degree. Luckily for fans of beautiful vocals and thoughtful indie pop, they decided to get back together. What this band is all about is the sound of Boe and Øye's voices blended together in harmony. Their first album (in both incarnations) erred on the side of consistency. Here the band seems to have learned the all-important lesson of pace and variety. The arrangements are fuller too with pianos, strings, the occasional electric guitar, and lovely guest vocals on two tracks from Broken Social Scene member Leslie Feist. Not to say that they have gone crazy with change. They still stick pretty closely to the acoustic guitars and vocals path, and the tone of the album is autumnal and restrained as before.

Sin City - Soundtrack


year 2005 info: Composers: Robert Rodriguez; John Debney; Graeme Revell. Recording information: Todd AO Scoring, Studio City, CA.

Pere ubu - Modern Dance

year 78 review: Pere Ubu's Modern Dance is one of the most fully realized albums of the post-punk/new wave era. By mashing distorted guitar riffs with shrieking synths, Ubu's music transcended most other punk records of the day, and thanks to David Thomas' warbling delivery, it doesn't sound like anything else.

Sisters of Mercy - Vision Thing

year 90 review: The third Sisters Of Mercy album, VISION THING, makes a dramatic shift from its predecessor, introducing heavy metal riffs to the band`s genre-defining goth sound. Far from signifying a fundamental change in Andrew Eldritch`s sound (once again, he had a new group of musicians with him, keeping only the drum machine, Doktor Avalanche), this combination is an excellent sonic fit. The swaggering machismo of heavy metal sits nicely next to Eldritch`s studiously straight-faced delivery of his colossally egocentric (and intentionally funny) lyrics.
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

year 2003 bio: Radiohead was one of the few alternative bands of the early '90s to draw heavily from the grandiose arena rock that characterized U2's early albums. But the band internalized that epic sweep, turning it inside out to tell tortured, twisted tales of angst and alienation. Vocalist Thom Yorke's pained lyrics were brought to life by the group's three-guitar attack, which relied on texture -- borrowing as much from My Bloody Valentine and Pink Floyd as R.E.M. and Pixies -- instead of virtuosity. It took Radiohead awhile to formulate their signature sound. Their 1993 debut, Pablo Honey..

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

year 79 review: This is still a great power pop album; almost every song is a gem. It's a lot more restrained than his Stooges work and even Lust for Life, so don't expect another Funhouse. Still, from the awesome title track to the slower Don't Look Down this is a very listenable and enjoyable album. Certainly better than anything that came after!

Belle & sebastian - For your hands

year 2000 review: When Belle & Sebastian canceled several dates on their 1998 North American tour after cellist Isobel Campbell fell ill, many fans cried foul; couldn't the rest of the group have gone on without her? Of course not -- Belle & Sebastian is a band in the most democratic sense of the word, a point reinforced by Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant, their fourth and most ambitiously eclectic album to date. Nominal frontman Stuart Murdoch recedes into the background even more than on The Boy With the Arab Strap and , allowing bandmates like CampbellStevie Jackson to take on a greater share of the writing and vocal duties. Also like its predecessor, Fold Your Hands Child opts for a subtle, intimate palette that reveals its charms only in its own sweet time. It may be too subtle for its own good; even after repeated listens it fails to connect on any meaningful level. The record has many intriguing ideas (like the delicate "Beyond the Sunrise," which evokes the classic duets of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, and the vaguely rootsy "The Wrong Girl"), but few of the concepts seem fully developed.

Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow

year 67 review: This is the essential Jefferson Airplane album. Widely available in cut-out bins around the world, this cornerstone of Psychedelic music deserves to be listened to and absorbed by any fan of '60s rock. Most of their best-known songs come from this release, including "White Rabbit," "Somebody to Love," "Today" and "3/5 a Mile in 10 Seconds."

Audioslave - Audioslave


year 2002 review: Sadly, it seems that with 'Audioslave' these people who were involved in some very exciting rock records in the 1990s, now seem happy to be making some bad ones from the 1970s.

the Stranglers - Dreamtime

year 87 review: After Aural Sculpture, this came as a major disappointment. It's not awful, but neither is it in any way essential. The attempts to go ethnic on the likes of "Mayan Skies" and the title track (taken from the Aboriginal concept of an unconscious journey) are pretty embarrassing. There are a couple of good songs, like "Always the Sun" and "Nice in Nice" (a less than contrite look back at the riot in France which got the band thrown in jail for a few weeks), but that's simply not enough for a once great band. And Hugh Cornwell's rhyming of "And who gets the job?/Of pushing the knob" on the former turns an otherwise beautiful song into silliness.

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet - Nine Tonight

year 81 review: Features the title-track contribution to the Urban Cowboy movie soundtrack and an effective cover of "Trying to Live My Life Without You."

the Decemberists - Her Majesty

year 2003 review: In the band photograph that accompanies Her Majesty the Decemberists, the Decemberists appear gathered around a piano, mugging histrionically for the camera. With their manic gesturing, costumes and absurd handlebar moustaches, they both mock and engage the performer’s frantic desire to entertain and please. Last years Castaways and Cutouts marked the appearance of the Decemberists before a national audience, and with it they laid out the aesthetic and approach that also characterizes Her Majesty the Decemberists.

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.)

year 96 info: On the soundtrack for Quentin Tarantino's long awaited follow-up to PULP FICTION, the director again turns to 1970s R&B classics, seasoning the mix with a touch of modern pop. As usual, Tarantino proves himself to be quite the soul connoisseur. This disc zeroes in on great old-school cuts like "Natural High" by the criminally underrated Bloodstone and "Inside My Love" by the late Minnie Riperton. Topping things off is a change-of-pace from, of all people, ex-Cars guitarist Elliot Easton and his group Tiki Gods.
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

year 2006 review: Scorching southwestern summer temps always bust pistons on good ol' 66, so if you're planning on taking that California trip, gear up for them certain breakdowns with some hot tunes courtesy of the Cars soundtrack (Disney). A handful of new recordings on the album will move the downtime along (but we'll agree, not nearly fast enough when the barometer says 110!); classic tunes ("Sh-Boom," "Route 66") will keep our bop from being burnt, and Randy Newman's animated underscore keeps things... well, animated. In "Real Gone," Sheryl Crow's edge handles powerfully, knocking bicyclists right off the road and into the tumbleweeds (careful there, Lance... soft shoulder ahead); "Life is a Highway" maintains maximum speed with Rascal Flatt's new twang, while Brad Paisley's "Behind the Clouds" and Hank Williams' "My Heart Would Know" daydream us right into the dusty world of love gone missing. The highlight of this soundtrack, rightfully so, is Randy Newman's "Our Town," melancholily performed by beloved James Taylor. Touching on the idea that our own town changes for the worse over time, as does the world, perhaps it's not the world around us that changes but ourselves... and the best way to enjoy life is to love what we have, even if it's all caved in on us. Deeply beautiful songs like this, even though hidden in a wild comedy adventure movie about talking cars, can change lives. download depositfiles.com

Dead Can Dance - Aion

year 90 review: Their reputation growing by leaps and bounds, including a huge underground following in the U.S. -- they were able to tour there even without one domestic release available, while at one point Dead Can Dance was the biggest selling band in 4AD's history -- Perry and Gerrard once again did the business with Aion. Its cover taken from Bosch, Aion's medievalism was worn more openly than ever before, with songs adapted from centuries-old material. The beautiful, entrancing "Saltarello," with lead performance by what sounds like an old wind instrument, comes from an Italian dance of the 14th century, while the mysterious moods of "The Song of the Sibyl" derive from 16th-century Catalonia. The group's command of not merely recording possibilities -- witness the exquisite layering of vocals on the opening "The Arrival and the Reunion" -- but of musical traditions, instruments, and more from around the world was arguably never stronger. Gerrard's vocals in particular have an even stronger, richer feeling than before, not merely able to command with its power but softly calm and seduce.

Tom Waits - Orphans

year 2006 review: There's so much more to enjoy here - the adaptations of Kerouac in "Home I'll Never Be" and "On The Road"; the caterwauling multi-tracked Tom choir bawling out "Goodnight Irene"; the prisoner in "Fish In The Jailhouse" bragging about his ability to pick locks with a fishbone; lines like "Well, the rat always knows when he's in with weasels"; and above all, the overarching humanism that enlightens even the most sombre corners of this massive project. It’s an attitude perhaps best encapsulated in "Bend Down The Branches", an allegorical observation about how trees (ie humans) may get old, but never ugly: "You're like a willow, once you were gold/We're made for bending, even beauty gets old". There's plenty that's old and beautiful about these Orphans.

Luke Haines - Off My Rocker At The Art School Bop

year 2006 review: Whether dwelling on the demise of tragic boxer Freddie Mills or spitting out sarcastic jibes about the former hunting ground of Jonathan King, Luke Haines can be relied upon to deliver unpleasantness in a bleakly comic fashion. The odd misstep notwithstanding, Off My Rocker at the Art School Bop casts a withering gaze across the unpalatable dregs of life and undermines their power to shock and offend with the deft application of twisted absurdity and wit. Not to mention a hummable chorus. All together now; “Gary Glitter / Is a bad bad man / Ruining the reputation of the Glitter Band.” Just because it’s serious, doesn’t mean it can’t be funny.>

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

year 89 review: Featuring such favourites as "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You", "Coney Island", "I'd Like To Write Another Song" and "Orangefield", it is not hard to see why this album is generally rated as one of his best of the 80's. "Whenever God Shines His Light" (the duet with Cliff Richard), however, s a little too sirupy to my taste.

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

year 73 review: Living in the Material World (1973), George Harrison’s fourth solo album and second following the break-up of the Beatles, was a return to humble pop music after experimental asides (1968’s Wonderwall Music and 1969’s Electronic Sound) and sprawling artistic liberation (1970’s three-LP All Things Must Pass) were shaken from his then-prolific system. It was his second #1 album in three years (it would also be the last #1 album of his career), and in a year inundated with solo Beatles’ hit singles (Paul McCartney’s “Hi, Hi, Hi”, “Live and Let Die”, and “My Love”; Ringo Starr’s “Photograph"), boasted the effervescent “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)”, a #1 single that remains one of Harrison’s most iconic and well-loved—both the album and the single knocked McCartney and Wings from the top of the charts.

the Stone Roses - the Stone Roses

year 89 review: The Stone Roses' affection for '60s-style hooks and House-inspired beats ignited the "baggy" movement that took over England in the late '80s. Songs such as "Elephant Stone," "I Am the Resurrection" and "She Bangs the Drums" are just three reasons why this record is a classic.

the Stranglers - Greatest Hits

year 77-90 review: I know that purists might disagree with the idea of a “Greatest Hits” album, and in some respects I share their opinion, I feel that in situations such as this where you’re talking about a band of such longevity, the only way for many to become aware of the earlier phases of the band’s career is through a collection such as this one. I’d definitely make the suggestion that if you’re interested in a GREAT punk rock album, you should get your hands on “Rattus Norvegicus”. If you’re more interested in the evolution of a great rock band, you can’t go wrong with this “Greatest Hits” album. I recommend it highly!

Portishead - Portishead

year 97 review: Portishead's mix of '60s soundtrack music, hip-hop beats, dub and detached female vocals became an instant reference point when their first album, Dummy, came out, in 1994. Three years later, with the very first notes of Portishead, the group easily re-establishes its mastery of the genre now known as trip-hop. Instrumentalists Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley have refined their sound to an instantly identifiable essence: bleeps transmitted from outer space, familiar syncopation and turntable scratches.

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

year 89 review: New York City figured so prominently in Lou Reed's music for so long that it's surprising it took him until 1989 to make an album simply called New York, a set of 14 scenes and sketches that represents the strongest, best-realized set of songs of Reed's solo career. While Reed's 1982 comeback, The Blue Mask, sometimes found him reaching for effects, New York's accumulated details and deft caricatures hit bull's-eye after bull's-eye for 57 minutes, and do so with an easy stride and striking lyrical facility. New York also found Reed writing about the larger world rather than personal concerns for a change, and in the beautiful, decaying heart of New York City, he found plenty to talk about -- the devastating impact of AIDS in "Halloween Parade," the vicious circle of child abuse "Endless Cycle," the plight of the homeless in "Xmas in February" -- and even on the songs where he pointedly mounts a soapbox, Reed does so with an intelligence and smart-assed wit that makes him sound opinionated rather than preachy -- like a New Yorker. And when Reed does look into his own life, it's with humor and perception; "Beginning of a Great Adventure" is a hilarious meditation on the possibilities of parenthood, and "Dime Store Mystery" is a moving elegy to his former patron Andy Warhol. Reed also unveiled a new band on this set, and while guitarist Mike Rathke didn't challenge Reed the way Robert Quine did, Reed wasn't needing much prodding to play at the peak of his form, and Ron Wasserman proved Reed's superb taste in bass players had not failed him. Produced with subtle intelligence and a minimum of flash, New York is a masterpiece of literate, adult rock & roll, and the finest album of Reed's solo career.

Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape

Wind It Up
Thw Sweet Escape ft. Akon
Orange County Girl
Early Winter
Now That You Got It
4 In The Morning
Yummy ft. Pharrell
Flourescent
Breakin' Up
Don't Get It Twisted
U Started it
Wonderful Life
Wind It Up (Harajuku Lovers Live Version)

Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine

year 89 review: Considered the breakthrough album that delivered a more palatable version of industrial music to the commercial audience, Pretty Hate Machine left its dingy mark on pop culture. The abrasive "sonarchy" of the album was first churned by despondent club-goers who roiled with the rhythms and aligned with the angst-ridden convictions.

Mars Volta - Scabdates

year 00 review: Scab Dates' accompanying photography is a frenetic blur of instruments and sweaty hair. Singers stand on amplifiers, and keyboardists stare intently at the veins popping in their hands; drummers reach over snares to tweak guitar strings, and saxophones appear out of the ether. It's an accurate portrayal of the Mars Volta's collagist sound, their subtitled and bullet-pointed avant metal that increasingly seems like the soundtrack to a film only Omar Rodriguez-Lopez can see. Still, even at their most insular (some would say self-indulgent), the Mars Volta seethe with intensity. Scab Dates proves this. Most of the more wandering elements of De-Loused and Frances the Mute disappear for this live document, replaced by hails of screaming organ, increased thump to the rhythm section, and Cedric Bixler-Zavala showing off the insane volatility in his voice. They still get jammy in places, but the extended guitar solos and softer textures lead to inevitable explosions. As nothing's ever been traditional with the Mars Volta, it's no surprise that their live albums aren't, either. The songs flow seamlessly and take subtitled digressions just like the studio records. In the liners, Rodriguez-Lopez describes how field recordings he made while on tour found their way into the mix, and there are no "How ya doin', Phoenix?!" or "Let me see you jump, San Diego!" from Bixler-Zavala to discern where the songs were recorded. All you get are dates -- "recorded between May 2004 and May 2005" -- and the occasional bit of crowd chatter to tell you this is live.

Regina Spektor - begin to hope

year 2006 review: Begin to hope finds anti-folk chanteuse Regina Spektor taking a small step away from piano balladry into the brave new world of the pop song. And what pop songs they are. Spektor's voice takes the foreground over sparse arrangements of guitars, strings, some electronic beats, and yes, piano. Her singing, if you can believe it, is even better than it was on Soviet Kitsch : intimate, playful, and full of jazzy phrasings. She slips effortlessly into falsetto and scat in a manner reminiscent of Joni Mitchell. "Hotel Song" finds Spektor singing whispery and smooth over humming organs and a muted snare drum. In "On The Radio," she sings about hearing G'N'R's "November Rain" while plucked strings and synth arpeggios go noodling on behind her. This is an album full of surprises, not the least of which is how lovely the effect is overall.

Duran Duran - Astronaut

year 2004 review: As the premier ambassadors of the image-conscious, party-loving British New Romantic set in the early 1980s, Duran Duran duly conquered the pop world, with millions of teenage girls in their hook-filled thrall. After three albums, however, the original lineup splintered, and the band's profile began to fade. Two decades down the line, all five members of DD's vintage lineup finally reunited for Astronaut. Unlike the group's more "mature" '90s offerings, 2004's Astronaut eschews "adult alternative" trappings in favor of a return to their earlier bold, fun-loving sound, a move that couldn't have been better timed, considering the concurrent '80s-revival craze. Accordingly, Nick Rhodes's synthesizers buzz and zoom with reckless abandon, providing bright color and underlining the dance-rock beat. Guitarist Andy Taylor largely tones down the frantic fretboard exercises of his post-Duran days, opting for a chunkier, riff-oriented approach reminiscent of the glory days, and Simon LeBon comes off as every inch the rock star, his swagger, insouciance, and signature vocal style utterly undiminished by time. Astronaut appeared on the horizon as an alert to '80s-worshipping young bands that the men who wrote the book were back in action.

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

year 1993 review: Gentlemen is a rare thing in rock music, a "concept album" so personal and painful that listening to it gives the impression of being privy to something that should never have been made public. Greg Dulli's lyrics about male inadequacies and overcompensation ring with uncontainable self-hatred and loathing. The shifting of emotions--from the brittle and internal to the brutal and external--forms the basis for the stagnancy and decay of the male/female relationships described here. Opening with a claustrophobic swirl, "If I Were Going" sets the mood, a warm bassline picking at the scabs of Dulli's cracked intonation ("It's all a lie, it's nearly dead, it's in our hope, baby, it's in our bed"). Taking cues from blues, soul, and rock, the Whigs crank out a hybrid 'alternative' sound borne on the scorching guitars of Rick McCollum. After the summation of "Bit into a rotten one now, didn't you?" ("Now You Know") and "I Keep Coming Back," a cover of the Tyrone Davies soul classic, the instrumental "Brother Woodrow/Closing Prayer" adds violin and piano to the mix, finally offering a reprieve from the Whigs' poisonous psychic exorcism. Though not a record to listen to often, Gentlemen is a stunning achievement.

Marc Almond - The Stars We Are (remastered)


year 2002 description: Personnel includes: Marc Almond, Nico. This is a digitally remastered reissue of Soft Cell frontman Marc Almond`s 13-track solo album, STARS WE ARE. The reissue also features expanded liner notes. blog download megaupload

Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey

year 71 review: The kick-off tune "Wild Night" earned Van another deserved FM hit, while the rest of the album offers more mellow celebrations of nature and love. Folksier than Moondance, this delightful album finds Van exploring different sides of his musical and vocal talents. The title track is a flat out beauty.

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band

year 1991 review:Michigan's Bob Seger is an American treasure, but he doesn't get the full respect or attention of, say, Bruce Springsteen or John Mellencamp because he wasn't as visible. His late-'70s prime was pre-MTV, New Jersey-born Springsteen had the fawning support of the New York-based media, and Mellencamp embraced high-profile political causes like Farm Aid and married model Elaine Irwin. 1991's The Fire Inside is credited to Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, but that's misleading. Keyboardist Craig Frost plays on most of the songs, but saxophonist Alto Reed and bassist Chris Campbell are virtually MIA. Instead, Seger uses countless special guests. So many, in fact, that listing them all would eat up this review space, but they include Joe Walsh, Bruce Hornsby, Roy Bittan, Steve Lukather, Don Was, Waddy Wachtel, Rick Vito, Mike Campbell, Patty Smyth, Lisa Germano, and Kenny Aronoff. Overall, the 12-track album is a disappointing piecemeal effort with five different production credits, and Seger uses two Tom Waits covers and one other outside song to pad it. "The Real Love" was a Top 40 hit and this acoustic guitar-based song is indicative of Seger's gift for writing mid-tempo ballads.

Stereophonics - Just Enough Education To Preform

year 2001 review:Principally recorded at Real World Studios, Bath, England. On Just Enough Education To Preform, Brit-poppers Stereophonics offer another refreshingly unpretentious album in which frontman Kelly Jones sings about everyday topics and emotions in his inimitable winsome voice, the whole thing set to outrageously catchy melodies and driven by a strong guitar-based sound. Think a slightly grungier version of the La's and you're not far off the mark, although the album's far too stylistically varied to really be pigeonholed. "Have a Nice Day" could be Cheap Trick without the irony. Jones says the magnificent "Mr. Writer" was inspired by ELO and Stevie Wonder, although it could also pass for early-'70s John Lennon remade a la the Rutles. The exquisitely countryish "Step on My Old Size Nines" comes off as a modern alternative-rock take on early Brinsley Schwarz. Gorgeous stuff, and often rather uplifting.

Supertramp - Breakfast in America

year 79 review: Supertramp stands out at creating pop singles and still maintaining their own style and their own voice. I give them credit for doing that, but not much more. My father must have been taken aback by the occasional occurrences of harmonica and woodwind instruments, and thought he'd found himself a pretty cool band. He was right, in that Supertramp makes some of the better 70s pop songs, and some are still heard today.

Style Council - Greatest Hits

year 2000 notes: Digitally remastered reissue of 1991 'Best Of'. 18 hit singles including 'Long Hot Summer', 'You're The Best Thing', 'Speak Like A Child', 'My Ever Changing Moods' and 'Shout To The Top'. 2000 release. Standard jewelcase.

Cream - Fresh Cream

year 1966 review:From the acappella intro on "I Feel Free" to the tumultuous rhythmic underpinnings of "N.S.U.," Cream's debut album Fresh Cream was a pronouncement that drums and bass would no longer be limited to the role of background instruments, that rock guitarists would henceforth be judged by the standard of Eric Clapton's soaring, lyric signature, and that emotional/instrumental content is as important as the singer and song. To appreciate the energetic slant Cream put on traditional blues, check out their manic, up-tempo version of Muddy Waters' "Rollin' And Tumblin'." And where many bands routinely ripped off folk and blues artists, Cream made sure people like Robert Johnson ("Four Until Late"), Willie Dixon ("Spoonful"), and Skip James ("I'm So Glad") got both credit and royalties, while expanding the audience for pure blues music.

Muse - Absolution

year 2003 review:Muse lead vocalist Matthew Bellamy's vocal timbre bears a distinct similarity to that of Thom Yorke, leading some to dismiss Muse as simply a band of Radiohead-worshippers. With Absolution, however, the UK-based group proves that it's much more than the sum of its influences, delivering a work that revels in the enormity of its ambition, the breadth of its sonic palette, and the intensity of its emotional resonance. Employing a daring mix of classical-influenced piano and strings, metallic guitars, unabashedly strident house-style synths, and the type of production bombast usually reserved for Queen or ELO, Muse often sounds like an otherworldly jam session between Rufus Wainwright, Front Line Assembly, the Move, and Evanescence. Packed with both pop hooks and unusual instrumental textures at every turn, Absolution invites listeners to expect the unexpected.

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

Although German trance_hero Timo Maas has released_numerous records, this is only his_second album of original compositions. Songs_here range from ominous_drones to upbeat dance_floor numbers to rock_tinged techno, vvith R&B singers Kelis &

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

year 75 review: Recorded at the Knebworth Festival in 1974 (tracks 1-8), in Detroit in 1975 (tracks 9-12), and on the TV show The Monkees in 1967.

Tom Waits - Mule Variations

year 00 review: If you are a Tom Waits fan you simply must have this, his best album. If you have lived on this planet for the past 20 years or more and still have a sense of what real, passionate and moving music should be, you must have this album. You don't want to die without having listened to this album from start to finish, alone with a glass of wine on an old overstuffed couch. (Oh, you can skip the first cut but that is just a minor flaw)

Bob Seger - Back in '72

year 73 review: Returning to independent status, Bob Seger recorded Back in '72, not only the finest of his early-'70s albums but one of the great lost hard rock albums of its era. Seger didn't limit himself to self-penned songs on this excursion; borrowing an idea from Smokin' O.P.'s, he covers quite a few tunes, providing a balance to his own tunes. He makes "Midnight Rider" sound as if it were a Motor City raver instead of a sultry, late-afternoon Southern rocker, while casually tossing off "Rosalie," an irresistible ode to a local DJ that turned into a hard rock anthem when Thin Lizzy decided to record it later in the decade. That's the brilliance of Back in '72 -- there's no separation between the original and cover, it's all united in a celebration of rock & roll. That's why "Turn the Page," perhaps the weariest travelogue ever written, never feels self-pitying -- that's just the facts, according to a first-rate Midwestern band that never got a break. All the same, Back in '72 is a testament to great rock & roll, thanks to Seger's phenomenal songwriting and impassioned playing.

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.

Eragon - Soundtrack

year 2006 review: The album takes a few cues to close. The aftermath of the battle, "Together", features Lisa Gerrard-like vocals and then turns heroic again for "Saphira Returns" and "Legend of Eragon" with full blown statements of the theme. Doyle wrote his epic fantasy theme here and I think made up for not using one in Harry Potter as it seems to be always playing either heroically in the foreground or behind other music in the strings or oboe. In fact, by the end of the album, when the theme returns in full, I'm almost tired of it. That is not to say that the theme isn't good - I am impressed with both the melody of the theme and Doyle's ability to meld it into a number of styles and musical settings. Unfortunately, the studio decided to tack on two forgettable pop songs to the soundtrack. But fans of Doyle's score to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire should check out this score as it is a good addition to the epic fantasy score genre.

Patti Smith - Land

year (1975-2002) review:Patti Smith completed her contract with Arista Records after 27 years by assembling this compilation, which serves as both a best-of and rarities collection, one disc devoted to each. Disc one is drawn from Smith's eight studio albums (with the exception of a newly recorded cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry"). Having scored only one hit single, "Because the Night," Smith was not constrained by chart performance, and she seems to have chosen the songs that still mean something to her (though in an interview she claimed to have taken fan preferences into consideration). Curiously, given the album title, the epic "Land" is missing, as are such straight-ahead rockers as "Ask the Angels" and "Till Victory." But most of Smith's more impressive album tracks are included, with the selection favoring her 1970s records, an imbalance that is redressed on the second disc, which contains 2001 live recordings of songs from later albums Gone Again, Peace and Noise, and Gung Ho. The disc also has a couple of previously released singles-only tracks (her hard to find debut, "Piss Factory," and "Come Back Little Sheba," a 1996 U.K. B-side), demos ("Redondo Beach," "Distant Fingers"), a 1996 studio outtake ("Wander I Go"), live recordings of older songs ("25th Floor," "Birdland"), and one newly recorded song, "Higher Learning," a lengthy studio jam on which Smith plays clarinet. The set concludes with a poem, "Notes to the Future," recited by Smith at the 2002 New Year's Day poetry reading at St. Mark's Church in New York, that reflects her optimism, which is also expressed in a goofier manner by the hidden track, an impromptu live performance of "Tomorrow" from Annie. Land (1975-2000) is a typically idiosyncratic compilation from a quirky but imaginative artist, and that's what her fans have come to expect, so they won't be disappointed.

Pixies - Bossanova

year 1990 review:Recorded at Cherokee, Aire and Silverlake, Los Angeles, California and Hansa Ton, Berlin, Germany. With a keen sense of the absurd, Black Francis's (now Frank Black) Pixies were the consummate darlings of the music press--no surprise, with their refreshing mix of overblown guitars, discreet nods to the surreal and a vibrant grasp of pure pop that offered a luscious blow to the senses on execution. "Cecilia Ann" stood somewhere between spandex metal and Beach Blanket Bingo, while the deranged singalong of "Is She Weird" sat alongside the first single, "Velouria," underlining their ability to write timeless singles that filled the head and sent toes tapping incessantly out of time. A recent compilation confirmed their standing.

David Bowie - Reality

year 2003 review:"New Killer Star" was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. Based on the success David Bowie had by resurrecting his collaborative relationship with producer Tony Visconti on 2002's stellar HEATHEN, Bowie returned to the well with Visconti for its follow-up, Reality . The result finds this New York City resident using his adopted hometown and cozy domestic life as impetus for another batch of fine millennial manna. Featuring the backing of talented musicians such as guitarist Earl Slick, pianist Mike Garson, and drummer Sterling Campbell, the sound that permeates these 11 songs ranges from the SCARY MONSTERS-era shuffle of "Never Get Old" to the stripped-down, late-night lounge aura of "Bring Me the Disco King," a song dappled by Garson's piano runs and dusted off by Bowie after laying around for a decade. Balancing the sorrow of the sparse "The Loneliest Guy" with a sunnier mood, Bowie tips his hat to Jonathan Richman and George Harrison by way of eclectic covers of, respectively, "Pablo Picasso" and "Try Some, Buy Some," a little-known Harrison composition originally cut as a Ronnie Spector single. Avoiding the nostalgia treadmill that's mired down many of his peers, Bowie has instead used Reality as yet another stepping-stone to latter-day greatness.

Smashing pumpkins - Siamese dream

year 93 review: Siamese Dream seems to follow some sort of mood trip; it begins sarcastic, dark and angst-ridden, it flows into remorseful and depressing, then into surreal and poetic with no real theme, and ends on a wistful and romantic tone. The zenith of the depressiveness peaks at the acoustic, cello driven, theatrical Disarm, drummer Jimmy Chamberlain as jazz-infused drumming is dismissed for dramatic bell chimes. Siamese Dream is a collage of moods and feelings as well as music, one moment lashing out at someone in fuzz-ridden rage, the other embracing that same person romantically in dreamy atmospheres. From the head banging and complex Geek U.S.A. to the simple and contemplative Mellotron driven Spaceboy, the album varies a lot, but doesn at go totally out of whack in variety like Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Smashing Pumpkins, like Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine created waves of lush guitar sounds to craft a symphonic album, even in the simpler songs like.

Morrissey - Suedehead

year 97 review: 17 digitally remastered singles from the erstwhile leader of one of the premier early 80's British indie groups, The Smiths. Features 'Everyday is Sunday', 'We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful', 'Suedehead', 'The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get' & more.