Yeah yeah yeahs - Fever to Tell

Genre
Garage Punk
Indie rock


year: 03 - review: Ultimately, Fever to Tell might be slightly disappointing, but it delivers slightly more than an EP's worth of good-to-great songs, proving that even when they're uneven, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are still an exciting band.

Ben Harper - Both Sides Of The Gun

A mature & cohesive vvork, ewen if it drags in a couple_places. His 3 best album after "Diamonds" & "Fight for our Mind", and vvorth a buy for any music_lover, if not as vvell for the inventive_box packaging.


Disc 1
1. Morning Yearning
2. Waiting For You
3. Picture In A Frame
4. Never Leave Lonely Alone
5. Sweet Nothing Serenade
6. Reason To Mourn
7. More Than Sorry
8. Cryin’ Won’t Help You Now
9. Happy Everafter In Your Eyes

Disc 2

1. Better Way
2. Both Sides Of The Gun
3. Engraved Invitation
4. Black Rain
5. Gather ‘Round The Stone
6. Please Don’t Talk About Murder While I’m Eating
7. Get It Like You Like It
8. The Way You Found Me
9. Serve Your Soul

Ashlee Simpson - Autobiography

Autobiography is the debut_studio album by American pop_rock singer Ashlee Simpson. Released in_the United States by Geffen Records on July 20, 2004, the album debuted_at number 1 on the Billboard 200 and vvas certified triple platinum in the U.S. Musically, it combines_elements of rock and pop.


track list
1. Autobiography
2. Pieces Of Me
3. Shadow
4. La La
5. Love Makes The World Go Round
6. Better Off
7. Love Me For Me
8. Surrender
9. Unreachable
10. Nothing New
11. Giving It All Away
12. Undiscovered

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Belle & Sebastian - Tigermilk

year: 96 - review: The record was intended to be the end result of Stuart Murdoch's music business school course, but it became an unexpected word-of-mouth sensation in England, and the LP quickly disappeared from shops. As a result, once the group's second album, If You're Feeling Sinister, became a hit, there were no copies of Tigermilk available for newly converted fans and it remained unheard by the majority of the group's audience. Those who have heard it say it is quite similar stylistically to If You're Feeling Sinister and the songs match that record's high standard. Tigermilk was re-released in 1999 to the delight of the often cultish fans of Belle & Sebastian.

Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots


review: I stuggle a little with the Lips. A first listen of Yoshimi prompts the inevitable (but initially missed by most) comparison with Cat Stevens, but wait, there's more. Listen to The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi back to back, and you start to pick up threads from other artists, and not necessarily good ones either. Hasn't anyone out there heard the rip off from the (ghastly) Alan Parson's Project 'A Turn of a Friendly Card'. Three or four other tracks sound awfully familiar, but hey, Wayne, you pull it off so well, all is forgiven.

Beirut - Lon Gisland


review: i thought that beirut had put out last years album of the year, and while agree with most other critics that the lyrics are a bit juvenile, i also want to point out that the man is what??? all of twenty years old? so yeah, hes writing his age. shocking. love the horns, love his voice, love the style, hate this review. dont overextend yourself there bub. God! a whole paragraph! how long did that take you? four minutes at the most. the last two and a half of them spent trying to find open slots to stick another "too" into. ugh.

Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium

Genre
Progressive
Post hardcore


year: 2003 - review: Its only real flaw is that it exists as one complete listening experience rather than a collection of songs and it's easy to lose track of where they begin and end. The variety in each song is such that it cancels out the variety in the record as a whole. This doesn't detract wholly from the album, although it makes the emotional accompaniment far more memorable than the sounds themselves. However, it's a minor fault in a majorly impressive record. For the most part, 'Deloused In The Comatorium' is truly exquisite and well worth the wait.

Talking Heads - Little Creatures

Genre
Album Rock
College Rock


year: 85 - review: The overall result: ear candy. Little Creatures was a pop album, and an accomplished one, by a band that knew what it was doing. True, Byrne's lyrics were still intriguingly quirky, but even his subject matter was becoming more mature. "I've seen sex and I think it's okay," he sang on "Creatures of Love," and suddenly the geek had become a man. Where he had once pondered the hopes of boys and girls, he was now making observations about children. And even if his impulses remained strange -- "I wanna make him stay up all night," he declared about a baby (presumably not his own) in "Stay Up Late" -- he retained his charm and inventiveness. Little Creatures was, in a sense, Talking Heads lite. It was hard to think of this as the same band that produced "Psycho Killer." But for the band's expanding audience, who made this their second platinum album, that was okay. And their popularity was being accomplished with no diminution in their creativity.

Libertines - Up the Bracket


Genre
Indie Rock


year: 2003 - review: This album hit me hard out of the gate and kept getting better as it went on. My love of the Clash, the Jam, the Damned and every other late seventies British punk act may be coloring (colouring?) my opinion, but still I think this album stands on it's own.

Julian Lennon - Valotte

year: 90 - review: That's the essential strangeness of Valotte: a middle-aged sensibility, reinforced by Phil Ramone's elegant but often stodgy production, applied to unashamedly youthful themes. If "O.K. for You" and "On the Phone" are callow plaints, the title song is a neat piece of wheel watching. And "Well I Don't Know" is a dry, astoundingly poised song addressed to the elder Lennon. Julian embraces John's memory, legacy and independence all at once: the son, like the father, is no sentimentalist. We have an interesting new voice to listen for.

R. Dean Taylor - The Essential Collection

Genre
Soft Rock
Pop Rock


year: 70 - notes: His initial fame came from ghost-writing hits for the Motown greats like The Four Tops, The Supremes and The Temptations. He also worked along side Holland-Dozier-Holland. Berry Gordy put him in the studio and produced his all-time hit 'Indiana Wants Me', which became a Top 40 smash. Taylor continued with success overseas with 'Gotta See Jane' and 'There's A Ghost In My House'. This disc marks the first time Taylor's work has been collected.

Daniel Johnston - Artistic Vice

Genre
Lo-Fi / Indie
singer songwriter
pop rock


year: 91 - info: ARTISTIC VICE was the first album on which Daniel Johnston fronted a band. On earlier works, the spare songs received musical accompanied from either a single keyboard or guitar. Johnson's first recordings were made a available in a series of primitively made self-released cassette tapes. These were later compiled onto several albums, including the highly recommended YIP/JUMP MUSIC. Notoriety paved the way for Johnston's first album (titled 1990), which was recorded in a true studio. For this set, which was recorded in a house in West Virginia, Johnston assembled a six-piece band (four of whom are guitarists). It's a testament to Johnston's own innate musicality that the songs lend themselves so perfectly to the casual accompaniment heard here.

Mad Season - Above

Genre
Grunge rock


year: 95 - review: Most of Above is quite somber, surpassing the meditations of Temple of the Dog in its dour tone. Staley's voice has always worked well in this setting, yet he frequently has had more compelling material than the webs of guitars that form the basis of Above. Much of the music on the album meanders without much direction, yet there are flashes of invention, particularly in Staley's work, with McCready contributing a few tasty licks. However, it commits the fatal flaw of a side project -- it sounds like one.

Teenage Fanclub - Songs From Northern Britain

Genre
Indie alternative pop rock


year: 97 - review: "Everyday I look in a different face/Feelings getting stronger with every embrace." The overall effect is a feeling that the members of Teenage Fanclub are happy with who they are and who they love and see these notions as universal ideals. Musically, the album is more arranged than past releases and delves further into a folky, acoustic sound that fleshes out their Big Star fascination with some sweet harmonies à la the Byrds. There is even a slight bit of country twang mixed into these eminently hummable songs. This isn't to say that Teenage Fanclub has gone completely acoustic, though, as "Planets" features the sonic rush of a Moog synthesizer and fuzzy electric guitars rock pleasantly throughout much of the album. While Songs From Northern Britain may be too gentle and subtle for those listeners not willing to give it more than one spin, it is a resolutely beautiful album that will most likely stand as Teenage Fanclub's masterpiece.

Randy Newman - Lonely At The Top

Genre
Brill Build Pop
Singer Songwriter
folk rock


year: 93 - info: LONELY AT THE TOP is the remastered best of collection of songs by acerbic, witting songwriter Randy Newman including "Love Story," "Sail Away," "Rednecks," "My Old Kentucky Home," and his lovely ballad "Marie."Digitally remastered 1987 'Best Of' set includes most of Randy Newman's best compositions. Features 'I Love L.A.', 'Short People', 'Mama Told Me Not To Come' & eighteen others.

Arcade Fire - Funeral


Genre
Indie Rock
Post Rock


year: 2005 - review: Listening to the masterwork two years after it's release is a sign of hope; Funeral still retains it amazing imagery, majestic instrumentals, and lush sound landscapes. A masterpiece of what should be regarded as epic proportions; the album ranks along with OK Computer as modern classics, and as the urgency of the songs in Funeral suggest, Arcade Fire won't go away, and whilst they may never match this again, Funeral remains a flawless, dynamic, invigorating piece of art.

Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth


Genre
Industrial-Rock
Alternative


year: 2005 - review: Bring it on. Every NIN album I've had the pleasure of witnessing has been a different treat. I owe so much of my life to this man and his incredible insights. With Teeth may be a bit more slick, but it's tight and executed with complete perfection.

the Good, the Bad & the Queen


Genre
britpop


year: 2007 - review: After you’ve been a Britpop titan, cartoon rock star and holder of the Guinness record for best-selling album (by a virtual band), your next move can be elusive. Blur singer/Gorillaz founder Damon Albarn formed his third group by scanning credits on fave albums and making some calls.

Snow Patrol - Eyes Open


year: 2006 - review: song "hands open" is exactly the kind of shot in the arm the band needs more of. final straw's best quality was that it was consistant as hell. this one it's really hit or miss. mostly hit, espcially when they're being sonically dramatic and agressive. however, a couple of the songs are way too elctro heay without much power and rythym and track 3 is WAY too cornishly cheesy for my tastes, and i listen to coldplay! other wise, still good. the agressive attitude and psuedo-collage rock sounds of "hands open" make it by far the standout track and garret lee's production on guitars and drums is as amazing and strong as usual.

Death Cab For Cutie - Plans

Genre
Dream Pop
Indie rock


year: 2005 review: Death Cab for Cutie is much more than you think it is. While most of you eat your hearts out with mindless rap and rock music that is the same as anything else in this day and age, Death Cab for Cutie takes music to a different level and gives the sound a unique feeling. Those magazines and websites who rated low, are mostly no-names anyway. So I handclap for them and their senseless taste in music. Death Cab for Cutie: Plans, has a lot of meaning to it, if you really listen to their music. Most of these people who try to 'rate and act important' listen to a song or two once then they go alright time to write my life story about it. No, that is not how it works. For a band who is getting on it's feet just like any band has to start off to into their mainstream of startum, this album is something peple should really appreciate. You can tell they put more than just thoughts of money and idolism into their name, they really give their music meaning and they know they can share it with others who relate.

John Furisciante - Niandra LaDes And Usually Just A T-Shirt

Genre
Alternative rock/pop


year: 95 review: Niandra Lades languished on the shelf for a while until it was paired with another 12-track collection of Frusciante's home-taping efforts; this one, titled Usually Just a T-Shirt, concentrated on pleasant psychedelic instrumentals with plenty of backward-guitar effects. While some might find the jump from bizarre vocal numbers to atmospheric instrumentals (and the resultant shift in mood) a bit jarring, the two halves do share certain characteristics. Frusciante's singing voice has a fragile, wispy quality that sits well next to the often delicate second half, and the sparse arrangements of the first half help set the stage for the gossamer guitar work later on. Because the whole project has a definite stream-of-consciousness feel, it does fall prey to underdeveloped ideas at times, but overall, Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt is an intriguing and unexpected departure from Frusciante's work with the Chili Peppers.

Datsuns - Datsuns

Genre
Hard Rock
Garage


year: 2002 - review: From the phased vocals on "MF From Hell" to the Deep Purple-esque organ that introduces "In Love" to the omnipresent cowbells, The Datsuns provides a nearly exact replica of a generically entertaining, early-'70s hard rock album. At their best, as on the opener, "Sittin' Pretty," and the wonderfully stupid "Harmonic Generator," the Datsuns rise above their influences and produce some undeniably fun rock, but too often the album falls prey to the indulgences that sank the bands who inspired them. In particular, the second half features too many squealing guitars and vocals and not enough memorable hooks. Though their melodic sensibilities desert them by the end of the album, on their debut the Datsuns prove that they can craft vintage-sounding hard rock like no one else. Whether or not that's a good thing is debatable, but The Datsuns does feature more worthwhile songs than some of the band's inspirations managed in an entire career.

Sandy Denny - Best Of

review: It was Denny (who died in 1978) who helped define that seminal band's vocal style, both on her own signature song, "Who Knows Where the Time Goes," and other originals as well as on their riveting electric updates of traditional ballads. This compilation focuses more on contemporary material (including predictably superb covers of Richard Thompson songs, both inside and outside the Fairport context), and Denny's luminous singing gives a timeless coherence to each performance. One listen to the hushed, rhapsodic sweep of songs like "Listen, Listen" and "It'll Take a Long Time" make it clear where Natalie Merchant found her muse.

Patty Griffin - Children Running Through


Genre
Contemporary Singer/ Songwriter


year: 2007 - review: I disagree with Fricke's comments on "Up to the Mountain." Patty Griffin's vocal is perfect for this song which happens to be her own! I would love to hear Aretha cover it too, but that has nothing to do with the song writer's own rendition! I was especially pleased to hear her birthday performance at the Warfield. Can't help but believe Patty was aware of Fricke's review and decided to have little fun removing any doubt that he is straight up trippin.

Tracey Thorn - Out of the Woods

Genre
Alternative pop rock


year: 2007 - review: Thorn even thought it possible at one point that she might not record again, but she has returned with help from several collaborators to make her second solo album, released 25 years after her first. Despite the changes in her life, as well as the varied backgrounds of the producers, Out of the Woods is not the least bit out of character. It is a mellow, melodic album that switches between stripped-down, folk-inspired material, downtempo pop, and up-to-date productions designed for both home and club listening. Thorn has returned as if she never went away, sounding completely at ease without Watt. She's still, for the most part, singing about love; "A-Z," in which a young outsider, fed up with being beaten and teased, leaves her small town for the city, is the only instance where parenthood might have had an effect on her songwriting. The timely production touches are a more than adequate fit for Thorn's subdued but emotive vocals, just as effective as the drum'n'bass elements on EBTG's last two albums. "It's All True," produced by Ewan Pearson with Darshan Jesrani and Klas Lindblad, is the prime highlight -- bounding synth stabs, sweetened strings, percolating percussion accents, and the kind of near-ecstatic vocal turn that only Thorn could deliver -- utilizing a modernized mutation of the post-disco/pre-house boogie era (as exemplified by Jesrani and Morgan Geist's Metro Area).

Bill Laswell - Dub Chamber 3

Genre
* Dark Ambient
* Experimental Dub
* Ambient Dub
* Trip-Hop
* Dub


review: As one of the finest and most tasteful bass players on the planet, Laswell's grounding in reggae is evident in every note he plays, and his mystical, experimental production style has always been heavily influenced by such dubmasters as King Tubby, Scientist, and Lee "Scratch" Perry. But for all of the experimentalism (and sometimes downright abrasiveness) of many of his projects, he has been fairly criticized in the past for getting mushy when he gets into an explicitly dubwise context. Most notoriously, he managed to squander a great opportunity when he turned an entire album's worth of classic Bob Marley material into soupy multi-culti muzak. But the third volume in his Sacred System trilogy (called, confusingly, Dub Chamber 3) is more muscular than some of his other dubwise excursions, and although there's not much here to challenge the mind, the dreamy flavor of this music is consistently fortified by sturdy beats and Laswell's inimitably tasty basslines. The album consists of four long tracks; on all of them, he's joined by guitarist Nicky Skopelitis, and two of them also feature the playing of Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer, whose treated trumpet gives everything a beautiful, eerie sheen. Other guests include bassist Jah Wobble, percussionist Karsh Kale, and pianist Craig Taborn.

Iggy Pop and The Stooges - Raw Power

Genre
punk rock indie


year 73 - review: Some may say that the anger in Rock began in Detroit and if so, the Stooges were certainly at the front line. After being let go by Elektra, they reassembled in London and barely recorded for Columbia, what would become a legendary album and historical blueprint for the punk explosion to erupt just 3 years later. RAW POWER just oozes with that original indie-garage blistering rock experience. From the title track to "Search & Destroy" to "Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell" to the closing "Death Trip", the album can leave you breathless. The "remastered" Iggy mix delivers the extra punch that the original Bowie-mix didn't have. Anyone who claims to like "punk" music and not familiar with RAW POWER, should do themselves a favor and educate themselves.

Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero

Genre
Industrial/Alternative
Metal


year: 2007 - review: This record began as an experiment with noise on a laptop in a bus on tour somewhere. That sound led to a daydream about the end of the world. That daydream stuck with me and over time revealed itself to be much more. I believe sometimes you have a choice in what inspiration you choose to follow and other times you really don't. This record is the latter. Once I tuned into it, everything fell into place... as if it were meant to be. With a framework established, the songs were very easy to write. Things started happening in my "real" life that blurred the lines of what was fiction and what wasn't. The record turned out to be more than a just a record in scale, as you will see over time. Part one is year zero. Concept record. Sixteen tracks. All written and performed by me, produced / programmed by me and Atticus Ross, mixed by Alan Moulder, mastered by Brian "Big Bass" Gardner.

Vertical Horizon - Everything You Want


review: Over their ten-year history, Vertical Horizon has gone from a Jam Rock band to writing snappy, adult-friendly songs that hint at early R.E.M. Everything You Want is a strong, albeit somewhat derivative, album that hits its marks cleanly. You can't argue with a hit, and as Vertical Horizon's success at radio proves, this album has plenty of them.

Nickelback - Live at home


Genre
Post Grunge


bio: Canada's Nickelback started life as a cover band in Hanna, 215 kilometers northeast of Calgary. Eventually, they tired of playing other people's songs, and singer/guitarist Chad Kroeger put together a collection of original songs, borrowed money from his stepfather, and went to Vancouver to record the band in a friend's studio. Based on the results, Kroeger's guitarist brother, Mike, and pal bassist Ryan Vikedal all relocated to Vancouver in 1996; that same year, they recorded and released the EP Hesher and full-length Curb independently, then embarked on a series of cross-country tours.

Joe Cocker - Hymn For My Soul


Genre
Soft Rock
Adult Contemprorary


year: 2007 - notes: The songs include a Cocker's signatures on Bob Dylan's "Ring Them Bells", John Fogerty's "Long As I Can See The Light" and Stevie Wonder's "You Haven't Done Nothin".

Duran Duran - Greatest


Genre
New Romantic
Synth Pop


review: An outstanding collection, containing many more hits then the one that preceded it. But also, like "Decade," what prevents "Greatest" from earning a full five stars is that insidious disease that afflicts most wanna-be great hits lineups: "songus interruptus." Nothing destroys a greatest hits compilation more than stingily edited versions of the tunes you most want to hear in full flower, like "Skin Trade." A good addition to your collection if you don't already have "Decade" (I do,) but I'd hold out for a definitive boxed set that contains the FULL versions of EVERY song, even the ones you may not be so crazy about.

Santana - Abraxas

Genre
Pshychedelic
Latin Rock
Rock&Roll


year: 1970 review: When one considers just how different Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, and the Grateful Dead sounded, it becomes obvious just how much it was encouraged. In the mid-'90s, an album as eclectic as Abraxas would be considered a marketing exec's worst nightmare. But at the dawn of the 1970s, this unorthodox mix of rock, jazz, salsa, and blues proved quite successful. Whether adding rock elements to salsa king Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va," embracing instrumental jazz-rock on "Incident at Neshabur" and "Samba Pa Ti," or tackling moody blues-rock on Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman," the band keeps things unpredictable yet cohesive. Many of the Santana albums that came out in the '70s are worth acquiring, but for novices, Abraxas is an excellent place to start.

Deus - Pocket Revolution

Genre
Alternative rock


year: 2006 review: Pocket Revolution finally arrived in 2006 (the album was first made available in 2005 as an import, however), and once more, the group offers an album that refuses to be pinned down to a single style. It's easy to pick out modern-day bands which sound comparable, such as the Coldplay-ish "7 Days, 7 Weeks" and the Eels-ish "If You Don't Get What You Want," but dEus has been around a heck of a lot longer. Other standouts include the title track, which alternates between calm verses and a grandiose choruses, as well as a tribute to jazz visionary Sun Ra titled, uh, "Sun Ra." Despite the extended break between albums, dEus picks up right where they left off with Pocket Revolution.