Bad Brains - Into the Future Review (Underground Punk)

If you already like the Bad Brains and have followed them through their low points to their incredibly high highs then you are probably used to taking what you can get from them these days. There really is a greatness about this band and their music although these days most of that greatness seems retained by Darryl, Earl and Dr. Know more so than by the ever-iconic/iconoclastic HR.

This release has fantastic production and performances by the band and I will listen to it more than once, which is more than I can say for that last cd. When I listen to this one I can still feel some of their super talents flowing through the grooves... 60/100

 Bad Brains - Maybe A Joyful Noise Track
  

Graham Parker - Three Chords Good Review (album rock)

This album seemed like such a great idea: Reunite a brilliant songwriter with his crack backup band after 31 years, and a classic album surely will follow. Unfortunately, it works better as a concept. Graham Parker and the Rumour don't squeeze out many sparks here.

Perhaps the worst part is that Parker's lyrics are lazy. He used to be clever, but here he's complacent: "I know you been through more than enough/Lots of sad things pain and other stuff." This from a guy who effortlessly turned people into film exposures in "Discovering Japan," a guy who took just two lines to express the misfortune of a Venezuelan tribe's encounter with white missionaries: "Losing their loincloths as they gain ethnicide/All dressed in Western clothes and God will be their guide." ("Break Them Down.") Now, the best he can do is enough/stuff?

The Evens - The Odds 2012

The husband and wife duo of Ian MacKaye (Fugazi, Minor Threat) and Amy Farina (The Warmers) have had a pretty good reason for their long break between their last album and 'The Odds': They've been being parents to their four-year-old son and generally just living the family life. Hopefully that kid's ready to get his own place soon, because these two have got a great thing going here, and I sure wouldn't want to see it put on hiatus again. While The Evens' sound could still be considered post-hardcore like their previous bands, it's a little more stripped-down, and the intensity-level is a good two notches lower.

Soundgarden - King Animal 2012

Styles: Alternative Metal, Alternative/Indie Rock, Heavy Metal

This album fits perfectly in the Soundgarden library. If you are a fan of Down on the Upside and Superunknown, then this will not disappoint. It is shorter than previous SG albums, but it's worth is proven in every second of each song.

Been Away Too Long Song (First Track)

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John Cale - Paris 1919 (Pop/Rock)

A fully realized suite of music from a restless artist who knew better than to get stuck purveying crowd-pleasing pop. Cale's instinct is always to push beyond self-satisfaction. The result is a lushly produced set of songs that grow on you, that deepen in your ear, that finally make you wonder how in the world such smart, relentlessly melodic, rocking and rolling music could have escaped your notice for so long...and yet a set of songs that ache to be something more than just "a set of songs on an album." In this sense Paris 1919 is both a consummate example of early seventies post-Beatles English modern rock and a pulling away from that very same accomplishment--albeit a gentle pull. Cale, skeptical of pop music's desire to satisfy completely, needs that edge.
Andalucia - a great song

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NADA SURF RELEASE MUSIC VIDEO FOR "JULES AND JIM"

Nada Surf are finishing an excellent 2012 by releasing the music video for the song "Jules and Jim," from their critically acclaimed album The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy (Barsuk, 2012). The film was directed, animated and edited by Rachel Chaiya Blumberg. Filmed over the span of several months on location in Arch Cape, OR, and in Providence, RI, it gently alludes to the classic French new wave film of the same name.