Regina SpektorFarSire By Al Kaufman Regina Spektor is a poet. As such, she has license to be nonsensical and downright weird if she so desires. She can talk about making a "computer out of macaroni pieces," or boldly state that "blue is the most human color." But she can also utilize beautiful metaphor. When she […]

Carley TanchonPeridot By Al Kaufman Carley Tanchon is one of those young women who is as fat in voice as she is lithe in body. There are plenty of pictures on the accompanying booklet  of her exposing her long, limber arms. Just as there are plenty of moments on this album that allow her to […]

Ben Folds Presents:University A Cappella!Epic By Al Kaufman Leave it to Ben Folds to make geek chic. A cappella music has been the butt of jokes on everything from The Office to Scrubs. But Ben Folds, who is not adverse to meeting cheese head on (the guy produced a William Shatner CD for crying out […]

Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass-Kickin TeamNational ChampionsDoublenaught Records By Al Kaufman Everyone needs a good ass-kicking once in a while. Rock music has needed one for a good long time now. Terry Anderson, who often teams up with former Georgia Satellite Dan Baird to make up the Yayhoos, is just the guy to do […]

Casiotone for the Painfully AloneVs. ChildrenandAdvance Base Battery LifeTomlab By Al Kaufman Chicago native and film school dropout Owen Ashworth and his Casio make up Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. It's a combination of a painfully flat voice with a lots of digital beeps and beats. On Vs. Children, Ashworth has grown warmer and more organic, […]

Ear PWRSuper Animal Brothers IIICarpark Records By Al Kaufman Devin Booze and Sarah Reynolds, the duo that comprise Ear PWR, are so gosh darn cute you just want to pinch their cherubic little cheeks. Super Animal Brothers III is full of so many hyperactive, day-glo loops and beats it makes Gwen Stefani sound like Peter […]

Wayne HancockViper of MelodyBloodshot By Al Kaufman You won't hear Wayne Hancock on country radio. That's because Hancock is too country for today's country radio. Hancock is an unabashed throwback to the days of Jimmie Rodgers and Ernest Tubbs. This is old fashioned roadhouse, honky-tonk, country, with a yodel or two thrown in for good […]

Paul ThornA Long Way from TupeloPerpetual Obscurity Records By Al Kaufman Paul Thorn is a man's man. Back in 1988, he went six bloody rounds with the legendary Roberto Duran. But he is also sensitive enough that he hugged his idol both before the bout and after (when they were both in the emergency room […]

Tom GossBack to Love… By Al Kaufman As You Tube sensation Susan Boyle demonstrated, you can't judge a singer by his or her looks. On the cover of Back to Love…Tom Goss looks like a slight, New Agey guy with a reed-like voice. What he actually is, is a pop tunesmith with gritty, somewhat nasally vocals […]

PistoleroWarface3 Bullets By Al Kaufman Pistolero is a bunch of music geeks who are so into it that they make their own amps. They know they're great musicians. They could have made one of those carefully crafted, perfectly produced technically mesmerizing CDs that showcased their talents. Instead, they sound like they were headed in that […]

Jill SobuleCalifornia YearsPinko Records By Al Kaufman You know Jill Sobule. You know her as the woman who sang the 1995 hit, "I Kissed a Girl," which included a video starring Fabio. Her name popped up again lately when Katy Perry recorded a completely different, and ultimately inferior, song with the same title.  Sobule has […]

PomegranatesEverybody Come OutsideLujo Records By Al Kaufman The Pomegranates, from Cincinnati, have that same indie-pop exuberance that caused the media to fawn all over Clap Your Hands Say Yeah a few years back. Much like Clap Your Hands, Pomegranates clearly draw heavily upon their early Talking Heads and New Order albums. Everybody, Come Outside! is […]