The Rosebuds Loud Planes Fly Low Merge By Al Kaufman Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp used to be a happily married couple that put out albums like The Rosebuds Make Out. Then they got divorced. But, like other couples going through turmoil (Richard and Linda Thompson, Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox of Eurythmics, all of […]
Black Lips Arabia Mountain Vice Music By Al Kaufman Every artist has that moment when they wish to be taken seriously. They make that attempt to branch out and not get pigeon-holed. The Jim Carreys and Will Ferrells of the world perform dramatic roles. The U2s release messes like Zooropa. In 2009, Atlanta’s Black Lips […]
Elbow Build a Rocket Boys! Polydor By Eileen Tilson In the fourth land discovered in the famous Gulliver’s Travels, the Houyhnhnms (horses) are the rulers of the land, and are also the keepers of the savage Yahoos (humans). In their language “Houyhnhnms” means “the perfection of nature.” Houyhnhnms value reason beyond all else. They are […]
Death Cab for Cutie Codes and Keys Atlantic By Al Kaufman Thanks to iTunes and other sites, the concept of the album is all but gone. Bands still release CDs, but they are just afterthoughts. They put their “reach out and grab you” song first, usually something a bit different as the third or fourth […]
The Melvins Sugar Daddy Live Ipecac Records By Ellen Eldridge The pleasingly sharp flavor of an old favorite arouses the taste buds during The Melvins’ latest release Sugar Daddy Live. This biting collection of songs reminds punk fans of the reasons to get rowdy on a Saturday night. The Melvins take listeners into the sweet, […]
Times New Viking Dancer Equired Merge By Al Kaufman With Dancer Equired, the Ohio fuzz-rock trio, New Times Viking, has cleaned up its act. For many in their small but rabid fan base this may not be a good thing, but for Times New Viking it is sure to bring many more ears on board.
Art Brut Brilliant! Tragic! Cooking Vinyl After years of being compared to other “Art Wave” artists such as Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party, Art Brut have taken the genre to the next level. They’ve done so by creating an album more explosive and vibrate than any artist in their genre has ever done before. Brilliant! […]
Hank Williams III Hillbilly Joker Bruc/Sidewalk By Al Kaufman Hank III never had a good relationship with Curb Records. They thought they were signing a old-fashioned country singer that was more like his grandfather than his dad. What they got is a kid who likes punk and thrash metal more than anything else. The whole […]
The Cars Move Like This Hear Music By Ellen Eldridge The sentiment of music ages like a fine wine; that which we tire of and put away readily returns like a stray cat hungry for more milk. And so with The Cars, a late-’70s pop-synth band born out of the New Wave craze, which surged […]
Big Trouble The Very Best of Big Trouble DCM Records By Al Kaufman Back in the early ’90s, when hair was big and spandex was the attire of choice, four guys from Atlanta got together to start a band. Like most young kids at that time, they wanted to sound like Van Halen, Motley Crue, […]
Crash Test Dummies Oooh-La-La Deep Fried Records Crash Test Dummies Demo-Litions Cast-Off Recordings 1996-97 Deep Fried Records By Al Kaufman Back in 1993, Canada’s Crash Test Dummies, led by Brad Roberts — whose throaty bass-baritone sounded like he had washed down a hive of bees with a bottle of whiskey — released their second CD, […]
Plain Jane Automobile Your Tomorrow Self-Released By Ellen Eldridge In a style U2 fans will find familiar, Plain Jane Automobile begin again with album opener “You Were Only A Song,” which recounts sentimentality of the loss of a friend to war. Admittedly, vocalist/guitarist Duke Crider felt compelled to tell the stories of WWII heroes and […]
Little Scream The Golden Record Secretly Canadian By Al Kaufman Laurel Sprengelmeyer, a native Iowan who now calls Montreal home, has a voice powerful enough that members of Arcade Fire and The National wanted to chip in on her debut CD. It is a voice that can feels at home with a number of styles. […]
The Belle Brigade The Belle Brigade Reprise By Al Kaufman Brother/sister act Ethan and Barbara Gruska call legendary film composer John Williams (Jaws, E.T., Superman, Star Wars,Indiana Jones, to name a few) grandpa. With such a musical pedigree, it is expected that the duo should accomplish some beautiful things. More often than not, they do.
Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues Sub Pop By Al Kaufman Like Low Anthem, or their Rainy City compatriots, Cave Singers, Fleet Foxes create tiny bits of baroque, indie magic. Their songs shimmer, shine, and dance in the light. As on their 2008, self-titled, debut CD, the sextet harmonizes like the best Crosby, Stills and Nash songs, […]
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