She & Him A Very She & Him Christmas Merge Records By Al Kaufman Kind of like in Rilo Kiley, when Blake Sennett barely got a word in edgewise against the more engaging Jenny Lewis, so it is that M. Ward scarcely shows up on this Zooey Deschanel showcase. The pair have made a couple […]
Nickelback Here and Now Roadrunner By Ellen Eldridge Nickelback surprises me with how controversial they’ve become lately. The protest against their scheduled Thanksgiving Day performance in Detroit seems far too overdramatic for what I always considered a pretty decent pop rock band. Front man Chad Kroeger and the rest of the band have not responded […]
Sarah Siskind Novel Red Request Records By Al Kaufman It would be easy to write Sarah Siskind off as just another hippie chick. Just read some of the liner notes on Novel: “All drums and percussion were handmade or household objects.” Or how about, “Sarah makes unique jewelry made from beads, charms and the like […]
Bombadil All That the Rain Promises Ramseur Records By Leila Regan-Porter North Carolina’s Bombadil started out with a lot going for them. Signed to Ramseur Records as The Avett Brothers took off, they could pass as the Avett’s scrappy, just-as-breathtaking little brothers, and were quickly gaining well-earned attention with their own brand of genre-crossing powerful […]
Childish Gambino Camp Glassnote Records By Justin Lyons Childish Gambino’s (aka Stone Mountain native Donald Glover) underground works often stressed being different from the rest of the rap world. Camp, his first proper album, finds Childish Gambino in a class of upper echelon emcees and manages to balance influence with individualism.
Minus Ned Are We Finally Fitting In? Nedhead Records By Al Kaufman When guitarist Ned Bridges decided to form a band with fellow Connecticut friends Zach Guglin (vocals/drums) and Michael Martens (guitar), he probably thought the band would just break up when he took off for college. Instead, the two remaining members recruited guitarist Mark […]
Ken Will Morton Contenders Ghostmeat Records By Ellen Eldridge Listeners will hear Bob Dylan’s influence in the first note of the first song, “Broken Windows,” even before seeing the credit for Bob Dylan’s title and verse in “Swan on the River” later on the album Contenders. Connecting the obvious smoky style inspiration, patterned after greats […]
Megadeth Th1rt3en Roadrunner By Ellen Eldridge Things are falling perfectly into place for Megadeth. The release of the 13th studio album, aptly titled Th1rt3en, falls on the eerie date of 11-01-11, the day after Halloween. One of my “go to” bands, Megadeth never fails to disappoint me, but all fans of thrash metal should appreciate […]
Scott Weiland The Most Wonderful Time of the Year Atco/Softdrive By Al Kaufman Now that Halloween is over, Thanksgiving is really only a speed bump on the race to Christmas. And what that means is the holiday music comes out in full force. One of the most anticipated offerings this year comes from Scott Weiland. […]
Girl in a Coma Exits & All the Rest Blackheart Records By Al Kaufman If ever a band name has been a misnomer, than it is for Girl in a Coma. Yes, this trio from San Antonio grew up as Smiths fans (hence the band name), but their music is very much alive.
Memoryhouse The Years Sub-Pop By Al Kaufman The Toronto duo, Memoryhouse, released a four-song EP, The Years, on Arcade Sound a little over a year ago. On this version for Sub-Pop, they’re up to five songs (replacing “the Waves” with “Modern Normal” and “Quiet America”). They also re-recorded the remaining three songs. At this rate, […]
The District Attorneys Waiting on the Calm Down: The Basement Sessions EP Self-Released By Eric Chavez To serve as a bridge between the gap of material for the band, The District Attorneys have released an EP of new material for their fans. The Calm Down: The Basement Sessions EP may be only a small batch […]
Gringo Star Count Yer Lucky Stars Gigantic Music By Ellen Eldridge To say a buzz has been brewing over Atlanta locals Gringo Star would downplay the frenetic reverberations on the music industry radar. The allusion to Beatles drummer Ringo Starr remains a cute sarcasm, and fits the band’s style well with the choice of instruments […]
Ron Pope Whatever It Takes Mason-Dixon Railroad By Al Kaufman Ron Pope loves love. His love songs are strong, strident, and unabashedly sappy. There are no songs about a girl done him wrong here, only songs about how happy his girl makes him feel. Ron Pope loves two other things; his guitar and majestic songs. […]
David Jacobs-Strain Live from the Left Coast self-release By Al Kaufman At the ripe old age of 25, David Jacobs-Strain is a seasoned vet in this folk-blues guitar game, and he sounds like it. He plays that slide guitar like a girlfriend. Live from the Left Coast, recorded at the Rolling and Tumbling temporary juke […]
Have Your Say (Latest Comments)