Spins
Century reviewed
Century Black Ocean (Prosthetic) Carson Slovak’s tightly wound Century manage to create space for themselves on their third album, though, in accordance with some prevailing scientific theories, that space is finite.
Jason Miles & DJ Logic reviewed
Jason Miles & DJ Logic Global Noize (Shanachie) Fusion/bop veteran Jason Miles and the man largely credited with funneling jazz into early hip-hop, DJ Logic, are joined by Meshell Ndegeocello, John Popper, Vernon Reid, Bernie Worrell, and more in a largely frustrating, bland world blend.
Leona Lewis reviewed
Leona Lewis Spirit (J/Syco) Is your business facing a profit squeeze? Is your market controlled by customers interested in lowest price only? Using the equation “Profit Margin = Promotion + Promotion + Promotion” you too can delude yourself into thinking you’ve outflanked a sagging industry.
Love reissued
Love Forever Changes (Collector’s Edition) (Rhino) One big difference between this version of Forever Changes and the last time Rhino reissued it is the event of Arthur Lee’s death.
Muse reviewed
Muse H.A.A.R.P. (Warner Bros.) The argument for live DVDs and against live CDs all in one snappy package.
Munk/Amelia reviewed
Munk Modest Among The Living (Waxboy) Amelia A Long, Lovely List Of Repairs (Adrenaline) After a high-speed collision with a drunk driver in 2003, Munk had to suppress the aftermath because his second album was arriving a month after the wreck. Amelia frontwoman Teisha Helgerson reportedly underwent cancer treatments. So Modest Among The Living and […]
Tift Merritt reviewed
Tift Merritt Another Country (Fantasy/Concord) As a country artist, Tift Merritt is unremarkable. That’s not an insult; it’s her career. You can go end-to-end on her third album and not once roll your eyes.
The Death Set reviewed
The Death Set Worldwide (Counter) If the Violent Femmes, Buzzcocks, and Faith No More have to meet somewhere, might as well be on Worldwide. Appearing: Friday, April 18th at Empty Bottle in Chicago.
American Music Club reviewed
American Music Club The Golden Age (Merge) The second American Music Club album since their 2004 revival shows what happens when someone wakes too early from their nap. Appearing: Saturday, April 12th at Schubas in Chicago.
The Grouch reviewed
The Grouch Show You The World (Legendary) If Murs is the star storyteller of California’s Living Legends hip-hop collective and Luckyiam the resident eccentric, then The Grouch is the crew’s laid-back everyman. With his umpteenth solo effort, this L.A.-based MC/producer is in his most meditative state and at times, most experimental.
Lo Fine reviewed
Lo Fine Not For Us Two (House In The Hills) Kevin O’Rourke, aka Lo Fine, sounds uncannily like Matthew Sweet, which does more for Not For Us Two than it should.
Dismember reviewed
Dismember untitled (Regain) They don’t get as much credit as Entombed — rightfully so — for shaping Swedish death metal, and in turn “death ‘n’ roll,” but Dismember were side-by-side in the trenches during the early days. It’s only fitting the band make a full return to the early days on their new album.
Outlaws Rise Again?
Various Artists Outlaw Country (Legacy) Amazingly, “outlaw country” has failed to be legitimately co-opted. Rap has proven you can buy your way in and out of being gangsta, but country fans have always separated white-trash chic from legit white trash. Crossing the fence can rack you: No one considers Hank Williams Jr. to be anymore […]
Avantasia reviewed
Avantasia The Scarecrow (Nuclear Blast) Give it to Tobias Sammet – Edguy frontman and Avantasia mastermind – for being ballsy: On a record of mostly four-to-six minute songs, he puts the only epic, the 11-minute title track, second in the sequence.
Be Your Own Pet reviewed
Be Your Own Pet Get Awkward (Ecstatic Peace/Universal) How do you defend against a band who pop off “I don’t wanna grow up” in their second album’s second verse — especially when they aren’t Toys R Us kids? Appearing: Thursday, June 12th at House Of Blues in Chicago.
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