Spins
Graveyard reviewed
Graveyard Graveyard (Tee Pee) One day Tee Pee and Kemado Records should merge. If they do, their stoner bands will comprise one hell of a compilation.
Sheryl Crow reviewed
Sheryl Crow Detours (A&M) A number of Sheryl Crows are at work on Detours, though they don’t all get along.
Antietam reviewed
Antietam Opus Mixtum (Carrot Top) Antietam’s latest album, like the Civil War battle from which the band take their name, gets a little sloppy.
The Kingston Trio reviewed
The Kingston Trio Once Upon A Time/Twice Upon A Time (Collectors’ Choice) As an historical reference, Collectors’ Choice’s simultaneous release of Once and Twice Upon A Time is a smidge overzealous. It’s two phases of folk heroes The Kingston Trio: early July, 1966 and late July . . . 1966.
CDs For You Lovers Out There
Beautiful Ballads & Love Songs (Legacy) For its seemingly annual contribution to the Valentine’s industry, Legacy compiles Columbia, RCA, and Arista recordings of Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, and Barry Manilow.
Sam Amidon reviewed
Sam Amidon All Is Well (Bedroom Community) It can’t be cheap to fly from New York to Iceland, much less record there. Maybe that’s why Sam Amidon (“Samidon” from here out) sounds so blue on All Is Well.
Intodown reviewed
Intodown Brave New World (self-released) Guitarist Michael Clark attempts to stuff instrumental progressive rock into his guitar’s gig bag, mixing all sorts of fusion, surf, alt-rock, and acid influences.
Rhymefest reviewed
Rhymefest Man In The Mirror mixtape (self-released free download) Who knows what kind of megalomaniacal festivities we’re in for with the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s Thriller this year (there’s already a masturbatorial video tribute on his homepage) — maybe Neverland Ranch will transform into a spaceship and finally take Jacko home. Chicago rapper Rhymefest, […]
Wu-Tang reviewed
Wu-Tang Clan 8 Diagrams (Wu Music/Universal Motown) Fourteen years removed from their debut, Wu-Tang Clan’s fifth album was undercut upon release by protestations within the band about 8 Diagrams‘ direction and the false-alarm announcement it contained a cleared sample of The Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
Thomas Ian Nicholas reviewed
Thomas Ian Nicholas Without Warning (self-released) The fact Thomas Ian Nicholas played “Kevin Myers” in the American Pie movies shouldn’t lead you to disparage his music. (He was also in Radio Flyer, Halloween: Resurrection, and some “Party Of Five” episodes if you think you need extra help forming your opinion.) The songs themselves are ammo […]
Lupe Fiasco reviewed
Lupe Fiasco Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool (Atlantic) It would be hasty to call Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool a sophomore slump, yet the second album from the righteous hometown rhymer isn’t as sonically satisfying as his 2006 debut.
Leigh Marble reviewed
Leigh Marble Red Tornado (Laughing Stock) Rootsy Portland singer-songwriter Leigh Marble has a crossbow full of rusty arrows ready for his second album, though its bookends have to duke it out with a soggy middle.
The Ocean reviewed
The Ocean Precambrian (Metal Blade) Berlin-based prog metallers The Ocean take their chosen moniker seriously, filling the Precambrian seas with all manner of metal-related creatures.
Plain White T’s reviewed
Plain White T’s Stop (Fearless) Given how loosely the Grammys regard the “Best New Artist” category — four of this year’s five contestants have been nominated for a second or third album — it was quite a surprise Lombard’s Plain White T’s didn’t get the nod. Fearless Records publicizing a reissue of the band’s second […]
Eazy-E reviewed
Eazy-E Featuring . . . Eazy-E (Capitol/Priority) This stray-tracks compilation of out-of-print pieces and collaborations cuts right to the essence of N.W.A founder Eazy-E, though such a feat is hardly difficult.
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