Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

40 Below Summer emerged in 1998 from the local circuit of the New Jersey underground. They released an indie album entitled Sideshow Freaks which soon found its way to the hands of No Name Management, (Slipknot, Fear Factory), and a management deal soon followed. After coast to ...

By now it’s obvious Alanis Morissette’s creations work on two levels; one to speak on behalf of tortured souls, the other to purge her own mind of any inner demons. On her third “reborn” release (Canadian prefabricated pop aside), Morissette continues to build a platform to ...

When I was young, if I knew taking a trip through the dark was gonna be this exciting I never would've spent all those nights sleeping with the light on! This is where the Black Metal style truly crosses into another dimension. While employing plenty ...

Let's state from the git-go that this wasn't quit what I expected. The name Attila associated with a rock project conjures up images of take-no-prisoners guitar chords pounding at the gates of your ears, threatening to tear 'em down and leave 'em bleeding. That isn't what ...

If you caught the IMAX motion picture presentation of Calle 54 (director Fernando Trueba’s biopic of various Latin Jazz musicians performing together), you know that the 83-year old Valdes practically stole the show from musicians one-third his age. His energy and spirit are completely infectious.  Revered in Cuba during the ...

It seemed for a time that Boston's New Edition was primed to be the Temptations for the 90's. But then they seemed to think that their street laced Pop soul was probably on the way out (and lets not forget that they were not racking up the ...

The war ravaged battalions of the Death crusade strike hard with yet another round… and another, and another of aggressive metallic firepower on their latest "Honour, Valour, Pride" release, the follow up to 99's "The Mercenary," and sixth overall. Similar in scope to stepping on a ...

Anymore, you can almost sense the sonics of a Brothers' mix just a few beats into their break. It's nearly always delivered with a spectacular, over-the-top boom and bombast, all the while generating their generous flow of house-lite textures. Alas, they've been in the big ...

When I die I wanna come back as Chris Isaak. He's got his own television show (not to mention a quick turn in Silence of the Lambs), he hasn't aged a day in almost 20 years, and his music is cooler than I'll ever be. You can ...

There's a whole generation of kids out there who can't remember a time before hip-hop. By the time they were born, Run-DMC, LL Cool J, and the rest of the first rap stars were already old-school, and the once startling images and sounds of the genre were ...

Crap! Another fantastic Jetsons reference crumbles to the earth. The bad news first: these rootsy ramblers have unceremoniously dumped the rambunctious "Rip Rock" off the back end of their name. However, that's not the only alteration to the Southern swill once burped out by these maniacs. ...

By no small stretch, Dave Kerman has become progressive rock's "go-to" drummer. Over the past decade he has often been appointed as the proficient point man for many "new music" projects, sorting through the complexities and obtuse structures among works by Colorado's Thinking Plague, as well ...

Gans is already a familiar figure among Deadheads, having journaled a pair of biographies about the Grateful Dead and assembling their comprehensive “So Many Roads” box set. Add his “Dead To The World” radio show to the resume, and Gans is the consummate, go-to Dead geek for ...

It’s not exactly modern alternative country. It’s not exactly the country pop drivel that drains out of Nashville. Call it mellow Alaskan country if you will. It’s as good a label as any if, in addition to a name, a category must always be slapped on musical acts. The first ...

While DJ Encore is not a mainstream name in the DJ universe (e.g. Skribble), he is seemingly a master of the Trance (albeit, "lite trance")/Pop genre and he made some noise last year when the track "I See Right Through to You" became a major hit overseas. ...

You've heard of them. Yes, this group is the same Dungeon Family that has been heavily promoted by those rappers from Stankonia. Needless to say, all the hype probably led many to have high expectations of this supergroup's debut album, Even In Darkness. What with contributions ...

What do you get when you combine two childhood buddies, who are also great musicians (Dylan Donkin - vocals/guitar and Brian Sagrafena - Drums), and add in a world famous bass player (Jason Newsted - former "Metallica" bassist)? One hell of a power rock/pop album from a ...

Gordon Stone has been around for a bit. He first came to public notice on some of Phish's early, mid-90s efforts, and has had three self-released efforts since that time. His fourth, RED ROOM, doesn't break any new ground simply for the fact that he pretty much has tilled the ...

Since no one I know has ever seriously listened to any of the CDs by this band, the expectations from these Karo syrup-bathing warthogs are usually as low as Flattus Maximus' codpiece. However, Gwar have moved from their usual, pulverizing thrash to the chunky simplicty ...

Peter Tagtgren may be metal’s most intriguing madman. While visiting Florida with another band in the late ‘80s, he became transfixed by the intensity and savagery of that state’s burgeoning death metal scene. On his returned to Tagtgren’s native Sweden, he immediately assembled the blasphemous Hypocrisy ...

Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991) was known as a pop music "dirtymouth" in France and Europe in the 1960s and 1970s. He is best known internationally for "Je t'aime...moi non plus" which consisted of a bit of dialogue, a little singing and a lot of panting between 40 year ...

Straight from Philly is soul singer Jaguar Wright. The City of Brotherly Love has provided the music industry with yet another talented burgeoning vocalist. Alicia Keys has proven that strong vocals and ardent blues are still alive, and this album runs away with it. Jaguar ...

What a kick. It was nearly a three-diva pile-up as Eryka, India and Macy missed colliding headlong into one another, while tapping from the same fountain of r'n'b inflections and '60s soul power for their recent hits. Those hip-hoppers thought that they were doing something unique. ...

It's hard to recall a period when the malleable Mr. Scofield has sustained an interest or style longer than his present connection with this rock-slanted jam phase. Now onto his fourth album (first with his touring band) of free-wheelin' grooves, Scofield appears more content and confident ...

Anyone whose interest in music extends beyond the radio cereal one obtains from listening to the local FM powerhouse is aware that some labels have a genre identity. Elektra, in the early 1960s, was known for its folk music. Blue Note has been a flagship jazz label ...