In August 2000, Be released their alternative guitar rock debut, Avalanche, and the recording barely made the radar screen. So, these Arkansas rockers moved to Dallas, Texas to complete work on Thisstupidream, and self-produced a moody and hazy Brit-Pop inflected collection of lushly plied rhythms and dreamy sonicscapes, similar to...

What is "New Math"? Let's take an example: Ben Folds Five minus two equals Ben Folds. Make sense? It will when you listen to the new Ben Folds album "Rockin the Suburbs." (Don't like math? Neither do I.) For those who haven't heard Ben Folds before, he is one hell...

Although Beulah has a horn section, the band is no Blues Brothers. Nor are they No Doubt. It's rather difficult to pin down their sound. Beulah creates a unique Beach Boys meets 90's indie mix without the sloppiness sometimes inherent in the genre. These arrangements are tight and thoughtful, and...

Evidently, Norwegian death-gods Emperor weren't getting job done with enough brutality, so former guitarist Tchort fled to option this project with ex-Satyricon fretmaster Dod. Blood Red Throne exudes nothing but destruction and murderous mayhem. Using classic Scandinavian intensity, their razor's edge riffage and caustic vocals are intense without becoming too...

Bongo Poets are a duo, from Massachusetts as near as I can tell (their website tells precious little about them), consisting of Jeff Root and Kim Miller. Miller handles the percussive end, while Root handles everything else, including the quirky compositions. Their music reflects a hodgepodge of influences spanning 40...

When Was/NotWas was releasing CDs with some semblance of regularity I used to get really cheesed off about the fact that they could put out great, fat funky tracks and then follow them up with musical armpit farts, stupid juvenility that would bring whatever groove and momentum they had established...

In the Album "Wonderland," The Charlatans UK have developed a new sound out of a dead style. They began as an uncelebrated addition to the Madchester genre but now have become the only surviving members. Madchester was a dominant British rock style in the late 80's and early 90's distinguished...

This is...well, it's a bit of a curiosity piece. I'm gonna recommend it, but keep in mind that this isn't even your standard world music. It makes demands. I'm not the world's biggest fan of klezmer, or jewish folk music. But this CD is worth a listen on at...

Coma Doses' "Re-up" is a killer album that has all the elements a modern metal band should. As for comparisons, "Re-up" is most closely a combination of Snot and Godsmack with a hint of Sevendust. Original and inspired lyrics line the booklet of this not-so-run-of-the-mill album. At first glance Coma...

Jazz, notwithstanding coffee table books and PBS specials, doesn't get much commercial respect these days. There are a lot of reasons for this. Popular music has been dumbed down to the extent that the familiar, the expected, the shortened attention spans are rewarded. The lesson that the notes which...