Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

If you’re in the market for a newer R&B chanteuse less plagued than Amy Winehouse but with more creative range than Alicia Keys, then give consideration to Alice Smith. On her first album For Lovers, Dreamers & Me, Smith beautifully blurs genres - jazz, soul, folk, funk - all ...

Daedelus’ live set Live at Low End Theory is equal parts a) fantastic, transporting and b) can do without.I guess things would be different if I had this pumping out of a state-of-the-art surround sound system but, alas, I did not. Things would have been a lot more positive ...

Gregor Tresher is a German dj/producer who has been active since 2003 --- an eternity in the dance genre --- doing both remixes and his own compositions, as well as being featured on dozens of compilations --- building a worldwide underground audience among techno, trance and house ...

While the name might not ring a bell, music producer Hi-Tek has proven that he is able to discover the new voices of tomorrow and craft the songs that will make them stars. Arising from Cincinatti’s hip-hop scene, Hi-Tek helped define the sound of the 1990s underground rap scene ...

Last Holiday season (2006), Lupe Fiasco burst onto the hip-hop/rap scene with his untraditional hit single, Kick, Push about a young romance based on skateboarding. This past holiday season (2007), Lupe Fiasco released his sophomore album, The Cool. One of the best indicators of promising greatness in an artist or ...

Love Behind the Melody is the sophomore effort of Maryland-grown soul singer Raheem Devaughn, a buzz worthy artist championed by the likes of Alicia Keys and producer Scott Storch. While he has already enjoyed a certain degree of success from his 2005 debut The Love Experience, this latest album could ...

Why does every idiot that gets a copy of Fruity Loops think he's a dj? Sigh... I hate to be the musical mommy in this situation, but, the powers of mixing beats is a privilege, not a right and I wish someone would’ve told Shane Newville a long time ago. ...

This is some sleazy, homosexual shit.I don’t mean to sound like an ultra-conservative of the fundamentalist persuasion at a Rainbow fundraiser- it’s just that that is exactly what Ssion’s Fools Gold is… some sleazy, homosexual shit.I like it. It makes me feel greasy and queer-ish, but I won’t ...

Taj Weekes was born and raised on the island of St. Lucia where he listened to a broad range of ecletic music,making him impartial to certain genres and simply appreciative of all good music despite genre. It was not until his arrival in New York that he formed the group ...

Sonar Kollectiv is a Berlin-based imprint that stretches every boundary it comes into contact with, whether it be musical, artistic, or business. It’s a somewhat loose amalgamation of djs, engineers, and producers who create dance music with elements of jazz and funk; or maybe it’s the other ...