Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

There are some record labels that have identity. This is not a new thing. Sun Records had a personality, as did Okeh, and Atlantic at one time. Most of the current labels with identity are independents. Vanguard, Rounder, and Arhoolie are examples. In world music, Putumayo is developing a ...

I have some problems here with Halcyon High.  His voice gets kind of lost in the background on Close Your Eyes, See The Light.  I’m not quite sure what he’s saying, or even if it's supposed to be intelligible. The guitar melody plays like a loop -- over and over ...

BIG STAR is the third release by Haley Bonar, a St. Paul, Minnesota resident by way of South Dakota (the hooded jacket she wears on the cover of BIG STAR is, apparently, not just for show). From accounts, Bonar’s live performances are a bit more subdued than ...

New indie band Half Past Forever, with front man Chris Sligh, former American Idol contestant; say it all in the title of their debut album Take A Chance on Something Beautiful. It certainly does feature some beautiful songs, but it’s not exactly a great album. However, it certainly does deserve ...

Although different from Halford’s debut solo effort, Crucible serves up that perfect Halford crunch we all know and love. Crucible is harder, darker, and more brooding than Resurrection. With his unforgettable vocal style the CD is of course reminiscent of both Judas Priest and Fight, but more modern, dark, and ...

Interesting, although not terribly original, cross-section of femme indie rock and girl punk-pop, fittingly produced by the mother of its invention, the Muffs' Kim Shattuck. Nicely scrubbed vocal delivery and overlapped backing harmonies (one of the Muffs' most attentive traits, for sure) with sharp, snarly chording and snappy rhythms that's drawn ...

The first impression of Love and Kisses is that Handsome Devil is another cookie-cutter pop punk band. And while that feeling is semi-true, Handsome Devil seems to offer a little bit more than most commercialized pop punk bands. This album is not a bad attempt at a fun, ...

The name "Sturgis" brings the immediate association of leather-clad bikers, wild women, beer guzzling contests, and the like. That's why it's somewhat disconcerting to learn that Frank Harris, the creator of FANTASYLAND hails from the South Dakota Black Hills. It seems somewhat unlikely, given the gentle keyboard noodling of the ...

It starts with the cover, a black and white shot, a picture of a man with an air of confidence purchased with the knowledge that he has reached his destination on his own terms, grinning around a cigar and leaning against a weathered sign that says "Almeria Club." Then there's ...

Apparently the third time's the charm for MyRecords, which released HAPPY MEALS 3: SONGS TO RUN AWAY FROM. MyRecords, created by Joey Cape, seems to be repetitive when it comes to the artists featured on the Happy Meals volumes. Bands like Armchair Martian, Me First And The Gimme Gimmes, Saltine, ...

We need Harry Manx. WISE AND OTHERWISE is the indispensable followup to last year's brilliant DOG MY CAT. And thank the stars and all above and beneath them, it's more of the same: absolutely brilliant blues guitar by way of the far east (and played lapstyle), Manx' understated vocals, some ...

Another Harry Potter movie and another John Williams soundtrack to bring the film to life. The second film based on the wildly popular children's series is arguably better than the first, and the correlation extends to the soundtrack for "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets." Where the score to ...

There was a time when DAY IN DAY OUT would have been big stuff. You could have walked into any student union on any college campus and you would have found a couple of guys like Hayman Hartman, their guitar cases open at their feet, playing tunes like "Allison" and ...

When thinking of Canadian bands, most people immediately think of new rock giants, Nickelback, or even the heavier Default, but Headstrong is of a different breed. Spawned by the Toronto underground, this is the quartet’s self titled debut. The album caught me at the beginning with its funky, bass heavy ...

What can you say about Heart that hasn’t already been said? They are one of the very first female rock groups, and they are still going strong. This release is proof of that, as Ann and Nancy Wilson rock out on this combo CD/DVD release. Ann Wilson, quite possibly one ...

Give me something, anything to "Fill The Void." That "void" that's been missing for so long in Hard Rock circles -- the one where you're all eager for that extra inch of musicianship, maybe a fill here, a solo there, another few feet of harmonic enhancement ...

Nearly hard to imagine this band’s seen fifteen plus years already, and yet here they still are, celebrating their boundless career with a mighty pumpkin smashing two-disc, two hour set spanning the many highlights and few lows of their impressive existence.  They roared on the scene in the middle ‘80s ...

It's hard to overestimate the influence which The Velvet Underground has had upon rock music over the past...shit, it's been almost 40 years since THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO came out, and that album and what came after influenced everyone from David Bowie to Television to Dinosaur, Jr. to The ...

Aurora Caught Napping is the debut album from this duo, Herd of Mers who originally began in the mid-90’s as Midge. As a devoted follower of at least somewhat mainstream music, clicking play on Aurora Caught Napping made me decidedly nervous, and for good reason. The first track was almost ...

Here Comes Everybody is a definite home grown project, with the trio (Rene Ormae-Jarmer, Michael Jarmer, and Justin Clarke) producing the project and composing all of the tracks (Rene the music, Michael the lyrics) but one (a passable cover of Gary Numan's "Are Friends Electric?"). Therein lies the strengths, and ...

John Garcia and Kyuss set the high water mark for low-ended Heavy Rock many a desert moon ago, bursting on the scene with their rumble and thud styled driving Blues bouncing over the bumpy roads carved by the Sabbath's before them. When Kyuss disbanded in the early nineties', the band ...

Once again, here's tangible evidence that the most visceral and brutal music isn't clunking around the metal realms, but spewing from the indie underground. Like brethren noisemakers Burnt By The Sun, this Atlanta trio seem to have mastered the Art of the Albini outburst- shattering spinal chords with a warped ...

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 ...

Hide From Cleo is ostensibly a four piece band, consisting of Lori Keisler and Steve Haupert on electric and acoustic guitars and vocals, Jay Valley on bass, and Eric D’Aigle on drums and percussion. Their CD, COFFEE DREAMS & ACOUSTIC BEANS, however, sounds more like an off-the-cuff singer-songwriter project, with ...

There was this CD I used to have.  I lost it, but later it came up in my friend's truck. Shockingly enough he had apparently stole it from me.  The disc was "Dischord 1981: Year in7 Inch".  It featured Minor Threat, Youth Brigade, Government Issue, Teen Idles, and State of ...