Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

There are eight people pictured on the album cover to M83’s Saturday = Youth. All 8 of these lovely young people get a solo portrait in the liner notes. In addition, two more kids are featured in order to provide a human touch behind the printed lyrics (or ...

Oakland based alt-metal quartet Machine Head broke ground in the early 1990s, along with musical riffmates Pantera, Biohazard & Testament, and paved the way for later incarnations of metal, all the way from math rock to nu-metal and rap-rock.  Hellalive, recorded live at London's Brixton Academy during the band's 2001 ...

The moment the soulful croons hit the eardrums they are recognized. Those raspy wails could come from none other than Macy Gray who is causing quite the stir with her fourth album, Big, and proving that while she may have briefly disappeared, her epic vocals couldn't be hidden for long. It’s been ...

In spite of their ill feelings, “Mad” At Gravity still manages to take to the sky for their latest “Resonance” release, a fine mix of driving Hard Rock and atmospheric temperament -- “Walk Away” is the catchy obvious choice for lead single with its forthright rigidity in simplicity and a ...

Drummer Jake Fowler started MAD AT GRAVITY almost exactly one year ago with bass player Ben Froehlich and guitarist/keyboard player Anthony "Bosco" Boscarini. Guitarist James Lee Barlow left "Pigface" to join next and was soon followed by vocalist/lyricist J. Lynn Johnston. With the lineup complete, the band entered the studio ...

Mad Caddies’ KEEP IT GOING is one of the most spectacular and unexpected listens I’ve had thus far this year.  This “ska” workhorse of a band has completely blind sided me with their ability to shed an old sound and produce an even fresher sound in its absence.  KEEP IT ...

This record was just about to get trashed before "Peaceful Mask" came on four songs in and caught my attention with a nice opening hook and soulful verse. Prior to this, a lot of echo and flutter and odd exercises in instrumental frivolity that were at ...

Here is an album comprised of ten tracks; two remixes per song; five songs total, in the traditional sense.  All artists featured on Made: Gold Part I are home-based at the Made record label.Made Records is a label known primarily as the pusher-man of club friendly artists and ...

Maeve Hughes’ first full-length CD, Begin From Within, is an interesting mix of soul, jazz and funk, with a little reggae thrown in for luck. At its best, this mixture whips up a musical cocktail that shakes the cobwebs off category-entrenched minds. Songs like Heron groove with upbeat acid-jazz, lyrics ...

The UK's, Magnum, first formed in the mid-seventies and were on hand for the NWOBHM dominance that followed, though weren't quite up to speed in that regard. Listeners today will find that little has changed within the band-the bare essentials are pooled together again with the reformation of Catley, Clarkin, ...

You have to love bands that borrow liberally from many sources and manage to turn out a product that doesn’t really sound like any of the above. The problem/intrigue with Mahjongg, which takes a page from hip hop rhythms, 80s New Wave bands, dance/punk and a few ...

The cover of Maiden Voyage promises a journey into the world of soul and boogie. From the very beginning, with the beautifully chirpy Lihue by Nohelani Cypriano, the CD definitely makes good on its promise. There is a variety of genres and styles on this 13-track album – ...

There's not enough funky music out there. I grew up in an America where you turned on the AM radio and heard Al Green and Earth, Wind and Fire and Sly and James Mr. Please Please himself Brown, and everyone under the age of 25 walked and bounced and grooved ...

The French Canadian band Malajube has created a vast sonic landscape on their new album, Trompe-L’oeil. In English the title means the art of illusion. Throughout the dozen tracks which comprise the album Malajube paint pictures with the music that are so vivid it doesn’t matter that the lyrics are ...

Upon first listen, I have to admit that I did not enjoy Malea McGuiness’s debut album, True Believer. By the third-or-fourth listen, however, the music and the lyrics grew on me. I realized this album is not what I typically listen to. It is optimistic, upbeat, and hopeful. The lyrics ...

I initially hated RABBIT HABITS by Man Man. Forget the skeet pile; it almost went out the window on Route 65 southbound about ten miles north of Nashville, right about where the fireworks stores start to pop up. I’m glad I didn’t do that, though, as after ...

Although the cover looks like a sixties-era photograph and makes you feel kind of like you're rummaging through your father’s oldie-but-goodies collection, this is an interesting little CD that you should definitely pick up. Why? Well I only played the I Can Barely Breathe track a hundred times and still... I am breathless! ...

Mandy Moore has always remained more under the radar than Britney, Christina and Jessica, and she’s probably more well-known for her movies than her music these days.  Her debut, So Real, was unmemorable.  I actually liked her self-titled album quite a bit; you could tell she was trying to achieve ...

Manifesto Jukebox is an interesting name of sorts… I won’t begin to attempt a translation but suffice it to say, Garage-quality Punk and primer Rock and Roll intrigue brought you by a trio of Finnish degenerates who’ve got plenty to say and find their voice with lyrical despondency spun in ...

Apparently the world is more than ready for a new "traditional" Christmas music album from MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER, the perennial favorites since the release of their original hit album from 1984 named simply "Christmas." There have been a few jaunts in different directions, including "The Christmas Angel" as a made for ...

Kids have a lot of time on their hands these days. In fact, James Chapman from North Hampton, UK decided he had so much time on his hands that he could start his own band and write an entire full length album by himself. Those crazy British kids and their synths.We ...

The Marble Index is a Hamilton, Ontario trio that sounds a lot bigger than the number of players it has. No matter: Watch Your Candles, Watch Your Knives, their sophomore effort, is an incredible varied and confident project that succeeds on several levels.The chief factor of ...

Metal evolves, and we're left with the consequences. I write this review with a mouth full of salt water (seriously) so I can accurately convey the mood. If I swallow the water I'll puke, and these songs make me feel similar -- in a good way. The darkest riffs lay beneath ...

From Saddle Creek Records, arguably best known for Conor Oberst’s Bright Eyes, comes Maria Taylor with her sophomore effort, “Lynn Teeter Flower.”  You might not know who she is now, but if there is any sanity left in the recording industry at all, hers will soon be a household name ...

I will admit it: I own every single Mariah Carey CD except the first one. As I write this, I can actually see the long line of Mariah Carey albums on my CD shelf. I have managed to remain a true fan to Mariah – even after the “Glitter” incident. ...