Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

I had been waiting for a modern-sounding throwback to some 80s music, and what better option for this project than the current lead singer of 80s rock band Survivor? It’s true, Robin McAuley has returned to lend vocals to four tracks on the new V-Project album, New Machine. David Vacarro ...

Although Vairon has released both a demo and an EP before delivering Indigo Skylines to the public, it is overly apparent that the trio is still ‘wet behind the ears’. They just can’t seem to get it right. Hailing from Michigan, the band produces pop-rock ballads complete with ...

I like to believe that everyone has the ability to sing. Whether or not you're good at it is another story but it's definitely a gift (or curse) that we all posses. But my mother used to tell me when I was little that just because you can do something ...

Hailing from Columbia University, this foursome brings a new world beat to the ever-growing indie rock scene. Their corky lyrics are justified behind pleasant mature songwriting. As of January 29th you can pick up a copy of their self-titled debut online and at local retailers. Vampire Weekend reminds me ...

One of my favorite cartoons of all time was in SPIN Magazine during the mid-1980s, which, as it happened, was a rather thin time for Van Morrison creatively. The cartoon showed a wizened old hippie with heavy-lidded eyes nodding off in a wheelchair with a nurse leaning ...

Germany's Vanden Plas takes the yawn out of Progressive Metal on their sixth record, offering gripping intros and voice raising choruses housed within tighter structures that belie typically web-weaving self-gratifying intricacies that become difficult to follow without the effectual life sucking constrict. "Nightwalker" has the makings for top pick, led ...

A mix of soulful lyrics and haunting instruments, Cotton-Poly Blend, the latest from Vanessa Van Spall is sure to grab the heart of every listener, religious or not. Throughout each of the twelve songs on this disc, Van Spall explores hope, redemption, love and faith. Cotton-Poly Blend is a unique mix ...

Curses will deliver that aggressive hardcore sound fans of Norma Jean will appreciate momentarily, despite it’s general mediocrity.Long story short, this album is a retread of Underoath’s aesthetics and “post-hardcore”(whatever that truly means) sensibility.  What makes this album generally suck is the fact that the band, Vanna, makes these songs that ...

Considering the inspirational source material, maybe it's for the best that this collection of energetic indies have the last word on Big Star's tainted legacy. In a series of dominoes-falling circumstances that always seemed to find Alex Chilton and allies hampered by one creative distraction and business struggle after the ...

Apparently, the warm fuzzies I felt after watching the September 21, 2001 "Tribute to Heroes" broadcast wasn't merely a post-9/11 stress/relief reaction. If you can get past the fact that Canadian Celine Dion sings "God Bless America", the "Tribute to Heroes," really was an excellent musical program, as evidenced by ...

Here is the fifth volume of Nuclear Blast Records five year run of compilations. It's goal is to showcase the modern metal acts of a darker persuasion. The album leans toward a gothic, black, industrial sound. If your like me and you don't hear this side of the metal spectrum ...

This one at first blush frankly looked like a loser. A lot of what passes for kid's music tends to be pretty cutesy. Past projects which have taken contemporary artists and matched 'em up with childrens' songs have tended to result in the inducement of diabetic coma. I could name ...

The albums starts out with the classic "Moto Psycho" by metal legends Megadeth. A fitting opening track for the new Heavy Metal Geomatrix album, which is the soundtrack for one of the newest games this year, and contains many of Sanctuary Records finest. This is followed by hip hop/metal pioneers ...

Depending on what you're looking for, you may just find it on OZZFEST 2001, the latest in the seemingly never-ending series of the mega metal live-show compilation discs.Ozzfest, a headbanger's ultimate dream of the commercial melding of aggro-rock mayhem and nu-metal combustion, began in the mid-nineties and has been making ...

It's short. That gets it half a star. (To see why it gets another, whole star, read the review).And that's really about all I can say that's good for the soundtrack to PRANCER RETURNS, which is a soundtrack to an original USA Network movie. Uh huh, the industry is going ...

Even if you've never heard of any of the bands on this compilation of covered hits, ya gotta be curious to hear what a song like the Beach Boys' "I Can Hear Music" or Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time" would sound like all Punked up… did I just say ...

Hollywood Records released the original soundtrack for The Royal Tenenbaums in mid-December to accompany the motion picture featuring an all-star cast including Gene Hackman, Danny Glover, Angelica Huston, and Bill Murray among many others. The movie, based on a dysfunctional family headed by Royal Tenenbaum (Hackman), was a huge hit ...

The most recent project of rap mogul Dr. Dre, the motion picture soundtrack 'The Wash', may have as much trouble staying afloat as the movie. Despite appearances from such superstars as Bubba Sparxxx, Busta Rhymes, D12 (led by Eminem), Xzibit, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre himself, this collection of songs ...

The Baltimore Songwriters Association has picked a variety of artists to showcase in the compilation album Songs from a Charmed City. The album starts with the sappy but pleasant, Roses by Woody Lissauer. It's not my favorite but it's catchy. The lyrics sound like they came out ...

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 ...

How's this for a new twist on the Medieval Metal scene? "Knights From Hell." And no, these are no ordinary knights, but the true "Black" knights; the evil masked figures that gallop in on the dark horse, swords raised and trailed by legions of corrupt followers to litter the landscape ...

Considered an asterik among other patrons of the withdrawn and private loneliness that commands much of the British pop charts currently, Vex Red are conspicuous in their intensity. As such, they are one of the few heavy Euro acts to attempt a legitimate dent in the American numetal armour. Fusing ...

All of my expectations I had for Do it Yourself by Victims of Circumstance were filled. The lyrics were simple and catchy and the music had a great high energy vibe to it, which I couldn’t help but bop my head to. I loved the raspy sound lead singer Mike ...

Victoria White definitely proves one thing: she has a promising career in music. On her debut album, The Upside, she tackles the difficulties of relationships with the confidence and ease of a veteran musician. What stands out most about this album is the relentless optimism that underscores each song (hence ...

"Whoa Yeah…" time to floor it and let 'er fly, destination unknown, but damn sure you'll enjoy the ride! Full throttle Rock and Roll with a taste for the kamikaze spirit, which is to say, live hard, play hard, die hard… go underground for eighteen years, come back stronger than ...