Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

How about a few dead leaves to go with those April showers? Indeed, one of the Bay Area's finest Punk bands arrives about six months out of season for their "sorrowful" new release, which in spite of its dark wanderings, is as much a breeding ground for rejoice and renewal. ...

Dido, Fiona Apple and Diana Krall are three phenomenal artists. But what if I told you that you get all three wrapped up in one? Well, you can. Her name is Amy Fabry and she is a sensational singer, songwriter and musician. Her album, Cultivated Pearl is a groundbreaking project ...

It's lucky the first song's got a catchy enough chorus cause by about the sixteenth time around I'd be getting plenty bored with it. It's called "People Fall Down" and it's a yammering, stammering, drunken stupor of an opening track that does nothing to suggest edge of your seat excitement, ...

The talented post-Punk rockers rise up above the underground to do their first live album - in Brazil (one of two guaranteed successes along with Japan) - and featuring 2/3rd's of the band's originals, including Napolitano and Mankey, bass, vox, and guitars. The addition of drummer Gabriel Ramirez-Quezada adds a ...

And Electric Frankenstein takes a bride… Then again she don't look like she's ripe for anyone's taking, forget her green skin shade, it's just the first thing that popped into my head in viewing our vindictive cover page vixen with the taste for weaponry. "Lost Souls Day," took me about ...

The band somehow passed me by the first time which was at a time when the Stoner Rock thing was sowing the seeds fast and furious and making even the discerning listener a bit of an eye roller. But the clever idea of a catchy name like "Drunk Horse," combined ...

Dutch Death Metallers God Dethroned return with their sixth and most socially critical record to date. Aside from their usual eight song standard, another ten tracks accompany the new crop, including a smashing reworking of their originally released 1992 name sake, and Possessed's "Satan's Curse." Both blow open the flood ...

With all the buzz about AMERICAN IDOL Season Two, and the singles from almost tied two finalists Clay Aiken and winner Ruben Studdard being released on 06/10/03, last year's ORIGINAL AMERICAN IDOL, Kelly Clarkson, released her Debut Album, "Thankful" with probably less notice than it would have received at another ...

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 ...

Would it be too much of a stretch to hail the return of Sisters Of Mercy during the opening playback… just a thought. Actually I didn't quite know what to expect of the latest PL record. It's been a few years since "One Second" made any sort of impact for ...

What do you get when you combine Napalm-like aggression, images of dread painted black by indecipherable vocals and played by beings with unpronounceable names? Right, another dissident aggressor from the still developing but fast approaching Polish Death scene. In fact, Parricide's history is one of great length, having originated in ...

This is about as comprehensive as collection get - eighteen full bore, fist-raising and previous estranged fence-straddling anthems to add a cohesion to the "core" community of "H/C" and "Metal". Each contributoris previously established or an about to break, up and comer type with significant strides made in quickly uniting ...

If I didn't have a bias toward the fact this album features some of my favorite players, and the fact that Vincent's track record in Punk Rock circles reads like an eight page rap sheet for America's Most Wanted's latest lead story, I'd still say it blows the doors off ...

Three years in the making, the revamped Arena-rockers come out with a revitalized form that embraces their storied past and focuses to the future. "Cyclorama" is Styx full circle, arriving some thirty years after their self-titled sleeper, and it's an album that boasts the confidence of top-level talent and also ...

Well at least now when someone asks they can say The Haunted made 'em do it… Okay, bad joke, but far and away from the notion of one "hit" wonder, or "kill" if you like, The Haunted spearheaded this new age Thrash Metal resurgence currently being enjoyed by legions of ...

Despite an on-again, off-again American tour (it's on again, with dates in Seattle and NYC) and a backlash to their "next big thing" status, the Libertines have sparked quite a buzz as England's answer to the Strokes/Hives "rock is back" phenomena. They finally did get a proper chance to play ...

Guerrero follows up his "Junk Collector" 2001 EP with more evocatively drawn drama for full chill out effect on this soulful new work. "Soul Food Taqueria" features 17 tracks that employ a variety of sensuous, trippy styles expertly commanded by TG, successfully transcended from skateboard to in-studio enthusiast with a ...

As classy a four-song EP as you're likely to find in the material world replete with recycled inlay paper and freshly wrapped smell. And yet there's something transcendent right from the opening gust of percussion; a persuasive dash of suddenness that's relatable to an atmospheric pressure fall and rise amidst ...

There are two ways to look at this band. The first - if you ain't heard 'em you don't know what you're missing. The second - if you have, you're lucky to escape with your dignity… Considering my sanity went belly up many a moon before (uh oh, and here's ...

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 ...

Looks like Victory scored another one with these guys. This is some of the best Modern Rock music I've heard in a long time - deep, creative, edgy, melodious, and each track properly positioned for maximum impact.  There's of course more to the story than simple "Hard Rock" would have ...

On their latest release, “Absolutely,” the Young Dubliners have taken all the pieces that make their live shows so exciting and captured the vibe and excitement in the studio. Founder and lead vocalist Keith Roberts credits producer John Wooler (John Lee Hooker, Willie Nelson, The Staple Singers) for catching the ...