Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

The Lost Art of Conversation, Vol. 1 is the debut EP by A Third Wish Granted, a California trio that has received some fair amount of attention recently. This disc consists of six tracks which are somewhat uneven in execution but show promise for the band as ...

Ever since The Fray, I love bands that add a solid piano in their melodies. It has forged itself into the alternative genre, as demonstrated by the Adam Gilbert band. He has a show tune quality to his voice, like he’s been in productions before. His back-up singers have the ...

Who do these guys think they are, Boyz II Men? Probably not. They aren’t bad, per say, but there is just something about them that seems a little... “cookie cutter.” It seems as though they were tailor-made for the R&B genre, and there is definitely a spot for them. But ...

I have known the power of Al Jarreau's voice my entire life... It brings back so many memories of my mother singing along to him as she cleaned around our house or taking a personal solo in the car while being stuck in traffic. So when the opportunity to review ...

The first image I got from hearing Ths Sky is Mine was from the song “Dancing in the Moonlight” by Top Loader. There’s a very optimistic tone with a soft light melody to hum to. The techno aspect makes Alpha modern, but there is still a sense of old time ...

He has a very 90’s sound to his voice, that scratching to smooth note ability. The lyrics of lost love and confusion are relatable, with a nice solid slide guitar in the background. Here’s a line from the chorus of Ida Lupino that summarizes his view: “Oh your lights and ...

April Skies? I could swear they are the musical love child of Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen, but with an ingenuity all their own. April Skies is a fitting name for a band that can create tracks that make you want to take the top down on ...

Bauhaus is one of those bands whose name evokes either adulation or groans; there is no middle ground. Founded in 1978 by drummer Kevin Haskins, brother and bassist David (David J) Haskins, and guitarist Daniel Ash, and later joined by vocalist Peter Murphy, their entire career has ...

This album was nothing like I expected. He keeps a constant bounce beat with his guitar and it works.. at first. Russell's first two songs sound exactly alike. I Know is very repetitive, at least until the violin solo. That solo threw me off -- it fit nicely and ...

If you’re a fan of Michel Gondry, the uber-creative director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep, then you’re probably salivating at the mouth for the release of the new Jack Black-starring comedy, Be Kind Rewind. If you’re a die-hard fan of Mos Def, ...

A cure for the nation of saviors? A nation of puppets pulled by strings of the media. Blood Red Sun offers a dark disposition to a bright sunny day. A thinking man’s band, unafraid to veer off the path of the well tread, and “against the grain” in confronting ...

It is simple enough; a disc of straightforward, violent rock and roll. Wait- scratch that. Occasionally, Red Harvest put me in a contemplative lull, albeit, a morose one at that.The suggestive imagery that surrounds Bloodsimple and their sophomore album is one that would dictate progressive detachment away from ...

“Please listen to me/and don’t disagree.” These words open --- immediately --- Stupid Now, the first track of Bob Mould’s District Line, his widely and wildly anticipated return to form. A fiercely personal, introspective work, it is a sonic pleasure even as it provides an occasionally painful snapshot ...

When I first popped in this CD, echoes of Polyphonic Spree bounced off the walls of my room to my delight. I thought orchestral pop had died, much to my chagrin and the joy of the non-enthusiasts. But Bodies of Water’s album, Ears Will Pop and Eyes Will Blink, yields ...

This band is insanely talented with their instruments! I was impressed from the beginning with the trumpets and electric guitar, somehow working together. Aside from TSO I had never heard that work before! They can slide and trill, and the drummer is a lot of fun to hear as well. ...

In 2006, Chris Tomlin released his latest CD, See The Morning only to re-release the album with an accompanying DVD of his latest tour. Tomlin’s music is like Christian worship on a four-pack of red bull. He is highly energized by his desire to worship Christ and shares that desire ...

A funny thing happened on my way to reviewing Laylower by CirKus: I hated it. I couldn’t listen to it all the way through. I didn’t know much about CirKus, other than it has an extremely interesting composition, including Nineh Cherry as a member, as well as ...

This California based folk band presents an album of soft serenading show tunes that are capable of lulling you into a serene oblivion. Cryptacize, a trio composed of Nedelle Torrisi, Chris Cohen and Michael Carreira, make their first break with Dig That Treasure. However, the band members are not new ...

To be honest, I didn’t much care for Dean Strickland’s album, Hitchhiking Guitarman. The lyrics are simple and run-of-the-mill, with Strickland singing about the usual suspects of Jesus, family and Texas. The strumming is not bad, but not terribly forceful either. All in all, the album has ...

Southern Exposure is an interesting project, one that took Dorothy Doring, a Minnesota jazz vocalist, to New Orleans to record an album of jazz standards with a number of local musicians. The project was produced and arranged by David Torkanowsky, a mainstay pianist who is an under ...

I first put Earl Parker and the Ravens’ CD Show me the Money in my car and after two songs took it out and put in something else. After forcing myself to listen to the album one time through I figured out why I wasn’t crazy over it -- every ...

You could probably gather by the cheerfully obscene title of this compilation release by Eddie & The Subtitles that it was loud, proud, antisocial and basic. Eddie and The Subtitles were at the beginning of their checkered career a power trio consisting of Eddie Joseph, Matt Simon, ...

The new album from Evangelicals, The Evening Descends doesn't so much as arrive in your speakers as kind of meanders across them duringthe opening, title track. Exhibiting an artsy, ambling pretentiousness, the first track sets an appropriate mood for an album that sounds equal parts as if its made by ...

Though it pains me to give full faith and credit to anything or anything from Michigan, I’ve got to give Every Avenue both. Shh, Just Go With It, the band’s second long play, is a joy from beginning to end. Even though they look suspiciously like the ...

Don't let the title of EP confuse you, Faunts' M4 clocks in at nearly 40 minutes of dreamy synth-heavy rock. The five tracks are a collection of compositions that were originally written for a handful of independent films, with the exception of the track M4 (part 2), which can ...