Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

A kitchen sink of variety awaits those intrepid enough to peruse the The Strangest Colored Lights by 13 Ghosts. It’s an album that delights as well as frustrates on early listens, as you hear a song you like, and then fret as they change to another mode altogether, fall in ...

I don’t know where to start about how amazing this CD is! From start to finish the high energy vibes I got from this album perked me up and got me in the mood to rock out; I can only imagine how great this band is live. Kohl Hegmann’s vocals ...

Well, the little punk rock pop princess is at it again.  Ashlee Simpson has had her fans waiting with great anticipation for her third full length album, Bittersweet World.  Where Ashlee started her career as “Jessica Simpson’s little sister” and not much else, she has managed to push past that ...

Scottish singer/songwriter Astrid Williamson seems to be following the trend of modern pop-music, although not really at all. She seems to be just a step outside of the popular trends and that is where she intends to stay. She has a unique voice and a unique style, but it’s hard ...

I was almost gonna pack it up when I listened to the first couple of tracks off of TIME SENSITIVE MATERIAL, the debut CD from Audiocrash. Part of it was my own fault; the cover which bears the image of a guitar modified to look like an ...

Maybe it was the comfort of being home on a lazy boy chair that I had not sat in for many months, or the accidental synchronization of an MSNBC commercial going on behind me to the beat of the music. Whatever it may have been, this album just made sense ...

You hear it over and over again. Either a talented young group has a solid lead vocalist backed by subpar instrumentalists or the instrumentalists are amazing and the vocals make you want to cry. On Between the Trees’ debut release The Story and the Song, Ryan Kirkland – at just ...

This time, it's not about Santana. Carlos Santana Plays Blues at Montreaux 2004 is, pure and simple, about the love of the Blues. Legendary bluesmen Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Bobby Parker and Buddy Guy are introduced by and join Carlos Santana on stage to crank out some killer jams and blues ...

Carly Simon has always produced pretty good songs – never terribly great, but pretty good. Be it You’re so Vain or her version of Mockingbird, Simon has a knack for bringing a pleasant smile to a listener’s face. She’s taken some risks throughout her nearly 40 years in the recording ...

Did you miss Carole King last time she came through town?  Haven't quite caught up replacing your records and tapes with c.d.'s and MP3's? Or are you the type to turn the radio up whenever you hear "I feel the EARTH- MOOOOOVE under my feet".  Well, if you are in ...

It’s been a few years --- five actually --- since we’ve had a proper solo project of original work from Squeeze stalwart Chris Difford. Those who have patiently waited will find that THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIS is more than adequate compensation, perfect in every way from ...

These Mississippians need to quit trying so hard. First of all, they are from the Southern U.S. But for some reason, they use a British spelling in their name, Colour Revolt, and seem to sound like some earlier British alternative music that became super popular in the US. To me, ...

Folk-rockers Counting Crows opted to go the theme route on Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, their fifth studio album. The first half of the album channels the bar-hopping energy of a hard-partying Saturday night while the latter half evokes the introspective calm of a regretful Sunday morning through acoustic tracks ...

For some reason, the artwork on the cover of Devil Doll’s The Return of Eve entranced me each time I looked at it.  I loved the noir-like images of a sultry lady holding her guitar to the backdrop of religious icons and a fireplace. Her red lipstick and demeanor seemed ...

Donna Lewis, I love you. Always. Forever. Thank God, you have finally released another album!After an unbearably long hiatus from the music industry, pop-sensation, Donna Lewis, has finally released her first studio album in over a decade. This album, In the Pink, features many similar qualities as her first album, ...

This is one of those discs that sat on my desk for a few weeks after I received it, mainly because I was so infatuated with the album cover that I didn’t want to put it over in the “finished” pile for fear that it would get covered up and ...

Dr. Manhattan, the Wauconda, Illinois quartet, bears little resemblance to its apparent namesake, the brooding, almost omnipotent, atomic-powered character in THE WATCHMEN, Alan Moore’s classic graphic novel. The band’s self titled debut is an interesting if not totally endearing debut, the sound of a band still ...

You have to give Fiskum some credit.  Actually, a lot of credit.  He has his Master’s in music, and when he lived in Boston, he got a pretty decent amount of radio play.  And then he stopped entirely.  He had a tendon problem in his hand, causing it to numb ...

Sweet, sweet harmonies are quickly becoming a standard for indie-pop in the last couple years. Seattle’s Fleet Foxes meets and exceeds this standard on their Sun Giant EP. The EP was sold on tour and digitally through Sub Pop for a few months now, but it will finally receive the ...

The Grammy award winning Flight of the Conchords bridge the gap between seasons of their acclaimed HBO series with their debut full length album. Jemaine and Bret state the obvious, the uncomfortable and the absurd. They drop rhymes as the mother flippin' Hiphopopotamus and the Rhymenoceros and possess sharp, self-deprecating ...

Show me someone whose toes don’t tap almost reflexively to each song on Foals’ debut album Antidotes and I’ll show you someone who is, most likely, dead. Foals are the latest British imports to grace the states with their brand of indie electro-rock. Antidotes is a fundamentally fun album of ...

Fort Pastor says about themselves, “If the name Fort Pastor makes you envision an old time army chaplain band, immediately erase that mental portrait from your mind. Then shake up your Etch A Sketch and start over”. Their three-piece band consists of guitar, bass, vocals, harmonica, percussion, and … ...

The press for God Fires Man had a note in it about how New York spawned the group responsible for A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun. After suffering through the monotonously-voiced opener, Braille Graffiti, I was ready to hurl a billion curses at the Big Apple for ...

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 ...

Jesse Rubenfeld's voice is a bit amateurish but his words hold wisdom that sets him apart from most other singers his age. He is a very skilled songwriter. His piano provides a simple backing melody that sometimes gets lost behind his dynamic words.Nose to the Grindstone is about Rubinfeld's dedication, ...