Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

The passing of guitarist/folk archivist John Fahey last year makes this new compilation even more poignant. A tireless innovator who re-introduced the lost beauty of the finger-picked, acoustic steel-sting guitar (by way of several samplers on his own Takoma label), Fahey was credited for launching the careers of Leo Kottke, ...

In their sophomore release, Ace Troubleshooter has come up with a decent, if formulaic, album. The opening track, "The Madness Of The Crowd," has a huge punk rock hook, full of fuzz guitar and bass and a speedy tempo, along with the required angst ridden lyrics that include, "Here I ...

Someone said recently that jazz, while flourishing as an art, is dying as a business. This, regrettably, is true. There are any number of talented young jazz instrumentalists out there who are struggling to earn a living. The problem is radio. Jazz on commercial radio is for the most part ...

This album is quite a sizable step outside for the celebrated Latin trumpet player, as Arturo Sandoval sets his main axe aside for a session of straight-up bop and blues tunes behind a grand piano. While he has never been shy with the brass, Sandoval plays with a similar verve ...

Everything about this record screams for attention… to say nothing of the singer.  From the name, the title, the biblical cover art absorbed in violet and shadow, to the five colorfully titled personalities that created it, Avenged Sevenfold is like few bands you’ve heard before—and about five in one.   At ...

I'm not sure how big a sports fan you are, but I wanted to pass on a new phenomenon I've noticed lately. At a couple different events, both college and pro games, I went down to the in-stadium sports bar to find the place packed.  Not that unusual, except that ...

Seattle band Boss Martians have succeeded in combining their initial stylings of retro garage/surf rock with just the right touch of new wave/punk flavor and created a hard rocking, hook driven, power pop, good old fashioned rock 'n roll sound on their 4th LP, "Making The Rounds." From the opening ...

Considering that some of us spent most of the '90s kicking Mr. O'Dowd while he was slippin' on the skids, his rebirth as a club DJ makes a lot more sense. Having a sensitive ear for the singers helps (especially those with wistful, vulnerable bends). However, DJ George works at ...

Up front I must warn you this is no ordinary album. It's the soundtrack for Criss Angel's supernatural freak show, "Mindfreak," which he also wrote, produced, directed and stars in at The World Underground Theater in NYC. The show opened in December of 2001 and has been extended to January ...

For some reason, while trying to listen to Custom, I got the idea to write this review by parodying Van Morrison's "Gloria." It actually came out half decently, but I ultimately decided that I could sum it up with the lines "and this disc is B--O--R--I--Nnnnnnn/B-O-R-I-N-G/Borrrinng!"  Oh yes. Custom is ...

Last year's disc by Sweden's Esbjorn Svensson Trio (E.S.T.) - keyboardist Svensson with double bassist Dan Berglund and drummer Magnus Ostrom- shared favorable comparisons with Nor'eastern groovemasters Medeski Martin & Wood. While the gang in MMW are perpetually lacquered to '60s-era soul-jazz jaunts, EST's American debut (actually a compilation of three ...

The name "Morente" does not mean a whole lot in the states, but in Europe, particularly in Spain, it is synonymous with flamenco. The term flamenco conjures up images of dancers, swirling, with feet stomping, to wild strummed guitars. Flamenco, however, refers more to the style of music than to ...

During Fear Factory's gravy days, there were only a handful of other acts who took notice of their innovations. First, there was fusing the jackhammer intensity of industrial programming with the human strength and splatter of real drums. Then there was implementing the venomous split-voice, operatic-metal yowl alternately mixed with ...

Funny that there was a time when the dance music of the 80’s was unjustly being labeled as stale and dated when Techno reared its ugly little head a few years back. Now, several years later and the Techno beat hasn’t changed (as those of us who frequent clubs repetitively ...

That tenor saxist Gato Barbieri is still releasing albums into his 70s is one of the few real marvels in modern jazz. A remarkably charismatic figure with a scarf always draped around his shoulders and floppy hat cocked to shadow his face, Barbieri was at the forefront of Latin jazz ...

My first impressions of Geoff Tate's self-titled solo debut ran along the lines of that first taste of Bruce Dickinson's solo material a few years ago. As in that case, I put in the CD expecting to hear something akin to what these great vocalists perform with their main bands, ...

One of the small number of Ross Robinson- produced discs that doesn't stand to profit from his Midas touch at the controls. Not that his metal-hop treatments are slacking in severity. Honestly, what's really unjust about the entire project is that Glassjaw are a noble punk-pop/ leaning band smothered in ...

Although different from Halford’s debut solo effort, Crucible serves up that perfect Halford crunch we all know and love. Crucible is harder, darker, and more brooding than Resurrection. With his unforgettable vocal style the CD is of course reminiscent of both Judas Priest and Fight, but more modern, dark, and ...

Interesting, although not terribly original, cross-section of femme indie rock and girl punk-pop, fittingly produced by the mother of its invention, the Muffs' Kim Shattuck. Nicely scrubbed vocal delivery and overlapped backing harmonies (one of the Muffs' most attentive traits, for sure) with sharp, snarly chording and snappy rhythms that's drawn ...

When thinking of Canadian bands, most people immediately think of new rock giants, Nickelback, or even the heavier Default, but Headstrong is of a different breed. Spawned by the Toronto underground, this is the quartet’s self titled debut. The album caught me at the beginning with its funky, bass heavy ...

Hot Tuna's acoustic sets were copiously speckled with medleys of worn-out rural blues and refried newgrass. Ironically, those were the initial influences that guitarist Jorma Kaukonen brought to the first, pre-Grace slick/folk-rock rendition of the Jefferson Airplane. As the versatile fretman notes on the cover, this disc closes a long-arched musical ...

After a nearly 7 yr. hiatus, Lillian Axe has released "Live 2002," celebrating both the band coming together once again and the 20th anniversary of the New Orleans hard rock heroes. This 2 CD set was recorded at Houston's "19th Hole" in May of this year. Founding members Steve Blaze ...

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 ...

As  a late convert to this band, I was always concerned that these eccentric Brit expatriates were having a wicked larf at America's dwindling culture. By whatever means they meant to skew their post-punk acquisition of folk, country, gospel and cajun sounds,  they came off as slightly smug and arrogant ...

Dutch melodic metal band "Montany" has it's original roots in the late '80s. After several line-up changes over the years, only one of the founding members remained (this is the only member name I CAN'T find - either John Brederode or Stefan Brederode are possibilities) in 1995, when Patrick van ...