Month: September 2010

Posted on: September 30, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Misstress Barbara – Come With Me… (CD)

One has to wonder about what Misstress Barbara was thinking by putting Sebo K’s “Too Hot” in the opening spot on this disc; the track has an interesting beat for 20 seconds and then repeats it for the next five minutes. This trend is ameliorated during Lorna’s “Feel Good”, but does not completely disappear. I understand the need for club albums, but even with repetitive dance rhythms there is still…

Posted on: September 30, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Miss Autopsy – Sweet (CD)

Miss Autopsy is not a goth band. They are a rock band that seems to pull sections from acts of the last fifteen years, so that hints of Alice in Chains, Tool, Nirvana and more all come through during tracks like “Good Is Not Good Enough”. The production of “Sweet” is solid all the way through, with songs conceivably being of a level that would allow play on a radio…

Posted on: September 30, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Miranda Sound – Western Reserve (CD)

“Jackson Milton” is a track that blends together a number of styles to show individuals that Miranda Sound has everything under control. The band eventually settles down into an emo style, but there are hints fo rock and punk just as there are numerous ties to the emo genre. Miranda Sound has a different approach to emo music than most other acts in the genre currently. For example, the previously…

Posted on: September 30, 2010 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

America: The Story of Us (DVD)

Do you remember much from high school history class? Of course not, you slept through it. No worries, thanks to the History Channel and A&E Home Video, you can get up to date on the entire history of our country in just nine enjoyable hours. Spread out over 3 DVDs, America: The Story of Us is a visually impressive look at the founding of the country narrated by Liv Schreiber,…

Posted on: September 29, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Minutes Too Far – Let It Roll (CD)

Minutes Too Far’s “Let it Roll” captures I think the essential of what scenesters crave these days. Each song has radio quality, poppy with vocals that don’t really travel from the standard and onto new and adventurous. The vocalist never really sounds like the same guy from track to track, but his many personas are all safe. I feel as though at times that the beat carried through from song…

Posted on: September 29, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Minutes to Burn – Self/Titled (CD)

Mixing together the guitars of Rage Against the Machine and Sparta to make a laid-back form of punk music, Austin’s Minutes To Burn burst out onto the scene early this year. Starting off this disc with “Poison Everything”, Minutes To Burn brood every while building an energy with the powerful drum strikes by Jeremy. Continuing their deeply emotional sound with “Static”, the band further establishes themselves as a professional, solid…

Posted on: September 29, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

The Minor Leagues – The Pestilence is Coming (CD)

The amount of individuals that contributed in some meaningful music way to “The Pestilence is Coming” is enough in number to make a small town. Forty individuals throw in with “additional performances”, and their work can easily be heard during the entirety of “The Pestilence is Coming”. The Minor Leagues play an interesting brand of indie rock that does not really have any temporal link. There are hints during the…

Posted on: September 28, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Minmae – 835 (CD)

The low key sound of Minmae during their “Pay More” will challenge listeners, as the eight and a half minutes that the track runs is nothing to scoff at. What simply sounds like a down tempo rock sound goes into noisy cacophony at points, keeping individuals attracted to the track. The random placement of clips from what sounds to be forties and fifties recordings give this another layer of depth,…

Posted on: September 28, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Milton and the Devils Party – What is All This Sweet Work Worth? (CD)

Milton and the Devils Party play a brand of alternative rock that is reminiscent of Elvis Costello and all the perfect car-driving tunes of the earliest days of the nineties. The recording on “What Is All This Sweet Work Worth?” is not the lush-ness expected from bands in this current day and age, but rather the quiet and septic mix of bands like Harvey Danger and The Pixies. The fury…

Posted on: September 28, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Jeff Mills – Blue Potential (CD)

I hear that Jeff Mills is a DJ. “Blue Potential” shows that this may just nt be the only tag he is worth of. This album features the Montpellier Philharmonic Orchestra (what, was the New York Philharmonic out for the day), and showcases Mills’ skills as an arranger. This means that songs like the opening have a decidedly film score-like sound for individuals, something that never quite leaves during the…