In just five short years, country music star Dierks Bentley skyrocketed from playing dive bars on Nashville’s Second Ave. for tips to headlining some of the biggest summer stages across the country; and this year, Bentley plans to take his live show around the world in an effort to connect with as many new fans as possible. Along with headlining some of the biggest music festivals in the United States,…
Nobody Can Eat 50 Eggs #30 / $2? / 28M / 445 ½ Randolph St, Meadville, PA 16335 / http://www.freewebs.com/50eggs / Nobody Can Eat 50 Eggs is a zine that I always look forward to. The writing and art style of Steve Steiner (the focus behind the magazine) is fun and very distinctive. As I have said in previous reviews of this zine, Steve is VERY influenced by the sixties…
To the untrained ear, The Woods is a lost Jeff Mangum field recording of a peyote-influenced Florida cult sing-along. But the trained ear would clearly hear that The Woods is a lost Jeff Mangum field recording of an acid-induced Florida cult sing-along. If you’re asking “what’s the difference†then you’re paying attention and that’s a good start.
Tift Merritt – Another Country / 2008 Fantasy / 11 Tracks / http://www.tiftmerritt.com / Tift Merritt is rapidly closing in on eir second decade in the country music business. 1999 saw the first EP release for Merritt, which featured two original songs and five re-tooled versions of eir favorite country tracks. After three releases beyond this first one, Merritt has settled in quite nicely to a mature style. “Another Country 
With their “Holy Crap We’re Touring” Tour only a few weeks behind them, PSYCHOSTICK has announced their next cross-country trek: THE TERRIBLE SHIRT TOUR. It’s as dumb as it sounds – and their legion of fans wouldn’t have it any other way.
Low Hug #10 / $3 / 1:15 / 48M / A.J. Michel, PO Box 877, Lansdowne, PA 19050 / http://www.lowhug.blogspot.com /Â I had heard of Low Hug for a while before actually picking this issue up, but I never in my wildest dreams thought that it would be such a philosophical and well thoughtout type of zine. There are segments and selections from different works that include anarchist writers such…
Featuring 9 new songs, and named in the tradition of KONK (after the studio in which it was recorded), RAK will be available in physical format only, so head to your local record store to pick up your copy.
There Will Be Blood / 2008 Paramount / 158 Minutes / http://www.paramountvantage.com / The one fact about There Will Be Blood that I had no clue about before watching the DVD is that it is loosely based on the Upton Sinclair classic, Oil!. While I am not familiar with the original book, Sinclair’s “The Jungle†is a work that everyone should familiarize themselves with. If individuals have not familiarized themselves…
Nobody Can Eat 50 Eggs #26 / $? / 20M / http://www.myspace.com/eat50eggs / 445 ½ Randolph Street, Meadville PA 16335 / Nobody Can Eat 50 Eggs is always an interesting zine. This issue begins with a color cover of seagulls, and moves from that into one of the “True Adventures of Steve Steinerâ€. This issue of NCE50E has a varied approach, which means that much like an issue of MAD…
SM CHMPN EP Out Now On RCRD LBL : http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Sam_Champion/music Stereogum : “an absolute force of nature” Gorillavsbear : “these guys are the truth and i hear they are better live”
“Juniper Lane’s sound equally appeals to those who listen to Top 40 radio, and those who read Filter Magazine.†– All Music Guide
In The Name of the King – A Dungeon Siege Tale / 2008 Fox / 127 Minutes / http://www.fox.com / The secondary title for this film may be a little confusing for those individuals that have not played Dungeon Siege. For individuals that have not, it is a 2003 game (with a number of sequels) that is in the action RPG genre; individuals build their character up from their beginnings…
Water Fai – Girls In The White Dream / 2007 White Shoe / 8 Tracks / http://www.waterfai.fem.jp / http://www.whiteshoerecords.com / I always wondered why it was so hard to get CDs from Japan. It seemed that the prices were exorbitant or the quantity not to be had. The reason why I am musing about this is because Water Fai is from Japan (specifically, from Osaka) and they start out their…
Kingen – Ride With Me / 2007 Black Cat / 11 Tracks / http://www.fargfabiken.se / http://www.blackcatsongs.com / Kingen plays a very classy style of rock that will undoubtedly remind individuals of the early days of rock and roll. “Mary-Ann” could easily have been a hit in 1958 as it will undoubtedly be in 2008. The best thing about Kingen’s style on “Ride With Me” has to be the fact that…
“Kane’s Wrath” is an expansion, as individuals can likely guess, to Command and Conquer 3. This review covers the PC version only, as the Xbox 360 version is set to be released on June 10th. The most interesting thing that individuals will immediately notice as a difference from Command and Conquer 3 to Kane’s Wrath is the Global Conquest mode, which changes up the real-time strategy (RTS) elements of the…
“Expect Herculean things from Everest in 2008” – LAist These guys have spent time in bands such as Sebadoh, the Folk Implosion, Earlimart, Mike Stinson, Slydell, John Vanderslice, and the Watson Twins. Everest was formed by Russell Pollard (vocals, guitar, drums), J. Soda (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Rob Douglas (bass, vocals), and Joel Graves (guitar, keyboards, vocals) and Derek Brown (drums).
Lovely Ugly Cruel World #3 / 20 Pages / $1 / http://www.lunar-circuitry.net/cruel_world This is another of the comic zines that I’ve discussed in the past, but the main exploits that are covered in the comic are about two individuals, Francis and Sam. This time, much like a twenty-year old episode of The Young Ones, are trying to find something to do, and end up offering up the suggestion of drinking.…
Actually, it’s just vocalist / guitarist Kevin Allen, as the rhythm section couldn’t make it this time around. Nevertheless, He’ll be cranking out tunes from the band’s Self-titled album, and assures me that there will be plenty of loops and jazzy beats – courtesy of a couple pedal boards – to complete the total Landmines experience.
Putumayo Presents – African Party / 2008 Putumayo / 10 Tracks / http://www.putumayo.com / First, I still love the fact that Putumayo comes out with these compilations, covering a number of different genres and geographies with each subsequent releases. However, I have a little bit of a problem when it comes to the name “African Party†for this album.  Africa is a huge and diverse continent, and a number of…
Fern Knight is the eponymous third full-length release from this fixture on North Philadelphia’s internationally renowned musical community. As the primary cover for Margaret Wienk’s singing and songwriting, this record fully unleashes her style of melding acoustic and electronic sounds, her careful orchestration alongside the improvisational strengths of the quartet, well-placed strings and crystalline vocals. Displaying her classical roots and psychedelic leanings,Fern Knight will be released…