Category: Music Reviews

Posted on: September 25, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 1

Sleeping Pilot – Panic Sex

Sleeping Pilot – Panic Sex / 2007 Sonic Deadline / 8 Tracks / http://www.sleepingpilot.com / http://www.sonicdeadline.cjb.net / Sleeping Pilot start off their “Panic Sex” with “()”, a very dark and brooding track that gains energy slowly, rending individuals with confident and aggressive guitars and at-attention drums, just waiting for the right moment to strike. Despite this deep and dark sound first shown by Sleeping Pilot, the use of brooding arrangements…

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Posted on: September 25, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Fangboner – A Joke Gone Bad

Fangboner – A Joke Gone Bad / 2007 Lightning Rock / 5 Tracks / http://www.fangboner.net / http://www.lightningrockrecords.com / “Quiet Riot” is the first track on “A Joke Gone Bad”, and it shows Fangboner as an act that is very in tune with the punk rock of acts like The Weirdos ad The Dickies. The vocals of Sheamus Carney remind me a little bit of Devo, and the heavily-rock based punk…

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Posted on: September 24, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Collin Raye – Selected Hits

Collin Raye – Selected Hits / 2007 StarPointe Records / http://www.collinraye.com / http://www.starpointerecords.com / What Collin Raye does on eir “Selected Hits” is essentially make a Greatest Hits EP. Like many greatest hits albums, there are a few new tracks to whet the appetites of completists (this time, “A Soldier’s Prayer” and “Quitters” make their appearance). Also like many greatest hits albums, there are tracks that everyone that is a…

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Posted on: September 24, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Karmina – The Kiss

Karmina – The Kiss / 2007 CBS / 5 Tracks / http://www.karmina.com / http://www.cbsrecords.com / “The Kiss” is the self-titled opener to this pop star’s latest EPs. “The Kiss” has a sound that seems like a more  mature version of early Hilary Duff. There are hints of artists like Kelly Clarkson present in Karmina’s overall approach. The instrumentation works well in highlighting all the right places during “The Kiss”, but…

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Posted on: September 23, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Will Dailey – Back Flipping Forward

Will Dailey – Back Flipping Forward / 2007 CBS / 10 Tracks / http://www.willdailey.com / http://www.cbs.com / Will Dailey has been around the Boston independent music scene for a few years. 2004 marked the release of Dailey’s first disc, “GoodByeRedBullet”, which pushed 10,000 copies in sales. Individuals that are not immediately familiar with Dailey’s work may have still heard Dailey in the past. Songs of eir have been present on…

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Posted on: September 21, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Johnny Cash – The Great Lost Performance

Johnny Cash – The Great Lost Performance / 2007 Island / 18 Tracks / http://www.johnnycash.com / http://www.islandrecords.com / This CD makes a Johnny Cash that was a good fifteen years before the one that was captured during the last “American” CD. This means that the voice seems stronger, and that there is more of an energy with each of these eighteen cuts that blends well the younger and older Cash.…

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Posted on: September 21, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Son Volt – The Search

Son Volt – The Search / 2007 Transmit Sound / 14 Tracks / http://www.sonvolt.net / I came to the music scene a little too late to hear Uncle Tupelo, but Son Volt is an act that continues some of the same styles and musical approaches that Uncle Tupelo once created. This is probably due to the fact that Jay Ferrar, the guitar / harmonica / vocalist of Son Volt, was…

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Posted on: September 20, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Marla Hansen – Wedding Day

Marla Hansen – Wedding Day / 2007 Standard / 6 Songs / http://www.marlahansenmusic.com / Individuals may not be familiar with who Marla Hansen is. Essentially, ey is a member of the Sufjan Stevens band and also is a member of My Brightest Diamond. The title track has more of a Devendra Banhart sound than a Sufjan style, as Hansen comes to the plate with a very early Americana type of…

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Posted on: September 20, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Over The Rhine – The Trumpet Child

Over The Rhine – The Trumpet Child / 2007 Great Speckled Dog / 11 Tracks / http://www.overtherhine.com / “I Don’t Wanna Waste Your Time” is one of the first tracks on “The Trumpet Child”, and it shows Over the Rhine as an extremely mature band that is able to set off a track that will introduce fans properly to the rest of the album. There is a high amount of…

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Posted on: September 18, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Elvis – Viva Las Vegas

Elvis – Viva Las Vegas / 2007 RCA / 16 Tracks / http://www.elvis.com / http://www.rca.com / There are literally millions of fans that dedicate their lives to following the spectre of Elvis. Record labels have attempted to continually keep these fans awash in different media concerning Elvis, and this live CD is yet another important step forward. While the tracks here are from a myriad of different places, there are…

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Posted on: September 14, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Marlene Tholl – Kore

Marlene Tholl – Kore / 2006 Self / 11 tracks / http://www.marelenetholl.com World music is an inexplicably tough genre in which to attain popularity . This can be assumed, of course, with any genre of music, but world music is constantly thrown into a category with classical or orchestral. I had some hope in World music, especially with more mainstream bands like Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly infusing Irish beats…

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Posted on: September 13, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Birds and Batteries – I’ll Never Sleep Again

Birds and Batteries – I’ll Never Sleep Again / 2007 Self / 13 Tracks / http://www.birdsandbatteries.com What the country’s new obsession with annoying Mario Cart music like The Snow Patrol and Hellogoodbye is, I will never figure out. Nor will I be able to forgive people like my sister, 17 and a cheerleader, for blasting the annoying, synthetic beats every morning for her workout. Good job, America, for getting away…

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Posted on: September 12, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Brandi Shearer – Pink Lady

Brandi Shearer – Pink Lady / 2006 Self / 14 Tracks / http://www.brandishearer.com / http://www.amoeba.com I spent the better part of my 18 years on Earth dogmatically honoring the industrial cacophony of bands like Wumpscut and Front Line Assembly, so it seemed a radical and incomprehensible move when I abandoned synthesizers in exchange for acoustic guitar.

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Posted on: September 11, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

OST: Kyle XY

OST: Kyle XY / 2007 ABC Family / 14 Tracks / http://www.myspace.com/kylexy I know that a lot of individuals are really into Kyle XY. I never got to watch the show because it didn’t seem like something that would be too terribly interesting to me, and I didn’t even have cable until last month. Regardless, the disc has a who’s who of solid indie rock, alternative rock, and emo bands.…

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Posted on: September 10, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Divasonic – Changing Wind

Divasonic – Changing Wind / 2007 Digital Bliss / 12 Tracks / http://www.divasonic.com / The brand of wide-open, electronic pop music that Lynda Arnold puts down on “Changing Wind” will remind individuals of individuals like Enya and Bjork. There is a panoply of styles and sounds that are present on the disc’s opening track, “I Feel High”. This means that funk, rock, and tribal sounds all unite to create something…

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Posted on: September 10, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Lacquer – Rebuilt

Lacquer – Rebuilt / 2007 Self / http://www.lacquerbadlands.com / “Ripper” is a track that will bring listeners back to the Motley Crue-like rock of the eighties. Lacquer is a little more complex than that comparison would seem, as there are hints of Ramones-like pop punk and even a little bit of a Replacements/Husker Du sound during this track. The musical progression during “Ripper” is something that individuals will feel comfortable…

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Posted on: September 10, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Tum Tum – Eat or Get Ate

Tum Tum – Eat or Get Ate / 2007 Universal / 18 Tracks / http://www.universalrepublic.com / http://www.ttownmusic.net / One has to wonder why that a rapper named eirself after a character in the 3 Ninjas set of movies. This is the debut album by Tum Tum, and tracks here feature talents like Mannie Fresh, Trae, Jim Jones, and some up and coming rappers (Double T, Lil Ronnie, Don Dada, and…

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Posted on: September 9, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Deepak Chopra – A Gift of Love II

Deepak Chopra – A Gift of Love II / 2002 Rasa / 23 Tracks / http://www.rasamusic.com / Besides the music of The Buddhist Monks that I received a few months ago, Deepak Chopra’s “A Gift of Love” has to rank right up there in terms of the weirdness scale. This is the style of music that would be played at a number of import houses and other new-age shops, so…

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Posted on: September 9, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Carina Round – Slow Motion Addict

Carina Round – Slow Motion Addict / 2006 Weapons of Mass Entertainment / 12 Tracks / http://www.carinaround.com / http://www.interscope.com / I must admit, I felt a little wary after looking at the sticker on the cover of “Slow Motion Addict”, where some yob from the NME said that “At her best she fucks up the blues like no Midlander since Led Zep”. The disc’s first track is “Stolen Car”, and…

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Posted on: September 8, 2007 Posted by: James Comments: 0

Tyrone Wells – Hold On

Tyrone Wells – Hold On / 2007 Universal Republic / 12 Tracks / http://www.tyronewells.com / I had absolutely no idea who Tyrone Wells was when we received the CD here at NeuFutur headquarters. Essentially, Wells gained prominence through having eir songs played on a number of shows I wouldn’t touch with a twenty foot pole. These include: One Tree Hill, Numb3rs, Meet the Barkers, and Three Moons over Milford. Essentially,…

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