Month: March 2006

By Kyle Francis

Eighties pop music was dominated by the new wave movement, with artists like Depeche Mode, The Cure and Devo controlling the airwaves. On Future Retro, various modern artists like The Crystal Method, Tiga and Infusion remix classic new wave hits, resulting in a decent electronic album with moments of brilliance.Future Retro succeeds best when the… Continue reading Spun: Various Artists

By Joelle Robichaud

If you’re in the mood for a mellow night with a good beat, Patrick Dream and Mike Meurin’s Chez Nous Montreal House Vol. 1 is for you. The music is casual, yet it has a distinctive and groovy sound perfect for easy listening. The album is a continuous mix which blends nicely, allowing you to… Continue reading Spun: Patrick Dream and Mike Meurin

By Hoang-Mai Hong

The latest poppy-jazz diversion from Norwegian wunderkind Sondre Lerche may seem like nothing more than interlude between albums, but it’s still a quality offering.On The Duper Sessions, Lerche and his usual band are joined by pianist Erik Halvorsen resulting in wonderful, jazz infused pop music about love you too can fall in love with and… Continue reading Spun: Sondre Lerche and the Faces Down Quartet

By Kyle Francis

Usually Americans consider themselves ahead of Europe when it comes to music. They picture crowded discothèques pulsating to the sound of mid ’90s dance hits and shake their heads. Artists like Serge Gainsbourg proved Europe isn’t so far behind after all.Gainsbourg, the euro-pop god, was prolific and successful during his life–as well as intensely influential… Continue reading Spun: Various Artists

By Kyle Francis

Black Flag are one of the originators of hardcore and today are being musically honoured by the hardcore and metal bands they’ve influenced with Black On Black: A Tribute to Black Flag. Of course, just because these groups grew up listening to and emulating Black Flag, doesn’t mean they’re any good at it. As with… Continue reading Spun: Various Artists

By Darren Young

Broadway musicals have a definitive style about them. They are known for their upbeat dance numbers, sappy love ballads and general flamboyancy, but what does one make of a musical eschewing each of these elements?Enter The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt, whose new album, Showtunes, contains songs from three separate musicals he has written. These songs… Continue reading Spun: Stephin Merritt

By Ken Clarke

If you can imagine Big Bad Voodoo Daddy jamming with Colin James and the Brian Setzer Orchestra, you’ve got a pretty good idea of what the latest JW-Jones Blues Band CD sounds like. The group’s fourth release, Kissing In 29 Days, is a well crafted ’50s-’60s styled, jump-blues kinda thing. The production is hot and… Continue reading Spun: The JW-Jones Blues Band