Tag: Spun

By Nathalie Kobie

Most people buy a car, get laid or quit their jobs when they have a mid-life crisis. Instead, Brian Wilson of Beach Boys fame performed the entire classic Pet Sounds album for a live audience and recorded his efforts. Sadly, Brian Wilson sounds old. To our non-baby-boomer, nostalgia-less ears, it sounds like a cash grab… Continue reading Brian Wilson, Pet Sounds Live

By Ken Clarke

Politics aside, Ottawa is simply not a location that comes to mind when considering the blues. However, The JW-Jones Blues Band seems intent on altering that perception. By blues standards this is a relatively young band, but these boys are more in tune to a traditional blues sense than you’d expect.The aptly titled Bogart’s Bounce… Continue reading The JW-Jones Blues Band, Bogarts Bounce

By Dave Heaton

In a market overflowing with prefabricated pop, redundant rock, and more celebrity clones than you can shake a stick at, even a little deviation from the trend can be relieving. Debuting with their self-titled album, Toronto’s The Full Nine brings with them a very familiar rock sound that thankfully hasn’t quite been exploited to that… Continue reading The Full Nine, Self-titled

By Ken Clarke

Despite the title, there is no “number one blues album.” And if there were, I’m pretty sure James Brown would not be on it.That aside, this is a damn fine collection. The listener is taken through a back and forth time portal, from the bottleneck guitar of Elmore James through the southern blues-rock of the… Continue reading The Number 1 Blues Album, Various Artists

By Sarah Wostenberg

Nineteen year-old David Jacob-Strain’s new CD, Stuck on the Way Back, is a worthwhile blues disc. Dealing with lyrics about unfortunate situations, Jacob-Strain tells stories about sad times when people hit rock bottom in their lives. The folky-blues backbone that accompanies the songs provides a suitable compliment, conveying humanitarian insight with the guitar licks. Songs… Continue reading David Jacobs-Strain, Stuck on the Way Back

By Kris Kotarski

Bounty Killer put out two CDs at the same time. I really wish he didn’t do that.The following applies to every track on both CDs except the intro to The Art of War and track five on The Mystery. The intro has a delightful Naughty by Nature circa 1995 feel to it. It mentions the… Continue reading Bounty Killer, The Mystery and The Art of War

By Peter Hemminger

The best thing about Modest Mouse is that no matter how far out they go, there’s a certain earthiness that pervades the music and ties it down to reality. On Sharpen Your Teeth, Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock’s first “solo” album, this tie is strained if not altogether broken. Abandoning the Pixies influence that made… Continue reading Ugly Casanova, Sharpen Your Teeth

By Preet Bhogal

Dirty Vegas is the group that sing that song from the new Mitsubishi commercial. If their self-titled debut is any indication, that’s probably going to be as far as their career goes. The only decent song on the album is “Days Go By” (a.k.a. ‘That song from the car commercial’), with the rest of it… Continue reading Dirty Vegas, Self-titled

By Corinna Callsen

It sounds like Sting. Maybe a little less creative and more for easy listening in the background than for intense music enjoyment. But hey, it is very enjoyable. Jordan has a good voice and his album Living in Martina del Rey and Other Stories is a “best of” collection of his songs, which he wrote… Continue reading Marc Jordan, Living in Marina Del Ray and Other Stories

By Heath McLeod

The Fishbone crew’s latest EP needs a track-by-track breakdown to show the problems that we, the unfortunate listeners, are exposed to."A Friendly Psychosis" starts the album off with George Clinton, the Godfather of Funk, doing an amusing rave on producers as the voice of God. The album then takes a turn for the worse, and… Continue reading Fishbones Familyhood Experience, The Friendliest Psychosis of All