By Andrew Ross
Across the Water is a rather unique album: it features four punk bands, two from Canada and two from Sweden. Each band contributes three tracks, for a total of 30 minutes of solid punk noise. Canada’s Choke and Layaway Plan both submit heavy, hard cuts, including a passable Screw 32 cover. Sweden’s Adhesive and Astream… Continue reading Across the Water
By David Kenney
Styles of the Unexpected is lounge music evocative of Stereolab, but without the constant beats. On their self-titled, seven-song debut, the band combines abstract rhythms with an emphasis on a slinky piano that plinks like water droplets. Jane Weaver supplies the lone vocal track, playing off the listener like a headmistress. Otherwise, Styles of the… Continue reading Styles of the Unexpected
The Rock singing gospel music? The Rock rapping? Holy shit! How do I start this? Can I say we should lay the smackdown on this piece of crap? Or maybe I should take this CD, turn the son-of-a-bitch sideways and stick it straight up BMI’s candy ass. They’re the ones that released this crap, and… Continue reading WWF: The Music, Vol 5
By Chris Tihor
Apparently, there is still a band that can rock without jumping onto the rap-core bandwagon. Named after a computer hard drive, Portland’s 6gig delivers a hard-hitting mixture of rock and metal with a slight punk and experimental influence on their latest release Tincan Experiment. While not ground-breaking, 6gig comes at you with 12 solid tracks,… Continue reading Tincan Experiment
By Nicole Kobie
While the first few songs of Sick of it All’s latest, Yours Truly, sound like angry Gregorian monks on speed, the rest are musically-solid hardcore-punk tunes. When singer Lou Koller actually matches his loud, violent vocals to the driving guitars and percussion mix, the sound is easier on the ears than the tracks where he… Continue reading Yours Truly
By James Keller
Much like its cover art, describing the sound of Lemon Jelly’s new album Lemonjelly.ky is a task of defining the indefinable. The U.K. band’s compilation of their previous three EP’s presents a mix of jazz and electronica to create a collection of textured landscapes and provocative ambience. Throughout the tracks, the sound incorporates almost every… Continue reading LemonJelly.ky
By David Kenney
Singing "Isn’t it a Pity," George Harrison hollered the truth out. The end of the Beatles was a not-so-fab shame. Still, the 30th anniversary reissue of All Things Must Pass is a reminder of the quiet Beatle’s good karma with songs. With his guitar screeching and strumming beside Phil Spector’s epic wall of sound, Harrison… Continue reading All Thing Must Pass
If only It Was All a Dream. Sadly, this album is more like a nightmarish teen movie with a bad soundtrack. If this is what a California-wide talent search results in, maybe the Big Quake wouldn’t be half bad after all. Oh, but they have Puff Daddy producing, you say. Even his prowess at turning… Continue reading It Was All a Dream
There’s no doubt about it, Elizabeth Anka is dark and her music is a perfect replica of her somberness. Anka has edge. She sings slowly and gently over quiet guitar and soft drums, and just as you begin to sink into her moody motif, she ejects raspy screams that demand immediate attention from the listener… Continue reading Elizabeth Anka ( self-titled )
By David Kenney
Bebel Gilberto’s sultry smooth vocals are like a cigarette after sex. They sneak inside your system, tickle your nerves and leave a residue at every pore. Unlike a cig, Gil-berto is sooo good for you. Her debut record Tanto Tempo is a ßoating musical experience with the Portuguese Sade. Weaving airy bossonova beats with her… Continue reading Tanto Tempo