Album Reviews, Music News, Music Download Album Reviews, Music News, Music Download, Lyric Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 12 0 1 1079

Articles from Album Reviews, Music News, Music Download

Symphony 2008-02-03 07:08:00 View more details ...

Sleep Through The Static 2008-01-28 23:25:00 My friends and I have just finished recording a new album called Sleep Through the Static. At this point in my life I weigh about 190 lbs and my ear hairs are getting longer. I also have a couple of kids. My wife popped them out, but I helped. Some of the songs on this album are about making babies. Some of the songs are about raising them. Some of the songs are about the world that these children will grow up in; a world of war and love, and hate, and time and space. Some of the songs are about saying goodbye to people I love and will miss. View more details ...

It Won't Be Soon Before Long 2008-01-20 07:05:00 Global neo-soul rock superstars Maroon 5 are back with their much-anticipated sophomore album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long. The follow-up to the 10x platinum, Grammy-winning Songs About Jane will be "sexier and stronger," according to frontman Adam Levine, who looked to '80s icons such as Prince, Michael Jackson, and Talking Heads for inspiration. Recorded at home in Los Angeles with producers Mike Elizondo (Fiona Apple, Eminem), Mark "Spike" Stent (Bjork, Keane, Gwen Stefani), Mark Endert (Madonna, Fiona Apple), and Eric Valentine (Queens of the Stone Age, Nickel Creek), the album promises to be a louder take on the pop sounds of their first effort. "It's definitely aggressive, upbeat and pounding," says Levine. ...

The Swell Season 2008-01-20 03:38:00 Frames front man Hansard has teamed up with classically trained Czech vocalist and pianist, Irglova to produce this album of affecting songs and compositions. From straight songs to piano instrumentals, "The Swell Season" affords an insight into a whole other side of Glen/The Frames, as well as offering a perfect introduction to this very talented newcomer. The record takes its name from author Josef Skvorecky's book of the same name. Set in Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia, the story centers on one man's love of music and his pursuit of unattainable women as a country comes unglued. Like the book, the record deals with the pains and hopes of those struggling to make sense of their lives. ...

Liverpool 8 2008-01-14 00:17:00 Brand new studio album from legendary artist Ringo Starr. Liverpool 8 features 12 new tracks written and produced by Ringo Starr and Dave Stewart. ...

Alvin and the Chipmunks [SOUNDTRACK] 2008-01-14 00:04:00 The Chipmunks may have been CGI-ized but the helium-distorted, super-high-pitched singing style of Alvin, Simon and Theodore has been preserved. If you have kids or are a kid at heart (with a special fondness for novelty tunes), this is a goldmine. The 'munk classic "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas, Don’t Be Late)" is covered twice: the "DeeTown OG Mix" is a fairly faithful version, while the "DeeTown Rock Mix" goes the emo-lite route; another nugget, "Witch Doctor," also gets dusted up, with the addition of a so-so rap. Nice bonus: The 1958 versions of these two songs are included as well, for old times' sake. Newer tracks are just as zany. The CD starts off with a take on David Powter's hit "Bad Day," which sounds completely insane done Chipmunk-style; "Funky Town" is downright hair-rising. The DeeTown Syndicate not only produced it all but also contributes several songs of its own that waffle between corny hip-hop ("How We Roll") and contempo Disney Channel style ("Coast 2 Coast") ...

Juno [SOUNDTRACK] 2008-01-10 01:14:00 Fox Searchlight Picture’s December 2007 coming-of-age comedy Juno, directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking). The narrative centers on whip-smart Juno (Ellen Page, in a breakthrough role), a teenage girl faced with an unplanned pregnancy from an afternoon with the charmingly unassuming Bleeker (Michael Cera). Juno finds her unborn baby the perfect set of parents in Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner), an affluent suburban couple who are eager to adopt. Along with the total support of her parents, (Allison Janney and J.K. Simmons) Juno conquers her problems head-on, displaying a youthful exuberance that is both smart and unexpected. The film was an official selection at this year’s Telluride, Toronto, and London film festivals and received the Best Film award at the Rome International Film Festival. The soundtrack to Juno mixes classic rock favorites with indie-rock gems. ...

Coco 2008-01-09 05:07:00 Singer/songwriter Colbie Caillat is one of the most celebrated artists to emerge from the growing talent pool of digitally-savvy self-launched artists, whose rise to prominence as the #1 unsigned artist on the popular myspace site has been largely due to her refreshing sense of understatement.With no marketing push and only the power of the music behind her, Caillat became a sensation on the social networking site. Rolling Stone highlighted her as one of the top female artists on myspace. Ultimately, her number of friends swelled to more than 100,000. Her profile has been visited over 3 million times, and she has more than l0 million plays. She's currently averaging 50,000 + a day.The songs on Caillat's debut album COCO mirror the Malibu-born Caillat's low-key, refreshing style. Armed with her acoustic guitar and her dusky vocals, she evokes the same gentle, yet spirited style of her musical influences John Mayer, Bob Marley, Lauryn Hill and The Weepies. The laid-back tempo of Hawai ...

Little Voice 2008-01-09 04:50:00 For many listeners, Little Voice will be their first exposure to this soulful singer/songwriter, but it's actually Sara Bareilles' second record. Her first, the self-released Careful Confessions, led to a deal with Epic. Since then, Bareilles has opened for Marc Broussard and Maroon 5. She's also become a bonafide soundtrack queen with tracks featured in female-centric films Girl Play, Loving Annabelle, and Monster-in-Law. As with her out-of-print debut, the UCLA grad wrote every song on her first major label recording (Little Voice features re-worked versions of several demo numbers). Like the portrait on the back of the CD--Bareilles in strappy black dress and lace-free high-tops--the piano-playing chanteuse combines the sweet with the scruffy. While her jazzy pop melodies are radio-ready, her relationship-oriented lyrics can be unexpectedly salty ("Bottle Up" and "Come Round Soon" wouldn't pass FCC muster). A little profanity here and there, however, doesn't indicate tough-girl ...

In Rainbows 2007-12-31 00:55:00 On the deliriously satisfying In Rainbows, Radiohead returns to a more straight-ahead (though subdued) rock sound. Much hubbub has been made about this record's innovative release. Radiohead allowed fans to pay what they wished to download fairly low-resolution tracks from the band's own website. Like so many innovations, it already seems funny both that it was such big news and that someone else of similar stature hadn't done it sooner. Some pundits were appalled that it took awhile to download the tracks if you tried to do it at the same time as thousands of other people, while others decried that the group was trying to kill the music industry (or save it). Little of the press seemed to focus on the record itself, which actually made sense because it was so entertaining and inviting, the most low-key album Radiohead has made to date. There's even a very straight-forward, simple, silly little love song, "House of Cards." It might be a bit lethargic, but the simple instrumentatio ...

OK Computer 2007-12-31 00:49:00 Radiohead's third album got compared to Pink Floyd a lot when it came out, and its slow drama and conceptual sweep certainly put it in that category. OK Computer, though, is a complicated and difficult record: an album about the way machines dehumanize people that's almost entirely un-electronic; an album by a British "new wave of new wave" band that rejects speed and hooks in favor of languorous texture and morose details; a sad and humanist record whose central moment is Thom Yorke crooning "We hope that you choke." Sluggish, understated, and hard to get a grip on, OK Computer takes a few listens to appreciate, but its entirety means more than any one song. --Douglas Wolk ...

Facing Future 2007-12-31 00:35:00 To gauge the magnitude of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's popularity in his native Hawaii, consider this: following his death in 1997 (at age 38, attributed to his profound obesity), Kamakawiwo'ole's body lay in state in the state capitol, only the second person to receive such an honor. Kamakawiwo'ole's appeal lies in his love for prestatehood, precondominium Hawaii and the expressiveness of his gently passionate voice, which can float through higher registers with an ease that brings Johnny Mathis to mind. Several selections ("Ka Pua U'i," "White Sandy Beach of Hawai'i," the sun-kissed "La 'Elima") feature Kamakawiwo'ole in a traditional mood, using only his ukulele to adorn the charm of his native lyricism. Others, such as the Jimmy Buffett-like "Maui Hawaiian Sup'pa Man" add playful contemporary touches that suit Kamakawiwo'ole's style. Most touching are the string-backed laments that open and close the album, "Hawai'i '78 Introduction" and "Hawai'i '78," initially a refl ...

One Chance [EXTRA TRACKS] 2007-12-25 00:33:00 Britain's Got Talent winner Paul Potts has spent most of his life feeling 'insignificant'. Bullied at school for being 'different', he realized growing up that he had one true friend and that was his voice ...

Graduation [EXPLICIT LYRICS] 2007-12-25 00:12:00 Graduation is the 3rd installment in the Kanye West series of ground breaking albums, targeting every school kid, from those that have dropped out (Debut Album, College Dropout), to those late registrants (sophmore album Late Registration), to those that have gone on and completed school (current album Graduation). Though technically this earmarks a junior year, West's approach to crafting this album was very much senior. Kanye teams up with veterans Daft Punk and Edwin Birdsong on "Stronger"- Graduation's forthcoming single; as well as enlisting a little help from current chart topper T-Pain on "Good Life". Chris Martin of Coldplay appears on a track called "HomeComing" as well. Kanye has continued to prove his understanding and appreciation for a wide array of music and musical influences. What makes GRADUATION so special? Like most Kanye titles, his fearlessness and blindness to inhibiting boundaries, coupled with his fan driven core competence is evidence that he knows exactly w ...

Growing Pains 2007-12-21 00:41:00 "I'm talkin' 'bout things I know," Mary J. Blige wails on "Work That," the second single and opening track of Growing Pains. The album squeaked into 2007 too late to make best-of lists but otherwise would have stormed its way up several, for sure. She needn't have hit us with such a pronouncement: In 16 songs that ring as remarkably, unflinchingly true as those on 2005's landmark The Breakthrough, the queen of hip-hop soul keeps "keeping it real" a specialty. There's no sense in trying to assign credit for the skin-tight grooves and funked-up retro vibe here; with nine producers padding Blige's emotion-rich voice and the lyrics she so obviously lives by, what we're left with is a melange of sounds. But it's a measure of an artist who has mastered her own identity and left nothing to chance that this, her eighth studio album, comes off so free of wild cards and loose edges. "You ask what love feels like," she sings on "What Love Is," one of the disc's less fierce tracks. "It ...