Album Reviews

Xavier Rudd: Solace

Darren Susin September 7, 2005 No Comments

By now, you

Death Cab for Cutie: Plans

Shane Handler September 6, 2005 No Comments

Plans fails to pick things up a notch in the rock department where Transatlanticism teased us in believing DCFC would be the next great experimental guitar band. There is a load of keyboard sap and wish washy ballads to deal that makes Plans a rather soft affair.

Maybe next time instead of recording in New England in the dead of winter, these west-coasters should stay in overcast Seattle and stick with a familiar formula. The true Death Cab sound is still here at times, but at the end Plans leaves you asking, “what is all the fuss about?”

Corrosion of Conformity: In the Arms of God

Dan Bliss September 2, 2005 No Comments

For all you closet headbangers who thought classic thrash and punk died with Cobain, grab this album, as it will bring you back to those long-ago days.

The Brakes: The Brakes – Vol. II (EP)

Chad Berndtson September 2, 2005 No Comments

An upstart five-some rustling up a serious fuss in their native Philadelphia, the Brakes draw you in with a deceptively laid-back funk-rock thing, probably reminiscent of Sublime, the easy name-check, but also less remembered and way more musical groups of kind like e:verything and the Getaway People.

Boom Bip: Blue Eyed in the Red Room

Eric Saeger September 1, 2005 No Comments

Try as it might, Blue Eyed in the Red Room ends up as a collection of near-miss electro instrumentals which could have advanced past golf-cart-cruise-music status with just a little improvement on the arrangements. It

Feist: Let It Die

Shane Handler September 1, 2005 No Comments

Having sung with Canadian indie-popsters Broken Social Scene to female rapper Peaches to the Kings, Leslie Feist has paid her dues. But it

NYC Subway: Songs From The Underground: Various Artists

Osvaldo Oyola August 31, 2005 No Comments

Any compilation of artists regardless of the theme is going to be uneven. It is just something you have to accept, and when you keep in mind the range of talent you might experience day to day on your commute, a compilation of buskers from the New York City subway system is going to be especially so.