Album Reviews

A cross between Jack Black and Barenaked Ladies, Jim

After touring Australia together as solo artists in the early 2003 Bens Tour; Kweller, Folds, and Lee put together this ditty of four quick, pop shiny numbers that follow with distinction, yet leave with desire.

Through relentless touring over the last couple years and word-of-mouth, Particle has quickly made a name for themselves by exciting audiences with their self-described “space porn” at festivals, clubs and late-night parties around the country. Particle’s first full-length album, Launchpad, effctively captures their energetic live sound in a studio setting.

It

Laguardia’s music isn

Really, the Recipe isn

For a six-piece band that confidently concurs they can

Since their formation in 1986, Big Head Todd & the Monsters have been living steadfastly on their diet of rock and roll, served with

Tantric is a Louisville, KY, based quartet specializing in the staple, hard-rock/heavy metal genre that has been a mainstay of many FM stations for the past few decades. It

Simple can be beautiful.

Forget about the controversy surrounding the hijacking of a classic Beatles album. Forget about the misuse of the

If love-torn, boy-pop is what you want, you are much better off with John Mayer than this distant runner up.

Feels Like Home builds on the jazzy-pop sounds that made Jones’ debut album, Come Away With Me, such a huge success, but broadens the playing field a little wider by also venturing into the styles of bluegrass and country. Norah’s gentle voice and subtle piano playing is somehow both relaxing and energizing at the same time, and the album opener and first single, “Sunrise,” pulls you in from the get go with her soulful vocals.

Bluegrass legend Del McCoury pipes a

Just Because I

Steve Morse is the guitar virtuoso behind Deep Purple, the Dixie Dregs, and the Steve Morse band. He

One strum of a guitar and then Edie Brickell

The only promise these tunes can deliver is one for the cult lavish, who enjoy their music on the dirty and dark side. It’s been said the Liars frenzied live performances are quite the catch on the New York scene, so hopefully that energy is a bit more cohesive than the one preserved on record.

Betty

Before changing their name to the Ryan Cavanaugh Trio earlier this year – due to the departure of percussionist Chris Dougherty – Space Station Integration released Live from Nowhere. Fusing the traditional banjo with high-energy, jazz-fusion, Cavanaugh and company heighten the bluegrass bar by further adding elements of rock, bluegrass, funk, Celtic and Indian to the mix. All done of course with a definitive focus on improvisation.