Author Archive
20 Mar 2009
Album Review: The Holloways – So This Is Great Britain?
Guest review by Annelise Kopp This record may not be revolutionary, but it is a solidly good record. The first song to stand out was “Generator” with catchy guitar riffs […]
19 Mar 2009
EP Review: The Hero Cycle — Lakes and Ponds
On their Lakes and Ponds EP, Burlington Vermont’s The Hero Cycle manage the neat trick of evoking memories of Echo and the Bunnymen and Modern English without sounding the least […]
18 Mar 2009
Album Review: Hedley — s/t
Not certifiably awful in any way, the debut album by Canadian quartet Hedley is simply another serving of the tired, shopworn formula that the record industry serves up. Like a […]
17 Mar 2009
Album Review: Hayseed Dixie – A Hot Piece of Grass
Hayseed Dixie is bluegrass music’s answer to Dread Zeppelin. But then, who asked the question? Hayseed Dixie’s high-concept approach recasts hard rock songs in a bluegrass context (for a secret […]
16 Mar 2009
Album Review: Isaac Hayes — Ultimate Isaac Hayes: Can You Dig It?
Finally we have an Isaac Hayes career retrospective that is both succinct and sprawling. Of course “The Theme from Shaft” is here; it leads off the first disc on this […]
15 Mar 2009
Album Review: Holding Mercury — Downfall of an Empire
There’s a strong and proud tradition of Midwestern power pop. Cheap Trick, Material Issue, The Shoes; I could go on. The straightforward, hard-yet-melodic approach of these and groups like them […]
14 Mar 2009
Album Review: The Fuzztones – Horny as Hell
Now there’s a concept: take classic garage-punk songs from the 1960s (plus a fistful of Fuzztones originals) and put together new arrangements that add…wait for it…a horn section. No kidding. […]
13 Mar 2009
Album Review: Fluttr Effect — Marking Time
This disc gets off to a good start. The instrumentation is varied and intriguing; tempos shift and keep the listener on his or her toes. But the band’s shtick seems […]
12 Mar 2009
Album Review: DJ Envy & Red Cafe — The Co-op
On first listen, my attention was grabbed by a track (or “skit,” as it’s called on the disc) in which a character named DJ Death Murder Homicide rattles off every […]
12 Mar 2009
Concert Review: Japanese Motors, Raleigh NC 03/11/09
A quick listen — heck, even a careful, critical series of listens — to “Single Fins & Safety Pins,” the latest single from Japanese Motors, would give most people the […]