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"The Stage Names" by Okkervil River

"The Stage Names" by Okkervil River

Okkervil River usually have the unenviable perception as being that other Indie-Rock band from Austin, Texas (damn you Spoon!) and lead singer Will Sheff always seems to be in the shadow of the similar sounding Connor Oberst from Bright Eyes, but The Stage Names should finally be the album that gets... [More]

[Tue Sep 4th, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"It’s Not Big It’s Large" by Lyle Lovett and His La...

"It’s Not Big It’s Large" by Lyle Lovett and His Large Band

Even though this is the first album since 1989 for Lyle Lovett to be co-billed with his large band, anyone whose seen this Texas troubadour live in the last decade (excluding the My Baby Don't Tolerate tour) knows that his Large Band consisting of 17 musicians and backup singers have been right by h... [More]

[Tue Sep 4th, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"Versatile Heart" by Linda Thompson

"Versatile Heart" by Linda Thompson

Linda Thompson, who is more widely known as ex-wife of and contributor to Folk legend Richard Thompson's early records, fittingly titled her 2002 comeback album Fashionably Late which was only the second solo album in her entire 30-plus year career. Versatile Heart, which funnily enough took half-a-... [More]

[Tue Sep 4th, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"Challengers" by The New Pornographers

"Challengers" by The New Pornographers

After 2005's near flawless Twin Cinema (#4 on my best of list that year as a matter o' fact), you'd expect Canadian super-group Power-Poppers The New Pornographers to finally make a dud or at least a somewhat mediocre record in their superior resume. I mean really, they couldn't make it four in a ro... [More]

[Fri Aug 31st, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"Just Roll Tape:April 26th 1968" by Steven Stills

"Just Roll Tape:April 26th 1968" by Steven Stills

Made on a whim in one day during the final months of Buffalo Springfield, these tapes present Stills singing solo, working out a bakers dozen of then new compositions with only his guitar. The tape quality is a little rough but passable by low budget standards with it's 13 sparse versions of songs t... [More]

[Fri Aug 31st, 2007] Written By: Tyler Sanders
"Mentor Tormentor" by Earlimart

"Mentor Tormentor" by Earlimart

Still mining the melancholy sound that dominated 2004's Tremble & Tremble (which was their concept album about the dearly departed Elliott Smith, one of front-man Aaron Espinoza's best friends) Earlimart's Mentor Tormentor is a direct continuation of that icy, introverted style - though Mentor Torme... [More]

[Fri Aug 31st, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"Under the Blacklight" by Rilo Kiley

"Under the Blacklight" by Rilo Kiley

Coming quickly on the heels of Jenny Lewis' 2006 debut solo album (and guitarist Blake Sennett's second album with his own offshoot The Elected for that matter) Rilo Kiley have returned with their first album since 2004's Indie-Rock breakthrough More Adventurous. Under the Blacklight is Rilo Kiley's... [More]

[Fri Aug 31st, 2007] Written By: Kyle England
"Hey Hey My My Yo Yo" by Junior Senior

"Hey Hey My My Yo Yo" by Junior Senior

After four years (two and a half in Europe) the Danish duo are back with their trademark neon-bubblegum-funk sound, this time sporting guest singers from Le Tigre and the B-52's. Clocking in at a concise forty minutes the pair has no problems keeping the dance music flowing while beefing up the... [More]

[Sun Aug 26th, 2007] Written By: Tyler Sanders
"Planet Earth" by Prince

"Planet Earth" by Prince

It seems the longer it's been since Prince got out of his contract with Warners and found religion, the less interesting his new albums have become. At first he was merely making a statement by releasing multi-disc albums (Emancipation, Crystal Ball) but at least we got some of the better Prince son... [More]

[Sun Aug 26th, 2007] Written By: Tyler Sanders
"Super Taranta" by Gogol Bordello

"Super Taranta" by Gogol Bordello

Consisting of former Ukrainian Eugene Hutz and other expatriate eastern European gypsies, Gogol Bordello is a meeting of minds and styles that occurred in New York City back in the '90s. On this, their fourth outing you get an aggressively quirky mix of gypsy folk filtered into punk style rock and d... [More]

[Thu Aug 23rd, 2007] Written By: Tyler Sanders
"Version" by Mark Ronson

"Version" by Mark Ronson

In the world of dance and hip hop music the producer can be just as much the star as the person singing into the mic and since his 2003 record, "Here Come the Fuzz, Mark Ronson is fast becoming the go-to guy in the UK, producing songs from the debut albums of both Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse. Using... [More]

[Wed Aug 22nd, 2007] Written By: Tyler Sanders
"Shrunken Heads" by Ian Hunter

"Shrunken Heads" by Ian Hunter

Over the course of over thirty years the former Mott the Hoople frontman has delivered some truly fun straight forward rock with touches of social commentary and self deprecating humor. With Mott the Hoople we got such gems as "All the Way From Memphis" and "All the young Dudes." Even solo he proved... [More]

[Tue Aug 21st, 2007] Written By: Tyler
"At My Age" by Nick Lowe

"At My Age" by Nick Lowe

Musically, 2007 had been a strong year for the established artists. Some that come to mind are The Shins, The White Stripes and the very established Nick Lowe. In fact his career dates back to the '60s when he fronted the english popsters Kippington Lodge. In 1970 they became Brinsley Scwarz, a more... [More]

[Mon Aug 20th, 2007] Written By: Tyler Sanders
"Dylanesque" by Bryan Ferry

"Dylanesque" by Bryan Ferry

Ferryesque would be the more appropriate name for this collection of Bob Dylan covers, because despite the author of these tunes, you will hear the Ferry sound prevail. A slicker production with a more punctuated warbly vocal affectation, but still shot through with the Ferryman's patented style to... [More]

[Mon Aug 20th, 2007] Written By: Tyler Sanders
"Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" by Spoon

"Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" by Spoon

Arguably the most consistently great band in music right now, Austin, Texas' own Spoon return with their 6th LP, the repeatedly rewarding Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. Ga Ga is the most straight forward Pop-Rock record that Britt Daniel and the boys have come up with since Girls Can Tell with nearly all ten track... [More]

[Sun Aug 5th, 2007] Written By: Kyle England