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"Love Is Here" by Starsailor

"Love Is Here" by Starsailor

This debut outing by the newest darlings of the British trades, should be filed somewhere between Travis and Coldplay. Easily one of the most accessible albums of the new year, Starsailor soars from track to track upon the sandpaper-honey vocals of sexy frontman James Walsh. A voice that invites al... [More]

Written By: Kevin Jones
"Whats Next To The Moon?" by Mark Kozelek

"Whats Next To The Moon?" by Mark Kozelek

This album is just pure pleasure. Everyone I've played it for wants it immediately. A side project of Red House Painters Mark Kozelek, this album takes the lyrics of Bon Scott (AC/DC's deceased frontman) and completely retools the melodies into an aural-friendly acoustic guitar setting that retain a... [More]

Written By: Kevin Jones
"Asleep In The Back" by Elbow

"Asleep In The Back" by Elbow

After years of struggling for recognition, Elbow finally saw daylight when Asleep In The Back was released overseas last year and in the States early this year. Critics designated them 2001's Doves, which is a notable understatement. Elbow is "Prog-rock without the solos," claims the five-piece b... [More]

Written By: Ryan Slack
"Change" by Dismemberment Plan

"Change" by Dismemberment Plan

Prog Rock, Art Rock, whatever you want to call it, has always suffered mightily at the hands of music critics. Genesis, Yes, King Crimson--they never get any respect. But in my critical opinion these bands (for the most part in their early days) created some of the most amazing music ever recorded.... [More]

Written By: Kevin Jones
"Simple Things" by Zero 7

"Simple Things" by Zero 7

Superb and sublime. An entire album that combines graceful acoustic melodies with soothing vocals. Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker spent most of the nineties behind the scenes in their production seats--but their slow evolution resulted in remixes of Radiohead and Lenny Kravitz among others. Their fi... [More]

Written By: Ryan Slack
"Your Majesty" by The Anniversary

"Your Majesty" by The Anniversary

I'd say that, so far, this is the album to beat in 2002 and perhaps the most fully-realized album I've ever heard from and Indie/ Emo band. Impressive, smart songcrafting, Pop, but not too Poppy, enough of a punky edge, arty, but not for art's sake. Nice. Josh Berwanger sings these tunes like the cl... [More]

Written By: Kevin Jones
"And All That Could Have Been" by Nine Inch Nails

"And All That Could Have Been" by Nine Inch Nails

I don't think many people will argue that Nine Inch Nails are the be all, end all of industrial music. Despite not being the genre's creator NIN gave a gothic sensibility to a music lacking direction and quickly became one of the industries top visionaries. But if you ask me, I think NIN impact was... [More]

Written By: Rob Jones
"Source Tags and Codes" by And You Will Know Us By the ...

"Source Tags and Codes" by And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead

And you will know us by having a name that's too long would've been a great line if this wasn't perhaps the best album of the new year. This one goes toe-to-toe with the other best album of the year, The Anniversary's Your Majesty. This is a great big, ambitious, scorcher of an album that wonderfull... [More]

Written By: Kevin Jones
"Always Got Tonight" by Chris Isaak

"Always Got Tonight" by Chris Isaak

Eighth installment of melancholy "where did my girl go?" Love songs from the boy voted most likely to become Roy Orbison. While not his best (San Francisco Days, Forever Blue) Always Got Tonight is nonetheless worthy of investigation. Isaak has recently adopted a noticeably more aggressive approach... [More]

Written By: Jared Haley
"Drive" by Alan Jackson

"Drive" by Alan Jackson

As a country music purist Jackson has already sold 35 million records in his career without changing the high standards of his music or song writing. I may be exaggerating, but he seems to put out new material every other week. His latest record, Drive is not his best work, but it's quickly becoming... [More]

Written By: Michael Jurgensmeier
"Dont Worry About Me" by Joey Ramone

"Dont Worry About Me" by Joey Ramone

It's been nearly a year since punk icon Joey Ramone's passing, after succumbing to lymphatic cancer at the age of 49. Fortunately, he left us with possibly some of his best work to date. After the Ramones' break up in 1996, Joey wasted no time in continuing to write his signature 3-chord power-pop... [More]

Written By: Ryan Slack
"Fever" by Kylie Minogue

"Fever" by Kylie Minogue

Fever falls neatly into place between the pop trash of her first six albums and the credible dance music of late. Alongside last year's brilliant career restoring Light Years, Fever relies less on inventiveness than overly slick production and seductive entertainment value. It lacks the overall song... [More]

Written By: Jared Haley
"Cake and Pie" by Lisa Loeb

"Cake and Pie" by Lisa Loeb

I've always been something of a fan of the shy, bookish pixie with the gossamer tongue,once upon a time she even had a way with writing a song. Just look at that inviting cover, this has got to be tasty stuff, right? Wrong. Maybe too many chefs in the kitchen, or something, but there's not a pastry... [More]

Written By: Kevin Jones
"Forever" by Cracker

"Forever" by Cracker

It could be accurately said that David Lowery is one of the true founding fathers of a kind of music that now goes by the name Alt/Country. After his days of fronting Camper Van Beethoven, Lowery re-invented himself in Cracker and has since turned out a hit-and-miss body of angst-ridden, country-tin... [More]

Written By: Kevin Jones
"Lovesick, Broke & Driftin" by Hank Williams III

"Lovesick, Broke & Driftin" by Hank Williams III

This true-to-the-original heir to the legacy of Hank Williams delivers an album so stark and simple that it would have made Grandpappy proud. As the title suggests this is a study in boozers and loveable losers that at it's best matches the basic beauty of Hank Sr., but is a bit too one-dimensional... [More]

Written By: Kevin Jones