Brain Failure – American Dreamer (CD)

Brain Failure is the new Rancid, going for the all-out choruses and fast playing that Rancid has by and large dropped from their new style. One doesn’t really hear much in popular music coming from China, and Brain Failure is probably the best introduction to the world’s most populous nation that I could conceivably come up with. I almost feel bad that I never picked up the fourth volume of Give ‘Em The Boot, because Brain Failure’s track would have almost made the price of the disc worth it. Th

Have You Read this Taylor Hicks Review?
May.04, 2009 in UncategorizedADVERTISEMENTSTaylor Hicks Soul’s In It As He Sells Out Every Venue. “Anybody from the South — they know about soul,” says the Alabama native, who plays sold-out shows at Rams Head Live on Tuesday night and the Birchmere on Sunday and Monday. “My musical root was Ray Charles, and it grew from there. When I heard him I was 8. I caught the bug. It was over from there.”Hicks’ vocals glow with personality, retaining that slightly dogeared warmth that won him a majority

Multiple composers offer melodious medley for ‘99? (IANS Music Review)
By Ruchika Kher Film: “99?; Music Directors: Ashutosh Pathak, Shamir Tandon, Roshan Machado and Mahesh Shanker; Lyricists: Vaibhav Modi, Shabbir Ahmed, Sita Menon and Amitabh Bhattacharya; Singers: Shaan, Sunidhi Chauhan, KK, Bonnie Chakraborty, Raja Hasan and Labh Janjua; Rating: *** Another film to cash in on the trend of bringing together multiple composers and lyricists is […]

Foma - Inverness
Full disclosure: It’s been a crap week at the day job. I was halfway to ditching out completely on a new music review today in favor of writing 1500 words detailing Pavement’s significance in my formative years as a music fan; that would have been easy, requiring no real mental effort, and would have given me more time stew about all of the things that piss me off about my gig. Sadly, it would also have been boring as hell. Nobody wants to read about 15 year-old me and how “Range Life” made

Music Review: CrossCurrents: Composer Lera Auerbach, Cellist Alisa Weilerstein (Washington Post)
Those fearful of contemporary music may think of it as dry, cerebral, atonal and scary. But Lera Auerbach, a Russian-born composer, delivers lots of fire and passion in music that is generally tonal. Indeed, she offers 18th-century forms and a 19th-century sensibility (that of the brilliant…

Music Review: Billy Joel - Cold Spring Harbor (Blogcritics.org)
Billy Joel: Chapter 1.

Critical Voices 2.0: Bob Dylan’s Together Through Life
This summer, the Voice’s “Critical Voices” feature makes it’s way to the internet in a bold new way. We’ll be doing weekly album reviews and, thanks to the glory of the internet, you now have the immediate ability to listen to the music we’re promoting (or panning). What better way to begin a discussion on a hip musical culture than to talk about a man completely in tune with the Voice ’s basic ideologies of rebellion and drug usage: Bob Dylan. His newest venture into the world of sly r

Music Review: Cracker - Sunrise In The Land Of Milk And Honey (Blogcritics.org)
After three years and an album that I don’t even remember listening to, Cracker makes a glorious return.

Music Review: Klavier Trio Amsterdam at Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington Post)
On Sunday afternoon the Klavier Trio Amsterdam gave another fine concert at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. This time around the group’s pianist, Klára Würtz, was almost a one-woman show, playing with consummate skill and unruffled serenity in the face of challenges, musical and otherwise.

Music Review: Doves’ 4th album, ‘Kingdom of Rust’ (The MetroWest Daily News)
Music Review: The British trio Doves spent nearly two years crafting a follow-up to its stellar 2005 album, “Some Cities.” Sadly, “Kingdom of Rust” comes up short.