Album name: Live from Austin, TX Artist name: Drive-By Truckers Genre: Rock n’ Roll Released: July 7 2009 Label: New West ZME Rating: 9/10 Website: drivebytruckers.com In the spirit of full disclosure, I should probably inform you of two things: 1 – I’m a hard marker. In the time I’m writing for this website, you’ll likely never see me give an album 10/10. This is partly because I don’t think you could reasonably call any…
Album name: 421 Wythe Avenue Artist name: Alcoholic Faith Mission Genre: Indie Released: July 24, 2009 Label: PonyRec ZME Rating: N/A Website: myspace.com/alcoholicfaithmission Alcoholic Faith Mission are an indie pop/electronica alternative band from Copenhagen, Denmark. The band includes five members: Sune Sølund, Thorben Seierø Jensen, Kristine Permild, Laurids Smedegaard and Gustav Rasmussen. They’re only three years old as a band, yet have already released two albums, their music was used in a Canadian indie film…
Album name: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – The Album Artist name: Various Genre: Soundtrack Released: July 13 2009 Label: Reprise ZME Rating: N/A Website: transformersmovie.com/ I would love to give this CD a horrible review. I’d really, genuinely enjoy ripping apart its poxy devotion to dated post-grunge sludge rock. Or better yet, going on a bloodthirsty, rampaging rant about how the Transformers franchise as a whole has gone from being a treasured reminder of…
Album title: Bitte orca Artist name: Dirty Projectors Genre: Experimental Rock/Indie Released: 9 June 2009 Label: Domino Records ZME Rating: 10/10 Website: http://www.westernvinyl.com/dirty_projectors What’s possibly one of the most weirdest, yet at the same time ridiculously catchy indie acts of the past couple of years, Dirty Projectors never ceases to amaze us. Be it Dave Longstreth’s uncanny attempt to recreate Black Flag’s iconic Damaged after not listening to it for over 15 years (see the…
Album name: The Great Disruptors EP Artist name: Sweethead Genre: Rock Released: July 13 2009 Label: Strange Addiction ZME Rating: 8/10 Website: sweethead.net With PJ Harvey taking various detours away from her intelli-punk rock of old, Brody Dalle’s Spinerette sounding less like the Distillers than a slightly more modern No Doubt, and Courtney Love continuing to disappear into a putrid puddle of confused irrelevance, there’s a gaping hole in the rock industry, just waiting for…
Album title: West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum Artist name: Kasabian Genre: Rock/Psychedelia Released: 5 June 2009 Label: Columbia ZME Rating: 7/10 Website: kasabian.co.uk When one of rock’s popular young pretenders attempt a concept album inspired by LSD-infused 60s psychedelia in 2009, it is difficult to know whether to commend British exports Kasabian or rip them apart. Upon a first spin of West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, one thing is for sure – this is not…
Album name: Knives Artist name: Aiden Genre: Emo Released: May 12 2009 Label: Victory ZME Rating: 2/10 Website: aiden.org Jesus Christ. Look, I’m not saying that Aiden are the worst band in the world. But you know that feeling you get when you see a 13 year old boy trying to be rebellious by wearing a lot of black and swearing in a really unconvincing manner, claiming that he’s angry at the whole entire world…
Album name: White Lies For Dark Times Artist name: Ben Harper & Relentless7 Genre: Rock Released: May 5th, 2009 Label: Virgin ZME Rating: 8/10 Website: http://relentless7.benharper.com/ Band names, eh? There’s rarely an in-between with them: they either sound exactly right, or absolutely ridiculous. Try saying any death metal band name with a straight face in polite company, and you’ll have an idea of what I mean with the latter. When your grandma asks you what…
Album name: Roadsinger Artist name: Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam Genre: Folk, Rock, Pop Released: May 5, 2009 Label: Umvd Labels ZME Rating: 10(!)/10 Website: Yusuf Islam When Cat Stevens said he would never sing ever again in the late 70s, I was devastated and it seems it was just yesterday. Nah, I’m just messing with you, but still… Here was this absolutely brilliant young man that had conquered mankind just giving up on everything he had…
Artist Name: Sun Domingo Album Name: The World’s Alive Genre: Rock/Pop Release Date: 28 April 2009 ZME Rating: 7/10 Label: Racket Records (Europe) Website: www.sundomingo.blogspot.com At my former day job we had to hear the same five albums for weeks at a time. One morning, half awake, still in bed a melody swam around in my head. But it wasn’t one of those five albums, or anything else, it was Sun Domingo’s “Hot Little Room”,…
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