Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III

Cash Money/Universal Motown

With the third installment of his Carter series, Lil Wayne continues his rapid descent into total insanity . . . and it's awsome! What goes on in his dreadlocked skull I have no idea, but it is seriously fun to try figuring it out.
Such a larger-than-life persona begs us to try and "The Carter III" carries this persona to new heights with slick production. The requisite pop singles are of course included, but the real meat lies in between, where Lil Wayne can experiment. Just check out the track Dr. Carter: it ruuuuuuuules. Lil Wayne, I salute you.

Ed Harcourt - The Beautiful Lie

Dovecote

Ed Harcourt is a talented multi-instrumentalist involved in a variety of collaborative musical projects including both a thrash, and blues band, but The Beautiful Lie is all about his solo vision. The album is a charming homegrown affair, with a warm lo-fi feel courtesy of the analogue eight-track on which the bulk of the album was recorded.
Most of the record was tracked in his grandmother’s house; using her old 1917 piano, the drums set up in the hallway. Harcourt's voice is an ethereal falsetto comparable to that of Thom York of Radiohead fame. The Beautiful Lie is a lovely understated indie-rock album that is bound to launch Harcourt into the upper echelon of indie vocalists where he belongs.

Nas - Untitled

Island Def Jam/Columbia/Sony BMG

Wow. Fourteen years after his staggering debut Illmatic, Nas has delivered an album that's as fresh as anything in his discography. His ninth studio album, left untitled after a controversy regarding the racial epithet that was originally intended to be the title, is sharp, relevant, and perhaps more thoughtful and mature than Nas has ever been.
Classy, low-key production, backs up Nas's always unstoppable flow in songs about media corruption, racial politics (including Obama's presidential campaign), and even pacifism (a rather new belief system for Nas, if you've followed his lyrical history).
The album boasts a slew of high profile contributors, most notably, stic.man of dead prez, Busta Rhymes, The Game, and proto-hip-hop poetry legends, the Last Poets. Untitled is quite simply a phenomenal hip-hop album, especially refreshing considering the vanity and shallow posturing that otherwise dominate the stale, mainstream rap scene.

Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - Passenger Seat

Magnolia/font>

It is undeniable to draw parallel's between Holcomb and Springsteen; Passenger Seat is another of the few records in the vein of Born to Run that pulls it off, albeit not as well.
Everything is put together like a puzzle, fitting nice and tight to form a bigger, stronger picture than the sum of its parts. Holcomb definitly inflicts his voice a bit too much like the legend, but it doesn't entirely fail him. He rides it like a badge of honor, living up all the glory that is allocated to the singer/songwriter types.

Amy Lennard - I Need To Love

Hold Your Own

Singer/songwriter Amy Lennard works her way to the hearts of every coffeeshop-folk lover worldwide. A solid voice, a perfect level of production, and intensely personal lyrics personifies what it means to be an emotionally driven artist. Keep an eye out for Lennard's rise to stardom!

Mike & The Ravens - Noisy Boys!

Zoho Roots/Allegro

Incredible rock'n'roll from a time when the genre was actually respectable. While today we are left with only fossilized remnents of the once magnificent genre, there was a time when the style errupted and swayed as any great genre should.
Enter Mike & The Ravens: a dinosaur quintet from the 60's. And I'm not lying when I tell you this is spotless: jangly, driving rock and roll as best as it's ever been played. Headed up by a crew of teenagers, the band never really went anywhere because, as the story goes, they were all arrested in '62 for playing the "devil's music" in a church.
The band lives up to the legend of their demise: while obviously not satanic by anymeans, it is as rebelious as dance music can get. Opening track "Roller, Roller Rollerland!," is, in all honesty, the best rock and roll song I've heard this year.

Various Artists - Hard + Heavy: Bang Your Head

Time Life/Sony BMG/Universal

Time Life just keeps the heaviness coming. With their "HARD+HEAVY" series, Time Life has provided the listener with quite an interesting aural history lesson of the poppier side of metal and hard rock. The Bang Your Head installment of the series does no different. Featuring the namesake track by Quiet Riot, the album also features catchy, driving classics from bands as varied as Europe, Cheap Trick, and our JSI love/hate favorite, Ted Nugent. The album is pretty straight forward and doesn't pull any punches with unexpected inclusions, so if you're looking to do some head banging, pick it up, you know what you're getting.
************LATE BUT GREAT***********

***Shelton's Single Of The Week: "Surrender" by Cheap Trick***

Vinicius Cantuaria - Cymbals

Koch

Multi-instrumentalist and Brazilian expatriate Vinicius Cantuaria presents this collection of easy-listening originals that dabble in a variety of different Brazilian genres of music.
The album presents a smooth fusion of bossa nova, gentle samba, and the mellower side of the tropicalia sound. His lyrics, printed here with convenient English translations, cover such easy-to-identify-with topics as love, heartbreak, and longing for one's homeland. His soothing voice and lovely guitar playing make for a generally charming listen, perfect for an evening of relaxation and friends.

Anthony David - Acey Duecy

Soulbird/Universal Republic

Ever wish that contemporary R&B was a little less about bling, and more about soul? Ever hoped that producers would cut it out with the auto-tuning effects and just let singers sing? Yes? Well Anthony David is your answer.
Gaining fame through his collaborations and tours with India.Arie, David is beginning to further establish a name for himself with his sensual, laid back fusion between R&B and soul. Maybe you could call it neo-soul? I just call it a fantastic, refreshing listen. Check it out.

Mickey and the Motorcars - Naive

Smith

Yeehaw! Pull on yer boots, jump in your truck and head on down to the saloon! Mickey and the Motorcars will get your engine revved with Naive, twelve tracks of catchy modern country from the dusty highways of Austin, Texas.
If you hanker for twang, but love classic country rock too, Naive delivers some energized gems perfect for driving down open roads and crackin' a bud (but not at the same time?).

The Rotted - Get Dead Or Die Trying

Metal Blade

England's The Rotted, formerly known as Gorerotted, are pissed. Really pissed. Cookie-monster vocals topped over warped speed blast beats makes Get Dead or Die Trying one of the best Metal Blade releases of the year.
Fairly simple song structure and writing, but that in no way detractcs from their overall fury; in fact, the raw approach to song progression only adds another layer of hatred to the entire package. The band fits fairly cleanly into the death metal camp, perhaps slightly on the melodic side of the spectrum. Featuring members of Cradle of Filth, Christian Death, and Screaming Daemon, you know this is coming from only the best.

Chris Cotton - I Watched the Devil Die

Yellow Dog/Burnside

Catchy white-boy blues with a beat to drink to, I Watched the Devil Die will have you tapping your toes from start to finish. With swagger, Chris Cotton kind of croons, kind'a growls through twelve tracks that keep it simple and channel the greats . . . as a blues man should.

La India Canela - Merengue Tipico from the Dominican Republic

Smithsonian Folkways/RYKO

The incredibly reliable Smithsonian Folkways label delivers yet again with another priceless snapshot of a world folk music. This time the focus is on Merengue Tipico, one of the oldest varieties of merengue, dating back to the 1850s.
Historically, this unique traditional music represents the passionate Dominican resistance to U.S. occupation during the late teens and early twenties of the twentieth century. The music contained on this disc is an inspiring reflection of a people's struggle for freedom. The social and political history to the music is especially relevant considering the performer.
La India Canela is an accomplished female accordionist, and a symbol of the prominence that women have achieved in this historically progressive genre. Context aside though, the music itself is lively and beautiful dance music, played masterfully on traditional instruments. The album is also accompanied by an informative, nearly thirty page booklet (in English and Spanish) discussing the history of the genre as well as the performer and her place as a woman in the genre. A superb package, and a great listen.

The Fratellis - Here we Stand

Cherry Tree/Interscope/Island

The Fratellis are the happiest band to come out of Glasgow since Orange Juice, who were themselves more bittersweet than the driving power-pop on Here we Stand, the Fratellis second full-length release.
Half way between Ted Leo and the Foo Fighters, the Fratellis are the perfect pop rockers. On Here we Stand, they even seem to take some cues from the recent resurgence of psych/stoner rock, but, rest assured, there isn't a single track you won't want to sing along too all the way through.

Jamey Johnson - That Lonesome Song

Mercury Nashville

Country Music Award winning songwriter, Jamey Johnson shows off why he got that award with his newest album, That Lonesome Song. His first album on his new label Mercury Nashville, is an aptly titled collection of lonesome country ballads: stories of lovers lost and good times gone.
Even when the tempo picks up a bit, like on "Place Out on the Ocean," for example, Johnson's sorrowful baritone imbues the otherwise hopeful song with a tinge of lovelorn sadness. An unexpectedly moody and powerful release from this up and coming pop-country heavyweight.

Earshot - The Silver Lining

In De Goot/Fontana

I realize this joke has probably already been made, but seriously: there is no silver lining on this album. Recently, Filter was reviewed here as one of the few bands who can pull off the genre. With that said, Earshot pull off the style as poorly as possible.
Slightly heavy guitars (which is probably the only good thing I can say) playing incredibly boring riffs, with possibly one of the worst vocalists I have ever heard fronting the entire package. Wining it's way into the hearts of goth kids everywhere, Silver Lining is for those who liked Staind, Nickleback, or Korn.

Chiwoniso - Rebel Woman

Cumbancha

Zimbabwean singer, Chiwoniso presents a diverse fusion of traditional and contemporary influences on Rebel Woman, her first internationally distributed record in ten years. While consistently driven by the intricate interweaving melodies of the mbira, a traditional African thumb piano, the album also reflects a wide pallet of musical flavors, including jazz, funk, ska, and even hints of hip hop.
The occasional hip hop and r&b nuances that populate the album are logical considering the fact that she was once a member of A Peace of Ebony, Zimbabwe's first ever hip hop band. Her lyrics, sung in both English and Shona, are about traditional spirituality, her heritage, and the social and class struggles of her country. The album is a breezy and uplifting listen and a powerful example of contemporary African music.

Rosalie Sorrels - Strangers in Another Country: The Songs of Bruce "Utah" Phillips

Red House

After the passing of American folk legend Utah Phillips this past spring, 75-year-old folklorist and life-long friend and collaborator of his, Rosalie Sorrels has released a stunningly beautiful and moving album honoring his life and music. The release features Sorrels' renditions of 22 varied and oft unexpected selections of Phillips' songs and stories.
Sorrels' voice is alternately heartbreakingly mournful and warm and comforting. No words can do justice to the simple beauty of these songs and Sorrels' sparse arrangements. This album is an absolutely gorgeous slice of Americana, and everything good about it. If you enjoy American folk at all, you owe it to yourself to listen to this.
***So Nice, Gotta Do It Up Twice (Created by the Original NYC DJ, Jocko, 1955)***

Scrapomatic - Sidewalk Caesars

Landslide

Scrapomatic's new 2008 release Sidewalk Caesars continues their tradition of playing raunchy, bluesy rock. The album covers lyrical topics that perfectly suit their look and sound: drinking binges, failed romance, and general rowdiness.
The recording itself is perhaps the only thing that is a little out of place. The production is crisp and clean, but that's just it: it's perhaps too clean sounding. If the recording were a bit more raw, it would better suit the gravelly roughness of Mike Mattison's lyrics and vocals, and the dirty crunch of Paul Olsen's guitar tone. Regardless though, the songwriting shines through, recording gripes aside, and the album proves to be a solid listen.

Jef Stott - Saracen

Six Degrees

Having traveled the world as a sort of musical anthropologist, Jef Stott has returned bearing gifts! With Saracen, Stott combines the haunting melodies of traditional Egyptian music with contemporary electonic beats and his own take on world-music instrumentation. If you crave the exotic but can't find the time to leave your world behind, Jef Stott is your man!

Janis Ian - The Best of: The Autobiography Collection DOUBLE CD

Rude Girl

Self-released on her own Rude Girl Records, this collection documents the best of the long and controversial career of the legendary folk singer Janis Ian. Her frank and moving lyrics tell stories of interracial romance, prostitution, and war.
The songs are already sobering enough on their own, but to remember that she wrote many of these songs in her young teenage years during the civil rights struggle of the mid 1960s, makes it an even more staggering listening experience. Her simple voice and sparse arrangements are as empowering now as then, and this historic double disc release documents it all. center>

***If You Like Music, You're Gonna' Love This!***
*****Shelton's Second Single Of The Week: "Society's Child"*****

Hush now darling my momma said
Your daddy's worried bout the rents
One day you'll learn about the enemy
You have to fight so you'll be free

Another day will dawn
Our country will be strong
God knows we can't go wrong
Be good darling do as we say

One day you'll learn to work for pay
And you will understand that we are poor
You must work hard so you'll have more
Another day will dawn

You will grow up so strong
We know you will be long
Listen father there is no work
It seems that no one sees my worth

I have no money to pay my rent
I cannot pay back what was lent
Listen mother I lost my man
He was shot down in a foreign land

The captain cannot see what he died for
They only tell me we're at war
Another time will come
You'll see what we have done

I only hope we may be forgiven
Another rain will fall
And wash away our song
We used to stand so tall 3x

Political Article: Howard Zinn: US 'In Need Of Rebellion' By:Howard Zinn & Al Jazeera Back To Top Al Jazeera speaks to Howard Zinn, the author, American historian, social critic and activist, about how the Iraq war damaged attitudes towards the US and why the US "empire" is close to collapse. Q: Where is the United States heading in terms of world power and influence? HZ: America has been heading - for some time, and is heading right now - toward less and less world power, less and less influence. Obviously, since the war in Iraq, the rest of the world has fallen away from the United States, and if American foreign policy continues in the way it has been - that is aggressive and violent and uncaring about the feelings and thoughts of other people - then the influence of the United States is going to decline more and more. This is an empire which is on the one hand the most powerful empire that ever existed; on the other hand an empire that is crumbling - an empire that has no future ... because the rest of the world is alienated and simply because this empire is top-heavy with military commitments, with bases around the world, with the exhaustion of its own resources at home. [This is] leading to more and more discontent and home, so I think the American empire will go the way of other empires and I think it is on its way now. Q: Is there any hope the US will change its approach to the rest of the world? HZ: If there is any hope, the hope lies in the American people. [It] lies in American people becoming resentful enough and indignant enough over what has happened to their country, over the loss of dignity in the world, over the starving of human resources in the United States, the starving of education and health, the takeover of the political mechanism by corporate power and the result this has on the everyday lives of the American people. [There is also] the higher and higher food prices, the more and more insecurity, the sending of the young people to war. I think all of this may very well build up into a movement of rebellion. We have seen movements of rebellion in the past: The labour movement, the civil rights movement, the movement against the war in Vietnam. I think we may well see, if the United States keeps heading in the same direction, a new popular movement. That is the only hope for the United States. Q: How did the US get to this point? HZ: Well, we got to this point because ... I suppose the American people have allowed it to get it to this point because there were enough Americans who were satisfied with their lives, just enough. Of course, many Americans were not, that is why half of the population doesn't vote, they're alienated. But there are just enough Americans who have been satisfied, you might say getting some of the "goodies" of the empire, just some of them, just enough people satisfied to support the system, so we got this way because of the ability of the system to maintain itself by satisfying just enough of the population to keep its legitimacy. And I think that era is coming to an end. Q: What should the world know about the United States? HZ: What I find many people in the rest of the world don't know is that there is an opposition in the United States. Very often, people in the rest of the world think that Bush is popular, they think 'oh, he was elected twice', they don't understand the corruption of the American political system which enabled Bush to win twice. They don't understand the basic undemocratic nature of the American political system in which all power is concentrated within two parties which are not very far from one another and people cannot easily tell the difference. So I think we are in a situation where we are going to need some very fundamental changes in American society if the American people are going to be finally satisfied with the kind of society we have. Q: Do you think the US can recover from its current position? HZ: Well, I am hoping for a recovery process. I mean, so far we haven't seen it. You asked about what the people of the rest of the world don't know about the United States, and as I said, they don't know that there is an opposition. There always has been an opposition, but the opposition has always been either crushed or quieted, kept in the shadows, marginalised so their voices are not heard. People in the rest of the world hear the voices of the American leaders. They do not hear the voices of the people all over this country who do not like the American leaders who want different policies. I think also, people in the rest of the world should know that what they see in Iraq now is really a continuation of a long, long term of American imperial expansion in the world. I think ... a lot of people in the world think that this war in Iraq is an aberration, that before this the United States was a benign power. It has never been a benign power, from the very first, from the American Revolution, from the taking-over of Indian land, from the Mexican war, the Spanish-American war. It is embarrassing to say, but we have a long history in this country of violent expansion and I think not only do most people in other countries [not] know this, most Americans don't know this. Q: Is there a way for this to improve? HZ: Well you know, whatever hope there is lies in that large number of Americans who are decent, who don't want to go to war, who don't want to kill other people. It is hard to see that hope because these Americans who feel that way have been shut out of the communications system, so their voices are not heard, they are not seen on the television screen, but they exist. I have gone through, in my life, a number of social movements and I have seen how at the very beginning of these social movements or just before these social movements develop, there didn't seem to be any hope. I lived in the [US] south for seven years, in the years of the civil rights movements, and it didn't seem that there was any hope, but there was hope under the surface. And when people organised, and when people began to act, when people began to work together, people began to take risks, people began to oppose the establishment, people began to commit civil disobedience. Well, then that hope became manifest ... it actually turned into change. Q: Do you think there is a way out of this and for the future influence of the US on the world to be a positive one? HZ: Well, you know for the United States to begin to be a positive influence in the world we are going to have to have a new political leadership that is sensitive to the needs of the American people, and those needs do not include war and aggression. [It must also be] sensitive to the needs of people in other parts of the world, sensitive enough to know that American resources, instead of being devoted to war, should be devoted to helping people who are suffering. You've got earthquakes and natural disasters all over the world, but the people in the United States have been in the same position as people in other countries. The natural disasters here [also] brought little positive reaction - look at [Hurricane] Katrina. The people in this country, the poor people especially and the people of colour especially, have been as much victims of American power as people in other countries. Q: Can you give us an overall scope of everything we talked about - the power and influence of the United States? HZ: The power and influence of the United States has declined rapidly since the war in Iraq because American power, as it has been exercised in the world historically, has been exposed more to the rest of the world in this situation and in other situations. So the US influence is declining, its power is declining. However strong a military machine it is, power does not ultimately depend on a military machine. So power is declining. Ultimately power rests on the moral legitimacy of a system and the United States has been losing moral legitimacy. My hope is that the American people will rouse themselves and change this situation, for the benefit of themselves and for the benefit of the rest of the world.

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