Neil Young - Sugar Mountain: Live At Canterbury House 1968

Reprise/Sire/Maverick/Warner Bros.

Just about forty years ago, a young Neil Young took the stage at Canterbury House in Ann Arbor, Michigan, hoping for dreams of stardom and an attempt to show off some new material. Almost every person with these delusions fail, but Neil Young managed to get through this little obstacle, and start his legendary career.
Sugar Mountain is the story of the youthful Young: far more charismatic than the current incantation, and possibly more soulful. The earnest young songwriter puts his heart on the line during this recording, showing off the best of his solo material at the time. My personal favorite would have to be the early rendition of "Mr. Soul": incredibly twangy, simple, and as good as I feel Young ever gets. This rerelease is one of the best of his career.
***Shelton's Single Of The Week: "Sugar Mountain"***

Bonnie Bramlett - Beautiful

Rockin' Camel

Bonnie Bramlett does the upbeat blues/jazz crossover thing well. Sassy vocals layered on top of full instrumentation make Bramlett's release intriguing to both my blues ear and soft spot for pop music. I'd say a bit cheesy, but only as much as is inherent in this style of music. Her voice is good and strong, as all upbeat artists should be.

The Cure - 4:13 Dream

Suretone/Geffen/Universal

The jaw-dropping rebirth of The Cure is almost too much. As one of the premier goth rock band, they redefined the sound: solemn, gloomy, and full of catchy hooks.
With almost 35 years of performing under their belt, the band somehow manages to stay at the top of everything, relying all-so-heavily on their niche sound base of diehard fans and masses of people who have only heard Boys Don't Cry.
While I personally agree that this was their peak, their material ranges so heavily from that release. Unfortunately, it seemed like they had gone far downhill since the beginning of this century. As 4:13 Dream shows, this may not be the case.
While not really living up to their old stature, they still have it: incredibly catchy tracks (check out the chorus to "The Reasons Why") which hook the best of us in, the simultaneously solemn and beautiful soundscapes ("Underneath The Stars"), and, of course, their stripped down rock tracks ("The Hungry Ghost"). The bands front man Robert Smith hasn't lost a thing, despite his occasional embarrassing cameo. Trust me, this album reconciles all the bad they have done in the recent years.

ZZ Top - Live From Texas

Tower Top Tours/Eagle Rock

This is a ZZ Top live album. If you do not know what ZZ Top sounds like, you probably won't like them. If you know who they are, this is exactly what you would expect: amazing. Beards, homemade guitars, and everything that embodies...whatever it is they are. Great.
***Shelton's Second Single Of The Week: "Sharped Dressed Man"***

Clare Burson - Thieves

Criterion

Incredibly dreamed-out indie rock from a woman with a gorgeous voice. Free formed song structures, with very little discernable instruments aside from percussion and vocals, the entire mix sounds like a wave of powerful sound washing over Burson, backing her up and pushing her eloquence further in the mix.
This album is absolutely beautiful, and matches up precisely with what I needed right now. This comes highly recommended. Both calming and beautiful.

The Black Dahlia Murder - Nocturnal

Metal Blade

I'm not going to lie: I kind of wish this band still sounded exactly like At The Gates. They still sound similar, but Unhallowed unashamed similarity to Slaughter Of The Soul was completely perfect; if you can hold a candle to the best death metal album of all time, not to mention pull off the shameless tribute, power to you.
As for Nocturnal, I'm not going to say it's as good as earlier work, but still. Blisteringly fast blast beats with enough head-pounding chugging to make any metal head feel the pain the next morning. Pissed as hell, and really just embodying what is good about metal. I'd recommend this to anyone into heavy music.

Reba McEntire - 50 Greatest Hits THREE DISC SET

MCA Nashville/Universal

Legendary cowgirl Reba McEntire is bringing the saddle rack to your home, one country hit at a time. 50 Greatest Hits is, well, exactly what it sounds like: a compilation of her 50 biggest hit singles over the course of the last 23 some-odd years. Basically, this album has everything, and too many songs to start listing. If you are craving your honky-tonk heart a little pick-er-up, I'd say go for this!

Ladybirds - Regional Community Theater

Creep

So I am usually a fan of cute: puppies, babes, and pop songs. This, though, may be crossing that line between "cute" and "disgusting". Shamelessly soulless pop music ala The Postal Service with a solid base of mall-emo celebrity status (with a cast of characters from probably half of the CD's in the Hot Topic used bin), the album runs almost too much.
At moments, I love it: I find myself smiling and getting into it. Then, I snap out of it and think, "what on earth is this nonsense?" If you can handle pop to the extreme, go for it. If not, I'd say look somewhere else.

The Briggs - Come All You Madmen

SideOneDummy

As if Dropkick Murphy's got respectable again, Come All You Madmen seems like a follow up to Sing Loud, Sing Proud. A solid dose of punk, oi, and the vague Irish folk influence that certain punk bands seems to love so much.
The Briggs have been at it for almost 10 years now, and surprisingly haven't lost much steam. This most recent album loses a bit of the hard hits that the past releases have, but none the less stands up solid when lined up against the rest. If you're looking for some great anthems about Los Angeles, this is for you.
***MIGHTY MIGHTY***

Lee Ann Womack - Call Me Crazy

MCA Nashville/Universal

Singer/songwriter styled country pop. Womack's voice is quiet and deep, soulful and full of life. The music is good, while a little boring: just fairly run of the mill jazz-inspired country. Songs about love and drinking: topics that every good country record should encompass.

Mudcrutch - Self-Titled

Reprise/Warner Bros.

Nobody thought it would happen again, but it did: Mudcrutch, the bounce-point for legend Tom Petty, has finally put out a full length. Composed of old and new songs, the band's 30 year hiatus left so many fans in fear of the end of the powerhouse.
Well, it's here, and no one is worse for wear. Musically, one needs to just imagine Petty taking a step back from the spotlight for a minute, and playing in a full band. Rock, a little bit of alternative feel in there, maybe even some country, and you have yourself Mudcrutch.
***LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL***

Solange - Sol-Angel and The Hadley St. Dreams

Music World/Geffen/UMG

The concept of not judging a book by its cover may not work well in this instance. The cover of Sol-Angel and The Hadley St. Dreams looks like the best instances of a drug trip: colors, the outdoors, and general slightly out of place things. And Solange dressed in a puke green dress with wings.
The album is surprisingly similar: weird, tripped out...well, trip-hop, with Solange's solid voice (she sounds remarkably like her sister Beyonce), and no real bars holding her back on this record. I wouldn't call this pop per say, but whatever it is, it is great.

Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly - Folkways: The Original Vision

Smithsonian Folkways

So what do you have when you put the greatest folk singer of all time and one of the greatest blues writers in history on one recording? An incredible album, duh. This is perhaps one of the best releases of all time: recordings from both, doing what they do.
Both hold the original recordings of their best, trading off tracks to keep the continual flow changing ever so slightly between the bunch. This album is what got the label Smithsonian Folkways on the map, and congratulations to them.

The Black Keys - Attack & Release

Nonesuch/Warner Bros.

I've never been a huge fan of this band, and I still can't put my finger on why. They embody a lot of great things: simplicity (guitar, drums, and vocals), bluesy-rock, and just a general great ability for song writing.
Still, there is something about this band that inhibits me to just let go and get into them. Attack & Release is the same: great songwriting, but this isn't anything I could get myself to listen to if I didn't have to.

The Whips - X Marks Destination

Southern Fried/Razor & Tie

Speaking of hip, here we have X Marks Destination, the first full length from Britain's The Whip. Electro-trash to the fullest. Obnoxiously dancy beats coupled with senseless lyrics, Depeche Mode are more than likely out for blood.
Unbelievably soul-less, and really very little that I would call a "rewarding quality" to this. While I am not a fan of it at all, I know most people would be: if you like bands like Boyz Noize or Justice, this could be your thing.

Keane - Perfect Symmetry

Interscope

When I heard that Keane was a "piano rock" band, I assumed Ben Folds Five or worse. Instead, you have whatever Perfect Symmetry is. The singing sounds like a better version of Bono, the music is incredibly danceable, and back up vocals to kill for.
It feels awfully 80's for a 2008 release, but that only makes the album better. Solid production and song writing, Keane is hopefully a band we will hear more from in the future.

Lords - Fuck All Ya'll Motherfuckers

Black Market Activities/RED

Furiously pushed southern hardcore, Lords are incredible. Rising from heavyweight underground bands such as Coliseum and Lickgoldensky, Lords are fast, pissed, and heavy.
Unrelenting fast drum beats, genuinely pissed vocals, and a lot of southern charm, Fuck All Ya'll Motherfuckers is perhaps the peak of Lords. With not a single dull moment on the whole record, you will be blown away.

Mark Knopfler - Kill To Get Crimson

Warner Bros.

Dire Straits lead-man Mark Knopfler does not get the credit he deserves: Kill To Get Crimson is worth any fan owning and loving. Not quite folk or country, and with only rock influences, this is Knopfler's soul.
Quieter songs about personal topics, the album manages to take the whole package as one: the flow is perfect, making the entire thing feel like a real album and not a collection of songs. Definitely for those in the quiet mood.

EDITORS NOTE: Any man who created Sultans of Swing is a hero and will always be one.


***So Nice, Gotta Do It Up Twice (Created by the Original NYC DJ, Jocko, 1955)***

Gravelroad - Shot The Devil

Uncle Larry's

Filthy, dirty blues. Gravelroad knows the game, and plays it well. With vocals that come across as much shouting as it does singing, this is something that appeals to me more than most.
Incredibly pissed, incredibly drenched in reverb and distortion, the entire recording works together as the epitome of what it is to ride a motorcycle. Bad. Ass.

The Gibson Brothers - Iron & Diamonds

Sugar Hill/Welk

The Gibson Brothers have yet to do wrong in my book, and this hasn't moved my opinion an inch. Iron & Diamonds consists of the five members (Mike Barber, Clayton Campbell, Rick Hayes, and of course the Gibson Brothers), driving their points far home through the entire release.
Intelligently put together bluegrass with a strong driving feel. While the music is stellar, the beauty of this release really rests in the vocal abilities of the brothers. They play off each other with voices that are different enough to be distinguishable but similar enough to not sound gruff. Another great bluegrass record.

John Legend - Evolver

Columbia/Sony BMG

One of the hottest things in music right now, John Legend has a style that is, essentially, perfect. Hip, intelligent, and fun, Evolver is hopefully the direction that R&B is going. The first single, "Green Light", featuring Andre 3000, is all over the radio, and really works. The album follows the general trend. No surprise, being as everything Kanye West has touched turns gold. Perfect. center>

***If You Like Music, You're Gonna' Love This!***

Corporate or Colonial
The Movement is unstoppable
Like the body of a centerfold it spreads
To the counter-culture copyright
Get your revolution at a lower price
Or make believe and throw the fight, play dead
It's exploding bags, aerosol cans
Southbound buses, Peter Pan
They left it up to us again
I thought you knew the drill
It's kill or be killed

Future Markets, Holy Wars
Been tried ten thousand times before
If you think that God is keeping score, Hooray!
For the freedom-fighting simulcast (Victory! A defeat! Victory!)
The imminent and the aftermath
Draw another bloody bath to drain
Like the polar icecaps centrifuge (Oh Allah! Oh Jesus please!)
First snowman built at the end of June
He slicks his hair for the interview, his fifteen-minute fame
Would you agree times have changed?

Political Article: Muntadar al-Zaidi Did What We Journalists Should Have Done Long Ago By: Dave Lindorff Back To Top When Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi heaved his two shoes at the head of President George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad, he did something that the White House press corps should have done years ago. Al-Zaidi listened to Bush blather that the half-decade of war he had initiated with the illegal invasion of Iraq had been "necessary for US security, Iraqi stability (sic) and world peace" and something just snapped. The television correspondent, who had been kidnapped and held for a while last year by Shiite militants, pulled off a shoe and threw it at Bush-a serious insult in Iraqi culture-and shouted "This is a farewell kiss, you dog!" When the first shoe missed its target, he grabbed a second shoe and heaved it too, causing the president to duck a second time as al-Zaidi shouted, "This is from the widows, the orphans, and those who were killed in Iraq!" I'll admit, listening to Bush lie his way through eight years of press conferences, while pre-selected reporters played along and pretended to get his attention so they could ask questions which had been submitted and vetted in advance, I have felt like throwing my shoes at the television set. Al-Zaidi, who paid for his courageous act of protest by being brutally beaten by security guards, is a hero of the profession. He stopped taking the president's BS and called him what he is: a murderer and a criminal, with the blood of perhaps upwards of a million Iraqis on his hands. Al-Zaidi used what was supposed to be a staged photo-op for the president as an opportunity to speak up for those whose lives have been ruined by this president-the ones our suck-up journalists routinely ignore. I'm not suggesting that journalists should routinely leave presidential press conferences in their stocking feet. We have different ways of expressing our sentiments to people we feel have insulted our intelligence than throwing shoes at them, but it would be nice to see a journalist or two flip the president the bird when he lies so blatantly to them. Or they could all get up and just walk out, leaving him standing alone at the presidential lectern. It's time for the press corps to stop treating presidents like royalty. If he accomplished anything at all in eight years in office, President Bush has demonstrated that, to the contrary, the president is a very ordinary-and in his case a rather less than ordinary-man. The office of president deserves no more respect than that of the mayor of Detroit, or of Wasilla. My suggestion is that the press corps use the remaining five weeks of the Bush administration to develop a new relationship with the presidency-one in which they drop all the phony propriety and tradition and start acting like boisterous newshounds of old, barking questions, laughing cruelly at inane answers, demanding follow-ups when they are given the run-around, and, where necessary, walking out, or perhaps tossing the occasional shoe. The journalism profession was a full-blown disaster and an utter disgrace during the Bush administration, and with all the crises facing the country and the world, in part because of that failure on their part, we cannot afford to have them continue that failure into the Obama administration. With the Bush administration reduced to a running joke at this point, it gives the journalism profession a chance to redeem itself by using these few remaining weeks to establish a new tradition for presidential press conferences and photo-ops-one that can continue on into the new presidency. Meanwhile, I'm suggesting that my alma mater, the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, hire al=Zaidi to teach a class in press conference journalism techniques. They should make it a multi-year appointment, because if he left after just one year, his would be difficult shoes to fill.

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