| |
|
|
|
|
Here, you can find the latest cd's for your favorite local band or music artist. Use the dropdown menu at the top right to find more music titles.
|
|
|
[1]
|
|
Jay Reatard: Blood Visions |
| | Unbelievably Amazing Pop Genius!
By Philip L. Ringler
In my opinion Jay Reatard's "Blood Visions" is the single most cohesive, unfathomably tight, sinister, and disturbingly brilliant pop record ever made. Every track is simultaneously a polished diamond and a catastrophic train wreck. All of the rock n' roll thematic standards are represented: unrequited love, lament, loss, anger, murder, death, and redemption. When Jay Reatard sing/yells "Missing You" you really believe he misses someone, perhaps a bit too much. Although this record transcends the usual comparisons, it could be said that a eight headed hydra monster including the heads of
Roy Orbison, Screaming Lord Sutch, Graham Lewis (Wire), Jim Weber (New Bomb Turks), Mark Mothersbaugh, Gerry Roslie (The Sonics), Billy Childish (Thee Headcoats), and GGlen Danzig. But the entire record was recorded by Jay Reatard alone! This isn't just some master musician wanking his glowing guitar, but a conceptual mastermind who uses his talents in a brutally cohesive fashion.
If you have a pulse, or even if you don't, you should own this pop masterpiece before the world explodes in a heap of blood and glass and feathers. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
While I Breathe, I Hope: Long Live the King |
| | While I Breathe, I Hope" combines sounds of punk, metal, indie, and straightforward rock n' roll to bring the listener songs full of intricate, layered melodies and heartfelt lyrics. Vocalist, Jeremy Townsend delivers lyrics that profess the struggles of an individual looking for a personal identity and relationship within himself, others, and his faith. Musical accompaniments deliver solid rock beats; hard-hitting rhythms; progressive, forward moving melodies; and climactic arrangements that satisfy any thirst for originality in the sea of mindless, monotonous music present in popular culture today. |
|
|
|
|
|
The Tennessee Boltsmokers: Hydroradio |
| | This sophomore effort is another gem from the Tennessee Boltsmokers. After listening to it 3 or 4 times, it really started to grow on me. The more you listen, the more you start to hear, and then realize how good it is. If you get the chance to see them live, do it... Louis Mayer, Executive Director of Folk Alliance, has joined the band as their banjo player! Put him together with Andy, Eric, Mark, & Lonesome Craig Yarbrough, and you've got a real treat. |
|
|
|
|
|
The Antique Curtains: Dressed in Vertigo |
| | This angular post-punk quartet from Memphis has listened to their fair share of The Fall, Pere Ubu, and Wire, fashioning hot, shrieking slices of bleak, post-modern guitar despair. Songs such as No Perfect Ending and Spy Song move in stabbing spasms, with a mechanical disjunctive rhythm recalling Devo and harried squealing lyrics devolving into gang-like shouts. While the guitar sound has a D.C. feel, the overall atmosphere is more experimental and post-apocalyptic. - Chris Parker (the Independent, The Triangle Weekly) Their twisted and rollicking dins meld post-punk builds, solid bass underscoring, and vocals that go from soft and trustworthy to dangerously deranged yelps within a couple of bars. Antique Curtains perfectly Wire-d songs fill out with an arty, angular approach that will leave you panting for more. - Brett Cross (VictimofTime.com) In the tradition of underground pioneers Mudhoney and The Wipers, Memphis' Antique Curtains was formed by singer/guitarist Mike Bibbs and drummer Greg Faison. After a few early personnel changes, their lineup became complete with the additions of bassist Ryno Hanson (formerly of Straight to Hell) and guitar/keyboard chemist Tony Lucchesi. Antique Curtains' first full-length release "Unknowing and Driving" was recorded by Chuck Vicious of Oscars fame and released to a nice buzz in June of 2005. Following the release of "Unkowing and Driving", they went back into the studio and recorded "The Renaissance EP", which was released in April of 2006. On October 27th, Antique Curtains will release their long-awaited 2nd full length, "Dressed In Vertigo", on O.K.Stars Records/Makeshift Music. The second full-length, recorded at Unclaimed Studios and Kick Em' In the Mouth Studios, features 12 brand new songs. |
|
|
|
|
|
Rob Jungklas: Gully |
| | There's a little Tom Waits and Bruce Cockburn in Rob Jungklas and a little Bob Dylan, too, but mostly he's his own deep-souled tale-twister. Gully, the follow-up to 2003's Arkadelphia, offers more of the same roots music rinsed in grimy regional blues -- you feel sorry at times for the guitars that endured the Gully sessions -- but the lid on these songs won't stay down because of what they have to say. Thoughts gurgle out over the music in a way that's both blistering and mesmerizing (see "God's Right Hand"). And there's a depth of feeling throughout that can't be denied: "Burn It Away," "Ghost," and a few of the others gathered here pack moments of genuine transcendence, even though it can be painful to arrive at. Jungklas is the kind of artist, and these are the kinds of songs, that prove beauty doesn't have to be pretty. - by Tammy La Gorce |
|
|
|
|
|
North Mississippi Allstars: Shake Hands With Shorty |
| | Powered by producer Jim Dickinson's sons Luther and Cody, this trio brings the hard-driving Mississippi hill-country style of blues-boogie to the jam-band generation. What's amazing is how they are able to stay true to the spirit of the blues perfected by idols (and neighbors) such as Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside while advancing the style in fresh and thrilling ways. --Marc Greilsamer |
|
|
|
|
|
Lost Sounds: Black Wave |
| | This is a crazy, passionate, and scintillating piece of work, filled with 19 guitar-bashing, drum-rushing, and hell-raising gems. With influences such as the B-52's, the Dead Kennedys, and Devo, the Lost Sounds really know how to create a song teaming with flavor, a song that the crowd can feed off of, and in turn send the energy back. An album full of life and electricity, Black Wave pushes the alternative rock/emo envelop with charging keyboard synths and screaming lyrical expression, squeezing every ounce of energy out of the lead singer as possible. Guitarist/singer Alicja Trout puts a texture of surf and angst into her playing, as the Lost Sounds send their music into a higher sonic stratosphere while maintaining their garage band appeal. Black Wave leaves an immediate sense of connection with the listener and the Lost Sounds' growing fan base, even with the band's garage feel. Going high voltage, the Lost Sounds fill the room with a power-packed punch of musical charge, with highlights like "I'm Not a Machine," "Plastic Skin," and "Lost and Found." This is a perfect spin for the carefree listener on a carefree day racing down an empty highway. - Shawn M. Haney |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
|
|
Lily Afshar: A Jug of Wine and Thou |
| | To the largely Spanish, Latin American and Italian repertoire (Albeniz, Domeniconi, Ponce, Granados, etc.), Afshar adds her own arrangement of five lovely Persian ballads. There is more expression, more emotion, more "Easternness" to her version than to that of Antigoni Goni, or of John Williams (on "The Guitarist"). You haven't really heard Koyunbaba until you've heard this one. |
|
|
|
|
|
