Category: CD Reviews (Page 247 of 399)

American Idol: America Wises Up

April 3, 2008 / Mike Farley

Just when I was fearing the worst, America stepped up its game last night much the way the “American Idol” finalists stepped up theirs on Tuesday night. They got it right for a change.

It kicked off with another awful group number, Dolly Parton’s “9 To 5.” Can someone please stick a fork in these group numbers? They are just, um, not very entertaining. That’s too nice…they are bordering on pure agony, okay?

Anyway, straight to business. Michael Johns, safe. David Archuleta, safe. Carly…a moment of Ryan Seacrest making her dangle, then safe. Commercial break….and oddly enough, Syesha Mercado was in this commercial for some technical institute, and I did a double take…like maybe it was one of those “Saturday Night Live” commercials, but it was real! She is, after all, an actress when she isn’t a finalist on the biggest show in America.

Then they took some callers, and the best question was when some woman asked Simon why he apologizes after criticizing someone. Simon smiled and replied “I like you!”

Then the Clark Brothers performed…these kids have some mad skills on their instruments, but that singer is scary….like he was shouting the entire song.

Okay, back to what we came here for….David Cook, safe, after he assured America that his hospital visit the night before was purely precautionary and that it was blown out of proportion. Dude has high blood pressure is all. Ramiel, Bottom 3. Hooray, America knows what it’s doing! Kristy Lee Cook, who held a piece of paper that said “Bottom 3,” practically willed herself there, and she was right. Wow, America, nice work.

Then they did some profiles of Idol alum from Nashville, since Dolly Parton was the theme of this week. Bucky Covington, Phil Stacey and Bo Bice were each featured, and are all having nice little careers after the show. I know Carrie Underwood is a mega-star right now, but I still think Bo was ROBBED.

Syesha, safe, which meant Brooke or Jason. Jason, safe, Brooke to the Bottom 3. So it was down to Ramiel, Kristy and Brooke. But first Dolly Parton performed her new single, “Jesus and Gravity.” If you don’t like Dolly Parton, there is seriously something wrong with you….she is one of the most infectiously happy performers I’ve ever seen, and she spreads that to the audience.

Okay, finally the grueling hour was coming to a close. Brooke, back to safety…..holy crap, America is smart! Mrs. Mike had predicted Ramiel earlier in the hour, and she has not been wrong yet. And she’s still not wrong…Kristy, safe, Ramiel, you’re outta here. You know, she has a nice voice but this competition is heating up and she just doesn’t have the mad skills of some of the others remaining.

Here are my power rankings:

1. David Cook
2. David Archuleta
3. Michael Johns
4. Brooke White
5. Carly Smithson
6. Syesha Mercado
7. Jason Castro
8. Kristy Lee Cook

I still like Brooke more than Carly, though America may not agree….but hey, that’s why they play the games. See you all next week…

Alternative, American Idol, Country, Pop, Rock

American Idol: Welcome To Dollywood

April 2, 2008 / Mike Farley

So after dumbass host Ryan Seacrest told America that “American Idol” was being postponed due to some writer’s strike, pulling a fairly predictable April Fool’s joke, it was on to business. For a split second though, I forgot it was April 1, and thought “Awesome, I can go back to watching the Mets/Marlins game,” but no dice.

The mentor this week was Dolly Parton, and the remaining nine contestants were asked to sing something from Dolly’s catalog. This could go a few different ways for these singers, and you might expect just a few of them to do well. But what happened was that many of them stepped up their game, some in surprising fashion. Here we go….

THE GOOD

David Cook came clean before his performance, saying that some of his previous arrangements Continue reading »

Alternative, American Idol, Country, Pop, Rock

Road Warriors 58

March 28, 2008 / Mike Farley

George Michael has a new album coming out this Tuesday, Twenty-Five, and for the first time in almost two decades, he will be coming to the US for a 20-city tour beginning June 17 in San Diego. For more information, please visit www.georgemichael.com.

Pop/rock powerhouses Maroon 5 and Counting Crows will hit the road together this summer beginning July 25 and running through October 4. In addition to the two bands, Sara Bareilles and Augustana will split support duties.

The Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis kicks off May 2, and some of the confirmed acts are Lou Reed, My Chemical Romance, Santana, Disturbed, Seether, Finger Eleven and Fergie. For more information, go to www.thebealestreetmusicfestival.com.

Fall Out Boy was all set to make history by performing in Antarctica Continue reading »

Alternative, Concerts, Country, Hip Hop, Pop, Rock

Seen Your Video: Bad Dudes, “Eat Drugs”

March 28, 2008 / David Medsker

Frankly, I’m surprised no one thought of this before. The LA math rockers Bad Dudes assembled one hilarious clip for their song “Eat Drugs” from vintage rock videos from the ‘70s and ‘80s. And for whatever reason, they included Information Society’s Kurt Harland on roller skates. Some bits are more of a stretch than others, but the Devo part is uncanny. Bravo, gents. This’ll get people talking about your band.

External Music, Rock, Seen Your Video, Songs, Videos

Hi-Fi Friday – Revenge of the consolers of the pretty odd fuck buttons!

March 28, 2008 / Captain Capm

Looking for some new reviews on some of the latest music releases? Look no further! We have just the thing to take away thine curiosity and replace it with good, clean knowledge. How can you beath that? You can’t!

Say, that new Raconteurs disc Consolers of the Lonely came out of the proverbial left field this week, didn’t it? Sure did, and Bullz-Eye has Mojo Flucke’s review of it. “Jack’s on top of his game here, as always. God forbid the day he mails in a half-baked record and all his pissed-off rock-critic chickens come back to roost,” says Mojo.

Critic David Medsker has recently done the 180 on the band Panic At The Disco. Their new album Pretty. Odd. has left him praising the group, mentioning that “…this, as far as we know, is the real Panic at the Disco, and God help them if they ever decide to go back to being wordy emo dorks. Pretty. Odd – they appear to have moved the awkward punctuation out of their band name and into their album titles – is as massive as pop records get these days.” Not bad at all. Check out the full write-up here.

For all the Sevendust fans out there, the band’s latest Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow is out and about and Bill Clark lets you in on his thoughts about the disc, saying that “The album contains nary a dull moment, as is the case with every Sevendust record to date, but the collective effect doesn’t match that of Alpha or Animosity – the two albums that the band puts in the blender to achieve their sound here. ”

Spinning the dial over to Rolling Stone, critic Caryn Ganz reviews the latest from Moby, a little number entitled Last Night. “A concept album about an all-night bender, Last Night solidifies Moby’s link in the chain that binds DJ pioneers like Todd Terry to slinky futurists like Justice.” Yes, but is it any good?

Next, at Billboard, Jeff Vrabel offers up his take on the latest from Flo Rida entitled Mail on Sunday. “Flo Rida’s flow is an engaging/ringy-dingy/he-sounds-like-Nelly thing. ” Hey is that good or bad?

Moving along to NPR, Tom Manoff explores the latest recording by keyboardist and conductor Richard Egarr. “While I’ve admired Egarr’s recordings for some time, he’s even better in person. His recent performance with the Portland Baroque Orchestra was one of the most exciting musical evenings I’ve had in years,” notes Manoff.

We’ll land this mother at Almost Cool this week. They’re taking aim at the new Fuck Buttons album Street Horrsing. “On the surface, this Bristol, UK duo isn’t doing anything entirely new, but they are taking crazy noise and melting it with a bit of primal energy and a wisp of gorgeous textures and melody to create something that sounds just new enough that their name is worth remembering for more than novelty status.” I’m there.

CD Reviews, Hi-Fi Friday