30 Songs in 30 Days

Ed Hamell – a/k/a Hamell On Trial – has blazed a phenomenal trail after a typical cover-band incubation period in sleepy Syracuse, New York. After assembling a dynamic rock/r&b band called The Works, he toured up and down the Eastern seaboard, baited pompous MTVeeJay Mark Goodman into a verbal fight (there’s no such thing as bad [...]

New Album! Everclear

Everclear’s Art Alexakis is many things – songwriter, producer, singer, musician – but perhaps his strongest attribute is survivor. As a child, he grew up in a single parent household in a tough neighborhood after his father abandoned the family (famously captured in song as “Father Of Mine”). He’s gone through the pit of drug [...]

New Album! Mitch Ryder

 This isn’t the first time I’ve used that headline in 2009 – a live album recorded in the United States (Live in America) was released earlier this year. Hard to find, but extremely worthy.
Later this year – maybe even later this week – a new studio album recorded with Don Was at the controls will [...]

Mott The Hoople: Live (vicariously!)

For those fortunate  enough to be going to see the reunited Mott The Hoople (yeah, I’m jealous Rog!) I will be living vicariously through you. It’s on the wrong side of The Big Pond for me, and as much as I would love to be there, the timing is just…off.
But if there are others among [...]

American: The Bill Hicks Story

This is the kind of email that makes all the spam-wading worthwhile:
*****
“American: The Bill Hicks Story” is a groundbreaking new animated documentary that will be released worldwide in 2010. For the first time, Bill’s unique story is told by the people that knew him best, using a stunning new animation technique that fully reveals the [...]

T.G.I.F. – Ten Impressions of Fall TV

Another season, another crapshoot. But if you’re going to find the pearl, you gotta shuck the oysters. Here’s my first impressions on five shows making their debut this fall, as well as five shows trying to avoid that sophomore slump:
 And yes, there might be spoilers below.
The freshmen
Community…Joel McHale, like the hosts of The Soup that [...]

Under The Radar – The Melloncollies

Onomatopoeia [on‐ŏ‐mat‐ŏ‐pee‐ă], noun: he use of words that seem to imitate the sounds they refer to (whack, fizz, crackle, hiss); or any combination of words in which the sound gives the impression of echoing the sense.
Musically, The Melloncollies are anything but that. This debut is an exciting, emotional, explosive pop album that is as spirit-lifting [...]

Happy Birthday, Boss!

Sixty is the new forty.
He’s known by his full name, but he’s identifiable by his first name as easily as he is by his last. He’s the Boss, the man who might have saved rock and roll when it needed it, who might be the last American rock’n’roll icon given his impact and longetivity. He’s [...]

New Album! Procol Harum

Many bands extend their bandwidth by trying (or revisiting) different arrangements of songs; Unpluggedhas become a rite of passage for rock acts trying to become (or  stay) relevant. Likewise, several bands will go the orchestral route, swelling their sound with a twenty, thirty, eighty piece orchestra to channel their bombast and maybe even gussy up some [...]

Emmy (See if I got this straight…)

Here’s the list of nominees and winners. I was a miserable 6 of 18 on my predictions, but there were a few upsets. So, attention DVR People – my comments below include spoilers! Now I’ll wait a minute while those people leave the room and seat-fillers take their place…  
Gone? Okay…cue my theme music!
Let’s hear it for [...]