Blog: Chewing gum for the ears

The problem with music reviews is the amount of opinion and subjectivity. I can't possibly review an album based purely on its musical merit; I'm just not that good, nor do I think that would make for interesting reading. However, I do think a rating system is helpful, so I thought I would explain mine here. All scores are out of five stars, and here's a simple explanation of each rating: 1 star (*) - Terrible 2 stars (* *) - Lacking 3 stars (* * *) - Decent 4 Stars (* [...]

If there wasn't an existing genre called southern-rock-indie-pop before now, Backyard Tire Fire has created it. Like Wilco or Spoon with a southern twist, BTF has a love for catchy choruses and off-beat lyrics, throwing in a little twang and some fuzzy guitar solos (a la Lynyrd Skynyrd) for good measure. "The Places We Lived" starts things of well with a couple pop tunes, especially "Shoulda Shut It," which might be my favorite track on the album. After that though, the results are a little spotty. "Everybody's Down," [...]

The Uglysuit are a young sextet of friends from Oklahoma City that are here to spread love, happiness and lots of harmony, vocal and otherwise. No, it's not the second coming of The Mamas and the Papas, it's just beautiful, melodic indie rock blown to epic proportions and served with a big slice of joy. The sounds is a little bit Band of Horses, a little bit Shins, and a little bit U2, all used to create a truly unique and refreshing sound. When I first listened to "The Uglysuit ," I didn't [...]

I just heard this album streaming today at www.spinner.com. It's being re-released tomorrow, after being self-produced and released late last year. Delta Spirit is a rock/pop/soul band from Southern California with a love for piano hooks and socially conscious rock songs and if there's any justice in the world, they're going to be big. After one listen, I was hooked. After hearing "Ode To Sunshine" described as "the record you wished the Cold War Kids had made," I haven't been able to think of a better way to say it. Delta Spirit share a [...]

I work for an online video technology company called Move Networks that does streaming video for abc.com, fox.com etc. We also do video for pluggedin.com, a music community and video site. PluggedIn collects artist information from a variety of areas, and combines them into profiles that allow you to see videos, background info, merchandise, tickets, links etc. all in one spot. You can become a fan, post pictures, and discuss with other music lovers. I admit I'm not a frequent visitor, but it's full of ideas and the music videos look great (shameless plug, I [...]

I'm attempting to update my blog with all the necessary gadgets in order to spruce the place up a bit and to build an actual site instead of just a series of text entries. I'm new to blogging, so I realize I have a ways to go. It might be a slow process, so bear with me. If anyone has suggestions for the design or organization of my site, please let me know.

It looks as though the indie-pop throne, currently occupied by Vampire Weekend, might be contested with this debut album from Ra Ra Riot. Sharing a love for bouncy melodies, literary lyrics, and singers with a similar vocal style, these two bands will definitely be competing for attention from indie enthusiasts. However, while Vampire Weekend embrace a very relaxed and sunny style filled with afro-pop guitars and vapid lyrics, Ra Ra Riot take themselves a little more seriously. With an overactive cellist and violinist a mong their members, the group create a sound [...]