The Classics: La Ley’s “Invisible”

Base solely on the opening trifecta of: “Animal,” “Dia Cero,” and “El Duelo” this album is rock perfection in any language.  But to give credit to La Ley, INVISIBLE turned out to be an album full of awe-inspiring rock offerings beyond those three songs and much more.

La Ley (“The Law”) were a  Grammy winning rock band from Chile formed [...]

The Classics: Monica Naranjo

Monica Naranjo’s whole persona is of an acquire taste.  From her looks to her music to her videos, she runs the gamut of pop music and yet, she can’t quite be labeled a *pop* artists.  For the last 15 years she’s gone from pop to opera to baroque to rock to dance to orchestral and even [...]

Video of the Week: “Somewhere Out There” from Fievel: An American Tail

Because my childhood called and requested it.

Song of December: Patrick Wolf’s “Damaris”

What? You think it should be some holiday aria? F-that.  I can’t stand Xmas music.
“Damaris” as you know from my review of The Bachelor, is my favorite song off the cd and I was triple excited when Patrick announced it as the third single.  It is a string-ladden gorgeous ballads that swells up and tells the [...]

The Classics: Remy Shand’s “The Way I Feel” and the Strange Case of His Arrival and Disappearance.

THE ALBUM:
Released on March of 2002, Remy Shand’s debut album The Way I Feel announced the arrival of a much-needed fresh talent on the field of neo-soul, and r&b, with shades of hip-hop, and old school Motown.  The critics wasted no time on praising the record and rightfully comparing him to Titans of the field like Maxwell, the legendary [...]

Neko Case: Live at the Beacon Theatre NYC 16-Nov-09

Last night–believe it or not–was my first time ever witnessing the sheer power and beauty of Neko Case in concert and she was fucking amazing!
 
Show opener Calexico (a mainly two-man band, were joined at times by members of Neko’s band) was very, very good. Vocalists Joey Burns has a very clear, very expressive and quite powerful voice, and thanks [...]

The Classics: Damien Rice

Damien Rice is without argument one of the most talented singer-songwriters to come along this decade.  Granted, his discography consist largely of live albums and only two proper studio albums but those records are sublime.
It would be completely unfair to neglect to mention Lisa Hannigan’s vocal work when discussing Damien’s music because she’s feature so prominently [...]

Quality Assessment: Patrick Wolf’s “The Bachelor”

I know, I know, I’ve been taking my sweet ass time with this one, but here it is at last.
Let me begin with the at once surprising and obvious: Is Patrick Wolf incapable of producing albums that are anything but great piece of art?  Yes, that sounds a bit pretentious but how else to describe [...]

Quality Assessment: Mariah Carey’s “Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel”

It definitely flows better and more consistently than her previous album. It isn’t as sexual as the other Mariah albums of this decade but as it is her most wholly unremarkable album since Charmbracelet.  There’s absolutely not one song here that comes at you with the immediacy of a monster hit single.  The album sticks to [...]