Feb 10

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An anti-pop princess, still
By Jerilyn Covert

In the three years that have elapsed since Lily Allen was e-catapulted into the world of pop stardom, it appears that success hasn’t softened her stormy personality, but it hasn’t stopped her from growing up a little, either. Her debut album, Alright, Still, was all about super-fun, super-catchy tunes (who knew the offbeat rhythms of reggae/ska could actually be fused into something so . . . well, good?) and easy-to-learn, candid lyrics that openly addressed all kinds of taboos, from drug use to urban crime to the unusually small endowment of an ex-boyfriend. Now 23, Allen proves that she’s still the same provocateur she was back then, but her sophomore effort, It’s Not Me, It’s You, also broadens the subject matter and, thanks to producer Greg Kurstin, who composed all the music for the album, trades the reggae/ska in for 80’s synth pop.

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Sep 28

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Alburn hits all the right notes, albeit some out of tune
Release date: 23 September 2008
By Jerilyn Covert

There’s an old Chinese saying: Dream different dreams while on the same bed. Loosely interpreted, it means, you should give Damon Albarn’s newest project, Monkey, a listen. Possibly from the same bed you sat on when you listened to Blur and The Gorillaz. That’s because the apparent simian-obsessed artist has dared to try something really different: scoring an elaborate Chinese opera-circus. And the effort more than paid off. With the help of fellow Gorillaz cohort Jamie Hewlett and Chinese opera specialist Chen Shi-Zheng, Albarn composed the music for Monkey: Journey to the West, a classic Chinese tale dating back to the 1700s that tells the story of a little monkey who could transform himself into various creatures to overcome life’s obstacles. The album ranges from soft, Eastern meditation to out-of-tune chaos to militant booming to otherworldly enchantment. It’s the sort of surprising thing that saves music lovers from the tearful boredom that accompanies way too many of the major album releases these days.

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Jul 8

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Pop rock thinly disguised for the goth-at-heart
Love is Dead
Island
Release date: 8 July 2008

By Joe DeRosa

One look at the album artwork for Love is Dead, the debut release from Kerli Koiv, who goes only by Kerli, and it’s clear who her target audience is. If you’re part of the Hot Topic-shopping, pseudo-goth culture, you’ll gobble up Love is Dead and you’ll adore the illustration of a doe-eyed doll-like girl holding her stitched-up plush bunny and starring out at you from the CD cover. Truth is, the 21-year-old native of the Soviet-occupied Estonia is somewhat doll-like herself. With her waist-length blonde hair, the stunning blonde is decked out in her aforementioned Hot Topic inspired garb all throughout her CD booklet. What is yet to be seen is, will her music and not just her clothing strike the right chord?

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Jun 26

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It’s about fuckin’ time
Saints of Los Angeles, Mötley Records
Release date: 24 June 2008

By Joe DeRosa

If you’ve ever been in a fight, then you’re going to know exactly how this feels: You’re bruised, you’re bloodied, your body is aching and throbbing, and you’re just out of wits. But the adrenaline rush is so intense, it’s amazing. You just got your ass kicked, yet you feel like you’ve conquered the world. This is exactly how a Mötley Crüe record is supposed to feel. After nearly a decade of solo albums, side projects, deceit, speculation and even a couple visits to the New York Times best seller list, Nikki, Tommy, Mick and Vince have reunited for Saints of Los Angeles, the first studio album recorded by the original lineup in almost 10 years. You may ask, “Why now?” Although the band may tell you it’s for the fans, one of the truest and most honest moments in Crüe history came recently on Larry King Live when guitarist Mick Mars answered that very question with one word: “Greed.” Although Mick was clearly being facetious, I can’t help but to believe it was a moment of brutal honesty masked by sarcasm. That being said, when I found out the boys were recording a new album, I didn’t put much stock in it being very good. Not only did my absolute favorite band of the cassette era prove me wrong, they threw dirt in my face to prove it–Neil Strauss’s The Dirt, to be exact.

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Jun 19

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Martha Wainwright sings and dances through the rain
“I Know Your Married But I Have Feelings Too”
Release date: 6.10.2008

By Jerilyn Covert

Take it from the man who’s been lauded by critics as the ultimate storyteller: “The story of who you are is never about you,” Rabih Alameddine writes in his new book “Hakawati.” Of this, Martha Wainwright is probably well aware. Daughter of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle and the sister of Rufus, Martha is definitely a person whose story has never been about her, but about her nepotistic relationships with members of her legendary family. As if accounting for this fact, Martha chose to focus her new album, “I Know You’re Married But I’ve Got Feelings Too,” outward, on the people in her life and the events happening all around her, unlike her more introspective eponymous debut. Throughout the album’s 14 tracks, she reflects on past friendships, on casualties of war, on her mother’s battle with cancer and on seemingly scads of former flames (let’s not forget the title, after all). Lines like this from “Comin’ Tonight,” however, take that outward focus to the brink of obsession: “I spend my time trying to forget you with/ Booze and smoke from cigarettes and dope/ I only seem to forget myself/ It’s only you that is left.” Martha was only 1 year old when her parents split up and her mother packed their bags for Canada. Growing up, she was a self-described “lazy student” who showed an interest in song and dance performances. But unlike her older brother, she did not have ambitions to be a star–at least not for a while. “I did initially rebel against joining the ‘family business,’ but I think it just came from a fear that I wouldn’t be good enough,” she told an interviewer for musicOMH.com. In another interview with Rolling Stone, she says, “The bar is really, really f**king high.” Yeah, no kidding. With folk legends for parents and a brother whom Elton John has called “the best songwriter on the planet,” it’s no wonder Martha feels the pressure to be great. A lesser artist might have succumbed under that kind of burden, but Martha Wainwright was determined to overcome it.

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Jun 12

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Country music icon glitters to gold
“All I intended to be”
Nonesuch, Release date: 10 June 2008
By Joe DeRosa

Setting out to review “All I Intended To Be,” the newest release from Country Music Hall of Famer Emmylou Harris, turned out to be a very difficult task. How do I review the stunning new album from arguably the greatest voice in American music without making it sound like some cheesy love letter? I had to approach “Intended” with complete objectivity. I failed. Miserably. But it was okay, because with the first notes of that voice, which can melt the coldest of hearts, I was once again comforted.

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Jun 6

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Disturbed, Indestructible
Reprise, Release date: 3 June 2008

For any of you who are Disturbed fans, you will be happy to know that their newest CD, Indestructible, dropped on Tuesday. Their most aggressive and hard hitting album to date, Indestructible is also Disturbed’s most well written album and by far the best since they got down with the sickness! There’s no gimmicky ’80s cover songs here, but David Draiman and the rest of Disturbed present pure balls-to-the-wall, ass-kickin’ metal! Ya gotta love that! Check out “Perfect Insanity” and “Deceiver.”     —Joe DeRosa

Jun 4

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Aging rocker nerds finally grow up
“Weezer” (“The Red Album”)
Interscope Records, Release date: 3 June 2008

By Jerilyn Covert

By the time I really got into music, the ’90s had nearly come and gone, but I imagine the response to Weezer’s “The Blue Album” in 1994 must have gone something like this: In the wake of a grunge-obsessed music scene, the sweetly unrefined voice of Rivers Cuomo, every bit as exposed and threadbare as the sweater he sings about in “Undone,” begins suddenly to emanate from the airwaves, like a “Hallelujah” angel chorus from above, and angst-ridden teens everywhere stop dead in their Doc Martin tracks to enjoy a rare moment of pop-induced repose. At least, that visualization roughly illustrates of impact Weezer had on me. Their songs were unlike anything I had ever heard before–quirky but catchy, with lyrics that ranged from amusingly tongue-in-cheek to dreamily evocative. Even “Pinkerton,” 1996’s concept album about Weezer’s quick and bittersweet rise to fame that initially received poor reviews, turned out to be ahead of its time and went on to achieve cult status. Since then, Weezer has come out with four more full-length albums, none of which has quite been able to recapture the magic of those first two. Still, the most recent addition, “The Red Album,” which came out on Tuesday, is head-bobbing, fun, adventurous and often heartwarming. Compared to the greatness of 15 years ago the album hits some of the same notes, but also reaches into new territory by virtue of looking back to that bygone era in which Weezer first rose to stardom.

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May 28

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“The album that broke my heart”
Epic Records, Release date: 27 May 2008

By Joe DeRosa

Think back for a moment, if you will, to the last time you broke up with someone after being together for a long time. It was sad that someone who once brought so much joy to your life was no longer capable of providing you with those same feelings. That’s how I feel about Cyndi Lauper’s newest release Bring Ya to the Brink. Maybe it’s her attempt to reinvent herself as a dance-floor diva (a la Cher), or maybe it’s the shock of seeing a parental advisory label on her CD. Whatever the reason, listening to Lauper on Brink is kind of like seeing your ex for the first time after a breakup: You want to remember all the good times you’ve shared, but the truth is, it’s just not the same anymore.

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May 21

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The Dresden Dolls: For this dynamic duo, life is a cabaret
No, Virginia, Roadrunner Records
Release date: 20 May 2008

By Joe DeRosa

“Long live Punk Cabaret!” Such is the mantra of The Dresden Dolls, a Boston-based duo who burst onto the music scene in 2003 with their self-titled release. They’ve spent the past five years carving out their niche in the ever changing soundscape of the music industry. With influences ranging from The Beatles, the Stray Cats and The Cure, to Bon Jovi, Elvin Jones and John Coltrane, the talented Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione have created a style of music that is very much their own.

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