Mike Bennett reviews the latest from Sparkwood, Petra Haden, The Doves, Bloc Party and The Sugarplastic. Mike also presents capsule reviews of releases by They Might Be Giants, Pernice Brothers, Percy Hussalonia, Ian McGlynn, AK-MOMO, The Wedding Present, Steve Barton, Snow Globe, Frank Lee Sprague, Bettie Serveert and LCD Soundsystem. Mike also has his CD-R of the Month.

Gary Glauber reviews the latest from Eric Matthews, Brendan Benson, Jeff Finlin, Jeffrey Foskett and Ivy.

Kurt Sampsel reviews a reissue from The Swamp Rats. Katherine Kim reviews the latest from Amos Lee and Nigel Kennedy. Kerry Chicoine debuts with reviews of new releases by Jensen Bell and Aguafantastica.

If you are a first time visitor, visit our About Us page. Click here for back issues.

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Reflections on Mortality: Fear and Loathing in Cleveland, Ohio

by Kurt Hernon

...February. The bitch month that swallowed Mr. Jennings into its cold eternity last year has now lay claim to two more exquisite bodies. Two giants. Two artistic heroes that operated far from the parameters set forth by mere artistic mortals. Two warriors. Two authentic originals whose like we will never know again.

Jimmy Smith and Hunter S. Thompson. Gone. Forever our loss...

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Everyday (Everyday) I Read the Book

by James Baumann

Ed. note - This is the second in what (hopefully) will be an ongoing series of columns, reviews, interviews, and more regarding music-related books and literature. Any writer or publisher interested in having their work considered for inclusion should contact James Baumann directly at jamesbaumann@columbus.rr.com.

The Two Sides of Let It Be

The popular story goes that when The Replacements decided to name their fourth album Let It Be, much of the motivation was simply to taunt their Beatles-loving manager. Regardless, the hubris involved with a relatively unknown band invoking one of the most famous album titles in rock history is not to be undersold.

In many ways, though, the twin...

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The Boomtown Rats Finally Reissued on CD

by Mike Bennett

The Boomtown Rats weren't hip. Well, compared to the Journey and Styx sides that were played on album rock radio in America during the Rats' heyday, they were abundantly hip, but that didn't translate to U.S. sales. Here, they were edgy – new wave, and, in some circles, maybe even called punk. However, in Britain, this Irish sextet was looked at more skeptically.

They didn't have the requisite authenticity of the aging pub rockers and university students who made up a good portion of the 1977-era punk movement. Yet they certainly weren't treading the same ground as the stodgy rock that was ossifying in the mid-‘70s...

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Various Artists: Monkeys A Go Go (Wyncote)

by Michael Lynch

Last November here in Fufkin I wrote up a review of Monkey Business, the first of two 1967 albums released on Wyncote Records modeled after The Monkees. The review ended with a promise that I would sometime down the line do a similar take on the follow-up album, Monkeys A Go Go, released in the Spring of 1967 while Monkee fever was still running rampant in the United States.

Monkeys A Go Go begins with the two Monkees covers of the set, specifically, both sides of the current single. First comes "A Little Bit Me A Little Bit You." It sounds a wee bit faster than The Monkees' own...

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So Much Music, So Little Time

by Kevin Mathews

Is it March already? Time flies and all that jazz. The New Year has brought about a schedule crunch with the many priorities one has. And the music continues to stream in steadily and surely. Everyday it seems I am discovering new artists and music on the Internet, I'm sure it can be pretty bewildering and overwhelming for those of you seriously besotted with this rock 'n' roll thing. Let me make it easier for you to decide what's really worth pursuing this year…

Blurb-O-Rama Strikes First!

[DARYL] Ohio (Idol)
Well, we've had the punk rock concept album with Green Day's American Idiot, so why not an in...

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Further Observations From a Jangly Musical Fan

by Eric Sorensen

February proved again how fickle mid-Atlantic weather can be: one day, I was washing my car; two days later I was shoveling snow. In spite of the varying climate conditions, a steady stream of jangly pop music found its way to my stereo. In addition, my JangleBox pedal/compressor arrived … and I am enjoying the Byrdsian and pseudo-60s sound that it produces. Visit www.janglebox.com to learn more about this nifty product! Listed below are some of the recent additions to my music library that may interest the rest of you jangly music enthusiasts:

Lost In The Dream - by the Edisons. Okay, I mentioned this disc in last month's column … but this superb disc merits an encore...

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The World is Round: Radio, Schmadio Part Five: Bird is the Word

by Alan Haber

Terrestrial radio is the vinyl of the '00s, except it won't be as hard to find. It will continue to be there at the push of a button, but it will become less and less vital, and like vinyl, it will have a big, gaping hole in the middle.

Just take a quick tour of the FM dial in your city. Stations are interchangeable. Morning shows, for example, are cookie-cutter, with hosts that are essentially carbon copies...

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Gary Pig Gold Recalls Great Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll Radio

by Gary Pig Gold

Do you remember Murray the K,
Alan Freed and high energy?
Do you remember rock'n'roll radio?
Do you remember rock'n'roll radio?
(The Ramones)

Yes indeed, all you readers and listeners out there! In commemoration of the grand new Jam Records release This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio Volume One, chockfull of highlights...

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