Mike Bennett reviews the latest from Cliff Hillis, The Lift, Bigger Lovers, Scissor Sisters and The Davenports. Mike also presents capsule reviews of releases by Various Artists -- Greasy Kid Stuff 2, Various Artists -- Live On WLUW 88.7 FM Chicago, IL, M. Hederos M. Hellberg, Chris Von Sneidern, Last Night's TV, Arthur Yoria, Iron & Wine, Hamfatter, The Eagles Of Death Metal, The Spectacular Fantastic and Andre Ethier. Mike also has another CD-R of The Month. Gary Glauber reviews the latest from Sondre Lerche, David Mead, The Contrast, The Lackloves and The Davenports. Mark Sanders debuts with reviews of the latest from Elf Power, Rosie Thomas and Blonde Redhead. If you are a first time visitor, visit our About Us page. Click here for back issues.

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Meeting The Demands - An Interview With New York City's Only Soul/Punk Band

by Michael Lynch

With the New York area's garage scene overflowing with bands that love to crank it up and go, merely riding out a four chord vamp but adding little imagination, it's refreshing to hear a band every once in a while that puts a different slant on things.

One such band is New Jersey's The Demands. The Demands aptly describe themselves as "New York City's only Soul - Punk band," for...

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Which Way Do We Go, George?

by Alan Haber

The last couple of months I've been talking about censorship and how it's just about going to cripple our nation, if we don't get ourselves first. I'd like to remind you that there is this thing called an on/off, or power, switch, which you can press any old time you don't want to be "offended." And now, with that out of the way, I would like to say that charity begins at home.

In other words, you are what you eat. You have the power to forge ahead or stay behind. Don't let other people tell you what to do. Think for yourself…which is easy sometimes, and sometimes not so easy.

Say you come to a crossroads out in the desert. It's the middle of nowhere, it's 4 a.m., it's raining, your name is, inexplicably, George, and the top on your car won't come up. Plus, you've...

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DVDs, Mini CD Reviews and Other Mentions

by Mike Bennett

This month I want to hit a couple things – first, I'd like to talk about some DVDs I've been watching. Music related DVDs, of course. Then I'd like to catch up on some CDs I've listened to for Fufkin.com that deserve a mention, though, for one reason or another, haven't merited a full or capsule review.

DVDs

First up, let's take a look at Ray Paul. With his band RPM, Paul was a star in Boston in the late ‘70s. They played some of the nicer venues in Boston, laying down the type...

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Further Observations of a Jangly Music Fan

by Eric Sorensen

Our weather here in the Washington, D.C. area remains fickle, but I'm not one to complain about a prolonged cool spring. The "dog days" of summer will be here soon enough! The quality of pop music that I have been listening to this past month certainly hasn't been fickle, though - it has been strong and consistent, with some Top Ten contenders in the mix. Here, then, are some of the new discs and songs that should keep fellow Boomers and the rest of you jingle-jangle enthusiasts entertained:

Power This by the Jellybricks - the band's latest release is on the Kool Kat label, and it is overflowing with...

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So Much Music....So Little Time

by Kevin Mathews

I enjoyed putting Blurb-O-Rama together so much last time out that I've decided that it should be a permanent feature of this column till I get sick and tired of it. So boyz and grrls, I present…

Son of Blurb-O-Rama

Starflyer 59 I Am The Portuguese Blues (Tooth and Nail) Scratch beneath the hard rock veneer of I Am The Portuguese Blues and one will discover that Jason Martin and co have taken the current modern rock obsession with '70s hard rock and utilized it as a template for...

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The Literary Boone (Part II)

by Gary Pig Gold

Gary Pig Gold returns from his clandestine Nashville recording session with Pat, only to ponder anew.

Picking squarely up from last month's Fufkin, a strange Yuletide package arrived in the mail from a hitherto unknown address in Burbank, California. "Boone Productions, Inc.," read the label. "Printed Matter Only," said the customs sticker.

I eagerly tore the box open, only to find therein several colorful books neatly swaddled in clear, clean bubblewrap. Well! Having not had the time or space to read a book in a year or two, and unable to recall having ever ordered such objects through the mail, I was both...

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Monterey Folk, Venus de Milo and Some New Releases

by David Fufkin

The weekend of May 17, 1963 was significant in that the first Monterey Folk Festival was held. There, the fest hosted Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary, Pete Seeger and others. The festival became the impetus for Monterey Pop, Altamont and the mega-festivals which followed. It is a very important event in rock history, for those wondering why the program is our splash image this month.

This is a short column this month, and I just want to mention a few releases. The new Ron Sexsmith, Retriever, is spectacular. The imagery in his lyrics is almost without parallel. Romantic...

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Additional Writers Needed

We are looking for additional writers with significant working knowledge of at least one genre of music, past or present.

E-mail us for more information. Take out the no_spam so that all you are left with is fufkin.com. Spider programs harvest our address and the spam is unbelievable.

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