ANTI-NOWHERE LEAGUE / The Road to Rampton (2007)

It's not enough reason to want own it but it's worth pointing out that ANL's ability to place lyrical satire and disaffection alongside comedy and not have one overwhelm the other surfaces in places, albeit sporadically. If only the music wasn't so bloody weak, safe and predicable.
I'm listening to Rampton as I type and it's depressing me. I'll need to go back to the classic début album afterwards to ease my pain.

Songs of Note: Turn To Shit; My God's Bigger than Yours

1½ short, sharp, shocks out of 5

THE ORB FEAT. DAVID GILMOUR / Metallic Spheres [2010]

It seems odd at first but if you really think about a collaboration between spacey techno act The Orb and Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour makes perfect sense.
2010's Metallic Spheres showcases the two acts in a tripped-out soothing haze that recalls the days of Floyd's Meddle and The Orb's more significant era.  Gilmour doesn't really show off here, he simply compliments The Orb's roomy atmosphere with delicate precision that needn't be overanalyzed but rather begs the listener to relax and join them on their journey.   As it smoothly shifts from house music, dub and trip-hop, Spheres never really amazes but tranquilizes you as adequate background ambience.

3 3D60 albums out of 5

Songs Of Note:  There's only 2 lengthy tracks so it's best you seek it out if this collaboration interests you

GREEN DAY / Demolicious [2014]

After the commercial failure of their ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, ¡Tré! trilogy, rockers Green Day curiously release an album of demos from those sessions to suck it dry of everything it was worth with 2014's Demolicious.
Bassist Mike Dirnt stated that the album is what Green Day would sound like if they were still with Lookout! Records today.  It's not entirely true, seeing as the demos sound sonically better than most indie-act records.  Apart from that, the fun that the band is having is made very apparent giving the songs a life that seemed all too absent from the finished products.  The songs are rough around the edges, occasionally sloppy and unrefined but that's what makes them come alive.  Instead of striving for commercial studio perfection, you can hear the boys are just in it for the pure rock & roll.

3½ Tom Neely album covers out of 5

Songs Of Note: Stay The Night; Stray Heart

LINDI ORTEGA / Tin Star [2013]

Vampy Canadian country crooner Lindi Ortega finally breaks into the big time with her 2013 album Tin Star.
Ortega's sultry, honey-glazed voice is at her absolute best with a sorrowful yearning that is delicate, seductive and boiling over with confident sass.  Lyrically, she's not covering any new territory in the genre but it's spun with such devotion and love it can't be anything but authentic.  The songs bounce between slow-driving heartache & spitting floor-stompers and they all showcase her vocals and songwriting abilities with rough-roaded grace and perfection.
Easily one of the best albums of 2013.

5 dead folk in your bed out of 5

Songs Of Note:  I Want You; This Is Not Surreal

SUUNS / Images Du Futur [2013]

Montreal's electro-hipster-rock act Suuns returns with their second album 2013's Images Du Futur.
They make no attempt to hide the fact that they think they're Clinic and mid-era Radiohead, only without the same sonic impact or thoughtful intensity of their English idols.   A blend of post-punk, art-rock and krautrock, Images Du Futur seems to run in one place never really melding together to create what should seem like a solid product.  Instead, even though it all sounds sleepily similar to each other, each song doesn't seem to have a place with the next one.   Like Ben Shemie's vocals, everything just sounds bored, uninspired and perfect for the snotty 20-somethings that drink Pabst Blue Ribbon in their Urban Outfitter's get-up.

2 songs that Save the album out of 5

Songs Of Note:  Minor Work: Bambi

CRADLE OF FILTH / Vempire (or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein) (1996)

Is it V Empire or Vempire?  Fuck knows, but it sits nicely between the raw aggression of The Principle of Evil Made Flesh (1994) and the technical polish of Dusk... and Her Embrace (1996), and thus will likely appeal to fans of both eras.
Dani's 'cat with balls trapped in cat flap' screech is perfectly contrasted by the deeper, ghoulish narration that elevates the level of cheesy but effectively dramatic theatrics at opportune moments.
It's the first appearance of Sarah Jezebel Diva, who provides some spoken word and additional backing atmosphere.

Songs of Note: Queen of Winter, Throned; Nocturnal Supremacy

4 whispering forests out of 5

TRENT REZNOR AND ATTICUS ROSS / The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

If ever proof was needed that film/music awards are nothing but public masturbation for the artists and industry, then this is it. It's a 173 min 34 sec soundtrack to a 158 min film and I felt every second of that running time go by.
The film was unnecessary. The score is almost unlistenable. Not because it's ambient or drone, I generally like that kind of thing, but because it's uninspired and monotonous. Upping the volume helps to hide the inherent emptiness, but the tedium is inescapable. Some of the track titles sum up the listening experience perfectly: I Can't Take it Anymore; The Same as the Others; The Sound of Forgetting; and the best one of all, The Seconds Drag.

Songs of Note: You're Here; Great Bird of Prey

1 urge to toss it out the window out of 5

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE / The Black Parade (2006)

"Death is a crutch for me and mine..."

The immense power of this album stems from the paradoxically simple conceit that the process whereby life is mulled over, mourned, and punished on the deathbed of those afforded such a contemplative time is directly parallel to being brave enough to engage in a life of self-examination and change. You don’t need to be imminently dying to gaze across your own personal abyss and finally take on the weight of your mistakes—address your regrets head on. The crutch can be thrown away and seen as motivation instead of an easy escape.

"I've no right to be called by that name."

"THEN LIVE. AND, RECLAIM IT."

Songs of Note: Disenchanted; Famous Last Words

5 Confident Marches Into The Unknown out of 5

SMASH MOUTH / Fush Yu Mang (1997)

My fashion sense derives almost entirely from 90s Steve Harwell. No, no, don’t walk away. It’s relevant. As hard driving and 4th-wave ska as this debut album can get in places, there’s ultimately a well-practiced, laid-back swagger running throughout. It’s a touch of the Rat Pack, a dash of self-admitted influence Louis Prima, and a lot of their own unique ability to make you think without dragging you too far down. The flavor of reckless abandon they preach is strangely responsible and there’s always something bigger on their minds that they aren’t afraid to share. A balancing act this classy never goes out of style. Neither will khakis and black shirts.

Songs of Note: Nervous in the Alley; Disconnect the Dots

3½ Hawaiian Shirts Also Welcome out of 5

COUNTING CROWS / Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings (2008)

This is the Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back of the Crows’ proper discography. It rests on musical cues, hooks, and lyrical refrains from a multitude of songs that came before, but it still has something unique to say much like Blood and Chocolate compared to its spiritual predecessor, This Years’ Model, as stated by Costello himself. That message is often a fair bit more brusque than what the Duritz et al. mustered on their two previous efforts, making for an almost—but not quite—return to the depths of Satellites. If you’re a long time Crows fan, this is required listening, unlike the ever growing glut of live albums. If you're a newbie...you've got four albums worth of homework. Enjoy~

Songs of Note: Cowboys; You Can't Count on Me

4 Long Dead Loves out of 5

DARKTHRONE / Panzerfaust (1995)

Album the fifth kicks the ass but confuses the head while doing so. It starts with a typically Norwegian sound, as you'd expect, but then slows down and begins to sound like Celtic Frost without Tom G. I love me some early CF, don’t misunderstand, but the repeating change from one to the other makes for a choppy listening experience, especially if you've been bathing in the 'Unholy Trinity' just prior to Panzerfaust. To put it plainly, there's some excellent tracks but very little coherence; it feels more like a compilation.

Songs of Note: En Vínd Av Sorg; The Hordes Of Nebulah

4 tyrant marks out of 5

JIM BOB / Day Job EP (2013)

One half of the original Carter USM line up (the other half can be found HERE), Jim Bob sticks close to what he knows, which, happily, is also what he does best. It has the same kind of pissed-off Pop melodies that characterised a lot of Carter songs, and the same kind of winding-down feelings that speak to the common man.
If it had been released under the Carter name, I don't think many people would've known the difference.

Songs of Note: The Tesco Riots; The Ghost of Christmas Boring

3 bits of that out of 5

THE ATARIS / So Long, Astoria (2003)

I was pretty obsessed with this album because of a certain someone. How does it fare a decade removed from that time? Not as bad as I imagined. Kris Roe deals in (what he desires to be) philosophically minded emo-rock. Sometimes he succeeds, sometimes he doesn’t. Thankfully, the missteps here aren’t nearly as damning as they are on the ridiculously pretentious follow-up. It isn’t an eye-roll free experience but there’s some nice sentiments expressed, especially when you have the context for the more schlocky-seeming among them. Between now and then I’ve heard far worse and far better.

Songs of Note: All You Can Ever Learn is What You Already Know; Eight of Nine

2½ Mantras for Mutsuki out of 5

PAUL LEONARD-MORGAN / Dredd (2012)

Paul Leonard-Morgan's score is evocative of the gritty, dirty underbelly of Dredd's violent world. In that respect, it's a roaring success; but a repetitive, noisy and abrasive electronic punch in the face that flirts with dark ambient and industrial soundscapes will alienate many casual listeners.
There's an occasional frail, textured wave of hope attempting to break through the overabundant distortion, but the thick bass keeps it cruelly subdued. The timing seems a little haphazard in places, almost as if it was made by a bedroom musician dabbling in Cubase. I'm going to assume that was intentional.

Songs of Note: The Plan; Taking Over Peach Trees

3 lockdowns out of 5

MARDUK / Fuck Me Jesus (1995)

Wrapped in what's surely a strong contender for cover art of the Century, this early, brutal release from the "most blasphemous band in the world" is a hell of a lot better than I'd anticipated it would be. It's an interesting blend of down-tuned Black and Death metal with a cluster of unexpected tempo changes that keep things fresh. There's even some creeping Doom influences in there.
It was originally released on cassette in '91, but the version you're likely to find if you go shopping will be the '95 Osmose reissue. It included an additional three tracks, two of which are Bathory covers, because everyone loves Bathory!

Songs of Note: Departure from the Mortals; The Black...

4 licks for Pazuzu out of 5