Various Dimension Mix Eenie Meenie By: Eric Greenwood
In the early '60's experimental electronic composer Bruce Haack teamed up with children's dance teacher Hanna Nelson to create educational music for kids. Their Dance, Sing & Listen series was ubiquitously used in grammar schools throughout the decade, despite its low-budget production. Haack could turn [...]

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Fiona Apple Extraordinary Machine Sony By: Eric Greenwood
So, it turns out that Fiona Apple's now notorious Extraordinary Machine was never really shelved by Sony, but, since there was such a public outcry on her behalf, Apple was too embarrassed to admit that the delay was mainly a result of her own laziness. Apple [...]

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The Darkness One Way Ticket To Hell…And Back Atlantic By: Eric Greenwood
The Darkness’ over-the-top, winking hair metal send-up amassed an unpredictable following with its debut, Permission to Land, thrusting the English quartet to international fame on the heels of the blistering “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” single. And yet, despite all [...]

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The Pit That Became A Tower Behold! The Unseen Men Of Israel By: Kerry M
Profits (of the non-financial sort), Kings, Salvation and Faith pervade the lyrics of Behold! The Unseen from The Pit That Became a Tower, the sonic outlet for singer/songwriter Adam Lee Rosenfeld, an American Messianic Jew living in Israel.
The Pit That [...]

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We Are Wolves Non-Stop Je Te Plie En Deux Fat Possum By: Eric Greenwood
Ahh, dance punk- the music of the future of the past that's presently inescapable and instantly recognizable, even with shrill electronic noises trying to pull your ears away from the obvious trend. Montreal's We Are Wolves infuse the ubiquitous robotic [...]

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Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Self-Released By: Eric Greenwood
I hate it when bands publicly deny obvious influences. It's just so pretentious to act like a band you so clearly take after was of no consequence to your development whatsoever. I guess it's just a defensive reaction to [...]

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Wolf Parade Apologies To The Queen Mary Sub Pop By: Eric Greenwood
One of the most anticipated indie releases of the year is Wolf Parade's Apologies to the Queen Mary, which quickly follows the band's critically lauded self-titled EP from July. With Isaac Brock behind the controls for much of the album, a Modest [...]

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Kanye West Late Registration Roc-A-Fella By: Eric Greenwood
Kanye West's rise to utter ubiquity has not been without skill. He's a polarizing figure whose mouth may know no bounds (“George Bush doesn't care about black people”), but he's clearly a talented pop writer, despite his MC skills being a tad sluggish. Late Registration, [...]

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Iron In The Reins Overcoat By: Eric Greenwood
Columbia, South Carolina native Sammy Beam's Iron and Wine hooks up with Tucson, Arizona's Calexico to blend Beam's soft, dreamy narrative with the latter band's obsession with Southwestern nuance and Ennio Morricone on In the Reins. The result is gorgeous, lush, and surprisingly optimistic, where it [...]

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Sigur Ros Taak Geffen By: Eric Greenwood
Three years after its sepulchral () album, Sigur Ros returns with its best impression of what this Icelandic quartet deems upbeat. Takk is sharper and more direct than anything the band has previously churned out, but that is not to say it's by any means accessible by [...]

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Ryan Adams Jacksonville City Nights Lost Highway By: Eric Greenwood
A dilettante to some, a spoiled shit to others, and a poseur to most, Ryan Adams makes up for his bratty self-indulgence with convincing immersion into his carefully calculated roles. He's back to country crooner this year. Lick finger, hold it up to [...]

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Depeche Mode Playing The Angel Mute By: Eric Greenwood
Depeche Mode was my gateway band into better music when I was a kid, so I feel like I owe a lot to them. I may be a loyal fan, but I'm not deluded. And I'm not going to look at you straight-faced and [...]

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Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better Domino By: Eric Greenwood
I've been listening to the new Franz Ferdinand trying to figure out why I don't like it as much as the band's stylish debut. It has the same jaunty, angular post-punk guitar jabs, the same bouncy, half-disco beats, and even breathier, [...]

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Run-D.M.C. Run-D.M.C. King Of Rock Raising Hell Tougher Than Leather Profile By: Eric Greenwood
Barring nostalgia and sentimentality, listening to Run-D.M.C. in 2005 is kind of difficult. It sounds so basic and primitive compared to how far hip-hop has come in more than two decades. It’s not too far removed from going back [...]

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Run-D.M.C. Run-D.M.C; King Of Rock; Raising Hell; Tougher Than Leather Profile By: Eric Greenwood
Barring nostalgia and sentimentality, listening to Run-D.M.C. in 2005 is kind of difficult. It sounds so basic and primitive compared to how far hip-hop has come in more than two decades. It’s not too far removed from going back [...]

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Death Cab For Cutie Plans Atlantic By: Robert Howell
It's all too easy to lambaste quondam indie darlings for hopping to the majors, and Death Cab for Cutie will now receive such backlash reactions after its move to Atlantic. This will be a mistake. Not because its new album Plans, is good. [...]

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World Leader Pretend Punches Warner Bros. By: Eric Greenwood
One of the drawbacks of naming your band after another band's song, particularly when that song is by R.E.M., is that your music is viewed not only in context with the more famous band's culture but also compared directly against it. That's a setback upstart [...]

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The Life And Times Suburban Hymns DeSoto By: Eric Greenwood
Kansas City, Missouri's Allen Epley is underrated. And I don't mean underrated in the sense that he's a talented musician that maybe you should have heard of by now- I mean it in the sense that it's a crime that this man isn't worshipped [...]

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Embrace Out Of Nothing Lava By: Eric Greenwood
Embrace (not to be confused with Ian Mackaye's short-lived Dischord band) popped up after the hoopla of Britpop had already started to wane in the late 90's with a string of singles, aping everyone from The Verve to Oasis. With its unfortunate penchant for slow, doleful [...]

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Kings Of Leon Aha Shake Heartbreak RCA By: Eric Greenwood
As an avid despiser of "southern rock" and pretty much anything that holds onto the south as the root of its identity, I was skeptical of Kings of Leon's schtick from the get go. Ostensibly from Nashville (yet none of my friends deeply involved [...]

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