Review: Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (2010)
[Note: Come back later today for the other half of the Cudi vs. Kanye album review duel to see who’s rated higher.] The holiday season is upon us, and aside from the influx of Black Friday advertisements, speculations, and unpopular gift trepidations, this time of year always gives us more hyp
Review: Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
If Kid Cudi is Goya (see the prior review), who’s Kanye? Can he even be encapsulated and compared? Monday was more a pre-emptive strike on music than any before, threatening to upend Top 10s of 2010 lists coast to coast. Yet what is My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fant
Review: Timber Timbre – Timber Timbre (2009)
It’s interesting to review an album that you’ve spent more than a year living closely with. Usually, I end up familiarizing myself with the songs I’m waxing poetic about while I’m writing about the source material, be the album a new release or an older disc I simply hadn’t devoted the tim
Review: Archie Powell & The Exports – Skip Work (2010)
I was well into a bottle of Yellowtail Riesling on Monday, August 28th. I had intercepted a tweet from John Brunner about a show atSchuba’s Tavern. “$6 showcase, 3 bands..”. I don’t know if it was the wine, or my love for local musicians, but I tossed on a top and hopped on my bicycle.
Review: Azure Ray – Drawing Down The Moon (2010)
I remember when I first heard Azure Ray. I don’t remember where I was or what I was doing but I do remember that I was a senior in high school (Which leads me to believe that “where I was” was my friend’s house and “what I was doing” was procrastinating on science homework) and the
Review: Johnny Foreigner – You Thought You Saw a Shooting Star But Yr Eyes Were Blurred With Tears and That Lighthouse Can Be Pretty Deceiving With the Sky So Clear and Sea So Calm (2010)
Frankly, I don’t know what compelled me to do this EP more; the fact that Johnny Foreigner is the sole reason I would ever go to Birmingham (my Birmingham friends, I’m exaggerating), or the fact that the EP title is so long I fear Twitter, WordPress, or any other method of publishing a
Review: Witness – The Everafter LP (2010)
There is a magic to the internet these days. Some people find love forever or just for one night through dating websites. Some find old friendships or family members through Facebook. I happened to find a date, through Twitter. A date with a new LP, that is. As most social networks t
Review: Hiss Golden Messenger – Bed Debt (2010)
It’s been said before that my favorite genre of music is folk noir and it’ll be said again. In fact, it’s about to be said again here, right now: My name is Amber Valentine and my favorite genre of music is folk noir. I love a good murder ballad, or a good ballad that sounds […]
Review: Digitata – Sexually Transmitted Emotions (2005)
The last trip to Minneapolis brought back memories and, more music-based, Maggie Morrison’s Lookbook. The word was that she had a tremendous voice confirmed during the Eau Claire native’s performance at the Pizza LuceBlock Party. Since then, Minneapolis/Eau Claire cohorts Gayngs&n