BEASTIE BOYS "OK" The boys are back and sporting a mediocre single from the new album. They should have released this track 1st that doesn't try too hard and is more creative and fun that the rest of the album. If you like the Brooklyn boys they have returned to form on the new album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. Hip Hop/Rap
EDDIE VEDDER "Broken Heart" Ed brings us his 2nd solo album in the form of Ukulele music and little else. I really like his voice stripped down to begin with and this album is full of sweet campfire music. This is my favorite track that is a bit sadder than most but, "I'm alright, it's just tonight, i can't play the part, i'm alright, it's alright, it's just a broken heart." So no bid deal. Folk
RUMSPRINGA "Queer Eyed Boy" Now for some new artists. This LA band celebrating the Amish freak out period, rocks on their new album Sway. Rock definitely needs new blood these days and Rumspringa is stepping up and into the role. Rock
FOSTER THE PEOPLE "Pumped Up Kicks" A poppy tune about blowing your friends away in an early 80's I assume. Good stuff from SXSW graduates. Pop
DROPKICK MURPHYS "Climbing A Chair To Bed" My favorite Irish band is back and I'll give em another plug for Summer. A great song warning you not to let depression take you over. "You want something out of nothing, you want blood from a stone, To banish all your enemies and wish them safely home, Some would say insanity or crazy better still, Cut off your nose to spite your face, for life you've lost all will." Yes I have. Punk
RISE AGAINST "Broken Mirrors" I recently saw RA in concert for the 1st time and I gotta tell you I was not impressed. Too much posturing and Tim holding up guitars to the sky for it to be true punk. Even so, the new album Endgame is still solid though and this is a departure (a bit) in sound for the band. "We hide from the mirrors they might show our scars, There is the person that we want to be, The people we are, Confront your reflection, Smash what you see and let's restart, Cause mirrors can't see our hearts." Punk
BEN HARPER "Spilling Faith" Ben hasn't been right since 2003 but he is still good for one or two good tracks per album. That's a pretty sad rate but I still root for the guy to return to the amazing music he made with Fight For Your Mind and Burn To Shine but se la vi. People are overlooking this track but I find it to be the best one on the new album. Pop
JASON ISBELL & THE 400 UNIT "Never Could Believe" I love me some old style country and Isbell always delivers. Here's the best track from the new album Here We Rest. We all know women lying whores and this song reinforces just that with a rollicking honky tonk style. Country
The Old 97's "Cryin' Drunk" Speaking of countryish music, Rhett Miller's released a live best of album (The Grande Theatre Volume 1) a while back and I only now discovered it. To celebrate it I selected this older gem that doesn't get as much play as some of their more popular songs. Country
TYLER THE CREATOR "Yonkers" The man behind the group Odd Future, who is also Golf Wang, brings us horror rap in all its glory. He's got multiple personalities but is nice enough to let us listen in on their conversation about going back to the early violent days of hip hop and adding macabre murder in no uncertain terms. Its pretty fun but hopefully won't turn into ICP. If you want something a little different, or darker, in rap, look no further. "Fuck the fame and all the hype G, I just want to know if my father would ever like me, But I don't give a fuck, so he's probably just like me, A motherfuckin', Goblin. (Fuck everything, man) That's what my conscience said, Then it bunny hopped off my shoulder now my conscience dead, Now the only guidance that I had is splattered on cement, Actions speak louder than words, let me try this shit, dead." Hip Hop/Rap
MARK SCHOTTINGER "Black And White" I discovered this young blues man in the brilliant documentary, The Parking Lot Movie. Check it out and you will hear Mark perform two songs and this is one. He also gives away and entire album for free at
BEADY EYE "The Roller" Basically, Oasis is back minus a brother. Sounds pretty much the same and perhaps better without all the bickering. Rock
AGES&AGES "No Nostalgia" Called a big tent revival or joyful choral sound, the seven members deliver sunny folk music without becoming hippie annoying. Also, if you are trying to look them up they don't put spaces in their name. Folk
THEE SGT. MAJOR III "New Painter Man" Good luck finding information on this confusing band. They took a strange name that is hard to look up but the bubblegum punk girl style still gets me. I can almost see the snotty lead singer chick now. Rock
PAUL SIMON "The Afterlife" The old man returns at 69 with a new album and a witty track about the disappointment of Heaven. Pretty funny stuff really and quite entertaining. "Buddha and Moses and all the noses from narrow to flat, Had to stand in the line, just to glimpse the divine, what you think about that? Well it seems like our fate to suffer and wait for the knowledge we seek. It's all his design, no one cuts in the line, no one here likes a sneak." Folk
GORILLAZ "Revolving Door" Damon Albarn's animated monkey band hasn't lived up to the expectations I had for them but with a new album comes new opportunity. The slow funk of this one just keeps your head bobbing and is highly addictive. It is a funky day and this is a good start. Hip Hop/Rap
CHARLES BRADLEY "The World (Is Going Up In Flames)" Some classic soul snuck its way in from the "Screaming Eagle Of Soul." I had never heard this man before but his wail is painful in the very best way. Oft compared to Otis Redding, Charlie delivers on this song which has a lesson we need to learn as a people. Soul/Funk
BRETT DENNEN "Ain't No Reason" This may be a little more popular and older than I realized but its new to me and a great track. The fellow ginger makes amazing point after amazing point in this melodic masterpiece. "The wind blows wild and I may move, but politicians lie and I am not fooled, You don't need no reason or a three piece suit, to argue the truth." Folk
BUDDY MILLER & CHOCOLATE GENIUS "Dang Me" This troubadour has been making music since before I was born and here tells of the rambling man who actually realizes the mistakes he has made. The folk writer has worked with about everyone in the business so it might be good to check out the new track from his new album. Folk
ATMOSPHERE "She's Enough" Slug kind of depressed me with his sad slow introspective album. Sometimes you just have to get out the darkness and there are some amazing tracks as always. The far and away winner is this one about treating that special lady the way you should. "She the one to put the kick in the drums, she the hot stove top when the winter comes, she hits the run, she can lift a ton she gon stick to the job and get it done." Its officially cool to rap about love again. Hip Hop/Rap
TRES MTS. "Holes In The Road" Combine King's X, Pearl Jam, and the Fastbacks to equal Tres Mts. Pretty solid blues rock that is not getting the attention it deserves. This is the single off the album aptly titled Three Mountains and a great starting point with a bad ass guitar solo. Rock
MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA "Simple Math" The Georgia band is back with their 3rd official disc which is a concept album. These guys are still growing and improving so give em a listen. Rock
LOCAL H "Tag-Along" Scott Lucas returns with The Island Years a "best of" album. This particular song I had never heard before which is surprising because I have almost everything Scott does (including his solo album Scott Lucas & The Married Men) and this is a new favorite. We all have that hero we look up to no matter who it is. "Why kill myself, To find out who I am? When I really only want to be you." Rock
JONATHAN COULTON "Re: Your Brains" This self made musician does everything himself. I respect that but I respect a genius song about Zombies even more. A self professed programming geek, he jumps into the Nerdcore scene effortlessly with some very imaginative humorous songs. Pop
SUBLIME With ROME "Panic" Notice the with Rome. With the death of Bradley Nowell back in 1996 as the band was just hitting fame, the rest of the crew disbanded and then fooled around with the underrated Long Beach Dub Allstars. They then decided to revive the old band with Rome Ramirez but Bradley's family sued the band for rites to the name in a very shitty act. That didn't work and now Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh are back with Rome and on the road. The track itself sounds just like the old stuff as if Rome is channelling Nowell. Basically, if you liked Sublime you will like this and probably the entirely new album out this summer! Punk
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