// Category Archive for: Reviews

Neil Young, Dreamin’ Man Live ’92

By J Howell

Find out how to win a copy of Dreamin’ Man Live ’92 at the end of this article! The contest has now ended.

In short: this record is achingly beautiful. Buy it.

It’s beyond the scope of this review to really go into why Neil Young is, well, Neil Young, and I’m not going to indulge in a long string of superlatives here.
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Dex Romweber Duo, Ruins Of Berlin

By J Howell

The moniker “Dex Romweber Duo” is a little misleading on Ruins of Berlin, a record by a band ostensibly consisting of former Flat Duo Jet Romweber and his sister Sara on drums. Ten of the 14 tracks feature at least one other person, though the final track is Dex solo.
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Johnny Action Figure, Good Eye

By Christian Lipski

In every genre of art, there evolve solidified scenes, where well-defined rules force participants to toe the line and conform, even if the theme itself is nonconformity. And there are, logically, points when those scenes lose their power to enclose, and you suddenly begin to see variety where there once was only similarity. At this point, there are usually no existing words to define the new forms, except to identify what scene they were or are not a part of.
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Peter Project, Fresh EP

By Megashaun

Based on how much I loved and listened to Peter Project’s self-titled debut (reviewed in Popshifter ) I had some rather high expectations when I had heard he released a follow-up in the form of a bar of soap.
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Venus Bogardus, Spitting At The Glass

By Jemiah Jefferson

When does influence become imitation? When does homage become outright copying? These questions illuminate upon listening to this album, the third from UK-to-Santa Fe art rock transplants Venus Bogardus.
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Afrodisiac, A Graphic Novel By Jim Rugg & Brian Maruca

By Danny R. Phillips

Graphic novels are a guilty pleasure to which I have only recently returned. I have always been an avid reader as well as a lover of art, but when I turned 35, I started to think my comic book years were behind me. Then I re-read Watchmen and V for Vendetta and remembered the comic greatness that I had let gather dust in the back of my memories.

Thanks to my returning jones for the graphic novel, I discovered Afrodisiac, a book based around a Shaft-meets-Superman character straight out of the blaxplotation genre of the 1970s. I mean, this cat would make Dolemite and Superfly look like Wayne Brady. With his stable of white “bitches” working the streets for him, his magic pimp cane, his Cadillac, and his tingling Spider Sense-like street smarts, he is both the protector of his city and its sweet, sweet daddy.
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Bettina Köster, Queen Of Noise

By Ann Clarke

I love it when you put on an album, and it just kicks ass immediately. I love it even more when it continues to kick ass, and then when it’s over, you feel compelled to listen to it again! That doesn’t always happen, even with some of your personal favorite albums.

Bettina Köster’s Queen of Noise might not be my favorite album, but it certainly falls into the realm of the type of album I just described. It just kicks ass, and continues to kick ass! (I apologize for my lowbrow description, but I guess it sort of brings the cave-girl out of me!) I mean, seriously; when something just rocks your lame ass, you know it instantly.
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Gorevette, Lustfully Yours

By Mandy Mullins

Grab your dancing shoes and head out onto the floor and get ready to have a great time! In a match made in rock & roll girls heaven, the wonderful Nikki Corvette and Gore Gore Girls’ guitarist/leading lady Amy Gore have teamed up to form an ultra-fun little Detroit super group called Gorevette. Along with Lianna Castillo on bass and Al King on drums, Gorvette have just released their seven-song debut EP, Lustfully Yours.
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Them Crooked Vultures, S/T

By Adam McIntyre

Come over to my recording studio and let’s listen to something very loud.

Here’s why I have a major hard-on for Them Crooked Vultures: it’s tailored for me. I mean, I am its target audience. I have intense respect for each of the four musicians involved, certainly bordering on talent-based mancrushes. I mean. . .
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The Living Sisters, Love To Live

By Chelsea Spear

Listening to Love To Live on an iPod feels wrong. The maiden voyage by The Living Sisters requires the listener to lower a needle onto a fat slab of vinyl and listen to a brief overture of static before their music begins.
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