Today's featured shit

They’re all Australian. (You can’t tell.) And they’re all pretty amazing.
Tara Simmons sounds like Mirah on “When You Say I Don’t Care About You.” Brindle sounds like Joy Pop Turbo with “Splinterfights.” They’re both excellent tracks if you like female vocals.
Flamingo Crash is good on “Yes! Yes! Yes!” if you’re into Panic at the Disco or those types of acts. They certainly sing with a lot of passion in the studio. The Black Stars have one of the best tracks on the album with “Alright Baby.” If Jet sounded more like these guys I would not hate him/them so much. It’s the same musical style, but the guitar sounds more like something Dinosaur Jr would do.
I also like Liam Griffin’s “Until You Fall.” This is the sound the Dambuilders tried to do. The chorus has a similar melody to “Drive By Kiss,” actually.
Kristy Apps has the last track, “Be Patient.” It’s good for fans of Tracy Chapman. It’s the same melancholy, stripped down (under) sound that you’d expect.

Scott Saber was the center of the men’s basketball team at Cal State Hayward when I was a junior. I have no idea whether he is related to Danny.
I thought this was a compilation, but now I’m not so sure. The songs have different singers and a relatively common late-1980s danceable theme to them, but it’s hard to tell. iTunes thinks they are all by Saber, so I don’t know. The track listing lists a name before each track, so there you go. “Tou Jour” would then be by Helenrella. Regardless, it is the best of the bunch and has more of an early-1990s feel, like One Dove, only the lyrics are in French and not as good. But the synths have that same ethereal glow that will remind the listener of them.
“Possibilities” by Kirsten Price has a Portishead feel to it. It is also very good. Everything on this album is really good. It’s a trip back in time to when you had to drive to a fruit stand instead of waiting for the farmers market to come to you. And then after the long drive home you spent all afternoon de-stemming cherries so then all you had to do was eat them and spit out the pits.

Can you believe Meat Puppets never went platinum? It’s true, and they won’t get there with “Sewn Together,” either, but I am pretty sure that that was not the intent to begin with. Given the choice I would rather listen to this than a Spin Doctors reunion album, although one does cause thoughts of the other.
“I’m Not You” accomplishes a little more than the other tracks, although they all seem to jam together if you’re not too careful. What’s important to note is that the band did not just make a dozen “Backwater” sound-alikes. “Rotten Shame” I suppose sounds the most like that, but whether you consider it consistent or unimaginative, all the songs have a comfortable and unambitious feel to them. It doesn’t make me think I am trapped in the 1990s. It’s just another rock album with some jam characteristics.
If you’re wondering, “S.K.A.” is not a ska song. I can’t figure out why it’s called this. Maybe the band is trying to be like New Order.
“Love Mountain” sends us out in style. This is actually a very good ’70s style song. Perhaps for fans of Steely Dan or Doobie Brothers? Or maybe it’s just a Gin Blossoms ripoff. I guess I am, er, jaded.

I guess this is what they call “world music.” It’s very good for what it is. I am just too uncultured to be able to appreciate it fully.
“The Way You Are (featuring Bilal)” is a solid R&B effort with a twist. I think my mom would enjoy this record because she took a bunch of Afro dance classes at a junior college in the 1970s. They were free. All junior college was free. And then Proposition 13 passed. And now the state is bankrupt. I am sure that is just a coincidence.
A lot of these songs are featuring somebody. A bunch of somebodies that I don’t know, for the most part. But “Drifting (featuring G. Love)” features G. Love! It’s not just a clever name. No Special Sauce here, but it’s still nice to see some accompaniment by such a big name.
There is another big name contributor on this album. “African Diamond (with Tony Allen and Meshell Ndegeocello)” has a nice beat. Maybe it’s because it’s with those guests and not featuring them. There is a difference, you know.
“Chill Out” ends the album and has some fun little keyboards. This album is fairly well constructed, and I would play it at a cocktail party when all the guests have nicer cars than I do (which isn’t hard to do by the way).

This is a disappointing album because so many tracks are misses when they should all be hits. It’s as if half of them have vocals mixed by one producer, with the rest mixed by another.

“Just Like Honey” is an example of a great song. It’s a step above farmers market folk song singer/songwriter crap. The singer has real range, and she sounds relaxed and confident. I suppose you could say her voice sounds, well, just like honey.

“See My Love” is just a little too crazy for me. It sounds like Halou in a squeezebox. I can see why it’s buried at the end of the album. “To You” is a little whiny and self-piteous.

There are plenty of good tracks though. “Blues Run the Game” has that same relaxed sound. “The North Wind Blew South” is exceptionally lush (and Lush) in its sound. It also has the best musical accompaniment on the album.

More male-female harmonies but with more of an edge. Maybe not. This isn’t edgy music, but there is more attitude than what you’d expect from a name like “Casper & the Cookies.” “You Love Me” sounds like it should be in an Old Navy commercial, except if it did all the clothes would jump off the racks and revolt against the store’s security guards.

Sometimes you don’t know when an act has made it until you hear other acts like it. And if you’ve ever heard a Ting Tings song, then you will begin to have an idea of what Casper & the Cookies bring to the table. “Sharp!” definitely could be covered by them. Or maybe they are covering them. You just don’t know.

Sometimes a keyboard takes over the song in that “not a dance song but can be danced to” way. “Song Across the Sea” does this. I think the Steve Winwood-inspired vocals tell us that this song is going to be played in a Macy’s by 2012.

And sometimes a song takes over an entire album so much that you could care less about the other tracks. And that’s what happens with “Little Lady Larva.” This song must be fantastic live. They should open for Liz Phair. Her fans would love this.

But you can’t care less about the other tracks because they’re good too. “Moldy Flower” is a fun little number, but it gets lost amid the competition. Try to seek this one out. It sounds like a white guy pretending to be Prince, but that makes it good, promise. “Meredith” is Fastbacks meets Rush. These songs are all a little different, and they’re all good.

“Sunshine Girl” has nice keys and strong female vocals. It’s also very solid.

Lots of jingle-jangle semi-alt country here, the kind that makes me think of Club Cal-Neva in Reno. “You Thought It’d Make You Feel Better” stands out. It has a little more passion than the other tracks. “A Great Pain” sounds more modern but also less inspired. It’s still a decent song.

“Blue Day Moon” only works with a microbrew. You could never listen to this on your front porch with a Bud Light in your hand. “Anywhere But Here” seems like a bit of a departure for the band, but it would be good for fans of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ “The Killing Jar.”

If you want to hear the man sing a good song, pick “We Are the Man Who Cannot Fly.” Otherwise I’m sticking with the female-led tracks. At any rate, there are some fun tracks here, but nothing that goes too far off the beaten path.

The lead singer’s name is “Orly,” which makes me think of “O RLY,” the question that that Internet owl always asks, not to mention getting a 13-chain in Trism. She sings just fine and seems to write thought provoking lyrics. The music has enough pep to keep it all going. This album is as dependable as a Toyota Camry.

“Clumsily Fumbling” has great backing vocals. The whole song is a bit bulky–there’s a ton of instruments going on here–but it generally works fine.

“Stairmaster” has a familiar melody, but I can’t place it right now. Maybe Sing Sing? “It Never Ends” has good guitar and is quite listenable. The rest of the songs all kind of run together, which is a shame, because nothing sounds particularly bad, but with nothing noteworthy, there’s just not much to talk about here.

This was an EP made for me. “Yellow” is the first track and has some decent vocals and backing “heys” and other things, along with an uneven mix of accompaniment. Nothing sounds superfluous, but it does seem as if an instrument, acting as the glue, is missing.

“Red Rover” is a little better and seems to be mixed in a pop fashion, like the innocuous Kelly Clarkson tracks that play in the background in a casino. “In the Night” has a more uptempo beat and reminds me of Kirsty MacColl.

“Dulcinea” sounds like an AM60 track. Maybe Esquimaux can do Old Navy commercials too. “The Lady of Shalott” is a good song but does not stand out in any way. It could have been saved for the full-length.

“When You’re Gone” is the slow track that always seems to end an EP. The lead singer sounds a bit like Jolie Lindholm, although a bit repressed. I’d like to hear Heather Brown Dodge let loose. She could belt one if she wanted to.

This is a solid effort, and I want to hear more.

There are a few nice songs on this compilation. Lisa Cerbone “Scout Meets Boo” has velvety smooth vocals that work smartly with guitar and tambourine. It reminds me of a happier Bettie Serveert or slightly livelier Innocence Mission. This could become one of my favorite songs ever if I remember to listen to it enough. It’s that beautiful.

DJ/rupture has a purple sticker-deserving track with “El Verdugo.” Definitely a good choice if you want some standard electronica. Me Succeeds should appeal to hipsters that like Levi’s commercials with the track “Eine Symphonie des Grauens.”

“Ciao Manhattan (First Draft)” by Miles Benjamin and Anthony Robinson will remind the listener of Echo and the Bunnymen, with a wee bit of Pulp thrown in.

“Repulsion” by Nina Nastasia is your standard farmers market folk song. The rest of the compilation is forgettable, but there is plenty here to keep you busy.