THE DEEDLE DEEDLE DEES “STRANGE DEES, INDEED” A vaudevillian Twilight Zone of a CD that’s at times barbershop quartet smooth, Elmo’s World silly & interactive, and just plain odd. “Strange Dees, Indeed” is undeniably the Brooklyn band’s most sonically consistent work (hat tip to Dean Jones wonderful production) but don’t […]
PAPA CROW “THINGS THAT ROAR” You may already know the tale of Bon Iver’s debut album “For Emma, Long Ago”. As the story goes, the bearded singer/songwriter Justin Vernon holed himself up in a northern Wisconsin cabin during a harsh winter to reflect and record what would eventually become one […]
TODD MCHATTON “GALACTIC CHAMPIONS OF JOY” I sloppily made out with “Sundays at the Rocket Park”, McHatton’s last album, during a torrid affair in 2010 but I want to elope in the middle of the night in Vegas with “Galactic Champions of Joy”. I’m filled with that level of poor-decision-making […]
THE JIMMIES “PRACTICALLY RIDICULOUS” Was the wait worth it? For longtime fans, any review of The Jimmies new album “Practically Ridiculous” may boil down to something no more complicated than those 5 words + a question mark. After all, if your then 6-year-old girl’s eyes got wide when watching Ashley […]
ALWAYS SATURDAY “SNOW CONES IN THE SUN” Ah, similes. Is there an occupation more adaptable to a good simile than parenting? Like the summer season and, well, snow cones in the sun, the time we get with our bundles of joy is sickeningly brief. It’s why folks keep popping ’em […]
NICK COPE “THE VERY LONG SHOPPING LIST” Nick Cope’s adult band The Candyskins flew totally under my radar. Fortunately his current work as a kid’s musician has not. The Brit’s 2010 debut “What Colour Is Your T-Shirt?” was a bit of a hushed revealation around here and it’ll always have […]
RECESS MONKEY “FLYING!” [warning: the first 276 words of this lengthy review will make it seem as though I do not like this album. this is not true. please read through to the end.] This is not Recess Monkey’s best album. Thank. Freaking. God. The Seattle trio’s 6th CD does, […]
Chris Ballew is back with another set of stripped down toddler tunes under his playful Caspar Babypants monikor. The aptly titled “Sing Along!” has loaded with star power (Weird Al, members of Pearly Jam, Frances England, Recess Monkey, Rachel Loshak) but should it be loaded into your family CD player?
