CD Revue
Johnny Society, Silver Jews, Imogen Heap, Hogg Boss, Bif Naked, Big & Rich, Madonna, MySpace
By Bill Frost @bill_frostJOHNNY SOCIETY Coming to Get You ****n
While you’re wasting arena money on classic-rock dinosaurs, pop maestros Johnny Society are producing the transcendent rock & roll magic you really crave. Get a refund, buy this and the JS catalog, worship Kenny Siegel and forget Mick. (JohnnySociety.com)
nnSILVER JEWS Tanglewood Numbers ****
nnLike a poet stumbling through the bar at last call, main Silver Jew David Berman makes heartbreaking sense when he growls “I’d rather live in a trash can/ Than see you happy with another man.” Earnest Americana meets hipster sarcasm'finally. (SilverJews.net)
nnIMOGEN HEAP Speak for Yourself ***
nnImogen Heap’s cotton-candy coo doesn’t so much grab you as slowly swallow you like sweet quicksand'too late to fight; don’t bother. The layers beneath Speak’s production gloss are bottomless, but only Heap’s voice and songs really matter. (ImogenHeap.com)
nnHOGG BOSS It’s All Boss ***
nnA Chicano Salt Lake City rapper from with a Universal-distributed release, Hogg Boss’ fast ’n’ gruff mic skills and smart wordplay transcend standard-issue hip-hop club beats, kicking in hard from title track to finale. Now watch him blow up. (AvatarRecords.com)
nnBIF NAKED SuperBeautifulMonster ***
nnTattooed Kung-Fu Barbie action-figure Bif Naked supplements Big Guitars with new-wave synths and bitter tastes of acoustic vulnerability'and still rocks harder than Gwen. Bif’s metal-to-maudlin mood swings are just part of that Naked charm. (BifNaked.com)
nnBIG & RICH Comin’ to Your City ***
nnFollowing the If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It (or even Wash It) ethos, Big Kenny and John Rich plow through 13 more tracks of pure Country & Whatchamacallit mayhem that tip the hat to and plant a boot in the ass of, Nashville. God bless ‘em. (BigandRich.com)
nnMADONNA Confessions on a Dance Floor **
nnNo ballads, just booty-shakin’ disco thump from Kabbalah Mom'but do you really want to club in Ibiza with Madge? Confessions on a Dance Floor is essentially a smooth DJ set from producer Stuart Price, relegating Madonna to (!) the background. (Madonna.com)
nnVARIOUS MySpace Records Vol. 1 *
nnYou can stream all 17 tracks for free somewhere on the MySpace.com Borg, so why pay? Four more photos on yr Profile! But, you’ve already heard Weezer and their clone army, and no one’s ever going to actually buy a Tila Tequila CD … right? (MySpace.com)
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