If you are familiar with Latin party music, you'll have a good idea what this sounds like. Here's the thing. That type of music is generally a lot of fun, and this is a classic example.
Vampire Beach Babes - Beach Blanket Bedlam Review by Gary Hill Toronto has a new claim to musical fame. While Toronto's favorite musical sons, Rush, are probably in no real danger of losing their title, there is a new kid in town Vampire Beach Babes.
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Various Artists - Drum Nation Vol. 2 Review by Gary Hill The concept is simple but unique: put together a number of tracks from various artists showcasing influential and potent drummers. This was the concept for Magna Carta's first drum nation CD, and they continue it here - why mess up a good thing?
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Various Artists - The Coolest Christmas Review by Gary Hill This disc, as many various artists compilations, is a mixed bag. Some of the cuts here are very good, while others are forgettable, and many fall somewhere in between.
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Various Artists - Inhale Review by Gary Hill Billed as a collection of “stoner rock”, this disc has a hard edged texture that is at once modern, while still having a classic rock feel to it. As with most various artists collections, it has its high points and its low points. More
Various Artists - Rock N Roll Christmas Review by Gary Hill f you are looking for a CD that combines solid rock with Christmas themes to augment your holiday festivities, this is a good choice.
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Various Artists - Stairways to Heaven Review by Gary Hill Stairways to Heaven is one of the wackiest albums ever released. Every song on here is Stairway to Heaven, but all performed in very different styles.
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Various Artists - Strange Aeons Review by Gary Hill According to the liner notes, Strange Aeons is "a musical tribute to H. P. Lovecraft and the ever expanding 'Cthulhu Mythos'". Steve Lines "directed and produced" the disc, but there are a number of artists who contributed to it.
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This new double disc set features two different compilation albums. The first is a tribute to John Lee Hooker and the second is a sampling of British blues guys.
I’ve said for a very long time that unless you are doing a tribute band, when you cover something make it your own. Unless you can bring something new to the table, don’t even bother.
Various Artists - Best of Rockpalast Review by Gary Hill "Rockpalast" was a German television show that broadcast concerts from a wide range of musical artists. More
I reviewed another of these compilations in the last issue of Music Street Journal. Here we've got a collection of old school music that was released on Sun Records.
Mushroom Records formed in 1970 and released a dazzling variety of music over the course of three years. This new compilation gathers a lot of music from that period onto the first CD here.
This box set of four CDs compiles soundtrack music from a number of Stanley Kubrick's movies. A booklet goes into a lot of the thought process and other factors involved with the music.
Doing a Music Street Journal type review of something like this is a bit challenging. These are dance mixes, designed more for grooving to than analyzing and listening deeply.
This is quite a cool album. It's a tribute to man's first journey to another world, our moon. It includes a wide variety of music along with a couple spoken pieces from history.
This new collection gathers up some music that is connected to Elvis Presley - as they describe it, roots and covers. I have to admit that I'm one of the people who has never really gotten Presley's allure.
While a lot of attention has been focused over the years on blues scenes in towns like Memphis and Chicago, there was a prominent and vital blues movement in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
This is an interesting collection. The tie that binds all of this together is the undercurrent of sex that was sort of hidden with a wink in the post World War II, pre-sexual revolution days.
This collection of songs about telephones and telephone calls is a mixed bag. That's generally common of something like this, so it's not a big surprise.
As the weather is heading toward warmer zones (at least in the Northern Hemisphere), the theme of this compilation from Bear Family Records seems appropriate.
Half of each issue of Music Street Journal is progressive rock. That means that things that don't fit that category can get delayed, particularly when we get a lot of expedited review orders.
This collection from Bear Family records gathers up a heaping helping of roots music. The sound varies from early rock and roll to country, bluegrass and even jazz.
You get a pretty good idea of what you get here when you read the title of this album. That said, while this is modern funk, you might not know it by listening to the disc.
I recently reviewed the first installment of "Destination Lust." I think this is the more consistent set of the two, but both have a lot of shining moments.
This soundtrack album was created by Speech of Arrested Development. It features him collaborating with a number of prisoners who were doing time when this was recorded.
Let me start this by saying that I've never heard the original Ram album. I dig the Beatles and McCartney with Wings, but I never got any of this solo stuff before Wings.
This new album showcases a lot of cool Beatles covers from a number of artists. It's actually compiled of tracks previously released on a number of albums.
I have to say that I'm probably not the target demographic for this set. For one thing, the older pop-oriented music on here is often not really my kind of taste.
The music on this set was all released on Feisted Records originally. That label wasn't really known as a rock and roll label, but rather for crooner and pop music.
This is a new edition of a psychobilly compilation that was originally released in 1983. That original set is augmented by a lot of bonus tracks on the first CD and even more making up a full second disc.
As you can probably gather, this is a collection of songs held together via a loose thematic thread of being winter-related. There is a very wide range of styles here, although all are retro.
I was born a little too late for the whole Beat Generation thing. This album, released on the 100th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's birthday both celebrates the era and helps to document it.
Veal - Hot Loser Review by Gary Hill Canadian band Veal (Luke Doucet, Howard Redekopp, and Chang) seem to have their hearts firmly rooted in alternative music, but they wander from one type to another quite a bit.
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Suzanne Vega is one of my all time favourite artists and has continued to compose compelling, thought-provoking material which has made her one of the music industry's most prolific songwriters of our time.
This is the latest single from Shawna Virgo. The cut finds her referencing roots music along with alternative rock and more. It's an intriguing number that works well.
