pom pom – Ariel Pink – His eccentricities wear thin fast and while he can write a song sometimes and a melody occasionally, he spends too much time being weird to be important and whining to keep people’s attention and this, his first album, a prog-indie concoction, is already old – C
Avonmore – Bryan Ferry – Even the album title suggests a return to Avalon and song after song is expert Ferry synth gloom and glamor. Unfortunately, it isn’t 1982 and this wears out its welcome, which, come to think of it, it did in 1982 as well – B
The Way – Buzzcck – Steve Diggle is a fine guitarist but as a songwriter he sucks and his songs here are a wet sock on a still vibrant punk pop band – C+
Nothing Has Changed – David Bowie – A career retrospect unlike his others, Bowie closes with a Davy Jones song, opens with a superb brand new song, and in between makes a case for an astounding nearly 50 years of pop art with a break for a heart attack and barely eleven years as a rock and roll star – A
Aliens In The Outfield EP – Diarrhea Planet – Never has a terrible band name done more to harm a more than competent sound not reach its audience. A four guitar power pop melody attack over five terrific tracks hurt only by the most nauseating name imaginable – B+
Ixora – Copeland – It sounds like Christian rock without the christian and without the rock – D+
I Will Trust – Fred Hammond Jr – Two years after the epic God, Love And Romance, his latest is pretty and, obviously, heart warming, but a little on the minor side – B
Fairytales – Futurecop! – Manchester England synth and tronics duo, pretty but a little too laid back – B
Girlpool – Girlpool – Teenage duo guitarist Cleo Tucker and bassist Harmony Tividad pick their notes with abandon like grrrls with an attitude and a bad one – B+
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Original Soundtrack – Various Artists – I was never convinced by Alexandra Patsavas Twilight curated soundtracks, she was never able to maintain the level of artistry over 15 hip new bands, and if you listen to em now, Muse, Paramore, stuff like that, it puts the cut into cutting edge. Lorde performs on, and curates this album, and her four songs here, a great all star parade at the top, an original that also gets a Kanye West remake in the middle, and a Bright Eyes cover at the end, lifts the dystopian YA soundtrack to places it never usually reaches. Chvches, Tove Lo, Grace Jones (!) are no slouches either – ALBUM OF THE WEEK – A
No Fixed Address – Nickelback – I stand second to none in my loathing of this band, the MORing of rock and roll in the 00s which inflicts it to this day, should be placed at their rehearsal room door. But this has a coupla good tracks. Don’t believe me? Try “Get ‘Em Up” – B-
The Art Of McCartney – Various Artists – It’s not on Spotify and you had to buy the album to get Bob Dylan singing “Things we Said Today”. Worth $17? Oh yes, though only the great Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Bluebird” is in the same league as Dylan, nobody embarrasses themselves. Mostly because it is hard to sing such glorious melodies poorly- B+
SoCal Sessions – P.O.D. – Acoustic P.O.D…. terrible idea – C
Punk Goes Pop Vol 6 – Various Artists – Kidz Bop for has beens – C
Words to The Blind – Savages and Bo Ningen – 37 minutes of awesome noise, I never much cared for Savages but I must say, this has turned me around: a catastrophic disaster of sound – B+
Seeds – TV ON The radio – Their best album since 2008, which translates to being a return to form after Nine Types Of Light, even more than that: sometimes poppy, sometimes funky, sometimes soulful, always great on the ears, a very strong return by these guys – A-
If I Was A River – Willie Nile – Legendary New Waver performs a singer songwriter piano based set and it is very very lovely… try “Gloryland” – B+
XTRMST – XTRMST – Two members of AFI perform straight up no messing around metalcore – B+
