Lovesick Blues – Chris Stamey – Eleven slices of Stamey stamped power pop, from the at the very least difficult dB. Three of them, including the title track with a near perfect strings drenched coda and one with Andy Partridge arranging the strings, are as good as it gets when it comes to still Big Star still influenced pop music. And the rest? A little boring – Grade: B-
The Afterman: Declension – Cambria And Coheed – I find C&C's bizarre stories well, bizarre. Here All Music sums up the storyline of the album before: "it deals with the adventures of astronaut Sirius Amory, his ascent into the space ways, and his scientific achievement in discovering the secrets behind the cosmic energy source The Keywork." This album happens when he returns to home and if you care enough to figure it out my advice is: get a life. For the rest of us, hidden in the morose is the excellent power pop "Away We Go" and the rest is pro rock by the numbers. Grade: D+
The Pioneer Sessions – William Beckett – The Academy Is… were always good for a track or two and this acoustic emo rock album doesn't improve the odds in the slightest – Grade: B-
Forever Endeavor – Ron Sexsmith – Tasteful, tasteful, tasteful singer songwriter adds strings to lots of stuff and hits and misses through an an album with only the witty "Sneak Out The Backdoor" not to end up lost deep in his catalog. Which means, he can be boring but if "Back Of My Hand" is a bore, even if he is a snooze he can write a song – Grade: B
The Lives Inside The Lines Of Your Hand – Matt Pond – And another singer-songwriter (even if he claims it's a band) and pleasantly consistent, the most consistent guy here, though nothing blows me away – Grade: B-
Regions Of Light And Sound Of God – Jim James – From the man who bought you the dire "Dear God", more music that portends more that it can come within a mile of providing. Still "escaping" is a beautiful instrumental – Grade: C+
Without A Net – Wayne Shorter – Chris Barton in the LA Times claims Shorter's soprano saxophone weaves and flutters and maybe that's exactly what it seems to be doing in this recorded live album from the King of improvisation. I like it a lot and mostly when Shorter is weaving and fluttering and if you, like me, are not a big jazz guy, the best way to listen to it is not to worry about the why and how too much – Grade: B+
No Love Lost – Joe Budden – Ten years into his career, Slaughterhouse rapper is a pro who proved his chops on the hardest of stages when I caught him at Rock The Bells last year. This is technically adept with some great raps ("Ghetto Burbs" and the title track for two) he doesn't sustain your interest over an album – Grade: B-
IV – The Bronx – Hard rocking punk band grow up and provide exactly what they should do. Good, old fashioned riff based hard rock. From the opening riff to the last this is an amazing collection of tuneful, smart hard rockers. First rate – Grade: A
Bridge Of Sighs – Robin Trower – UK guitar hero wonk creates his own Pin-Ups if not Moondog Matinee… pretty good stuff and I've never much cared for the man – Grade: B
Electricity – Richard Thompson – It has been over 17 years since You? Me? Us? so I guess we've all settled down into the realization Thompson's best is a little behind him. Still even using an electric bass and drums duo as back up and even with an occasional stand out like "I Found A Stray", this is about as bland as the man can get – Grade: C+
Face The Music – Avant – I admire r&b singer Avant a lot and I admire this album from a distance, for its finger snaps and deep rumbling synths and strong romantic old fashioned soul man vibe. But the more I hear it, the less songs I hear – Grade: B+
The Man Who Died In His Boat – Grouper – Experimental singer songwriter writer puts a guitar in a mix with haunted synths and spooky double tracked vocals. It is a haunting, strange and powerful sound… and it's best. The rest of the time it is like staring at wallpaper with a really pretty design – Grade: B
Pedestrian Verse – Frightened Rabbits – Awwww, sweet rock with a Scottish brogue!!! – Grade: C+