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Music Reviews

Second Stage

TAB the Band: 'Backseat Lover'

For a group that has been around less than two years, TAB the Band knows how to rock hard. Brothers Tony and Adrian Perry teamed up with friend Ben Tileston to form TAB (an acronym of their first names) at the start of 2007, and things have come together quickly for the trio. They've since released two EPs and two full-length albums, the latest of which is Long Weekend.

Backseat Lover

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Song Of The Day

No 'Lost Verses' In Sun Kil Moon's Epic

Sun Kil Moon's Mark Kozelek is remarkably adept at crafting somber, epic ballads like the gorgeous "Lost Verses," which opens April. Affecting and engrossing in spite of its nearly 10-minute running time, "Lost Verses" fits seamlessly alongside Kozelek's best work with Red House Painters.

'Lost Verses' by Sun Kil Moon

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Second Stage

Willoughby: 'Intentions'

Released last month, Willoughby's I Know What You're Up To is an entirely alluring album with a decidedly retro vibe to it. Imagine a 1960s-era lounge, the sort that James Bond would casually visit for his shaken-not-stirred vodka martini, and you might start to get a feel for what frontman Gus Seyffert has created.

Intentions

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'Tell-Tale Signs' Exposes Bob Dylan Bootlegs

Fresh Air

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Tell-Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series, Vol 8. It is the latest in Columbia Records' officially-released collection of previously unreleased or alternate tracks by Bob Dylan.

'Tell-Tale Signs' Exposes Bob Dylan Bootlegs

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Song Of The Day

Matthew Herbert: 'Breathe' More, Buy Less

From workplace politics to personal relationships to stock-market volatility, it's easy to live under a cloud of fear, anxiety, anger and sadness. In his glorious "Breathe," Matthew Herbert reminds listeners to exhale, while maintaining a tone that's both cautionary and celebratory.

Breathe

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Sex, Gender Equality In New Girl Talk Album

Gregg Gillis is a Pittsburgh DJ and musical mixologist who was known only by his stage name, Girl Talk, until his music took off and he could quit his day job as a biomedical engineer. Often, music by mixologists sounds esoteric, but that could hardly be claimed of Girl Talk's latest mashup album, Feed the Animals.

Sex, Gender Equality In New Girl Talk Album

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Second Stage

Darren Smith: 'Dogtown Mines'

Though he now lives in Seattle, folk musician Darren Smith grew up across Washington's eastern border in the small college town of Moscow, ID. With a secluded population of only 22,000, Moscow bills itself as the "Heart of the Arts." It might sound like an unlikely title, but Moscow, ID is also the home of singer-songwriter Josh Ritter. "Maybe it's the cold winters and isolation that brings out the artistic drive in people," Smith says.

Dogtown Mines

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Song Of The Day

Crooked Fingers: Fun With Cannibalism

For a singer who's spent years honing his weary, Neil Diamond-esque croak, Crooked Fingers' Eric Bachmann seems to be having something approximating fun on his new album. In "Cannibals," he immerses his voice in an arrangement that positively sparkles with chiming guitars and sunny harmonies.

Cannibals

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Aterciopelados: Optimistic Rock From Colombia

Local Colombian music permeates the soundscapes crafted by the band Aterciopelados. But what gives the group's music its universal appeal is something less tangible: a quality of dry-eyed optimism that proves both persuasive and reassuring in these troubled times.

Aterciopelados: Optimistic Rock From Colombia

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Second Stage

Small Sur: 'Everyone'

On its MySpace page, Small Sur facetiously claims its style of music falls into the reggaeton genre. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth, as this Baltimore-based group instead creates strikingly peaceful folk that feels as if it has sprung from the Pacific coasts of California rather than the East Coast.

Everyone

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Song Of The Day

The Heligoats: A Bright Mind Gets 'Brutal'

Throughout The Heligoats' "Kind/Brutal," singer Chris Otepka keeps piling on the ideas. But at some point along the way, they actually cohere, forming a bittersweet look at two misanthropes who stay together, in large part, because they don't deserve better.

Kind Brutal

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Second Stage

Chop Chop: 'Play'

Chop Chop is, for the most part, the work of songwriter Catherine Cavanagh. For Screens, her upcoming sophomore release, Cavanagh wrote each song, provided vocals and also performed many of the instruments by herself. She did receive help from her friends and family, though, including her brother and U.S. military sergeant Frank Cavanagh, who was once the bassist for Ohio-based band Filter.

Play

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Song Of The Day

Of Montreal: The Absurd And The Sparkly

"Nonpareil of Favor" is the closest thing to a single on Of Montreal's Skeletal Lamping, and also the closest thing to a love song. By pop standards, it's an odd track: Grating guitar and dissonant melodies challenge even the cute, upbeat moments, and it can't quite seem to decide on just one tempo or key.

Nonpareil Of Favor

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Second Stage

Milosh: 'Awful Game'

On his third and latest album, iii, Canadian musician Michael Milosh serves up a collection of seductive, down-tempo electronica, inspired by his year living and recording on Thailand's tropical Koh Samui island. A classically trained cellist since the age of 3, Milosh writes on his MySpace page that he's "always had an intense attraction to songs that are sad, soft and beautiful" and that in his music, he attempts to "ride that thin line of mixing technology with some heart." On iii, he's succeeded in doing just that.

Awful Game

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