Def Jam So much ink has been spilled about Jay-Z’s “comeback” that you’d be forgiven if you spin “Kingdom Come” expecting a blinding light of salvation to explode from your speakers. Breathless music writers nearly lost their collective mind when Jigga announced that his retirement (“casual hiatus” might be more accurate) was over and he […]
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David Gray: Live in Slow Motion
2006 Recorded in Hammersmith, England, “Live in Slow Motion” captures David Gray in concert during his tour to promote 2005’s “Life in Slow Motion.” The concert’s set list draws heavily from “Slow Motion” and “White Ladder,” Gray’s 2000 breakthrough. The combination works perfectly: While “Ladder” was an album of romantic optimism, Gray’s latest work […]
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Superman Returns
p>There are some things in life even the Man of Steel can’t overcome, like tepid box-office returns or indifferent audiences, both of which thwarted the astronomical expectations for Bryan Singer’s feverishly touted reboot of the ailing Superman franchise, “Superman Returns.” It wasn’t that Singer necessarily failed, so much as wrapped himself too tightly in the […]
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Gwen Stefani-The Sweet Escape
Interscope Surely no one could’ve predicted the force with which ska-pop sprite Gwen Stefani’s 2004’s solo debut, “Love.Angel.Music.Baby.” would hit, loaded as it was with Eighties-shaded tunes, a devastating sense of style and a chart-smashing monster known as “Hollaback Girl.” Two years later, Stefani is already dropping “The Sweet Escape,” her erratic sophomore effort. Whereas […]
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Frank Sinatra-Vegas
Rhino/Reprise Some things just go well together: peanut butter and jelly, spring and baseball, Frank Sinatra and Las Vegas. The Chairman of the Board arguably was never more at home than prowling the stages of Sin City nightclubs, dishing out snappy patter and electric readings of signature tunes like “Fly Me to the Moon” and […]
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Stanton Moore-III
Telarc International I can’t say New Orleans drummer Stanton Moore’s music makes me want to jump and scream for joy, but the man certainly lays down some solid grooves. Whether it’s with his other bands “? Galactic or Garage a Trois “? or on a solo effort, Moore is one of a few musicians on […]
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Oldboy: Ultimate Collector’s Edition
2003/2006 Chan-wook Park’s “Oldboy” is brutally compelling cinema. The weak of stomach need not apply “? between consumption of live octopi and dentistry via hammer, it’s a film that gleefully traffics in extreme imagery. A blend of swooning romance, grisly violence and blood-soaked revenge, it’s also a film with a killer conceit (a man is […]
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Keeping Up with the Steins
ess to read it flawlessly with a face full of braces and in front of relatives who claim to know you. I should know: I survived one. It is a tradition ripe for satire, as evidenced in “Keeping Up with the Steins.” The movie follows Benjamin Fiedler (Daryl Sabara) as he prepares for his big […]
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Mickey Avalon-Self Titled
MySpace Records Nothing good can come of this MySpace Records, I’m convinced. Although the social Web site has been a boon to several indie bands, the idea of pulling unsigned talent from its cesspool and giving them a major-record deal is a dangerous one, judging solely from the no-talent behind its first single-artist release: Mickey […]
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Centro matic-Fort Recovery
Misra Records The primary goal for every band is to distinguish a new record from its previous work and all the other acts in its corner of music. It did not bode well for Centro-matic’s “Fort Recovery” that, after several listens, I still had to check my CD player to remind myself who I was […]