Carter Albrecht - Jesus Is Alive...and Living In London CD Review

Carter Albrecht may no no longer be with us, but his music lives on and it shows the passion he had for his gift. I met Carter in 2006 in San Diego and he walked up and just started talking to me like I was a friend of his. I knew he was with Edie Brickell and New Bohemians, but I had never heard anything he had done and had been real impressed with watching play that night. So after that show I picked up some older music of his as well as some solo Bend Studio recordings. I had known that he was planning a solo CD at some point. But then Carter was tragically taken from us in a strange accident. That day a very tallented young man was gone and these are the recordings he left for us.

Each and everyone of these recordings has a little different flavor and at first from hearing his accoustic solo stuff I was really famazed at the difference in the sound and structure of the songs with a full band backing. Every song on the CD is really good and I really do recommend having a listen and picking this up.

You can hear some of the other works of Carter as part of a couple bands, The Limes, Sparrows & Sorta. Check them all out on iTunes or in a record store if they are still in print.

Track Listing:

1. Jesus Light
2. Country Living
3. Rome
4. Rivers Into Rum
5. When You're Younger
6. Jesus Is Alive (And Living in London)
7. Godot
8. Sparrows
9. The Sign

Coraline - Movie Review

Coraline is a story about a young girl who moves into a new apartment and has pretty much been ignored by her parents who are too busy to spend time with her. She discovers a dorway leading to an alternate world that her parents pay attention to her, but they have button eyes and things are all a little more twisted than they seem. Could this alternate world be a paradise, the place to stay forever or is there something to it.

Written and Directed by Henry Selick, the director of A Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, it is a story adapted and co-written by Neil Gaiman. The movie is the first one filmed in stop-motion feature shot in stereoscope 3-D. The features are pretty amazing to see in watching this film. I can't imagine what they had to go through to create the whole thing. I do hope the DVD comes with a full collection of extras showing this stuff. Pretty amazing.

Coraline goes from one world to the next at different times. Everyone from the real world is there, but with a little bit of a twist. Even the cat goes between the worlds and in the weird world he can talk. Wybie is the annying kid that she befriends in the movie. His grandmother owns the apartment building they live in.

There's a lot more to the story, but would rather you see it to understand and enjoy it. I reallly like everything about this movie. It's a bit of a dark story, the colors and graphics of it all are cool. It's well worth seeing. My suggestion is that it's not for young children, but maybe older than 10.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King - Review

This is one that if you are a total fan you will like because it has a lot of the simular qualities of the earlier works of Dave Matthews. I personally have felt it start to grow on me with every listen, but still not convince that it's his best work, but still pretty good.

The best thing about ordering the edition I did from www.davematthewsband.com was the free copy of Live Trax Volume 15 from Alpine Valley in 2008. Lot's of good music to enjoy from that one.

I still say pick it up and have a listen, it's well worth it, but it's nothing different than most of the past stuff we have seen. Enjoy!

Track Listing:

1. Grux
2. Shake Me Like A Monkey
3. Funny The Way It Is
4. Lying In The Hands of God
5. Why I Am
6. Dive In
7. Spaceman
8. Squirm
9. Alligator Pie
10. Seven
11. Time Bomb
12. Baby Blue
13. You & Me

Rhett Miller - Self Titled - New CD Review

Rhett Miller the lead singer of Old 97's has put out a new solo CD on June 9th. He will be out touring with the band and doing an acoustic set this Summmer, so check him out if he comes near you. Go to www.rhettmiller.com for information.

There's a pretty diverse style of music in this CD. Rhett goes from mellow acoustic to some upbeat typical Old 97's style music. It's filled with a really good selection of songs.

I really enjoyed listening to every track on this CD plus the bonus ones received if you downloaded it from iTunes. A must have for the collection.

Track Listing:

1. Nobody Says I Love You Anymore 2:57
2. Like Love 3:27
3. Caroline 2:49
4. I Need To Know Where I Stand 3:12
5. Happy Birthday Don't Die 4:33
6. Bonfire 4:20
7. Haphazardly 3:09
8. If It's Not Love 3:11
9. Another Girlfriend 3:46
10. Refusing Temptation 3:35
11. Lashes 3:27
12. Sometimes 3:30
iTunes Bonus:
13. Caroline(Jon Brion Guitar Freak)
14. Bonfire(Demo)
15. I know It's Wrong(Demo)
16. Hospital Wings(Demo)
17. Government Man(Demo)