Burn Notice - Season 1 Review - Season 2 Starts July 10th

USA network's Burn Notice Season One will be out on DVD June 17th. If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend picking up the series and watching it before the second season hits the air on July 10th.

The storie starts out with Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) wakes up in Miami only to find out that there has been a burn notice put on him. When you're a spy, getting a burn notice means that you've been officially deemed unreliable by your covert brethren, and that you're no longer wanted in the spy community. So you stay in Miami or pay the consequences.

Michael's goal is to use all of his resources available to find out who did this to him and in the mean time take on some odd jobs to get some cash and help some people out.

The first season of this show was fantastic and I really can't wait to see the second season. The cast of characters is great. Bruce Campbell plays a washed up old agent named Sam Axe, who still is involved and sometimes can even be trusted my Michael. Campbell is awesome in his role and really makes the show. Another one of the great charachters is Fiona Glenanne played by Gabrielle Anwar. She has some affiliation with the IRA and has certain specialties like explosives and picking locks, fun stuff like that. She and Michael are former lovers and she's back to find out why he left her the way he did. It keeps great tension throughout the show. She is the best thing to watch on the show if you're a dude. SEXY! Sharon Gless of Cagney and Lacey fame plays Michael's mother, who is pretty clueless and a real pain in the butt. She is so funny in her role. Like I said, they really put a great line-up together for this show.

The whole season leads Michael a little closer to what he's looking for, just keeping it a little out of his reach. The stories are good and the charachters are great. This really is a must see.

The first season is 11 Episodes. Really 10 with a 2 hour finally, but they put this all together on a 4 DVD set along with a bunch of cool extras and commentary to watch as well. I would certainly pick this one up, watch it and get your DVR ready to tag Season 2 on July 10th. It's awesome.

Aimee Mann - @#%&! SMILERS - CD Review

Aimee Mann has released her seventh solo cd @#%&! SMILERS. The album consistsof 13 original tracks and 3 bonus tracks if you purchase through iTunes. This album brings Aimee back to her style previous to The Forgotten Arm. She has more of a stripped down sound, with a good range coming from simple piano to full band sound of a song like Freeway. Not sure the exact meaning of having a lot of money but not affording the freeway. I'll have to go through the lyrics to figure that one out. Freeway has a nice beat and is a good start to the album.

This album brings out a really nice sound. Aimee has a beautiful voice and it really shines through on this album. Songs like Stranger into Starman have a nice mix of piano and strings. Over all all the songs are a bit different, and carry well with each other. There's a good mix of piano, strings, some synth music, drums, pretty much a little of everything. The final song "Ballantines" is a duet with Sean Hayes complete with barroom piano and trombone section.

The iTunes version comes with with 2 acoustic versions of songs on the cd as well as Lullaby, which is called a B-side song. It's a bit of a alt-country type song. Quite a nice finish to the album.

I really have enjoyed listening to her Live at St. Ann's Warehouse CD from the CD/DVD combo set from June of 2004. I would recommend picking that one up as well if you are ording the new cd.

Track Listing:

1. Freeway
2. Stranger Into Starman
3. Looking For Nothing
4. Phoenix
5. Borrowing Time
6. It's Over
7. Thirty One Today
8. Great Beyond
9. Medicine Wheel
10. Columbus Ave.
11. Little Tornado
12. True Believer
13. Ballantines
14. Freeway (iTunes exclusive accoustic version)
15. Great Beyond (iTunes exclusive accoustic version)
16. Lullaby (iTunes exclusive B-side)

This is really a great cd and worth picking up. You can get it at iTunes with the bonus songs or pick it up on Amazon as always. For more news, tour dates and information about Aimee Mann stop by her web page and have a look http://www.aimeemann.com/

Old 97's - Blame It On Gravity - CD Review

Blame It On Gravity is the first album in four years for The Old 97's and the seventh in a fifteen year career span. This Dallas based Alt-Country band has gone back to the roots on some of these songs. It's a really good mix of rock, punk, pop and alt-country throughout the album.

Produced by Dallas musucian and friend of the band Salim Nourallah, you can tell the care he took working with them to get the sweetness out of them. They really give a good mix of music on this album. It's quite an enjoyable album to listen to.

The band, still comprised of original members Rhett Miller, Murry Hammond, Ken Bethea and Philip Peeples. Even though Rhett has successfully gone out and done some work on his own, it really is great to have the band back together creating some amazing pieces of work.

If you get a chance pick up the CD/DVD combo version. It has a 44 min documentary of the band with some classic live material and well as focus on the new CD.

Track Listing:

1. The Fool
2. Dance With Me
3. No Baby I
4. My Two Feet
5. Ride
6. She Loves The Sunset
7. This Beautiful Thing
8. I Will Remain
9. Early Morning
10. The Easy Way
11. Here s To The Halcyon
12. Color Of A Lonely Heart Is Blue
13. The One

I've been listening to this one non-stop since the day it came out and it just keeps getting better. Be sure to go out and support the band and see them on their summer tour and check out their website for more information at www.old97s.com.

Gavin Rossdale - Wanderlust - CD Review

It's been a while since the good old days of Bush jamming out some great tunes. Since then Gavin Rossdale has formed another band, Institute in 2005 and put out a cd called Distort Yourself. He's married to Gwen Stefani from No Doubt and of course a successful solo artist.

I have to say the Bush years are still the best ones out there. I remember seeing Bush back when Sixteen Stone just came out. They were an electrifying band and really had it together. I really thought we would see them take off into big things.

Rossdale's new cd is really good. Can't Stop the World is a good start really showing the typical Rossdale vocal, going from mellow to kicking in to a good beat. From there you have a mix of tunes on this one. Some Rockin', Some Ballads, but overall a really good sound and it's good to hear him putting out new music.

This album was produced by Bob Rock and has Rossdale working with drummer Josh Freese, guitarist Chris Traynor (also formerly of Bush), bassist Paul Bushnell and keyboardist Jamie Muhoberac.

For updates on his tour and other news, go to http://www.gavinrossdale.com/ he's doing some Mid-West dates in the US in July and maybe we will see that expanding a little.

Track Listing:

1. Can't Stop The World
2. Frontline
3. Forever May You Run
4. The Skin I'm In
5. Drive
6. Future World
7. Love Remains The Same
8. If You're Not With Us You Are Against Us
9. This Is Happiness
10. Another Night In The Hills
11. The Trouble I'm In
12. Beauty In The Beast
13. This Place Is On Fire

Well worth spending the $9.99 to pick this one up from either iTunes or Amazon.

David Cook - The Time Of My Life - Idol Review

So in all of the years of the show American Idol I had never watch an actual season. I always watched those tryouts and the tools who came back every year even though the sucked big time. They must have mental issues or just want to always be known as the complete idiots of the world. Anyways, this year my wife sucked me into the show and I watched it from end to end.

I just moved to Kansas City, MO so for me Blue Springs, MO didn't mean a thing, it might as well have been Madison, WI or something. I come to find out that it's basically a subburb of our little KC town. From the top 12 I knew that David Cook would be the one to beat. Everything about him screamed - I'm the one - the voice, style and versitility he has is amazing. I can't believe it took this show for him to make it. Sounds like he put in some years here in KC working hard at it and new really took off.

At first I never called in a single time because I watched the show after voting on the DVR. Then as it came down to the final 6 or so I started dialing in and getting my David Cook votes in for fear that some dipshit like Jason would win because women thought he was cute or he was the vote for the worst person - who knows.

From week to week David Cook was consistant putting out great sound from Opera, rock, Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond and the rest. I personally thought that David A. would win because all the teens voting for him. Personally I saw him as nothing more that a good kid, with a kind heart hanging on the puppet strings of his father. He has no versitility in his going and will do well as a christian singer or something in that nature. I do wish him luck as this was a lot for a 16 year old to go through.

Back to Cook - The man of the hour - the week and hopefully a successful career going forward. I see this guy blowing away the likes of Clay, Ruben, Daughtry, Clarkson and the rest. He has a good heart and doesn't seem like he will et it go to his head too bad. Hopefully he stays grounded and remembers where he came from.

David's cd Analog Heart is great. I think lyrically you can tell it's a start and needs some work, but the voice and arrangemnts are amazing. When they do put it out again I would certainly pick it up if I were you. Plus all those great studio versions iTues sold through the competition are good ones to have.

I wish this guy nothing but success in teh years to come. He was up against some good, some bad and some ugly and really came through.

Foxboro Hottubs - Stop Drop and Roll!!! - CD Review

The new Foxboro Hottubs cd Stop Drop and Roll!!! is fantastic. Basically this is Green Day as a 60's post-punk garage band, just having fun and putting out some good old classic rock stuff. Looks like they changed their name just to do something fun as a side project, but it's still Billy Joe rockin' the lead.

The songs are all relatively short, but awesome. They range between 2-3 minutes a song and keep you going from end to end.

It's well worth picking this one up. amazon has it for like $7.99, last I saw Best Buy was running it at $9.99 and iTunes the same.

Track Listing:
1. Stop Drop And Roll
2. Mother Mary
3. Ruby Room
4. Red Tide
5. Broadway
6. She's A Saint Not A Celebrity
7. Sally
8. Alligator
9. The Pedestrian
10. 27th Ave. Shuffle
11. Dark Side Of Nigh
12. Pieces Of Truth

Rambo - DVD Review - Look Out Fake Plastic People!

Now I'm not really what possessed me to go out and rent this movie on Tuesday, maybe the fact that nothing else was out. Stallone is back, older, more plastic, looking rough and ready to kill any and everything in site.

This had to have been one of the most brutal, bloody movies I've seen this year. I would have to guess that I was watching the unrated edition otherwise this movie needed to be rated NC17.

You know it's going to be brutal when in the first 5 minutes about 100 people are killed, limbs are flying and children are getting killed right in front of your eyes.

The story takes place later after the original movies. Rambo is collecting snakes and running a river boat somewhere outside of Burma. He gets asked by a bunch of church going people including Dexters girlfriend(showtime series), who want to go help the people in the villages. The rebels run crazy and kill everyone and kidnap the Americans. It's up to Rambo to save the day. The blood and guts start flying and the blood is running.

Overall - if you are a horror fan - go see it. If you have a weak stomach forget it.

I love Sly Stallone movies, they are all classic straight to DVD - B movies, just like Steven Segal, wesley Snipes and Jean Claude. How can you pass up the opportunity to see anything by any of these classic actors of our time. Rambo and Rocky made it to the theaters, but would have been just as well off going straight to DVD. I'm sure rental and sales will be great - Blue Ray for sure on this one if you have it. Then you can see fingers and toes hitting the cameras.

Rating 2 out of 5 stars.

The Forbidden Kingdom - Movie Review

Jackie Chan and Jet Li get together for the first time in the new Fantasy/Martial arts film The Forbidden Kingdom. The story is filled with loads of acrobatic fight scenes and some great Yuen Woo Ping action setups.

This is a story of a teenage boy named Jason(Michael Angarano), who loves kung fu movies and has a favorite stop in China town to get his fix. He wanders off into a back room of the shop and sees this staff that legend tells belongs to The Monkey King and will be returned to him by the chosen one. The story goes from the shop to fantasy land and tells the tale of how Jason needs to return the staff and save the kingdom by releasing The Monkey King.

I thought that it was a pretty good story and had some great action scenes. There was a few really good ones that took place between Jackie Chan and Jet Li in the middle of it. It's always great to have Woo Ping as the stunf coordinator. He has done some great work in the past.

If you haven't seen many of these types of films, the typical suggestions in the American collections would be Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero & House of Flying Daggers. I would suggest a couple other pretty cool epic Asian films like Seven Swords, Legend of Zu, Curse of the Golden Flower & Iron Monkey. Now let's not forget the classic Bulletproof Monk as a good one to see as well.

If you like cool action fight scenes, I would add some Tony Jaa films like Ong Bak and The Protector. It's even better if you can get the Asian copies with English Subtitles because they translated it different that the US released version. Some of the translations are just funny.

Forbidden Kingdom was actually written John Fusco(Hildalgo) and directed by Rob Minkoff (The Haunted Mansion), which is a combination I wouldn't have picked to do such a good job with this one. I would certainly recommend seeing this one.

Battlestar Galactica - He That Believeth In Me S04E01 Review

Season 4 starts off with a bang. Ending where they left off as the Cylons attack and Starbuck appears out of the clouds and says that she has found Earth and knows the way. Gaius Baltar gets taken in by a looney group and we find out who four of the five cylons are. we now know that Tigh, Tory, Tyrol and Anders are the first 4.


So starting it off with Starbuck coming back and meeting up with Lee, then the cut to the scene where Colonel Tigh shoots Adama in the head and then we realize he's having a dream and it really doesn't happen. From there we have Anders off in space and he comes face to face with a Cylon and it does something to turn his cylon powers on. The Cylons all leave and we deal with the story of Starbuck, Earth and the rest.


I thought it was a pretty good start to the season. The action sequences at the start were great. I hope they don't blow the budget and not have the opportunity to do more. They need this season to go out with a big ending and also the possibility of movies or other options in the future. Not sure that will happen, but can only hope they will find a way to continue.

I think the whole Gaius Baltar story was rather lame during the show. They are making him out to be some sort of false god to these people. Maybe they will hang him from a cross by the end of the season. They really need to move that story in a different direction or just send him out one of the airlocks and say goodbye.

The Starbuck story could turn out to be interesting. She thinks she's been gone for 6 hours and it's been several months. Lee saw her blow up, so what's up? Her Viper is not the original one she left with so there's something a little fishy going on - could she be the last Cylon? Hmmmmmmmm.

Now as far as the 4 cylons go, as much as they plan to fight what they really are, there's no way they will ever stop from doing what they are programmed to do. so Anders got zapped/programmed by the ship. So we will have to see what happens next, will the 4 of them turn or kill each other. We will have to watch and see.

Great first episode of the season and we have more to look forward to. Tune in Fridays on Sci Fi to see the latest episodes.

Don't forget that on Friday 4/11 The Sarah Jane Adventures begin and on 4/18 it's season 4 of Doctor Who. both will be on Sci Fi this season.

Panic at the Disco - Pretty. Odd. CD Review

This is the second cd for Panic At The Disco coming out 3 years after the first one. So we will see if they will hit the sophomore slump or continue to have success with is one. Pretty Odd is a bit odd over all but it really takes a lot of those 60's style stuff the Beatles and Beach Boys did and tries to relive that style.

I wasn't really sure if I would like this one or not. But I've got to tell you it's pretty good. They do really like to take a single song and change up the style of the song sometimes multiple times like a Rock Opera type song.

I really can't place them as a comparison of anything else out today. They really are a mix of several different bands all in one. That's what makes them unique. I've never seen them live, but if they can pull off all the changes in the songs on stage they are pretty talented. Hopefully I will see them some day live.

Overall it's a pretty good cd with a good mix of styles in the music and it certainly has a little bit of the 60's rock style in it. I like this one and certainly would recommend picking it up.

Track List:
1. We're So Starving
2. Nine In The Afternoon
3. She's A Handsome Woman
4. Do You Know What I'm Seeing?
5. That Green Gentleman [Things Have Changed]
6. I Have Friends In Holy Spaces
7. Northern Downpour
8. When The Day Met The Night
9. Pas De Cheval
10. The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know
11. Behind The Sea
12. Folkin' Around
13. She Had The World
14. From A Mountain In The Middle Of The Cabins
15. Mad As Rabbits

The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely CD Review

The new cd from The Raconteurs is certainly a lot different from their first one, but it's fantastic. It has a pretty good mix of music on it and stretches the the band and shows their talents. Consolers of the Lonely is the first track on the cd and it has a nice beat, mixes it up a bit but pretty up tempo all the way through. Solute Your Solution moves from the start and keeps a fast beat going and towards the end gets a bit of a funk beat, pretty cool.

You Don't Understand slows it down a bit and is a nice soulful recording. Old Enough gives you a little more of the talent and brings in some fiddle to the mix. This one reminds me of a lot of early 70's type stuff.

The Switch and the Spurs is a good little story adding some horns to the mix and feels like more of a story as you listen to it. Hold Up gets back to the rock, it has an interesting start and makes me think of something off of The Who's Tommy for bit, but just slightly. Top Yourself brings you back to a little slide guitar mellow type song. It's a nice tune and has a great beat.

Many Shades of Black brings back the horns up front and moves into a mellow beat like something out of the 50's - maybe even a song that could be in Grease :-)

Five on the Five is back to the start of with a really rockin' song - getting Jack White to play a little more of the White Stripes style. Attention starts of with a deep bass and drums then kicks into your typical rock song.

Rich Kid Blues is the ballad style song reminding me of many of the old Who rock songs telling a story and changing up the beats through out. It's a pretty cool tune. These Stones Will Shout starts off with a nice accoustic riff and gets a little more rockin' as it goes along.

Carolina Drama finished off the cd with a ballad song telling a story about a disfunctional family and it's life and drama. It's a nice mix of music styles through it all.

I was really impressed with the overall music on this cd. I would certainly pick this one up, it's pretty enjoyable. I wasn't a big White Stripes fan at first and really let them grow on me. The Raconteurs take it a step further and really have put out some good music. I still like the music Jack White did for Cold Mountain. It shows the versitility of his music and what he can do. The band over all work well together and are really talented. Pick this one up for sure.

Cowboy Junkies - Trinity Sessions CD/DVD Review

Almost 20 years after the original recording were done in The Church of the Holy Trinity, The Cowboy Junkies have returned in November 2006 along with some special guests to do a new recording of the sessions. This was captured on CD and DVD so that you not only get to hear the lovely new versions of the songs, but you get to see the making of the sessions as well.

The Cowboy Junkies brought along a few friends to help them enhance the sessions this time. Ryan Adams, Vic Chesnutt, Natalie Merchant & Jeff Bird all joined in to the sessions and did well contributing to various songs.

The original sessions were recorded in one day on November 27, 1987 and really were the start of good things to come for The Cowboy Junkies. The original cd was a good interpretation of cover songs done in a country, blues type format. The new revisited versions are even more polished up and in some cases expand on the originals. "Sweet Jane" the Lou Reed cover goes from a 4 minute song to nearly 9 minutes. "Working on a Building" grows as well to be over 6 minutes in length. Natalie Merchant backs a few songs and sings a beautiful version of "To Love is to Bury". Ryan Adams as well contributed through out the sessions, but takes the lead on " 200 More Miles" and does a fantastic job with it. Vic Chesnutt gives a good refreshing change to "Postcard Blues".

It's really great to hear the band go back and fill in the sessions with some of what they may have felt was left incomplete. This really is a fantastic cd and the DVD that captutes interviews, the sessions and more is really nice to watch. Pierre & Francois Lamoureux directed the docutmentary and did a great job. It's easy to find a copy of this in stores for about $17 or get it from http://www.amazon.com/ the price is about the same.

Track List:
1. Mining for Gold
2. Misguided Angel
3. Blue Moon Revisited
4. I Don't Get It
5. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
6. To Love Is to Bury
7. 200 More Miles
8. Dreaming My Dreams
9. Working on a Building
10. Sweet Jane
11. Postcard Blues
12. Walking After Midnight

BSG - Season 4 - April 4th - Are You Ready!

Season 3 arrived last week on DVD, Friday Sci-Fi Channel kicks off the new season with a review of the past to catch people up to get ready for the fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica.

I just picked up those season 3 DVDs last week and have been getting my fill of one of the best shows on TV. If you haven't seen Battlestar Galactica I would highly recommend setting the Tivo and going back starting with the Mini-Series and catch up through the first three seasons. I think it's been one of the best written shows and has one of the best casts out there right now.

Without giving anything away to those who have not watched the series, but plan to. Battlestar Galactica in a quick summary is about the Humans building Cylons to help do the dirty work and then one day the Cylons revolt and destroy the 12 colonies and those who survive decide it's time to look for the mythical place called Earth. This is the journey and it's awesome.

You have some amazing people in this series over the years. Edward James Olmos plays Admiral Adama, Mary Mcdonnell is President Roslin, Grace Park is Boomer, Katee Sackhoff is Starbuck and there are many others including the original Lee Adama - Richard Hatch as well as Lucy Lawless and Dean Stockwell. This show has been awesome from one end to the other and has had some good twists and turns in time. You won't regret watching it, you will be hooked.

Tune in April 4th to the Sci-Fi Network to see the start of the final season.

AVPR: Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem

Now this is one I would wait until it's on cable - not sure it's even worth seeing this one on DVD. There really is no story at all, it's all about the action and killing. That's apparent when they kill a kid off in the first five minutes and then have an alien explode from his chest.

I honestly don't know why I'm even writing a review of this one. It had no story it left room open for us to be tortured by more of these horrible high priced B movies.

I honestly can say that there is nothing in this movie that was even worth the 90 minutes of watching. Aliens invade and Predators destroy, most people die except the few lead roles.

This movie blows.

Rating: 0 out of 4 stars

Once - Movie Review

This movie was recommended by a friend and I finally got around to seeing it. It's an interesting film that deals with one mans messed up situation of living with his father after a break up and never seems to be going anywhere. He sings on the street corner to get his songs out and for a few pounds here and there. Glen Hansard plays the Irish street singer/vacuum repair guy. He meets this woman played by Markéta Irglová who sells flowers on the street and lives at home with her mother. She really likes his music and challenges him a bit to sing and as they build an odd sort of relationship, he gets her to open up and sing as well.

The story really follows the sort of dry progression of getting the two to start playing music and eventually recording a group of songs with a backing band. It gives the Irishman his motivation to go to London to try and make it as a musician. Without telling the whole story we will leave it there.

I enjoyed the film mainly for the music more than anything. It had a sort of Before Sunrise feel to me that the man meets the woman and has a limited time to spend with them. It's slow at parts and awkward, but the music really makes the movie hit the spot. For that I would recommend seeing it.

I don't own the soundtrack, yet, but will probably pick it up as they really sounded great playing in the film.

Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

Horton Hears A Who! - Movie Review

If you have young kids this is one you want to go see. Horton Hears a Who! is a Dr. Seuss classic brought to the big screen with Jim Carrey as the voice of Horton and Steve Carell as the mayor of Whoville. The annimation in this film is fantastic. The creators of Ice Age were involved and if you have seen that, then you know what you will be seeing.

There are a few parts that might get a 2 year old covering their eyes, but for the most part it's a fun movie and keeps the interest of the kids from the start to the end. I certainly would say it's enjoyable for adults as well.

So this weekend if it's raining, find yourself a good theater to go and see this movie.

The Bridge - Review of a Almost Disturbing Documentary

After watching this documentary, I'm not sure I will ever look at the Golden Gate Bridge the same again. Filmed over the course of one year, 2004, The Bridge tells the story of several of those who decided to end their lives with one giant leap.

The Bridge is directed by Eric Steel. It is a collection of interviews with the families and friends of those who had jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge as well as one person who survived the jump. It was pretty apparent from the family and friends who are interviewed through out the documentary that the people who jumped had long thought through the process before doing so. In several cases, it wasn't the first time the person had attempted to kill themselves. In others, there was depression and bi-polar issues for many years.

I think they were trying to capture the why. Why the Golden Gate Bridge of all places? What makes it a place that people want to end their lives. The obvious answer is that it is almost certain death. Not many have survived the fall and not many will.

I found the documentary to be really interesting because of how they were able to locate the families and tell a bit about these people we are about to see jump off the bridge. The one thing that bothered me a bit was that you actually do see these people being talked about standing on the bridge and then eventually as their story unfolds they show them taking the leap. Not all of them, but a couple of them. It was really strange to see this, really morbid.

I think that this one is worth seeing if you have a good open mind, but don't get any ideas of heading to San Fran and having a leap.

Counting Crows - Saturday Night & Sunday Mornings CD Review

Now here we go again with a classic band and a five year break since their last studio recording. The Counting Crows have been a favorite of mine for many years and even though they have continued to tour and play along the way, it's refreshing to hear them put out a new cd.

Saturday Night & Sunday Mornings starts out pretty rocking then settles in a bit and falls in line with most of their other tunes. I think I saw them last about 5 years back at The Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View, CA. It was an acoustic show, but fantastic. They sounded great and played some great songs in the time they had on stage.

This cd comes with 14 songs ranging from rockin' to ballad. Adam sounds as great as he did on August and Everything After. I really dig the songs in the middle of the cd, some a little more mellow, but they just bring out the the sweet sound of the band. 1492 starts it off with the rolling drums and guitar coming in, gets you jumping off the chair, a nice tune. Hanging Tree starts off strangely and changes tune a bit, then comes back to a typical Counting Crows beat. What more would you expect than to have a song about California called Los Angeles. Nice guitar work through the song. This works into a pop type tune called Sunday. It's a fun little upbeat tune.

Insignificant brings it all together with a nice some good guitar work and Adam flowing smoothly along into the song. It's a great centerpiece to the cd. There are some really nice tunes in the middle like Washington Square, On Almost Any Sunday Morning and I Dream of Michelangelo. Some good acoustic and harmonica tones in these songs. well harmonica in Sunday at least. On Tuesday in Amsterdam Long Ago is a nice little piano ballad. Finishing it off with Come Around bringing out a jamming start and flowing back to a nice little tune.

Track Listing:

1492
Hanging Tree
Los Angeles
Sundays
Insignificant
Cowboys
Washington Square
On Almost Any Sunday Morning
When I Dream of Michelangelo
Anyone But You
You Can't Count on Me
Le Ballet Dor
On a Tuessday in Amsterdam Long Ago
Come Around

Overall I'm pretty impressed with this new cd from Counting Crows. They have waited a bit long to put a new one out, but it's a good one for sure. I look forward to seeing them next month at Liberty Hall in Lawrence, KS it should be a good show in a nice small venue.

R.E.M. - Accelerate CD Review

Well we have a new REM cd for the first time in four years. Seems like they are trying to get a little back to the roots of their old days and play some good old alternative rock. I'm not really a fan of the first two tracks on the cd. I feel like they are trying to be something they shouldn't be. From that point on I really like the track selection. Supernatural Superserious reminds me of the good old days of Document or Lifes Rich Pageant. Following it up with Hollow Man kind of keeps me thinking of those good old REM days and it really follows through in the next few songs as well. Mr. Richards is a little different in style, but I like the style with some good guitar going through as Michael Stipe sings a good constant song.

Over all, I really like the new cd. I lost touch with REM for a bunch of years because after Out of Time I really felt like they lost what I liked about them. So I sort of just walked away and didn't pay much attention to them. When I heard the new cd was coming out I had a listen and really enjoyed it after I got past the first two songs. I really feel like they decided to get back to what made them good.

Track Listing:

1. Living Well Is The Best Revenge
2. Man-Sized Wreath
3. Supernatural Superserious
4. Hollow Man
5. Houston
6. Accelerate
7. Until The Day Is Done
8. Mr. Richards
9. Sing For The Submarine
10. Horse To Water
11. I'm Gonna DJ

The first time I saw REM was on the Document tour back in November of 1987 in Madison, WI. It was a fantastic show and Michael Stipe just blew me away with the intensity of his performance. He had long hair and wore about 6 layers of clothing and slowly made his way down to the final suit. I really wish that they would have recorded a DVD of one of the performances from that tour. I would love to see that tour again and relive the good old days. I have seen them a couple times since, but nothing was ever as good as that tour for me.

I see they have a DVD out from 2003 and it looks like they went back to playing some of the good old classics. I may get that one and report back on that next.

Wilco - 9:30 Club Washington DC - Audio Review

Wilco played a gig live two weeks ago at the Riviera in Chicago which was the 4th night of their homestead series as they are a band from Chiccago. This was broadcast on WXRT and was an amazing show. You can certaily find copies of it floating around like at bt.etree.org the date of that show was 2/19/2008.

Now, just over a week later they played the 9:30 Club in Washington DC and it was broadcast by NPR's All Songs Considered live concert series. You can listen to it for yourself at All Song Considered Live: Wilco.

All Songs Considered has done a number of quite amazing shows over the past couple of years and has now made many of them available as poscasts. When you go to the like and click on podcast you will see many great artists live shows out there like Andrew Bird, Arcade Fire, Neko Case, The New Pornographers, The Decemberists, Art Brut, Nickel Creek, Iron & Wine, Okkervill River and many more, some 60 or so shows currently available. I really hope that this one will make it out to the collection as well.

As there are alread some really nice audience recordings of this show, it would be great to have the one directly from All Songs Considered. Not sure if that will happen as this is actually the 3rd time they have done a live show for NPR according to it's website.

This is a fantastic one to listen to, well over two hours of fantastic songs from all the years they've been together.

Sky Blue Sky is the latest cd to be released by Wilco. It certainly takes them back to more of their original style in music, when they got started. I've been a fan of Wilco for many years and I really like the sound of the new cd.

The setlist for this show was as follows:

Sunken Treasure
Mountain Bed

Company in My Back
You Are My Face
Side with the Seeds
She's a Jar
Shot in the Arm
Nothingsever
Handshake Drugs
Pot Kettle Black
Roses Bloom
Impossible Germany
Simple
Someday Soon
Box Full of Letters
Always in Love
Pieholden

Jesus Etc.
Hate It Here
Walken
I'm the Man
Humming Bird
On and On and On
Via Chicago
California Stars
Casino Queen
I'm a Wheel
Monday

The whole show was a highlight to me. Personally I loved how it started of with Sunken Treasure going into Mountain Bed. Some other greats Handshake Drugs, Impossible Germany, Jesus Etc., Walken and Casino Queen were all great.

The last time I saw them in Kansas City this past October, many of these same songs were played and it was an awesome show to have been at.

If you can't make it to see them live, I would highly recommend listening to some of their live shows like this one on NPR as well as the WXRT show from Chicago. They put out a double live cd Kicking Television a couple years back in 2006 that is certainly worth going out and buying or downloading from iTunes.

Wilco have always been an impressive live band to see and I hope someday, if one doesn't exist, they will do a full show concert DVD with HD Sound Quality. That would be amazing.

Go to the link above and have a listen - give yourself some time as it's a good long show.

Enjoy!