Weekly Record Review

I'm Still Here. Are You?

2011-02-28T13:03:00.000-05:00

So I'm not sure if anyone actually comes to this site without me posting it to Facebook, Twitter, etc, but here's an update anyway. I've been focusing my blogging on my other site Malta-Media, where I write about my and my wife's travels and adventures while living in Malta for the year. But, more importantly to this site, I was picked up as an album reviewer for the prominent music site

TOP 1O OF 2O1O

2010-12-08T12:36:00.012-05:00

You have probably noticed that I've been pretty inactive on this blog. Nonetheless, I would be remiss to not announce Weekly Record Review's TOP 10 Albums of 2010. But first... Stinkers of 2010 MGMT - Congratulations Another middle finger to the fans like this could cost them what was a promising career. Kings of Leon - Come Around Sundown In three albums they've gone from excellent to

Top Albums of the Beginning of the 21st Century - Part I

2010-08-05T23:07:00.002-04:00

So this post was started quite some time ago, but events conspired to delay it. Finally though, it has reached completion. Please enjoy the Top Albums of the Beginning of the 21st Century. When deciding on the criteria for such a list, the first question one must ask is whether to look at each album via the lens of presentism or not. We've worked through this intellectual conundrum by simply

My Two Cent(ence Reviews)

2010-05-24T11:40:00.000-04:00

MGMT's album 'Congratulations' lacks anything approaching the holy triumvirate of Kids, Time to Pretend and Electric Feel. Is it the big middle finger we all should have seen coming when their followup to Oracular Specatular was Metanoia? 'Together' lacks the "power" in the power-pop that The New Pornographers previously excelled at. Nico Case is great, but in the context of the N.P.'s she's

2010-05-16T14:14:00.001-04:00

Delorean - Subiza Although Delorean has been around since 2000, they only began popping up on the indie-radar last year with the ep Ayrton Senna. Originally from Basque country, the band relocated to Barcelona where their musical stylings became a mishmash of rock, pop and dance. Although most of the tracks on Subiza follow a pretty rigid formula, it doesn't grow wearisome. Dance music figures

2010-03-22T23:49:00.003-04:00

Broken Bells - Broken Bells Back in 2004, before internet buzz became ultra-instant, a young producer named Danger Mouse became famous by mashing up the vocals from Jay-Z's Black Album with the Beatles' White Album creating, you guessed it, the Grey Album. Ultimately, the Grey Album was more notable for it's concept than its execution (except for this badass version of 99 Problems, mixed with

Canadian Dominance To Continue Through May

2010-03-01T12:50:00.000-05:00

It appears that the world will have to suffer Canadian dominance for a couple more months. On May 4th, the world will receive a one-two combo from Canadian heavy-hitters Broken Social Scene and The New Pornographers. Check out the awesome 7 minute 'World Sick,' the first single from BSS's upcoming Forgiveness Rock Record. (I'll be seeing them in NYC in early May and will have a full write up.) I

Top Ten Albums of 2009

2010-01-04T21:48:00.002-05:00

11. Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It 'The Way I See It' comes in at number 11 because it actually came out in the fall of 2008 but I didn't find it until this, er.. last year. Rapheal Saadiq has a storied career, first as a member of Tony! Toni! Tone!, then as a producer and collaborator with ATCQ, D'Angelo, Joss Stone, The Roots, Snoop, Ludacris, Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston and tons of

:( of 2009

2009-12-22T18:55:00.005-05:00

Most music that comes out sucks. Thats a fact. Look it up. An even harsher fact is that some of the music you look forward to will suck. Here are WRR's biggest disappointments of 2009.311 – UplifterFor a long time, I’ve been a big fan of 311. And as most fans would tell you, the band's output has somewhat declined in quality over the last few albums, but that is only natural for a band that has

WRR's Favorits Songs of 2009 Part II

2009-12-10T17:55:00.008-05:00

20. Kid Cudi - Make Her Say (ft. Kanye & Common)"And the award for best use of the term 'poker face' in a song for 2oo9 goes to... Kid Cudi." Despite a(nother) wack verse from Common and a sometimes clever/sometimes corny one from 'Ye, Cudi the Kid whipped up one of the best songs of the year with catchy vocal samples and hard-hitting drums.19. Heartless Bastards - The MountainThe Heartless

WRR's Favorite Songs of 2009 Part I

2009-12-08T18:46:00.008-05:00

Joining in on the glut of best of lists, here is the first part of the first list we've cooked up here at WRR. More coming soon.40. Tanya Morgan - Alleye NeedFor those of you non-OKP's, Tanya Morgan is a rap group, not a person. Once the joyous horns and bouncing low-end beat kicks in, you can't help but snap your neck. (Sorry, but the youtube version is poor quality.)39. Wild Light - California

Pass the Grand Duchy on the Left Hand Side

2009-11-13T15:11:00.009-05:00

Grand Duchy - Petit Fours The inimitable Frank Black. The man is truly an under-appreciated icon of American rock music. Whether it was with the Pixies shaping the face of modern rock, his early solo-work using synthesizers to great effect way before the current 80's fetish, or his later Americana/ alt-rock work which is as good as anything from Ryan Adams or Conor Oberst, Black Francis has put

Under New MGMT

2009-09-21T21:36:00.007-04:00

On Sunday night, I was one of the lucky few 500 people to get tickets to the Kia-sponsored free MGMT show. It was my third time seeing the band and, once again, they did not disappoint. In a tight, hourlong set they managed to squeeze in all of the best songs from Oracular Spectacular along with four new songs from the upcoming album 'Congratulations.' This rumor mill provides more detail on

The British Are Coming!!!

2009-09-09T00:09:00.003-04:00

Perhaps you've heard some of the hubbub about the remastering and re-release of the entire Beatles catalogue. Personally, I hadn't paid too much attention as I'm pretty familiar with their catalogue, but this article caught my attention. Enjoy.New reviews will be up shortly. Thanks for your continued patience and patronage.

Phoenix

2009-08-31T11:16:00.005-04:00

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus PhoenixIf you read this blog or watch SNL, chances are you've already heard (of) Phoenix and the hype surrounding them. I'll be frank: I enjoy the album, but do not particularly think it is all that and a bag of chips. Also, I don't see the comparisons to the Strokes (whom I've been enjoying a lot of lately), other than the fact that both bands seem to ascribe to a

Random Thoughts

2009-07-14T19:04:00.006-04:00

Well, this blog isn't quite going the way I expected. Life has been crazy and will remain so for the next two months (or possibly forever, depending on how you look at it). Anywho, I wanted to post up some random thoughts because I don't have time for any full blown reviews.Dirty Projectors' Bitte Orca is definitely my album of the year so far. The angular melodies betray a musical intelligence

Vote For Me

2009-05-21T10:50:00.003-04:00

I've yet to use this blog as a forum for anything but music, but my class has entered a video contest from which we could win some nice prize money. Please vote for my video here. http://contest.forrent.com/main/video?creative_id=131You have to register first, but it only takes a minute. Thanks and feel free to let me know what you think!!!

Everybody Solo!

2009-04-23T19:08:00.006-04:00

For this installment of WRR, we're reviewing two solo albums from artists who are firmly established frontmen with other bands. For whatever reason, they've felt the need to step beyond the dynamics of their band situations, and the results are pretty good.One personal note: Film school has recently compelled me to buy a pair of high end headphones. Not a tiny, tinny pair of earbuds, or even the

Animal Party

2009-02-25T18:48:00.003-05:00

Wow, I suck. Apologies to all my writers and readers (who may actually be the same people) for my lack of blogtivity. While spending time camping in the Florida wilderness, concurrently starting a job and internship, and attending school has kept my plate overflowing, I should not get it twisted, as the kids say, and keep this blog humming along.Without further ado, here's two reviews that were

Blast From The Past

2009-02-09T18:26:00.020-05:00

Man Man – Rabbit HabitsBy Jason C.Two thousand nine is still pretty fresh, so while we give it a little time to bloom, I felt we should look back on another album from ought-eight. This hidden jewel comes from the strange audio-scribblings of Philadelphia's Man Man. Their latest album, Rabbit Habits, puts the band in a very good light, as it is their catchiest and most pop-sensible one to date,

EP Phone Home

2009-01-29T10:44:00.018-05:00

Happy Winter. Listen to these two EP's to tide you through the cold, gray season. One will make you move, thereby keeping you warm. The other will help set the mood for some winter-time chillaxing.PS - As always, we appreciate and encourage comments!Passion Pit - Chunk of Change EPBy Sean B.Remember the Postal Service? Sure you do. Their moody, yet buoyant tunes were all the rage, and still haunt

Inbloguration

2009-01-15T16:13:00.018-05:00

Lame, I know. Anywho, as mentioned several times over the past month, some new friends have joined WWR, which will hopefully allow us to provide more regular reviews. We've already premiered Sarah W., and next in line is Jason C. He has the unique position of being the only real musician amongst us, along with possessing extensive and diverse musical knowledge. Take it away, Mr. C.P.S. - Welcome

Top 54 Songs of 2008

2009-01-04T17:26:00.005-05:00

Ok, it took a while, so straight to the chase here peoples. The Top 54 Songs of 2008 as chosen by the writers at Weekly Record Review. It's split into one, two, three, four different downloadable links.In no particular order....The Hold Steady - Constructive SummerEstelle ft. Kanye West - American BoyThe Black Ghosts - Something NewSantogold - I'm A LadyNeon Neon - RaquelMGMT - Time To PretendMy

TOP 20 YEAR END LIST-O-RAMA!!!

2008-12-17T23:12:00.024-05:00

The other day while showering (where I do my best thinking...) I had a novel idea: Since the end of 2008 is almost here, why not recap the year in music with a 'Best Of' list? Now, I'm pretty sure this is a %100 original WRR idea, but I think it's so good that you can probably expect to see other music sites quickly copying us (possibly even preemptively).Our brand new staff of five engaged in an

Welcomes

2008-12-16T20:37:00.004-05:00

Last post, I mentioned some new things going on here at WRR, and today we're rolling out one of them: our new staff writer Sarah W. Currently residing in the Windy City, She hails from the same educational system that produced such luminaries as Andy C. and me, Sean B.Be on the lookout for some BIG THINGS next week.Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV and The SlipBy Andy C.Trent Reznor is a happy boy,