Inga Swearingen – First Rain
Rod Stewart – Soulbook
Rodrigo Y Gabriela – 11:11
Michael Jackson – This Is It
Gov’t Mule – By A Thread
Robert Earl Keen – Rose Hotel
Rosanne Cash – The List
Sufjan Stevens – BQE
Willie Nelson – American Classic
Mother Hips – Pacific Dust
Modest Mouse – No One’s First & Your Next
Lyle Lovett – Natural Forces
Stephen Stills – Live At Shepards Bush
Port O’Brien – Threadbare
Monsters Of Folk – Monsters Of Folk
Jason Mraz – We Sing We Dance We Steal Things
Zac Brown – Foundation
Twilight: New Moon – OST
Inga Swearingen – Learning To Fly
Rebelution – Bright Side Of Life
Tim McGraw – Southern Voice
David Gray – Draw The Line
Portugal The Man – Satanic Satanic
Wolfmother – Cosmic Egg
Mariah Carey – Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel
Pearl Jam – Backspacer
Review: Girls
Girls – Album
Restructuring the catchy melodies and stripped-bare musical architecture of the Ramones for a west coast beach house garage party, the San Francisco-based two-man duo Girls (Christopher Owens and Chet “JR” White ) have crafted a infectious and charming debut album of California sunshine pop and fuzz-out surf guitar haziness. With a backstory that includes childhood cult indoctrination, a millionaire surrogate and prescription drug addictions, it all synthesizes down into their psychological-evaluation opening track “Lust For Life”, as Owens line-lists aspirations for normalcy: boyfriend, father, suntan, pizza, beach house. “Ghost Mouth” slows down the signature ‘boom ba-boom kssh’ beat of the Ronettes to deliver an ode of dejected isolation and AM gold. Elsewhere, they unleash huge waves of sound as on “Summertime” which drops into hypnotic, wavering sonics of being lost in the curl, or “Big Bad Mean Motherfucker” which revs up and lets loose with an over-charged greasy guitar solo, with background harmonies wooing the whole affair in loving Beach Boy tribute. A deceptively simple record but executed perfectly.
