Moon has an affinity for vintage rock and roll. From the cleverly placed ’stereo’ on the cover, to the numerous pictures of vintage amplifiers and guitars, it’s not hard to guess that these guys listened to bands like the Byrds or the Beatles. However, while their influences may seem obvious, Moon takes their music in at least somewhat of a new direction.

On the opening track “Flight Logs” a 60’s pop riff gets buried underneath fuzzed out guitars more reminiscent of late American punk than the British invasion. The combination works, at least for most of the tracks. Some cuts, like the long “Featherweight” never really take off and on the track “Faith Healers” the weight of fuzzed guitars obscure the songs core. However, tracks like “Yesterday’s Coming” a feisty and ecstatic rock number outweigh the bands missteps. Unlike many revivalist bands, like Jet, Moon manages to both utilize their influences and move beyond them, creating an energetic and enjoyable, if slightly spotty, album. Rating 6.5/10

Luca may not be a familiar name, but the guest artists on this album are among some of the more recognizable names in independent alt-country music.  M. Ward, Howe Gelb, and Joey Burns and John Convertino all make contributions to this album.  But despite the impressive guest list Sick of Love never achieves the depth or texture of the works of the contributors.

If anything Sick of Love sounds like something slightly out of its time, an album that looks back to 90’s alternative music more than anything else.  The tracks are slightly nuanced rock numbers for the most part, but even with the work of the impressive artists on the album none of them ever diverges from their predictable paths.  “Melody” stands out as one of the album’s more memorable numbers, using the predictable soft/loud formula of alt-rock, but holding itself up with well done vocals and some interesting instrumentation.  The other standout is a cover of Rainer Ptacek’s “Loosin’ Ground,” which one of the more subdued tracks and benefits from more varied sounds than most of the tracks.  It’s not that the album is poor, it’s simply a dissapointment coming from the cast of musicians arranged here.  Nick Luca’s songs simply aren’t as original or interesting as those of M. Ward, Calexico, or Howe Gelb, but for fans of these artists this album is one to consider listening to–if only for hearing how the guest stars perform outside their regular formats.

5.2/10

1. Aquila Rose This band was completely unknown to me until I listened to their promo. One of those pleasant surprises that came out of nowhere, a band without a label, with a cd that was both handsomely and professionally packaged…and with a sound that was equally interesting. The music is dreamy and drifting, guitars floating and flowing along with almost jazz-like qualities at times. Occassionally the songs are punctuated by the bands female singer, but mostly they stick to their instrumentals. The first three tracks are great–and while the rest of the album doesn’t quite live up to the same degree of quality it is certainly not bad and definitely worth listening through. Take a listen to “In the Bed of a Balladeer” to get a good sense of this band. http://www.aquilaroseband.com/aqraudio.htm

2. Elizabeth Harper An artist to emerge out of the garageband.com website who is definitely worth listening to, particularly if you enjoy 60’s pop/folk music. She has a very nice voice, and the music is soft, well-produced, and friendly to the ears. While it’s certainly not the most innovative music out there, it is really quite good and something that will pass underneath most people’s radars, which is too bad. http://www.elizabethharper.net/music.html

3. Happy Apple Innovative, fresh, and brilliant jazz music does a really good job of escaping popularity. Sure most people have heard of some of the big jazz greats (Coltrane, Davis, etc.)–but how often does a new jazz ensemble get hype like the Arctic Monkeys? Happy Apple is more than deserving. Their music is loveable, all over the place, and always moving forward. Their drummer (who also happens to be in better known band, The Bad Plus) is constantly changing up styles, while their bass player and saxophonist work their instruments masterfully without being pretentious or too obscure to enjoy. While they are best live, their music is definitely worth checking out (Pitchfork even gave their debut a 9.5, though they haven’t received that much press since). http://www.happyapplemusic.com/index.htm

The internet is a scary place, particularly when it comes to finding the gems of unsigned or overlooked music–so stick to your favorite sites, occassionally poke your head into the madness, and listen to your college radio station. Rock may be dead, but good music isn’t–it just sometimes takes a little more work to find it.

1. Aquila Rose This band was completely unknown to me until I listened to their promo. One of those pleasant surprises that came out of nowhere, a band without a label, with a cd that was both handsomely and professionally packaged…and with a sound that was equally interesting. The music is dreamy and drifting, guitars floating and flowing along with almost jazz-like qualities at times. Occassionally the songs are punctuated by the bands female singer, but mostly they stick to their instrumentals. The first three tracks are great–and while the rest of the album doesn’t quite live up to the same degree of quality it is certainly not bad and definitely worth listening through. Take a listen to “In the Bed of a Balladeer” to get a good sense of this band. http://aquilaroseband.com/audio.htm

2. Elizabeth Harper An artist to emerge out of the garageband.com website who is definitely worth listening to, particularly if you enjoy 60’s pop/folk music. She has a very nice voice, and the music is soft, well-produced, and friendly to the ears. While it’s certainly not the most innovative music out there, it is really quite good and something that will pass underneath most people’s radars, which is too bad. http://www.elizabethharper.net/music.html

3. Happy Apple Innovative, fresh, and brilliant jazz music does a really good job of escaping popularity. Sure most people have heard of some of the big jazz greats (Coltrane, Davis, etc.)–but how often does a new jazz ensemble get hype like the Arctic Monkeys? Happy Apple is more than deserving. Their music is loveable, all over the place, and always moving forward.Their drummer (who also happens to be in better known band, The Bad Plus) is constantly changing up styles, while their bass player and saxophonist work their instruments masterfully without being pretentious or too obscure to enjoy.While they are best live, their music is definitely worth checking out (Pitchfork even gave their debut a 9.5, though they haven’t received that much press since). http://www.happyapplemusic.com/index.htm

The internet is a scary place, particularly when it comes to finding the gems of unsigned or overlooked music–so stick to your favorite sites, occassionally poke your head into the madness, and listen to your college radio station. Rock may be dead, but good music isn’t–it just sometimes takes a little more work to find it.

Like their albums Deerhoof puts on a live show that is quirky, noisy, and inevitably fun. The crazy intertwining guitar and synth lines are replicated and expanded on–leaving me little doubt as to the talent of these performers. Satomi makes up hand gestures for songs and goes into martial arts poses throughout the set adding more absurdity to the already crazy atmosphere. And if all that isn’t enough, Greg plays the jumpy crashing drumlines all on just a bass drum, snare, and hi-hat–no more, no less. By about the third song in the set the packed audience was jumping and dancing and pumping their fists along to the music, and enthusiastic cheering followed every song. Song highlights included an extended version of “Come See the Duck” off the bands EP Green Cosmos, which set the bar for the high-energy driving performance. “Milk Man” off the release of the same title was the real crowd favorites, sending the crowd into a dancing frenzy–and receiving a roaring round of applause. The band played a set mostly revolving around tracks off of their upcoming (October 11th) release “The Runner’s Four,” including an encore performance of “Wrong Time Capsule”–which topped off the show on just the right note–rocking, syncopating, and just generally being Deerhoof.

A poster child of the musical moral delinquint is Beck, who receives criticism for every reviewed album (a surprising number of his are actually reviewed on this site). Beck’s album Mellow Gold takes a harsh beating from the morality police who sum up a harsh review with “this worthless disc spews refuse from start to finish.” The ever popular Odelay also apparently “fails to clear the hurdle of acceptability,” and while the reviewers seem to lighten up a little bit on his latest effort, Guero, they don’t let it go completely unscathed: “Beck’s latest album is eclectic and artfully done, but a real downer.” Ouch. He may be wordy, he may sell albums, but if he wants to win Plugged In Online support, he’s got a long way to go.

Critical darlings and highly acclaimed (as well as Grammy winning artists) Radiohead and Wilco fare no better in the eyes of the site. Radiohead takes a beating for Kid A an album that “teens shouldn’t waste their time on.” Poor Jeff Tweedy of Wilco must be worried what devout Christian audiences think of him, according to the objectionable content of A Ghost is Born the singer describes that “he bought ‘Handshake Drugs’ downtown” and in a later song “tells a woman to take off her dress.”

Why the reviewers even tried to address Dr. Dre’s The Chronic is beyond me, but it’s one of the few albums that has nothing listed in the pro-social section of the review and is simply described as a “socially irresponsible record.” Ironically enough Zwan comes out ahead of it’s competitors with an album that “soars when it seeks God and loving, committed relationships.” If only Billy Corgan could have received this kind of support from the likes of Pitchfork (who gave it a 4.8)…

Plugged in Online isn’t looking for artistic merit really (though they don’t specifically oppose it), nor are they looking for clever lyrics or reflections of the desperation and alienation of society. Nope. Any of that could earn a bad review and a paragraph reprimanding moral missteps. For someone looking for a moral scale on which to judge albums it works–for pretty much everyone else it provides at least a couple of laughs–after all, someone had to describe the third instillation in the Beatle’s Anthology as “a muffled blend of innocence and depravity.”

Shed the light on your favorite artists: “http://www.pluggedinonline.com/music/index.cfm”

The album opens with the synth-rocker “Belgium,” an upbeat track full of fuzzy guitars—this structure comes back often though not quite as effectively in “Rebel and the Rock” and “Minister and Man.” “Cold Rolled,” the albums second track is it’s most compelling, layering bursts of raw distorted guitar over distant sounding vocals and a simple acoustic guitar riff. The sound draws heavily on Murmer and Monster era R.E.M. (not surprisingly the artist names R.E.M. as a band he enjoys quite a bit) without sacrificing originality in the mix. The catchy “Evil Seeds” opens a series of strong songs toward the end of the album, followed by the slow-building but rewarding track “Sweetest Secrets,” and the cool little guitar instrumental “A Panic in a Pagoda.”

When Dog Traders is at its best, blending raw garage-rocky guitar with distant vocals and moments of quiet melody (“Cold Rolled” and “They Don’t Need”)—or pulling out catchy synth/guitar lines and choruses (“Belgium” and “Evil Seeds”)—the songs shine. On “A Panic in a Pagoda” those high-points outshine tracks that never quite live up to their potential—and at $7 a copy it’s the perfect album to give the kid down the street recording tracks in his garage—it will help him tremendously.

From the horse’s mouth: Download the Album! Free!

“i’ve sold enough of my new cd to have broken even on the pressing. but i don’t feel like enough people have heard it. it is pretty good music. the songs have good choruses and guitar sounds and are pretty short and catchy. and i think people will really enjoy seeing the band live. i’m putting the whole thing online as a zip file for you to download and check out. the worst that can happen is that people will download it and not buy the cd, right? now, i will tell you this: the CD comes with a full-color booklet, which has the lyrics for all the songs, and the cover art and tray art was done by my crazy pal infernauta. if you get the cd, which is only $7, you will get to see all the art, and all the lyrics.”