Some fans guffawed when Mobb Deep signed to G-Unit, wondering whether it would lose that maverick charm that makes the duo so special. But when the death threats of “Put Em in They Place” bust loose in the second track, it’s clear the group hasn’t strayed too far. Throughout, Prodigy and Havoc float through […]
Louisiana bluesman Tab Benoit has risen to the top of the genre in the past 15 years, earning his stripes as an instrumentalist, songwriter and vocalist. He’s also earned the right to indulge his fancy a bit, and that is what’s up with “Brother to the Blues.” Guests Jim Lauderdale, Billy Joe Shaver and […]
This live companion piece to Korn’s 2004 “Greatest Hits Vol. 1″ grabs half of its tracks from a secret show the band performed at CBGB in 2003. The club setting offers better audio quality than a larger venue, where Korn’s down-tuned instruments sometimes turn into sonic mud. Every floppy slap of Fieldy’s loosely strung […]
Flutist Nestor Torres expresses himself with everything from straight-ahead Latin jazz to instrumental pop on “Dances, Prayers & Meditations for Peace,” an album of original material written in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001. The project also includes a world music component that deviates from previous Torres fare, and that’s precisely what makes this […]
Just one year after “Devils & Dust,” Springsteen offers another acoustic-based set sans the E Street Band, a collection of traditional songs associated with folk hero Pete Seeger, who turns 87 next month. Cut live with 13 local musicians, the Boss’ first covers album is a surprisingly upbeat tour de roots, veering from tavern […]
It’s tempting but misleading to label Pearl Jam’s first record since 2002 a “comeback” — the band has spent its career keeping a judicious cap on its profile. But one thing is clear: Pearl Jam is fully, comprehensively re-energized. While its last few records sounded tangibly downcast, “Pearl Jam” feels like pure power — […]
New York-based R. Star is the kind of singer/songwriter whose rock ballads make a rainy day all the more drearily picturesque. But his impassioned, super-charged, percussion-driven “Back of Your Car” signifies a breakthrough opportunity. The frenetic track implores a potential partner to recognize that now is “the perfect time of night to be losing your […]
Tabloid media’s mind-numbing saturation into the national psyche is the grim topic of Tool’s “Vicarious.” Instead of tsk-ing at reality TV or celebrity overexposure, it laments desensitization to violence (particularly when it’s thousands of miles away) and how bloody images grease the wheels to higher ratings. “I need to watch things die/From a good safe […]
The title track from Roberts’ forthcoming sophomore album is a compelling ballad about a woman looking for love yet finding herself alone the morning after, pondering just what she’d done and where she went wrong. The chorus boasts one of the best hook lines to come out of Nashville in a long time: “Men and […]
Donell Jones achieved fleeting success with jazzy 1999 album “Where I Wanna Be,” which included singles “U Know What’s Up” and the oh-so-soulful Kanye West-produced title track (before Kanye was, well, Kanye). But singer/songwriter Jones has never managed to carve a long-lasting niche. “I’m Gonna Be,” the first single from his fourth set, “Journey of […]
Texas-bred rockers Blue October already are scaling modern rock radio with “”Motown Records”Hate Me,” the first single from just-released album “Foiled.” The highly confessional track, making initial inroads at top 40, is rife with despairing, dark imagery (including one particularly visual reference to negative thoughts that “crawl in like a cockroach leaving babies in my […]
Jon Secada, clearly a great talent of the ’90s, proved that he can still deliver (without a major label’s backing) with recent top 15 adult contemporary hit “Window to My Heart.” His second single, “Free,” is a hipper uptempo track, vying, perhaps, to capture a broader audience without alienating those with fan club memberships. The […]
Hot on the heels of top 10 “These Words” and top five “Unwritten,” breakthrough U.K. singer/songwriter Natasha Bedingfield proves she’s got the goods to go three for three. “Single” again dresses up a straightforward melodic pop frame with soulful production and enough hip-hop-leaning gizmos to fit at top 40 radio somewhere between Alicia Keys and […]
HandHeld Entertainment(TM) (OTCBB: HNDH - News) today announced that a number of punk rock concert videos, in addition to hip-hop, gospel and metal concert videos from Music Video Distributors’ extensive library of concert videos, movies and comedy films have been made available for purchase and download at the ZTV digital download store.
The new ZTV videos, […]
