Monogroove - Five Minute Cat Wash

Here is a fun album. Jangly Brit-pop (from Los Angeles) complete with a Badfinger cover, Monogroove deliver great songs, catchy hooks, and yummy harmonies. Just what a pop album is supposed to do, right? They have a website but it's unclear whether they are still together or not. While I dig for the answer to that mystery, check out Anything You Want and I Miss You. They have released two other albums, which I am very much looking forward to getting.

UPDATE: I have been assured that Monogroove is still together. Cool!

John & Mary - The Pinwheel Galaxy

There are a few things in my collection that are backwards of what they should be. For instance, until last year the only Yes album in my collection was Drama--the one without Jon Anderson. My first Accept album was the one without Udo (but I have his solo albums). Things like that. The big one, though, is my two 10,000 Maniacs albums. You guessed it: the ones without Natalie Merchant. Sorry but I never cared for her voice while her successor, Mary Ramsey, has a quality to hers that I find quite pleasing. To each his own, right? While I have both Love Among the Ruins and The Earth Pressed Flat, I don't think the combination ever ran on all cylinders. Well, the Maniacs now have yet another singer while Mary and John Lombardo, a founding Maniac, have teamed up for their fourth John & Mary album, The Pinwheel Galaxy. It was a good move because whatever the other albums lacked, this one has. Check out Lillies of the Valley. Sometimes things just don't work out. Sounds to me like Mary Ramsey is back where things work best for her.

Guns n' Wankers - For Dancing and Listening

I have to admit that this band's name is what caught my eye. I had never heard of them before I came across that name. Too funny. This album came out ten years ago and what I can find out is that members of Snuff are in the band, they are from England, they have long since broken up, and that's about it. As for the music on this album, For Dancing and Listening, it's great! Rock and roll with punk energy. There's not a bad or boring song on this 20.8-minute gem. Check out Skin Deep and Raise Your Glass. Now, can anybody recommend a good intro to Snuff?

Black Label Society - Mafia

In the interest of total disclosure, I have to let you know that I'm not a big fan of Zakk Wylde. He strikes me as a knucklehead and the whole "Black Label is a way of life" thing? Yeah, right. As far as music goes he's a fine guitarist but away from Ozzy I haven't heard anything I've cared for, with the exception of the song Stillborn. Having said all that, though (and it's okay because I'm not likely to run into Zakk on the street :-), Mafia, the latest album by Black Label Society, is pretty good. Zakk's taken that quasi-Ozzy style of singing he used on Stillborn and really settled into it (if you're going to steal you steal from the best, right?) (and yes, I know that Ozzy sang backup on that song). He's come up with a rocking album, of course, but one with vocals you can get into the whole way through. The first single is Suicide Messiah and it's pretty darned good. Check out You Must Be Blind, too. It really is an improvement over his earlier work, isn't it? Either that or I'm nuts--either way. Just goes to show that as far as music goes, it always pays to have an open mind and to keep the focus on the music.

Barry Gray - Thunderbirds 2

Please allow me to indulge myself. In the childhood of men of a certain age (yes, sexist assumption) and a certain geekiness, there was nothing, and I mean nothing, cooler than Thunderbirds (let's just pretend the recent movie never happened, okay?). The vehicles...the adventures...the gadgets...the puppets...and the vehicles! In the pre-historic special effects days before Jurassic Park and before Star Wars, it was the coolest...but you probably had to be there. One of the things that made the show great was the music. Barry Gray's music for Thunderbirds was a blend of easy listening and marching bands, with the sixties and some rather experimental electronic music thrown in for good measure. Ah, the horns...the strings...the bongos. And this orchestra was used for a children's show. They sure don't make them like that anymore. On this second volume of music from Thunderbirds, the Thunderbirds Main Titles is included (see the first volume for the version with the countdown voiceover). Terror in New York City contains the aforementioned bongos. Nothing says Action! like bongos.

Judas Priest - Angel of Retribution

You're heavy metal legends, you've reunited with your old lead singer, one of the finest voices in the genre, and after a reunion tour it's time to record an album. What do you do? If you are Judas Priest you kick ass. Angel of Retribution marks their reunion with Rob Halford and, unlike other lame reunions, this one seems to have been done for the right reason: the music. The Priest pretty much pick up going down the path they were on when Painkiller, their last album with Rob, came out back in 1990: harder songs but still sounding like Judas Priest. The songs range from the awesome, like Revolution, to the silly, which is a thirteen-and-a-half minute ode to Lochness [sic] (hey, it's not the only silly song they've ever made) which still sounds great. Thirty years and going strong once again, Judas Priest still have it.

Nightwish - Once

I was able to get out and see Nightwish on their first American tour when they came through Southern California last September. The concert was a first for me: I actually felt old. Fairly young crowd, half of whom wouldn't have looked out of place at a Slayer show, and me wondering if I was the oldest person there. No biggie; it was bound to happen sooner or later, right? Anyway, the show (which was great) happened before the U.S. release of their latest album, Once (great planning on their label's part, eh?) but I was surprised that most of the crowd were familiar with the new material. In this era of file-sharing I guess I shouldn't have been surprised but it did show that Nightwish have a solid fan base over here. The new album is okay, with the big bright spot being Nemo, one of their best singles (there is also a version of Nemo with an orchestra but not on the album). The interesting thing about it, and much of the album, is that singer Tarja Turunen is pulling away from her opera style for every song (ala Wishmaster-era Nightwish), though it still dominates the album. She has a helluva voice so I'm all for seeing what she can do with it. Check out Dead Gardens to hear some more. You either love or hate this style of rock and roll and if you love it, Nightwish is one of the best.

The Coctails - The Early Hi•Ball Years

The Coctails were an interesting band out of the American Midwest in the late eighties and early nineties. Their early recordings display a band that's part garage rock and part jazz combo. That resulted in playful numbers like Whoopsy Daisy and the very low-fi Walkin' Down the Street. Their first three releases are highlighted on The Early Hi•Ball Years. I prefer the kooky keyboard noodlings because, honestly, the band is not much when it comes to singing. After this era the band veered from straight jazz (well, straight-ish) to really raw garage rock before breaking up in 1995. A bit of an underground act, they even have a 3-CD box set which came out a few months ago. This single CD, though, suits me just fine.