Archive for May 10, 2008

Hot Styles feat Yung Joc - Looking Boy

Very, very strange track. 4/10

Khia - Be Your Lady

Mrs. My Neck My Back is back with another single, and it’s unlikely to do much. 3/10

Neil Diamond - Home Before Dark

DJ Willis – Album Review – Neil Diamond - Home Before Dark” height=

“Though Neil Diamond is riding the good will created by 2005’s Rick Rubin-produced “12 Songs,” there is a song on “Home Before Dark” called “Don’t Go There,” and the danger of overemotive “Heartlight”-ness always looms. While not quite as revealing and rewarding as its 2005 cousin, the new album will certainly please fans of Rubin and Diamond’s stark-yet-comfy acoustic direction. The sprawling opener “If I Don’t See You Again” has the right sprinkling of epic; “Another Day (That Time Forgot)” is a gorgeous duet with Natalie Maines. It’s hard to shake the feeling that “Home” sounds like the younger brother of “12 Songs,” but it’s a warm, supremely confident next step in Diamond’s unlikely renaissance. Best of all, there’s not a seagull to be found. —Jeff Vrabel”

Cassie - Is It You

Slightly above average, has a small shot at crossover to mainstream. 6/10

Flo-Rida feat will.i.am & Fergie - In The Ayer

Look for this to be a huge summer anthem. Hot $hit. 9/10

Barknaked Ladies - SnackTime

DJ Willis – Album Review – Barknaked Ladies - SnackTime” height=

“A Barenaked Ladies children’s album is about as inevitable as gas prices climbing above the $4 mark. BNL is uniquely suited with its proper balance of whimsy, heart, silliness and songcraft. It would be hard to find anyone who can’t relate to the insightful empathy of Stephen Page’s “Bad Day” or the plain-spoken desires (”I wish I could speak with my dog . . . ’cause right now it’s a monologue”) of Ed Robertson’s breezy “Wishing.” Page and Robertson echo their humorous, “If I Had $1000000″ dialogue style on “I Don’t Like” and “Crazy ABC’s,” while multi-instrumentalist Kevin Hearn steps up with a variety of such genially oddball tracks as “Humongous Tree,” “What a Wild Tune” and “Allergies.” With BNL’s vocal harmonies intact, “Snacktime!” is a musical munch worth having at just about any time of the day.—Gary Graff”

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