New Music Reviews - Home of DJ Willis

Product Information, Audio Previews, Reviews and More On: David Cook - David Cook
“”American Idol” season seven champ David Cook already scored a solid hit with his first single, “The Time of My Life,” the kind of sentimental ballad every winner is forced to churn out. Much like his predecessors’ quick-turnaround debuts, Cook’s is [...]

Product Information, Audio Previews, Reviews and More On: Tracy Chapman - Our Bright Future
“Twenty years after her self-titled debut, Tracy Chapman remains true to her musical calling: soul-rich folk melodies around a voice of honesty and nuance that nails ambivalence like no other. Chorusless opener “Sing for You” is one of Chapman’s signature [...]

Product Information, Audio Previews, Reviews and More On: Flaming Lips - Christmas on Mars
“For a band whose music has long been described as “cinematic,” it’s about time —seven years, to be precise—the Flaming Lips got around to making a full-length live-action movie. “Christmas on Mars” is a characteristic wacky expression of the Lips’ [...]

Grab Nickelback’s New Album “Dark Horse”

Product Information, Audio Previews, Reviews and More On: Little Joy - Little Joy
“A new Los Angeles-based trio featuring Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti, Little Joy plays a laid-back brand of indie pop that reflects the outfit’s easygoing West Coast environment in the same way that the Strokes’ caffeinated jangle depicts the hustle-and-bustle of Manhattan. [...]

Product Information, Audio Previews, Reviews and More On:
Astronautalis - Pomegranate
“Jacksonville, Fla., is Skynyrd country first and foremost, but it’s also produced Astronautalis, easily the city’s best Chris Martin-resembling avant-garde white battle MC who has rhymed about visiting doughnut shops with Tupac and his aspirations to be “the Van Morrison of this rap shit.” Astronautalis [...]

Product Information, Audio Previews, Reviews and More On:
Hinder - Take It To The Limit
“Hinder achieved multiplatinum success with 2006 debut “Extreme Behavior,” thanks to the pop-metal hit “Lips of an Angel,” and follow-up “Take It to the Limit” still rocks like it’s 1988. Overdosing on huge hooks, raucous harmonies and proficient fretwork, alpha-male rockers [...]

Product Information, Audio Previews, Reviews and More On: Queen and Paul Rodgers - The Cosmos Rocks
“While Paul Rodgers has been performing with Queen since 2004, it’s taken until now for the trio (minus original bassist John Deacon) to make an album. It’s a shame that the end result, the first under the Queen [...]

Product Information, Audio Previews, Reviews and More On:
Bloc Party - Intimacy
“It’s easy to hear why Bloc Party decided to rush release the digital edition of its third studio disc in August. Full of jagged guitar riffs, forward-motion drum beats and air-siren keyboard lines—not to mention a true-to-its-title lyrical focus on the excruciating end of [...]

Product Information, Audio Previews, Reviews and More On:
Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns
“Snow Patrol handily manages the challenge of following up breakthrough album “Eyes Open” on “A Hundred Million Suns.” The music’s inherent dignity ensures that lyrics like “Kiss me, kiss me/Life is way too short to scream and shout” don’t draw smirks, [...]

Product Information, Audio Previews, Reviews and More On: The Cure - 4:13 Dream
“The Cure’s 13 studio albums have established Robert Smith as a master craftsman of the beautifully calculated mess. The lush arrangements on “4:13 Dream” don’t build a Wall of Sound so much as a whitewater, where heavily distorted guitar and effects [...]

Product Information, Audio Previews, Reviews and More On:
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cardinology
“Ryan Adams enjoys yapping about White Lion and Tesla more than his own music, but that’s just fine when he’s releasing albums as strong as “Cardinology.” Constant recording and touring with his band the Cardinals has brought welcome focus to Adams’ muse; [...]

Product Information, Audio Previews, Reviews and More On: Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
“Much has been made of the fact that Gang Gang Dance named this record after the patron saint of outcasts and rebels, but this effort shows more crossover potential than anything the act has ever done. Given the band’s outsider [...]

Product Information, Audio Previews, Reviews and More On: The Sea & Cake - Car Alarm
“The Sea & Cake has dabbled in electronic grooves and Brazilian lilt throughout its seven sleek albums, but the band has never quite let it rip like it does on “Car Alarm” tracks like the title cut and opener [...]

Product Information, Audio Previews, Reviews and More On:
Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
“Last year’s infectious “Friend Opportunity” presented Deerhoof in Technicolor, the band distorting pop to create a musical Candyland dotted with explosively vivid experimental landmines. “Offend Maggie” takes a more grounded, monochromatic approach. The addition of second guitarist Ed Rodriguez shifts the focus from synth-manufactured atmospheres [...]