The Magnetic Fields' "Realism" (2010)
(January 26, 2010)
Review:
Sounding like the Now People’s dysfunctional cousins, The Magnetic Fields have put together a fine — if quirky — acoustic album that transcends simple folk rock.
Top Two Tracks:
“You Must Be Out of Your Mind” & “Walk a Lonely Road”
Light You Up (Shawn Mullins, 2010)
(October 12, 2010)
Mullins is a distinctive songwriter, steeped in tradition but indisputably original, and he assembles a keenly woven set of tracks in Light You Up — still, there is something tauntingly brief about Matthew Sweet’s appearance on “California.” (You petered out after your debut, so mull it over: an electric Thorns album would be sweet!)
Top Two Tracks:
“California” & “The Ghost of Johnny Cash”
The Gaslight Anthem's "American Slang" (2010)
(June 15, 2010)
Review:
If you ever wondered what Bruce Springsteen would have sounded like had he been born into the alternative/punk rock legacy, well… the time has come; American Slang suffers a bit from homogeneity of sound, but each of the ten tracks here unfolds as a vivid landscape that transports the listener to a new and yet not entirely unfamiliar locale.
Top Two Tracks:
“Orphans” & “The Diamond Church Street Choir”
Suburba (House of Heroes, 2010)
(August 3, 2010)
Review:
Energetic and ambitious, both musically and lyrically: this is how I would describe Suburba, an album that keenly navigates the alternative and Christian genres, pulling in stereotypical, “expected” components but not without a few innovative surprises.
Top Two Tracks:
“God Save the Foolish Kings” & “Love is For the Middle Class”