Ryan Star 11:59 4/5 Listen To: Start A Fire Skip It: This Could Be The Year You might remember Ryan Star from the Rock Star: Supernova reality show that aired a few years back. The brooding, moody singer came fairly close to winning the prize and won the hearts of women everywhere by playing the tortured rock star type. Finally years later, Ryan Star has released an album for fans that have been waiting patiently. 11:59 is exactly what anyone who remembers Ryan Star would expect. It’s pop rock …

Shawn Desman Fresh 2/5 Listen To: Dynamite Skip It: Click For the most part, every song title on Fresh is the chorus with a similar flow on each. Shawn Desman rarely ventures outside the box on this record, instead sticking to the same basic formula on the majority of songs. Synthesizers come into play on almost every song including “Quickie” with its funky, plinky, space synths and dance floor filler and standard S.D. club track, “Fresh.” “Moneyshot” is a more …

Lights Lights.Acoustic 5/5 Listen to: Fall Back Down Skip it:   Nothing Like its artist, Lights.Acoustic is a small package chock full of energy, cute lyrics and personality. Toronto’s young electro pop songstress, Lights, returns with a five song EP entitled Lights.Acoustic. Lights.Acoustic is a collection of acoustic renditions of Lights’ pre-existing songs and one cover song. As if little miss Valerie Poxleitner wasn’t adorable enough already, this collection of softly and …

Sky Sailing An Airplane Carried Me To Bed 4/5 Listen to: Tennis Elbow Skip it: Brielle The bird has flown the coop and a new ship has set sail. Adam Young, who is no stranger to the realm of infectious synth pop, has released his first album under similar-sounding side project called Sky Sailing. An Airplane Carried Me To Bed is new to us, but is old news to Young. Young releases a more acoustic-sounding collection of early recordings from 2007 and beyond recorded and produced by an already talented …

Matt Morris When Everything Breaks Open 4/5 Listen To: The Un-American Skip It: Forgiveness With a star-studded, musical past – a former member of the Mickey Mouse Club, a country music star for a father, and writing credits for several hit songs to his name – it’s surprising that Matt Morris has taken this long to make a major release of his own. Of course, many times waiting can be a good thing – and When Everything Breaks Open was worth the wait. Morris has a strong, soulful …

3OH!3 Streets of Gold 3.03/10 Listen to: I’m Not The One Skip it: R.I.P Their hometown, Boulder, Colorado, isn’t the only thing that rocks. 3OH!3, the electro rock duo, bring the party, song after song with their second major label album Streets of Gold. 3OH!3 takes it down a notch in tempo with Streets of Gold, but the overall quality is not sacrificed. This album is slightly different than those previously released and I really think that 3OH!3 has found their niche. “My First …

Macy Gray The Sellout 3/5 Listen To: Let You Win Skip It: Still Hurts The Sellout kicks off like an 80s dance party with the title track featuring orchestral, symphony strings and an uplifting vibe. Reminds me of “Forever Young” while, “Lately” sounds like something Rick Astley would have recorded but in a good way. “Still Hurts” takes things down tempo with a mix between 70s funk and today’s urban pop with back up oohs and aahs and Star Wars synths. …

Kelis Flesh Tone 1.5/5 Listen To: Song for the Baby Skip It: Emancipate I guess while Nas was busy channeling his marriage troubles with wife, Kelis, into a solid and at least original effort with Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, she was letting things get the best of her. Divorce during pregnancy will do that to you. I’m actually completely surprised by how bad this CD is. I expected a lot more from the woman that brought us “Milkshake” and I wouldn’t consider myself …

Rick Ross Teflon Don 3.6/5 Listen To: Super High Skip It: No. 1 From opening track “I’m Not a Star” (the only one where he rocks solo) to finale “All the Money in the World,” Rick Ross’ Teflon Don is a hustler’s party anthem. Over mostly southern styled beats, Rick spits about life’s excess’ and how great they can be, such as luxury cars (“Astin Martin Music” and third part in a series, “Maybach Music III”), drugs …

Something Corporate August 7, 2010 Kool Haus By the time I had discovered Something Corporate in college they had already broken up and Jacks Mannequin was on the way. Figuring they wouldn’t reunite anytime soon, I added them to my list of bands that I would never get to see live. Happily, they’re now off that list. At their only non-U.S. date on their reunion tour it was obvious that I wasn’t the only one who was waiting for them to come back. With no opener, it was nothing but …