At least it went up before the next meeting

Dire Straits
There was a time in college where I thought that side a to this record was one of the best sides of almost any record. Now with time it’s not that high but it still is pretty darn good. Mark Knopfler can play and this is the cd where both his words match his talent throughout the whole cd. Still it does not seem to have aged as well as I though it would. Skate away, Romeo and Juliet and Tunnel Love are still outstanding tracks, but maybe they have been scarred a bit from some of the boring songs that followed this record. 3.5

Jesse Malin
Every time that Jesse Malin puts out a cd I find myself pulling out the first Dgeneration cd and seeing how the new measures up to the old. As he discovered both Bruce and coffeehouse folk I was scared that he had forgotten his punk/glam roots, and was slowly losing interest. Well this cd was a surprise. As close to the mixture of his glam past and New York poet present as possible, taking the strengths from both. With strong lyrics and a band that actually likes to plug in and play, he has created his strongest cd since that Dgeneration cd. The cd starts off with Bowery and from there it does not let go. A strong collection of songs in a short brief set. I am now looking 3.5

Band of Horses
Danger Danger Will Robinson, another band has discovered what can be done in the studio to help bolster ones sound. Now with Band of Horses it has given there sound a well-produced sheen and more of a pop focus. But along the way some of the guitar has been forgotten. Don’t get me wrong these guys are great and this is a really good cd. True it does have a few songs that lean to the slow side. But Dilly and the first three songs are truly great pop tunes. Lets just hope that they remember that a little guitar goes a long way. 3.5

Cheap Trick
I have very fond memories of when this cd came out. My friend was a Cheap Trick fanatic, and we played this cd over and over again, thinking it was the best thing they had ever done. Looking back on it now its still a great cd, and it stands up. But take this cd and the last two cd’s they have released recently and you get to see how great this band really is. In a career that spans over 30 years they are still putting out some of the best power pop out there consistently. 4.0

Dirty Pornographers
I don’t know if it’s the Rufus Wainright vocal approach, the stutter stop approach to the music, but I found this a disc that is very hard to get into. Yes at times the music is talented but the rest was too hard to overcome and music should not be difficult. 1.5

Zappa
Would like to thank Alan for a great a collection. Yes there are many songs from his collection that can make a greatest hits collections. But sometimes the songs that are the most famous needs to be recognized and this selection does that.

Recently I found myself in Newberry Comics in the mall and I found myself doing something I hadn’t done probably since I ran my media play. I was flipping through cd’s. Just browsing not really looking for anything in particular, just seeing what was there and what was new. An hour later I left and it was an hour well spent. Now to be truthful I was there to buy the Black Eyed Peas for my nephew, but I picked up the latest Marillion for my brothers birthday. Since I have joined rhapsody I rarely buy cd’s anymore. As for the shop of the future, as labels structure die a slow and painful death so goes the chains. What will be left are stores that cater to music geeks like us. Where we will want to shop just because we can still browse and talk to others like us. Something like I remember when I lived New Jersey with vintage vinyl.