Rock music you will love

Rock

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HOT SECONDS: Hot Seconds
Manchester via Brooklyn? Not nearly as oddball as it sounds. In fact, once you strap on the headphones and let this take you over, you'll slip right into it, probably wondering how songs as uncannily accessible as these can sound so today and so 1989 (in the best way), all at once. These aren't dark stabs at reinvigorating an imagined Charlatans b-side (though the Charlatans comparison isn't far off), and they're not tributary one-offs specifically intended to remind of us a time when popular music was great (though they do invoke a bit of that). This is a new entity, one that wisely embraces all the best parts of something we should have never let go in the first place. With his UK roots pinned to his shirt, singer/songwriter James Love carefully injects that distinct feel into melody-heavy tracks that certainly wouldn't sound out of place in NY either. The band has found a balance, tapping into the best parts of both these influences and creating songs that are familiar in mood and execution, but starkly new in content and construction. So don't scream "Madchester!" Nobody wants that. But if these tracks take you back there for a second, don't worry, but don't get lost. You're here, in the now. And you'll be glad that this album is with you.
CD price: $9.97
DERBY: Posters fade
Palatable pop music goes down best when it mixes melancholia with some sugary sweetness. Derby wouldn’t have it any other way. These valedictorians from the school of hook-laden rock have mastered the short-form pop song. They have imbued their music with equal parts studied catchiness and surprising adventurism. Taking the best elements of British Invasion acts like The Kinks and The Zombies and more recent American bands like Nada Surf and the Strokes, Derby’s sound derives its strength from deceptively simple arrangements that keep the vocal melody front-and-center. The lead voice and harmonies are generally double-tracked, creating a lush, cascading wall of warm vocals that somehow manages to still convey grit, angst, and urgency. When they do stray from this formula on sparser songs like “Episode” and “Stumps,” the gentle, solo voice is all the more gripping in its stark naked contrast. These fellas definitely have an ear for pacing as well, moving from delicate, introspective, mid-tempo acoustic ballads to electrifying retro-rock burners with angular guitar rhythms, to bouncing boogies based around the pounding chords of a Wurlitzer keyboard. Derby’s aesthetic, at its core, is straightforward, good ole’ fashioned, emotional power-pop. But they’ve filled each song with thrilling sonic frills as well. Listeners seeking some serious headphone candy-highs will love the smooth synth leads, haunting ambient samples, string sections, glockenspiels, and mournful pedal steel that occasionally appear on this stellar album. Thankfully, Derby is one of those rare, refreshing bands that still understand how cleverness and fun don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
CD price: $12.97
QUITZOW: Art College
Wonderfully tough to classify, this self-described "neo-post electro-pop" record leans on the synths when it needs to, but wisely incorporates live instrumentation (guitar, cello, violin) that really warms up the already complex and distinct sound. While rumbling Moog lines and old school-ish MPC beats fill out the low end, additional keyboards flutter on top, slipping in and out while rallying behind the driving melodies. Oh, and did I mention this is the carefully crafted (or possibly mad scientist influenced) output of a one-woman band? While that may be a bit surprising, it also explains why these tracks are so focused, and why each stands individually while also fitting perfectly in the whole of the album. The lyrics are intelligently oddball, with songs like "Cats R People 2" managing to be both tastefully quirky and supremely dance-worthy. The same can be said for the rest of the album, where the production and musicianship demand to be taken seriously, but the beats are so infectious that you'll be hard pressed not to move something.
CD price: $12.00 / MP3 price: $10.00
DOMINIC CASTILLO & THE ROCK SAVANTS: Singles For Singles
In this 6-song release, clear production and enviable guitar tone roll themselves out over pointed songwriting, where all elements land in a downy bed of nostalgia chords and swooning, love-tainted lyrics. This act has an irresistible sincerity that leaks out through Castillo's genuinely charming vocals and the band's laid-back-but-rollicking guitar pop. As exuberant and unassuming as the songs can seem, their steady grip pulls ribbons of melody tight around a listener's ticker, fashioning a flurry of paths for the kind of sentiment the record possesses; it can't be called plaintive, but it certainly lends itself to the softheartedness many of us crave in new songs. It's not so much a collection of sad bastard songs as it is one that's enlisted a clever sleight of hand when matching the clear-coated instrumentation and congenial songs with witty jabs at lost emotion. This release is available for download only, and if this reviewer's experience is any indication, there is no possible way to remove these songs from your head once you've heard them.
WEINLAND: La Lamentor
Somewhere between Neil Young and Michael Andrews, Weinland's gently balanced folk pop echoes with the kind of ache that seems endemic to the singer/songwriter genre. The lilting, fingerpicked guitars slide up to the front with the tender vocals and lyrics, while a chorus of strings and bashful drums round out the back of the room (and there's a piano wayyyy back there, and a loud distorted guitar... somewhere...). It's an intimate and decidedly un-sugar-coated set of songs with enough texture to satisfy those who have heard it all, and enough heart to bust past the trite lyrics and contrived chord progressions offered by others. In its disarmingly dreamy atmosphere, this record settles in somewhere between warm, firelit cabin nights, and the vastness of the ether separating the earth and the stars. It's pulse-quickeningly good, a gentle album of bereaved Americana.
CD price: $13.97 / MP3 price: $9.99

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ALEXI MURDOCH: Four Songs
This highly praised beautiful debut collection of dark folk songs from newcomer Alexi Murdoch is CDBaby's all time best selling record. (*THIS OUT OF PRINT LIMTED EDITION IS AVAILABLE ONLY AT CDBABY WHILE STOCK LASTS.*)
REGINA SPEKTOR: Songs
Magical realism involving pickles, death penalties and hot baths... influenced by the anti folkers, the punkers, tom waits, bjork, mozart, and many others... a secret let loose.
CD price: $14.00
GARY JULES: Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets
Rootsy urban folk rock. His version of "Mad World", heard on this CD, was featured in Donnie Darko.
CD price: $14.00 / MP3 price: $14.00
O.A.R.: The Wanderer
a roots rock, island vibe feeling with an energy and passion that leaves dance floors shaking after every performance.
CD price: $11.98
O.A.R.: Souls Aflame
an island vibe, roots rock feeling with an energy and passion that leaves dance floors shaking after every performance
CD price: $11.98
JACK JOHNSON: Brushfire Fairytales
Jack's multi-platinum debut that was first released in 2000 on the tiny Enjoy label (now Everloving). Produced by JP Plunier (Ben Harper); includes "Flake" and "Bubble Toes."
CD price: $13.99
JUDE: Sarah
"CDBaby's crowning achievement. Saving Jude from the record companies."
CD price: $12.00 / MP3 price: $12.00
MELISSA FERRICK: Skinnier & Faster - LIVE
Live performance of a sold out show. Double CD with 21 songs, LIVE, from her five critically acclaimed albums. Unique, fiery, compelling, bold and captivating.
CD price: $20.00 / MP3 price: $20.00
DEVIL DOLL: Queen of Pain
sex and sorrow. 40's style torch jazz meets punk rock. angry and sexy.
CD price: $14.00 / MP3 price: $14.00
TRIBE OF HEAVEN: Imagine We Were
Available for the first time, Mark Roebuck, teaming up with then-fellow-bartender Dave Matthews in 1990 to write and record a rich, folk-accoustic CD, woven with dark, sometimes melancholy themes.
CD price: $10.97

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Rock music you will love

Rock

style / mood

Editor's Picks (see more)

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