Madonna Hard Candy Release: 2008-04-29
The title is a juxtaposition of tough and sweetness ... kind of like I m gonna kick your ass but it s going to make you feel good. Madonna Madonna s eleventh, and final, studio album for Warner Bros., Hard Candy is a brilliant uptempo collection that adds a hip-hop beat to the cultural icon s club sensibilities, thanks to collaborations with Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams, and Na......more »
Lil' Mama Vyp: Voice Of The Young People Release: 2008-04-29
Raised in both Brooklyn and Harlem, Niatia Kirkland grew up with seven other siblings. She found solace in writing poetry as well as dance choreography. But with the encouragement of her father, who owns the record label Familiar Faces, she knew that being a hip-hop artist could enhance both of those interests. Joining her father's label, she traveled to Atlanta in 2006 to work exclusively with pr......more »
Ashlee Simpson Bittersweet World Release: 2008-04-22
Ashlee Simpson is in a good place. She has two multi-platinum records that debuted back to back at the top of the charts, and collectively sold more than four million copies in the U.S. alone. She has two sold-out tours under her belt, a tight-knit family, a loyal fan base, and a burgeoning second career as an actress. So when it came time to create her third album, she wanted the music to represe......more »
Blind Melon For My Friends Release: 2008-04-22
Of all the '90s alt-rockers to hit the comeback trail a decade later, Blind Melon are at once the most and least likely to mount a return. Their end came suddenly when lead singer/songwriter Shannon Hoon died of a drug overdose in October 1995, just a few months after their sophomore effort, Soup, so it seemed like they had a great deal of unfinished business. Unfortunately, much of that unfinishe......more »
Mariah Carey E=mc2 Release: 2008-04-15
Performer and songwriter Mariah Carey has set April 15th as the in-store date for the most eagerly anticipated album of the year, E=MC˛. The 11th studio album of her career, E=MC˛ is the follow-up to The Emancipation Of Mimi, Mariah's worldwide 10 million selling #1 album, which generated three Grammy awards (including Best Contemporary R&B Album), 2 #1 singles and countless more industry hono......more »
Naked Brothers Band I Don't Want To Go To School Release: 2008-04-15
Like any good teen phenomenon, now that the Naked Brothers Band are going, there's no stopping them. I Don't Want to Go to School, the band's second album, showed up a mere six months after the first, just as a second season started up on Nickelodeon. Just as all the songs on the first eponymous album are pulled from the first season of the show, all the songs on this second record are culled from......more »
Thrice The Alchemy Index Vols. Iii & Iv - Air & Earth Release: 2008-04-15
Thrice s boundary pushing continues with the second installment of the Alchemy Index series. Volumes 1&2 (Fire & Water), released in October of last year, were met with tremendous critical acclaim and fanfare. Fans and critics were especially impressed with the Water side and just how far the band had pushed the parameters of what they can do as professional musicians. The Earth and Air se......more »
Tristan Prettyman Hello...x Release: 2008-04-15
Although inspired by the beachside folk-pop of Jack Johnson, Tristan Prettyman pitches her tent further inland, where the sunny sounds of her influences can be personalized with shades of jazz and pedal steel twang. Twentythree saw the songwriter first attempting to coalesce those genres into something cohesive, and Hello joins the effort three years later, featuring a grown-up Prettyman whose voc......more »
Lady Antebellum Lady Antebellum Release: 2008-04-15
Lady Antebellum is a two-guys-and-a-girl trio comprised of co-lead singers Charlie Kelley and Hillary Scott with multi-instrumentalist Dave Haywood. The group is also a songwriting collective, a Nashville rarity, co-writing most of the songs on its self-titled debut album. The three may have come up with material as good as what a publisher could have provided, although they never stray too far fr......more »
Kooks Konk Release: 2008-04-15
The Kooks' debut album, Inside In/Inside Out, was a sleeper success story, going on to sell a whopping two million copies. It was a fabulous set, but their follow-up, Konk, wipes the floor with it. The title takes its name from Ray Davies' studio, where the quartet recorded most of the set. This direct connection to Britain's past obviously inspired the band to new heights, because the Kooks and t......more »
