The Broken Family Band "Hello Love" (IMPORT)

Wow, The Broken Family Band. Jangly Americana, Country, Metal, Folk, I don't really know since this band keeps shifting their style around. I do know that they are from Cambridge and that this is a gorgeous recording. It think they are finaly settling in and it feels less affected. Perhaps I like it because I feel a little more hope in it. Hope is what I have/need right now. Try You Get Me on for size.

A Fine Frenzy "ONE CELL IN THE SEA"

Alison Sudol has an amazingly beautiful voice. That is really the first and only thing you need to know. In addition she has spent time touring with the likes of Rufus Wainright and Brandi Carlisle. In fact, she plays the Big Easy later this month.

One Cell in the Sea is a stunning record filled with beautiful, upbeat and melodic melancholia. While subversivly disguising itself as a pretty little pop record. With lyrics that at times evoke Joanna Newsom and a voice as seductively beautiful as Karen Berquist, this record gets in my soul.

find it, buy it.

If you already own the cd,

several bonus songs are offered on her site

with the promise of more to come.

Manchester Orchestra "I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child"

"I'm like a virgin losing a child" is the first full length outing by Manchester Orchestra, a brilliantly executed rock album. sort of a cross between Death Cab for Cutie and Explosions in the Sky with maybe a little of The Cure or Wilderness thrown in for good measure. Bitterly poetic and informed, this record swings back and forth thru varying emotions, pounding and rocking all the all the way thru with the exception of three tracks affecting incredible beauty and aching melancholy, I can feel your pain, Sleeper 1972 and Don't let them see you cry .

Ministry "Houses Of The Mole"

"Houses of the Mole" was a return to form for Ministry. More akin to the sound/feeling of "Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste" than "Filth Pig" or "Dark Side of the Spoon". I do have to say I am getting somewhat tired of the "W" obsession. That said, no one can pump out the stuttering samples and brain crushing guitar riffs quite like Ministry. With more than one album of songs that have more similarities with a punch in the face or a boot to the head than anything else, it is nice to feel a slight return of some of the groove from "Taste".

Tegan and Sarah "The Con"

I believe the reason I like Tegan and Sarah so much is that the vocals absolutely remind me of Dale Bozzio from Missing Persons. Such a unique voice with the shared vocals. "The Con" is a beautiful record, perhaps their most sophisticated yet. More uptempo and bouncy than I would normaly prefer but man is it infectious. It would be hard not to appreciate these twin sisters coming into their own. This is the record they were destined to make.