New Music You Need to Hear

The Rising Down - The Roots
On their ninth disc The Roots seem determined to be the most political band in hip-hop and have taken Chuck D's statement about rap being the Black man's CNN literally. On the Rising Down rapper Black Thought and drummer Questlove come off like the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of hip-hop. Black Thought drops lyrics about Hurricane Katrina, global warming, the up coming election and all things political while Questlove holds down the beats and leads the band with his subtle yet powerful production. With tracks like "Get Busy", "Criminal" and "I will Not Apologize" The Roots never stop their funky, socially conscious party. The only downside to the disc is the omission of "Birthday Girl"; a song the group did with Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy. If for no other reason, the tune might have been the one "happy" spot on an otherwise serious sounding disc.

When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold - Atmosphere
The duo of Slug and Ant return to the cd racks with their latest disc of introspective beats and rhymes. From 80's styled keyboards and synthesizers to sparse beats to blues, Ant's production seems to know no boundaries as he and a live band back up Slug's rhymes. Slug (aka Sean Daley) has become a masterful story teller and instead of rocking his own tales of self doubt he spins yarns about women for hire (The Skinny), failed young love (The Dreamer), and he does have time to speak of his own fear of success (Puppets). Slug and Ant may have no choice but to deal with success as they become the biggest group on the indie rap circuit. With their boundary pushing style of hip-hop, Atmosphere have been turning the hip-hop scene to gold for quite sometime now and it looks like rap fans both over and underground are starting to take notice

Rare Child - Danielia Cotton
Danielia Cotton is a blues rock artist with a passion and grace that has been missing from contemporary rock for quite some time. Rare Child is her follow up to her debut disc Small White Town. Cotton hones her craft on this second disc and packs a classic rock punch on tunes like "Bang My Drum", "Testify" and "Make U Move". With all of the different sub-genres in rock nowadays it's a breath of fresh air to hear someone just get back to playing basic, gut-bucket Rock and Roll. If you are looking for real rock with a bluesy fire and passion then look no further than Danielia Cotton. She is indeed that rare child bringing rock back to its roots.

Audio & Murder - The Frantic
The Frantic are the latest young upstarts to enter the punk rock scene. The Frantic are caught between the idea of playing dirty punk rock and saccharine sweet emo. Are they The Ramones? Are they Panic at the Disco? They may be a combination of both and that's ok because there is earnestness and honesty in songs like the ballad "Moving Along" and even in the rocker "Big Papa". The Frantic have the potential to go the distance and on Audio & Murder that potential comes through loud and clear!

Carry On - Hi-Fi Handgrenades
The official debut disc by Detroit's Hi-Fi Handgrenades is finally out and it truly is the disc fans of old school punk rock have been waiting for. The 'Grenades pick up gracefully where The Descendants left off with their brand of three-minute, tight, melodic punk rock tunes about the struggles of the every day ordinary Joe just trying to survive. By the time the disc comes to an end the 'Grenades will have you believing in the spirit of punk rock music and they will also have you agreeing that Detroit does indeed have a skyline. Crank this disc up to eleven and let Hi-Fi Handgrenades explode out of your speakers.

XV - King's X
King's X has been doing their brand of progressive heavy metal for the better part of twenty-five years. They have a devoted following and the admiration of musicians worldwide. On their fifteenth release the "X-Men" don't necessarily break any new ground but instead the power trio does what they do best. Once again King's X channels the Beatles, Black Sabbath and Sly and The Family Stone into a heady mix of powerful, spiritual, bone crushing hard rock. Pinnick brings the gospel to new heights with the tune "Pray" and guitarist Ty Tabor does his best John Lennon impression on "Repeating Myself" The band is gearing up for a tour with newly reunited rockers Extreme. Try to catch them on tour and (as Dug Pinnick urges) if you do indeed like what you hear on XV, go tell somebody!