Music: By Rating

A short EP with a couple of good new tracks and 4 live tracks.

This is the final full length from the great band, The Mortals. This, however, is a collection of previously... more

Raw grrrl rock backed with a cheesy Alesis 16-B drum machine.

Godspeed is, at last count, a ten piece outfit from Canada. This double CD plays like an epic soundtrack.... more

MorA? had a tendency to re-release songs over-and-over during their early years. This live album is yet another collection... more

The final record of their mid-eighties incarnation has Wire drifting even closer to New Order territory. It’s taken me... more

This is one of the CDs that my wife owned before we got married. I think she bought it... more

I tried very hard to like the book Naked Lunch. All the cool kids thought it was just the bee’s... more

oor Carl Perkins. You know most of these songs, but mostly you will know version performed by other artists... more

I’ve already written up this CD at my Planet Pimp website, let’s just say this is decent, albeit somewhat generic, rock... more

This is some nice Wisconsin spaz-rock that, with it’s Devo inspired hard-rock sound, fits in nicely alongside The Polysics.

This CD compiles two solo albums from Colin Newman. Singing Fish  is mostly just Newman noodling around with keyboards. The... more

By 1994, having become bored with most of indie rock I had been listening to as a college student,... more

One of the better bands in the slew of Estrus record’s straightforward garage rock outfits. They are always better... more

The self proclaimed Recyclers of Rock bring us their debut album. The low-down on this band is this: all their songs... more

This CD actually compiles Tar’s first two releases: Handsome and Roundhouse. While I like many of tunes on this CD, it’s my... more

This is hardly the most memorable Morricone soundtrack. It’s a bit repetitive and lacking in hooks, but it provides... more

The JL’s worst album thusfar. Still it kix rox.

A live CD. Was noteworthy when it came out because of the unreleased songs, but those songs have since... more

I like this soundtrack well enough, but it doesn’t have any of the jazzy or avant-garde elements of my... more

Star Wars kinda soured on me in the early 00’s. Yeah, the prequels sucked, but even worse for me was... more

A collection of 50s and 60s rock and roll instrumentals from Buffalo Bop. At times a little bit Link... more

The Doll Rods’ debut LP delivers with the same energy as their previous 7″s. Drums (well maybe a floor... more

Like any compilation, there will be a range of quality in the songs. Most of the tracks that I... more

This is the original 1965 record that inspired the Phantom Surfers to create their great slot car themed record. The Go... more

More Jello plus Ministry. Although it started to sound dated even within a few years of its release, this... more

The record is what happens when a band comprised of talented stoners is tasked with creating an LP’s worth... more

An all-girl Japanese punk band that I saw at Japan Nite 2000 at the Fireside Bowl. Music varies from catchy,... more

Another one of my wife’s CDs. I’ve never been much of a fan of this band but here, upon... more

Well from here on out these records are business as usual. The highlights on this CD are “There’s a... more

Like many one-hit-wonders, that one hit (in this instance “Never Say Never”) sounds completely different than the rest of... more

I think this record has been remastered since I got this CD. In any event, a business-as-usual release for... more

There was a time in the early 2000’s when I thought I might be able to expand my electronica... more

Apparently, the idea with this record was that Spiritualized would reign in the huge arrangements and get back to... more

This is a band lead by ex-Fink Chris Barfield. There a four neat instros on this single. They all... more

And so begins the steady demise of Pixies. This is where the band completely lost hold of any punk... more

Paul Barker’s solo project is a slowed-down version of early ninties Ministry. Thankfully he avoids the metal-tinged side of... more

Very much along the same lines as Pandemonium but something doesn’t quite click here. Maybe the cleaner production reveals the limitations... more

This is an early solo effort from Cabaret Voltaire’s Richard H. Kirk. It came in a three-pack CD set... more

Another single from this ManorAstroman?-esque/Supernova-esque project. Not quite as good as the Bad Birthday single but still likeable.

Just about every Poster Children album has one weird, out-of-place song that either very poppy (“If You See Kay”)... more

This is a weird album. It is considered to be one of, if the the first record comprised entirely... more

Phono-Comb is comprised of the Shadowy Men’s rhythm section and a new guitarist. The songs are in the same... more

Teengenerate are what I would describe as a Ramones-y punk band. They are much faster and certainly less tuneful... more

I thought that Techno-Animal, being the electronic side project of the guitarist from Godflesh, would sound more like the... more

Growing up, this record (along with the Flash Gordon soundtrack) was what Queen sounded like. I had no idea that their... more

This is one of the oldest CDs in my collection. It was given to me as a gift. At... more

It’s hard to believe that this soundtrack won the Oscar for original score in 1979. Other than the disco... more

The first full length release from this band is just more of the same. Impotent Killing Joke with a... more

This is a collection of digital synthesizer compositions by Devo’s frontman, Mark Motherbaugh. The songs a very similar to... more

Another collection of “EZ Listening” synth arrangements by Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh. There’s not much to differentiate this from volume... more

What’s with the “Z” in Toy Dollz? That was the first sign that this might be a questionable release. In... more

Jello Biafra and Ministry. The first song is great but the rest of the record is an endurance test.

This is one of my wife’s CDs that made its way into my collection. Shonen Knife is one of... more

Mac McCaughan’s solo project sounds more or less like Superchunk with lower fidelity and lower fun. When I listen... more

This is one of the first CDs I ever bought. I really have no idea what I was thinking at... more

I bought this knowing neither the composer nor the movie. It was cheap and had an interesting cover… never... more

In my limited listening experience, all Bernard Hermann scores sound pretty much the same. I got this mostly based... more

A hit-or-miss collection of covers and home-recording style noodling from ex-PIL guitarist Levene. Not as grating as Metal Box... more

Tribute/cover albums are a hit or miss. My liking of a track can unfairly depend on two things: first,... more

Cabaret Voltaire’s final album ended with a dazzling, CD filling track that drifted between various sonic themes and styles,... more

Do you like G.E. Smith and the Saturday Night Live Band? Do you view Paul Shaffer as a musical... more

File this one under the “What were we thinking back then?” column. In 1991, this was the bees knees... more

Murder Inc. is basically early 90’s Killing Joke with Chris Connelly singing instead of Jaz Coleman. Without the nervous... more

Okay, I’ll give them credit for having the balls to misspell “labor” in their record title (USA! USA! USA!),... more

I take back what I took back last post. This Shonen Knife album is a bit of a bore.... more

By the time this record came out, RevCo had lost much of its lustre for me. I guess I... more

Well, the Poster Children’s run of awesome albums ends here at about track 3. I like the inclusion of... more

Okay, this is hands-down Killing Joke’s worst album. It’s not so much that it is a bad record, it... more

I so much wanted this record to be more than it was. The original Spinal Tap soundtrack was legendary... more

I remember being pretty excited when I bought this CD. I loved the earliest Vandals records and finally being... more

Nobody needs to own more than one They Might Be Giants album. While I enjoy the “hits” on this... more

My least favorite Sparks album (Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat is a close second). Pre-2000s Sparks have tended to... more

New Order always has at least one great track on each of their records (“Regret” in this case). They... more

Conceptually, Primus is a great band. Weird humorous lyrics, bizarre singing, complicated song structures and expert playing all around.... more

This is a CD (actually a CD-R) that I grabbed for free when I went to the Game Developers... more

As much as I appreciate Dave Crider and his label Estrus Records, I could never get in to his band,... more

This is another one of those CDs in my collection that I bought because I wanted to buy something while I... more

I think I liked the “Batdance” video on MTV back when this came out. Maybe I was just caught... more

What a supreme disappointment this CD is. Mould would eventually redeem himself in the band Sugar, but man, these... more

I bought this from a bargain bin at either Best Buy or some other big box retailer thinking that... more

I think this is pretty much the antithesis of the kind of music I like. I find Lou Reed... more

If you weren’t born before 1980 you may not remember this, but there was a time, early on in... more

I think it’s quite fitting that, in my CD shelf, this disc sits right night to its brother in... more

Horribly boring acoustic guitar music that’s sure to appeal middle-aged mommy bloggers and other deranged psychopaths. For whatever reason,... more