Archived Articles

Come: Res

Don't let Res's Maybe it's Maybelline looks fool you, she might be "Bootylicious," but she sure as hell won't be singing about it! On the first single, "Golden Boys," Res address the trivialness of the culture of celebrity. When Res sings, "Those golden boys all a fraud don't believe their show, golden boy life ain't a video," distain and contempt have never been so sexy and easy to dance to!

Come: Martin Swinger

Bear Naked is an album from a musician who is one with his inner bear. This guy is out of the closet and all out of shaving cream. Since I'm a friend of the fur who is down for the cause, when a gay man stands naked bearing his soul through song: I've got to take a long hard look …I mean listen.

Come: Esthero

When Esthero began singing with a voice as come hither as it was aloof, my suspicions were proven correct. I was so impressed with her voice that I hit record on the remote 30 seconds into the video. After watching it four times in a row I had to hear more. Once I heard some audio clips off the rest of the album on CDNOW.com, I couldn't click "add to shopping cart" fast enough!

Come: Jill Scott

From "Jilltro," track one of this CD, you realize that this isn't going to be background noise. You're going to need to light some candles, pour a glass of wine, unplug the phone and give this sister your full attention.

Comeback: Sugar

Besides a few well added studio tricks (like Mould singing backwards at the end of "Hoover Dam,") Copper Blue has always struck me as an album with the mood of a live show: a band having fun playing in a small venue surrounded by their fans. The best $15.00 I ever spent on a CD.

Comeback: Cocteau Twins

Don't get me wrong this isn't all angst-ridden music that would speak to the alienated 1980s teen. Each Cocteau Twins album has its own character, and you can easily find songs to play while seducing someone, mopping your kitchen floor, cursing an ex, or on the car stereo as the soundtrack for your day.

Comeback: Oleta Adams

Oleta Adams was asked to join the British Alternative Rock band and was prominently featured on the highly successful 1989 release, Seeds of Love, most notably on the track "Woman in Chains:" a duet that she sang with Roland Orzabal. In 1990 Roland produced Oleta's debut album Circle of One, which spawned the hit single "Get Here" and earned her a Grammy nomination in 1991.

Comeback: Swing Out Sister

SOS has been creating some of the best music you've never heard since the late 80's. Now I'm not saying this Brit' duo has had no success stateside, because their first album in 1987, It's Better To Travel, spawned the Top Ten hit "Breakout." Five albums and a millennium later SOS has never matched the U.S. chart success of "Breakout."

Go Away: Nsync

Just because you manage to achieve some level of fame does not automatically qualify you for respect or the title of artist. Respect has to be earned. And when you lack the talent to grant your work some uniqueness that's mass production not art. We're talking Toyota here not Aston Martin.

Go Away: 10,000 Maniacs

Unfortunately I think the band hasn't been able to recover or find a new focus after Natalie's departure in 1992. But she left the band when they were on top, including the album Our Time In Eden, a performance at MTV's Rock n' Roll Inaugural Ball, and the fantastic performance that spawned an MTV Unplugged album.

Go Away: Celine Dion

What are my greatest indulgences in life? The satisfaction of wearing clothes fresh from the laundry, buying myself a new car, anything chocolate, and so forth. Hey what can I say, I'm low maintenance. But the ultimate indulgence includes having a website to write for, especially when I get to write this month's Go Away article.