MicLordz and Sauce Funky
Sunset Ammunition

If you dig a sound that harkens (yes, I said harkens) back to the Red Hot Chili Peppers of old, this is the band for you. On their second full length album, they expanded their band to five and really honed their style. MLSF walks a fine line between funk and hip hop, and frankly succeeds at both. MLSF walks a lot of fine lines. Without being overtly political in their overall message, they seem to throw in a few zingers when it is called for. For the most part, this is a light-hearted album that just try's to be a lot of fun...and it is.

Key tracks :

"Funk You Up" is an upbeat riffer that accomplishes exactly what the title would suggest, and provides amazing social commentary about the usefulness of taking chances.

"Roll With Me" leans toward the rap/ hip side of things, and will remind you of a gorgeous summer day cruising the neighborhood just for the heck of it.

Reaching for Roses
EP

The Michigan-based band Reaching for Roses recalls the pop-folk sounds of predecessors like Oasis, Radiohead and Augustana on its EP, which was all self-produced and recorded by band mates. Guitar-driven and angsty, but not annoyingly so, the band takes you on an emotional journey in just five short songs. "Quarantine" feels like having coffee with an old friend, while "Where Endings Begin," tells you all the drama. "Traverse Bay," an ode to our Great Lakes completes the album with a dreamy message, "Set sail for all the clouds up in the sky, Make bail before the world just passes by"

When you first hear this album, something about it feels unmistakeably early ‘90s and still completely modern. Funky electronic beats will remind you bands like La Bouche and Ace of Base, but hip hop has clearly left its mark on the Norwegian band, and there is an ethereal tone throughout that would remind some of MGMT. The overall effect is an album so foggy and mysterious that you will feel like you drank too much and got lost while wandering a city you know nothing about.

Key Tracks: "Baby Can't Stop Remix" and "Let's Practise."

Hip hop artists love a good collaboration (see: Jay-Z and anyone), and this psych-hop album is no different. It features the work of no less than seven other artists, and when you listen to the whole thing front to back, that shows. There is an overall lack of unity. That said, not everything is greater than the sum of its parts, and there are some great songs on this album. "A Sun's Cycle" is the high-point of the album, with notable mentions going to "Tin Flower" and "A Spaceship for Now."

Libby Johnson's jazz piano background prepared her well for Perfect View. Her smooth style of play matches her smooth, alto voice well and though the tracks are by no means jaunty or up-tempo, the combination of instruments ensures they do not drag. An investigation into the artists recent history (moving a lot, death of a father) reflects the quietly exhausted, "good-bye," feel of the album, and many of the songs are truly touching. Perfect View is an excellent listen for a slow, rainy day when you know you'd rather not interact with the outside world. Key Tracks: "Blue Dress," "You've Got Your Own Magic."

Norah Jones fans should have seen this coming. From the get-go, Jones has always been adventurous, from her forays into country, blues and trip-hop to her persistent cameos for musically diverse artists (e.g., Outkast, Foo Fighters, Ray Charles). Her piano-playing, light-jazz image notwithstanding, Jones covered Hank Williams, Tom Waits and Townes Van Zandt on her first couple of records, which, incidentally, sold 30 million copies. Now, she’s gone way out there. Kelly Clarkson out there. On her latest record, The Fall, Jones has stepped out from behind the piano, grabbed an electric guitar and written/co-written every song on the record. The results are underwhelming. Lyrically, she’s no Hoagy Carmichael (Sample:“I can’t choose between a vegan and a pothead/So I chose you/ Because you’re sweet/And you give me lots of loving/And you eat meat.”). Musically, things are better, though about half the tracks start with her strumming muted electric guitar chords Billy Bragg-style. It’s a bad record by a talented artist. Rather than shelling out $13.99 on iTunes for The Fall, fans looking for the next Norah might be better served checking out new releases by two artists who recently visited West Michigan. Both have new records out and, coincidentally, you can download them both for the grand total of $13.98.

Kristina Train, who recently opened for Keb Mo’ at the State Theater in Kalamazoo, has a country-tinged and very soulful voice thatranges from raspy to soaring. Raised in Savannah, Georgia, the classically trained violinist sang in church and school choirs growing up, and was profoundly influenced by southern soul and gospel. Like her idol Aretha Franklin, she’s not afraid to explore hervoice’s upper and lower register, and the results are stunning, especially on tracks like “Don’t Beg for Love.” Recorded in London with producer Jimmy Hogarth (Duffy, Corinne Bailey Rae), a rhythm section, string ensemble and brass choir, Spilt Milk recalls Dusty Springfield’s classic Dusty in Memphis album. It’s sure to win over fans of Springfield, as well as modern country/soul singers like Tift Merritt and Shelby Lynne.

Like Train, Boston native Samantha Farrell, who recently played Wealthy Theatre, has plenty of soul in her music, though she tends to blend it with folk and jazz, rather than C&W. She has one of those whiskeysoaked voices that can sound Billie Holiday at one moment and Joni Mitchell the next. On the wistful “Someday” her voice flutters and flies as she sings about escaping an ordinary life to dance in Paris and wander down narrow streets in cities far away. Discovered and mentored by LeRoi Moore, the sax player for Dave Matthews Band, Farrell recorded her sophomore record, Luminous, a year ago. As she was finishing the tracks, Moore was involved in an accident that took his life and left Farrell “picking up the pieces of something beautiful we’d begun together.” She’s picked them up and put them together brilliantly on a record that deserves a wide audience.

Norah Jones
The Fall
Release Date: Nov. 17 (Blue Note)
Rating: *
Key Tracks : “Back to Manhattan”, “You’ve Ruined Me”

Kristina Train
Spilt Milk
Release Date: Oct. 20 (Blue Note)
Rating: ***
Key Tracks : “Spilt Milk”, “Don’t Beg for Love”

Samantha Farrell
Luminous
Release Date: Oct. 6 (Self Released)
Rating: ***
Key Tracks : “Someday”, “Another Second Day”

When one hears Trans-Siberian Orchestra, the term "Christmas band" comes to mind. Yes, the Orchestra has released multiple Christmas albums filled with symphonic rock versions of classics, but Night Castle proves TSO is more than a "Christmas band." Its latest release is better-suited for Halloween, with haunting melodies and an epic storyline built into the rock opera that takes up two-disks' worth of material. The story follows a young girl who sneaks out of her grandfather's beach house ("Night Enchanted") and meets a stranger building a sandcastle on the beach ("Childhood Dreams"). The album follows the stranger's experiences from when he traveled the world - something just as epic as the accompanying music. - Lindsay Patton-Carson

Rating: ****
Key Tracks: "Night Enchanted," "Another Way You Can Die"

Githead
Landing
Released: Nov. 10 (Swim)

Githead rocks. Not in the loud, long-haired, arena-filling, leather-clad rock exemplified by Metallica or Joan Jett. Githead rocks because it creates its own blend of lo-fi/indie/electro rock (think Raveonettes) that makes the idea of owning a pair of Ray Bans that much more enticing. But just when you think you've got the band pegged, it churns out "Over the Limit," a throwback to Brit punkers such as the Sex Pistols and the Ramones, or a Pixies-esque "Lightswimmer." - Lindsay Patton-Carson

Rating: ***
Key Tracks: "Landing," "Over the Limit"

The Very Foundation
This Restless Enterprise
Release Date: Dec. 2 (Unsigned)

For its third effort, Portland-based The Very Foundation raises the stakes with This Restless Enterprise. The sound achieved through the adroit hand of producer Pat Kearns (Guitar Romantic, Rise or Fall) has a mixed medium sensibility that pulls from all directions making for a dauntless rock album full of confidence, pipe organs, synths and snares. Sure there are traces of Burt Bacharach, Herb Alpert, Elvis Costello and Leonard Cohen, but trade in your detective kit and monocle for a good pair of headphones. This album was designed so one can get lost in between the spaces of what sounds like inspiration and what sounds like magic. ¬- S.A. Díaz

Rating: ***
Key Tracks: "My Sweetest Defeat," "Runaway to Tokyo,"

mr. Gnome
Heave Yer Skeleton
Released: November (El Marto Records)

If you've never heard a voice shift shape before, listen to the mind blowing sophomore set from Cleveland's mr. Gnome, a duo comprised of guitarist/vocalist Nicole Barille and pianist/drummer Sam Meister. In track after track of Heave Yer Skeleton, Barille is more muse than conjurer, and comparisons to the likes of PJ Harvey and Joanna Newsome lose their face value quickly in the shadow of her talent. This chanteuse is charming in her own right. Dark melodies swim with her voice and each track is a tidal wave, smashing the senses and leaving the listener sublimely suffocated. This album does more than haunt; it positively possesses the listener and bludgeons the face of anything beautiful beyond the sounds of this impressive effort. - S.A. Díaz

Rating : ***
Key Tracks: "Spain," "Slow Side"

Local Releases

The Effort
The Effort
Released: Nov. 30(Independent)

What The Effort does on its latest self-titled disc is meld pop and rock together to create songs that are nostalgic, yet fresh. The standout track, "It's Alright," is full of choruses, melodies and hooks that are straight pop/rock with a dash of New Wave. The album doesn't make the listener think too hard - it's a getaway album for long drives, or bounce-around moods - and it uses the winning formula of putting an emotional ballad ("Fall") in the mix, playing on a listener's every emotion. - Lindsay Patton-Carson

Key Tracks: "It's Alright," "Fall"

Lazy Genius
Strange Plains, Dark Grooves
Released: Sept. 11 (Broken Wing Records)

One would be surprised to hear that Lazy Genius is a local band. On "Let it Spill," the first track off Strange Plains, Dark Grooves, the band sounds more like it was part of the British Invasion. Immediately after, it switches gears and produces a gritty track ("Random Places") that one would swear came from Seattle. Lazy Genius plays with its listeners' ears throughout the album, switching from melodic, pop-tinged rock, to grunge and guitars, to opera-esque rock ballads ("Black & Blues"), the band keeps listeners in suspense with every track change. - Lindsay Patton-Carson

Key Tracks: "Let it Spill," "Black & Blues"

Fall is Idol Season

Blake Lewis
Heartbreak on Vinyl
Released: Oct. 6, Tommy Boy
Rating: **
Key Tracks: "Heartbreak on Vinyl," "Freak"

Coming Soon

Carrie Underwood
Play On
Release Date: Nov. 3

Kris Allen
Kris Allen
Release Date: Nov. 17

Adam Lambert
For Your Entertainment
Release Date: Nov. 24

Ellen DeGeneres better be grabbing these albums to make up for her "musical inexperience," as haters have said in regard to the new American Idol host.

With her debut not happening until January, 2010, this fall proves to be prime Idol season with four releases from AI alum.

The first of the four is season six runner-up Blake Lewis. The beatboxing boy who lost to the tween-friendly Jordin Sparks called the shots for his sophomore release, Heartbreak on Vinyl. Lewis was dropped from the label that produced his debut album, Audio Day Dream, so he found a new label, self-produced and wrote all but one of the tracks for album number two.

The result is a throwback to ‘80s New Wave with a current sound, a dance record filled with electro-pop and musical euphemisms. The title track is pop in its purest form, while the message - the closing of local indie record stores - pulls on the heartstrings when Lewis sings Heartbreak on Vinyl was the name of the store/Now the store is gone and we can't be there anymore. Similar to Audio Day Dream, Heartbreak on Vinyl is catchy, fast-paced and an all-around dance record.

The album has breakout tracks such as "Freak," "Binary Love," and the title track, but the rest of the tracks run together as the album plays on.

Perhaps the most hyped Idol since Ms. Clarkson, Adam Lambert shook up American Idol in its eighth season for wearing eyeliner, platform boots, and teasing viewers with his maybe, could-he-be, I-think-he-is sexuality.

After a few months, some unauthorized track leaks, and a handful of gratuitous magazine covers, Lambert - or Glambet, if you prefer - is finally releasing his debut album, For Your Entertainment. The album has promises of glam, and was inspired by bands such as Muse, and The Killers, as Lambert recently told Entertainment Weekly.

However, it wasn't Glambert that won the most recent season of American Idol, it was Kris Allen, the nice guy, who won the hearts of middle class America. Allen's self-titled debut is filled with enough acoustic tunes to get females' - and reportedly Lambert's - hearts fluttering. But simmer, ladies. He's married.

And lest we not forget about Ms. Underwood, everyone's revenge-seeking country honey. Underwood is releasing Play On, her third full-length album since her win on season four of AI. "Cowboy Casanova," her first single off the album, is another boot-stompin', man-hatin' anthem, which is putting Underwood on track to become honky tonk's version of Alanis - but with prettier hair.

Coming Soon

Norah Jones
The Fall
RELEASE DATE: Nov. 17
KEY TRACK: "Chasing Pirates"

Jazz's favorite sweetheart is set to release her third album since her stunning 2002 debut, Come Away With Me. In the years between The Fall, and her previous album, Not Too Late, Ms. Jones tried her hand at acting with a lead role in the underwhelming My Blueberry Nights, and at musical comedy when she teamed up with Andy Samberg's The Lonely Island on its song, "Dreamgirl." She's now back to what she does best, as Newsweek calls The Fall "a step up in what is still the beginning of a big career."

Dashboard Confessional
Alter the Ending
RELEASE DATE: Nov. 10
KEY TRACK: "Belle of the Boulevard"

It's easy to remember the first time listening to "Screaming Infidelities" on Dashboard Confessional's debut album, The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most. The question, "Did he just weep on this song?" went through every listener's mind as Chris Carrabba wailed his emotions toward the love who left him. Since then, Carrabba's gained a band, and possibly a few happy pills, as songs such as "Hands Down" proved on its sophomore. Alter the Ending is the sixth album Carrabba has under his belt, and he has now proven he is not just another boy scorned, he's a man with credible talent as he showcases his evolving songwriting abilities on each album.

Reviews Continued

Various Artists
Songs from The Point!
Released: Oct. 27 (Amano Recordings)

Pick your mouth off the ground, indie kids, and upload this album to your MacBook. Songs from The Point! is an arrangement by eight high-profile (meaning they were in Rolling Stone one time) indie artists to Harry Nilsson's 1971 cult-classic film and album, The Point! Each artist, from DeVotcKa, to Andrew Bird, to Nada Surf, brings its interpretation of eight of The Point!'s original 14 tracks. The result is a diverse array of vintage fused with modern, showing that indie isn't just the cool new craze, it's a timeless subculture.

Rating: ****
Key Tracks: "Everything's Got ‘Em," "Me and My Arrow," "Think About Your Troubles"

Nirvana
Bleach: Deluxe Edition
Release Date: Nov. 3 (Sub Pop)

Right when flannel is cool again, Nirvana's legendary debut album, Bleach, is reissued. But don't peg flannel for the release - it marks Bleach's 20th anniversary. The double LP features the Platinum Certified album in its entirety, plus a never-before-released live performance. The live tracks showcase a lo-fi grunge band that truly encompasses what it means to be a real garage band, and not one you play on a computer. Maybe with this release, Courtney Love will put some duct tape over her mouth, sit back and enjoy the music of the band that changed alternative rock.

Rating: ****
Key Tracks: "About a Girl"

Annie
Don't Stop
Release Date: Nov. 17 (Smalltown Supersound)

Norweigans are so hot right now. Ida Maria is screeching up the airwaves, Ane Brun sets indie hearts aflutter, and Annie makes listening to pop music just damn cool. The latter, who currently lives in Berlin, creates pop music that's based around electronic beats. Her girlish voice is a nice pairing with the free-flowing synth in the background. Her look is like Sia on downers, and her music is like Portishead on amphetamines. On her latest, Don't Stop, Annie arranges her music into two categories: club-ready ("My Love is Ready") and haunting, low-key electronic ("Marie Cherie"), which keeps the music diverse.

Rating: ***
Key Tracks: "Bad Times," "I Don't Like Your Band"

DJ/rupture & Matt Shadetek
Solar Life Raft
Release Date: Nov. 11(Agriculture)

If you're hip on the music scene, you know electronic is hot. So hot that it's hitting mainstream. Shakira recently admitted to Rolling Stone that her latest single, "She Wolf," was inspired by Canadian electro duo Crystal Castles. DJ/rupture & Matt Shadetek takes that hot electro formula and adds a timeless reggae spin throughout the album. Solar Life Raft is an eclectic mix of music that could be found in a Jamaican dancehall ("Cardopusher-Green Disorder"), or spun in a New York hipster boutique ("Pulshar-Mr. Money Man").

Rating: *
Key Tracks: "Cardiopusher-Green Disorder"

Junk Culture
West Coast
Released: Oct. 27 (Illegal Art)

In the first three seconds of Junk Culture's title track, the listener is cautioned that the West Coast EP is nothing short of funky. The album is full of quirky beats and weird electro, a result of mixing fractured vocals, with pop hooks and samples and running them through a handheld recorder. West Coast results in the perfect soundtrack for those house parties where you just want to bust a move. However, it is not recommended for long road trips, parents, or rural areas. West Michigan beware: this may be too New York hipster for you.

Rating: **
Key Tracks: "West Coast," "That's Not Me"

Mid-Life Crisis
It's Always Something
Release Date: Oct. 17 (Mackinaw Harvest Music)

Cover band it's not! Well, Mid-Life Crisis still does covers, but it has proven it can do originals just as well on the latest album, It's Always Something. "Blues, Soul and Rock & Roll," the first track, sums up the album in one title. Vocalist Tara McLaughlin goes from a purr to a growl on the song while she sings "One thing in common, we all got it...Blues, soul and rock & roll." Throughout the album the eight-piece band goes from easy-listening rock ("Lucky"), to intimate ballads ("One More Dance"), to loud, in-your-face, and ready to party ("Stages") tunes.

Key Tracks: "Blues, Soul and Rock & Roll," "The Grand Rapids Song"

Scott Campbell
Nobody Like You
Release Date: Oct. 16
We don't need to tell you that Scott Campbell spent a significant amount of time in Florida. One can tell by the easy listening, laid back songs on his latest release, Nobody Like You, his first full-length original. Campbell's precision to picking the strings is noted in tracks like "All That Matters," and kicks up the rock on the title track.

Key Tracks: "Gone Another Day", "Bella Donna"