by Sterling Preston<\/p>\n
Naked Beggars <\/b>Spit It Out<\/i>
\nPresenting well-crafted rock n roll in the style of the 80s, Naked Beggars are a skilled group of musicians. Inga\u2019s vocals kick out a lot of soul – drawing comparisons to Melissa Etheridge – and traces of Lynyrd Skynrd and even some bluesy Rolling Stones can be heard in the midst of more traditional rock riffs. For the iPod culture: \u201cWhat\u2019s the Question\u201d is a ballad that pushes all the right buttons\u2026maybe even better than anything by Evanescense. [nakedbeggars.net] SP
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\nJami Ross<\/b> Singles Collection<\/i>
\nIf you happen to be a very young girl and you love the WB network, you might really enjoy Jami Ross. From the three songs on this disc, she sounds amazingly talented, energetic and innocent in the vein of\u2026 Mandy Moore, I suppose. The demographic of this publication, however, might be more interested in the production, engineering, mixing and mastering by Michael Seifert at Ante Up Studios in Cleveland, Ohio. Sir, it\u2019s a job well done. [jamirossmusic.com] SP
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\nKirsten DeHaan<\/b> Under the Richter Scale<\/i> [EP] and Conform<\/i> [LP]
\nWith an artist like Kirsten DeHaan, it is especially unfortunate that the press needs to pigeonhole a musician\u2019s sound. Case in point: she\u2019s been billed as a \u201cnew punked-out Blondie,\u201d (?!) she\u2019s been compared the likes of U2 and Nirvana, and she\u2019s been classified as \u201cindie.\u201d While she clearly draws on her influences, it is this reviewer\u2019s opinion that the comparisons range from misleading to downright offensive. Luckily, you can visit MySpace, sample a few songs and decide for yourself. If Kirsten DeHaan makes the kind of music you might be into\u2026 well, know that she does it really, really well. For the iPod culture: All three tracks from Under the Richter Scale are a safe bet. [kirstendehaan.com] SP
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\nHeath! <\/b>The Further Adventures of Spondoolix & Spizzerinctum\u2026<\/i>
\nI hope no one takes this the wrong way, but I\u2019m reminded a little bit of quirky 90s college rock here, or perhaps a less-metal-influenced Jack Black. Frankly, I\u2019m not sure how to describe the experience of listening to this disc, but \u201cProcession,\u201d the intro song, made my day. I\u2019ll bet that Heath!\u2019s fans are the fiercely loyal type, much like that old roommate who loved the Dave Matthews Band since they were just playing in bars. For the iPod culture: If you\u2019re a Heath! fan, you probably have every recording of these guys that exists \u2013 including other bands they\u2019ve been in. Everyone else who reads this should check out their website to see if you might be prone to a Heath! addiction. [heathrocks.com] SP
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\n Evil Beaver<\/b> Models of Virtue<\/i>[EP]
\nAs an introduction to the band, I\u2019m not sure that Models of Virtue E.P. is the best foot forward. Dark and heavy rock duo Evil Beaver are comprised of the very lovely electric bass player\/vocalist Evie Evil and\u2026 a drummer. For the recording of this release, that drummer was former Queens of the Stone Age member Gene Trautmann. The dynamic interaction between Trautmann\u2019s drumming and Evil\u2019s bass-as-rock-guitar is on the money, and the somewhat punk-ish vocals may readily appeal to a certain audience, but nothing in these four songs seems to shout \u201cLook at me!\u201d This is likely more suited as a take-home souvenir of a live show you caught and really liked. For the iPod culture: This reviewer would like to cop out and recommend the cover of \u201cI Wanna Be Your Dog.\u201d [evilbeaver.us] SP
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\nKarling Abbeygate <\/i><\/b>
\nFrom the moment you put this record on, you know it\u2019s something special. In fact, although it was delivered to us on a compact disc, the actual vinyl would seem more appropriate. Reminiscent of Patsy Cline, June Carter and all that jazz, Karling Abbeygate does traditional, old-school country music\u2026 right out of a diner where you still get an ashtray on the table. Plus, she looks so pretty on the album cover you might just want to send her flowers. For the iPod culture, \u201cPut Yourself in My Place\u201d is perfect for an impromptu slow dance next to the jukebox. [karlingabbeygate.net] SP
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\nVinyl Radio<\/b> Fancy with a Pistol <\/i>[EP]
\nSince releasing this five-song cd, local band Vinyl Radio have gone on to impress the critics (starting with Troy Johnson over at City Beat and spreading internationally), release a full album, and break up. They posted on their MySpace blog in August that they were nominated for a San Diego Music Award \u201cposthumously,\u201d and I found a copy of their break-up announcement on the CAT DIRT SEZ blog. They said simply that one of the members had left and, instead of replacing him, they were deciding to \u201ccall it a day.\u201d It\u2019s a shame. They might have been on to something. [myspace.com\/vinylradio] SP
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\nTowhee<\/b> Streetlights<\/i>
\nThere is a particular SOUND of \u201cindie\u201d music that was born and raised in the flyover states, and this Dayton-based group carries on the tradition. They have the wholesomely earnest male\/female combo vocals, gentle melodies and near-whisper rock \u2026 This winter, with rainy days to come, why not let Towhee audition to play on your life\u2019s soundtrack? For the iPod culture: Track 6 (\u201cThis is Harder Than You Know\u201d) is a stand-out, and the closing song (\u201cNow You Know\u201d) experiments with a mellow crescendo. [myspace.com\/towhee] SP<\/p>\n
Celeste Lear<\/b> The Echo Inside<\/i>
\nNow don\u2019t go jumping all over me for saying this, but there are traces of a Portishead influence here. However, where Portishead is rather noir, Celeste Lear heads in more of a mystical direction. Throw in a bit of Sarah McLaughlin, sprinkle a good-sized helping of NEW AGE, and you get the idea. For the iPod culture: \u201cLetter from a Train\u201d got picked up for a compilation called Femme Fatale and won first place in the Dance category in the Pacific Songwriting Contest. [celestelear.com] SP
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\nMiz Mandy<\/b>In The Mix<\/i>
\n\u201cAre you in the mix with me?\u201d Hmmm\u2026 Miz Mandy, you need a publicist who will thrust you straight into an E! News exclusive scandal. You have the voice, style and physical hotness to put out a delicious pop album (with accompanying music videos), but we all know that a delicious pop album requires a certain kind of media frenzy to get its head above water. In other words\u2026 it\u2019s about who you know\u2026 and which \u201ccool\u201d people are listening to you. Girl, just get the paparazzi all over your ass and you\u2019ll be a star. (P.S. I see that you made the Billboard Dance charts\u2026 Maybe you\u2019re on your way already.) [mizmandy.com] SP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW MUSIC REVIEWS by Sterling Preston Naked Beggars Spit It Out Presenting well-crafted rock n roll in the style of the 80s, Naked Beggars are a skilled group of musicians. Inga\u2019s vocals kick out a lot of soul – drawing comparisons to Melissa Etheridge – and traces of Lynyrd Skynrd and even some bluesy Rolling Stones can be heard in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[338],"class_list":["post-381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","tag-new-reviews-by-sterling-preston"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":377,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2007\/10\/05\/pj-harveys-white-cchalk\/","url_meta":{"origin":381,"position":0},"title":"PJ Harvey's White Cchalk","author":"admin","date":"October 5, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"PJ Harvey White ChalkCD review by Sterling Preston With White Chalk, PJ Harvey sets down the rock guitar and learns to play piano. But don\u2019t be discouraged by the alleged disappearance of her usual raw electric power. Simply put, it hasn\u2019t gone anywhere. This album retains the elements of intensity\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "archive"","block_context":{"text":"archive","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":391,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2007\/11\/07\/new-reviews-by-sterling-preston\/","url_meta":{"origin":381,"position":1},"title":"New Reviews by Sterling Preston","author":"admin","date":"November 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"New Reviewsby Sterling Preston BOOK REVIEW: Why is America So Fat? by Ben Kennedy Cover art aside, Why is America So Fat? is less about the obesity epidemic in our country as it is about the corruption of modern day society. Namely, the corruption of the pharmaceutical powers-that-be. Following the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "archive"","block_context":{"text":"archive","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":404,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2007\/12\/09\/13-days-the-pythagoras-conspiracy-book-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":381,"position":2},"title":"13 Days: The Pythagoras Conspiracy book review","author":"admin","date":"December 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"[book review]13 Days: The Pythagoras Conspiracynovel by L.A. Starks, paperback, www.lastarksbooks.com review by Sterling Preston The protagonist of this novel, Lynn Dayton, is an executive whose successful career has come in no small part from the determination to hoist herself out of the poverty of her childhood and to give\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "archive"","block_context":{"text":"archive","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/pics.livejournal.com\/reviewermag\/pic\/0002237t","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":444,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2008\/02\/05\/music-reviews-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":381,"position":3},"title":"music reviews","author":"admin","date":"February 5, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"music reviewsby Sterling Preston Tesla Real to Reel Covering songs by the likes of the Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, the Beatles, the Temptations and other notable artists of the 1960s and 1970s, Tesla\u2019s Real to Reel is a two-disc studio album released last summer. We only received the first disc\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "archive"","block_context":{"text":"archive","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":382,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2007\/10\/23\/no-record-press-presents-the-red-anthology-of-hitherto-unknown-writers-book-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":381,"position":4},"title":"No Record Press Presents: The Red Anthology of Hitherto Unknown Writers – book review","author":"admin","date":"October 23, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"[Book Review] No Record Press Presents: The Red Anthology of Hitherto Unknown WritersReviewed by Sterling Preston YOU CAN\u2019T HELP but love the idea. Think COMETBUS for the New Yorker crowd. Sort of, anyway. A group of good people up in San Francisco put their heads, funds & resources together to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "archive"","block_context":{"text":"archive","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":407,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2007\/12\/13\/or-the-whale-and-other-reviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":381,"position":5},"title":"Or The Whale and other reviews","author":"admin","date":"December 13, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"New Reviewsby Sterling Preston BOOK REVIEW: Star-Crossed, by Linda Collison (Knopf) http:\/\/www.myspace.com\/lindacollison When Patricia Kelley stows away on a ship bound for Barbados, she plans to claim her father\u2019s estate there. Her native Britain is at war with France, and the merchant ship she hides on has been contracted by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "archive"","block_context":{"text":"archive","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}