Lately, I have been heavily under the spell of folk, indie rock. This is a big step for me in my musical maturity because I am very narrow-minded in my taste of music. With this being said, I am in love with Wild Sweet Orange and they have easily become one of my favorite bands.

There is something about the way lead singer Preston Lovinggood puts his words around the verses and choruses that seems perfect. His voice ranges from soft spoken, smooth, soothing melodies to angst filled, aggressive tones within several seconds (Tilt). Lovinggood is brutally honest about American culture and suburban childhood throughout the album, when he sings, “oh did they think we wouldn’t grow up / did they think we couldn’t throw back up that sour milk they been pouring down out throats” (Sour Milk).

For the most part, Wild Sweet Orange doesn’t get aggressive via heavy guitar tones or loud drum parts. However, I may note that House of Regret and Either/Or fuse together simple rhythms and complex lead guitar lines, while successfully incorporating perfect lyrics and metaphors. The lead guitar riff in Either/Or will stick in your head for days upon end (not to mention the lyrics).

While most songs include all of the basic band instruments, several tracks (Sour Milk, Night Terrors, and Land of No Return) are stripped down to acoustic guitar and vocals. Lovinggood also does a spectacular job of incorporates religious references into the album as well as on the initial track Ten Dead Dogs, where he asks, “And oh my God, is this really what you want? / Would you tell us if it’s not? / and could you rewrite the plot and come and get us?” 

We Have Cause to Be Uneasy is one of the most solid albums of the decade. It still has not lost my attention and has not left my CD player. The more I dig into the lyrical content and the soft spoken melodies, the more I appreciate the beauty that is Wild Sweet Orange.  

Four Year Strong is a band for underdogs.  They’ve been playing music together since 2001, but it wasn’t until six years later that they finally found themselves releasing their breakthrough album Rise or Die Trying on a solid record label.  And then, after years of touring and promotion through the likes of MySpace and PureVolume, people finally started paying attention. 

Since then, they’ve experienced a whirlwind of success, jumping from Pete Wentz’ Decaydance Records to Universal Motown, releasing a ’90s cover album and drawing huge crowds at the Vans Warped Tour and even Australia’s Soundwave festival.  On the heels of these accomplishments, the band released their major label debut Enemy of the World earlier this month, and it is anything but disappointing.

The band has ditched much of the playful heaviness heard on Rise or Die Trying, which is a good thing – goofy, synth-filled breakdowns get old pretty fast.  In its place, they’ve substituted real heaviness, with wonderful results.  Nineteen with Neck Tatz (yes, they’re still exercising their goofiness in their song titles) is one of the heaviest, no-nonsense songs they’ve ever written, and the title track features an intensity never before heard from Four Year Strong.

But don’t fear, they haven’t forgotten how to write a good hook.  Wasting Time (Eternal Summer) and Find My Way Back are the band’s first big potential radio hits, and Flannel is the Color of My Energy is the perfect mix of every musical element Four Year Strong have come to be known for – synth, blistering drums, gang vocals, a catchy chorus and a breakdown.

The lyrics aren’t spectacular, but pop-punk music has never been known for its lyrics.  That being said, not every song on this album is about relationships, and even the ones that are – see This Body Pays the Bill$ – are well-written and fun.  And on One Step at a Time, for the first time, the band attempts to drop their lyrical lightheartedness completely and tackle a serious topic – the death of a loved one.  It works, and the song is easily one of the best on the album.

One of the most memorable concerts I ever attended was at The Attic, a day after Thanksgiving in 2006.  I was a nerdy little freshman who couldn’t convince any of his friends to go with him to see this no-name band called Four Year Strong the day after a big holiday.  They weren’t supposed to start playing until around 9 o’clock, but they were in the middle of their set when I walked in at 8:45.  The openers had canceled.  There were fifteen people inside, 20 at the absolute most.  None of them were standing in front of the stage; they were all sitting or leaning against the wall at the side of the room. 

I approached a couple guys from the band after they had finished playing, expecting them to be bummed out.  I would’ve been, had I been in their position.  They’re from Massachusetts, so they had surely missed out on Thanksgiving with their families and friends, and for what?  For a show where people wouldn’t even move up to the stage when they started playing?  But no – “a show’s a show,” said one of their vocalists with a little shrug.  He checked at their merch table to see if they’d sold anything.  He reported back – one T-shirt and one CD.  I held them both.  He called their bassist over to say hi and thanked me for coming out to see them, and then they packed up and shipped out. 

I was giddy.  I knew I had just discovered something big, and that even if people didn’t know the name Four Year Strong yet, it would only be a matter of time. With Enemy of the World, it looks like their time has finally arrived.

Hootie & the Blowfish is a country rock band that became very popular during the second half of the 1990s. Their fame all started with their album Cracked Rear View, their major label debut, released on July 5, 1994. It was the highest selling album of 1995, with 10.5 million shipments that year alone, eventually shipping 16 million copies to retailers by March 31, 1999. It is tied with several albums, all certified 16x Platinum, for the fifteenth best selling album of all time in the United States.

This album really strikes me as a great album because of their two hit songs “Let Her Cry” and “ Only Wanna Be With You.” These songs are about love, in a good way. It isn’t anything depressing like many of the rock songs we hear today. It just has a nice, calm feeling and it gets you thinking of the ones you love most and how you want to be with them. I think when Darius Rucker wrote these two songs, it came straight from the bottom of his heart. I know what he felt, it’s just I don’t have the talent to put these thoughts down on paper and sing it. That’s why I give him ups. I think this is a great album and deserves 5 stars.

Anything that comes from Manchester Orchestra automatically gets put on a pedestal for me. Between the grungy, dirty guitar tones to the aggressive, passionate vocals, this band has won my heart. With the release of their sophomore album Mean Everything to Nothing, Manchester Orchestra unleashed a beautiful, 4 song demo to accompany the album when purchased at a record store. Needless to say, I got my hands on Fourteen Years of Excellence – and I haven’t stopped listening since.

Manchester Orchestra’s lead singer and lyricist, Andy Hull, is the main force behind Fourteen Years of Excellence. His lyrics are captivating and vulnerable. The emotions in his voice are best heard in Anne Louise, when he sings, “And I hope that you’ll remember me in heaven / God I hope you don’t remember that in heaven / God I hope that they’ll allow me into heaven / Look what I’ve become.”

Hull has been blessed with the gift of lyricism. Not only does he write all of the lyrics for Manchester Orchestra, he also has a side project called Right Away, Great Captain where he creates an acoustic driven storyline. Right Away, Great Captain is a three album saga from the perspective of a 17^th century sailor who catches his wife in an act of betrayal with his very own brother. Though Fourteen Years of Excellence is a Manchester Orchestra release, the music and lyrics are more up the alley of a Right Away, Great Captain song.

My favorite of the record is It’s Okay with Me, which possesses the perfect mixture of hopeful music with solemn lyrics. Hull’s inspiration, which heavily comes from his ‘Christian upbringing’, is the questioning, the faith and the suffering that comes along with a belief in God. In It’s Okay with Me, Hull pleads, “I am a man that does not have a way / Millions of oceans can show me you say … and I still wait around to see if they’ll let me go / through heaven’s doors, alone.” Also, in Do You Really Like Being Alone, Hull furthers his confusion when he says, “And the Lord made me confront my past / We asked each other to explain the mess / I believed with enough good I’d mend / But any good I had was always simply tepid / And I tried hard to sing like they did / With my arms raised in the air I was praising / You said that when we died it would send / But maybe even Jesus knew that I was faking.” Hull is vulnerable and he lays it all out on the table for the listeners and that’s one of the best parts about the Manchester Orchestra experience.

With this being said, I have nothing bad to say about Fourteen Years of Excellence. The alternative, more laid back version of the single Shake It Out provides a nice change of pace on the record. Although the lyrics can seem dark, they are deep and extremely inspiring. If you are a fan of Manchester Orchestra, you need to get your hands on this short album. If you have never had a Manchester Orchestra experience, I recommend starting with Mean Everything to Nothing; however this is a great alternative.

I am normally a pretty trendy kid. I usually try to follow the latest fads and hysteria; however, I have not been impressed by several of the latest pop culture crazes, particularly the Owl City, Jersey Shore and Kid Cudi movements. As only an occasional listener to rap music, I do appreciate the creativity of the lyrics as well as the production of the beats. Nevertheless, it’s a rare occasion when I find a rapper that I actually appreciate and enjoy. With this being said, I finally gave Kid Cudi a chance, and against all my prior judgment, I found Man on the Moon: The End of Day to be a pleasurable journey.

Surprisingly, Kid Cudi’s lyrics are very metaphorical, emotional and heartfelt. In Pursuit of Happiness, he reflects on the death of his father when he says, “I’m super paranoid, like a 6th sense. Since my father died, I ain’t been right since.” Cudi’s father died when he was 11 years old from cancer and it has deeply affected his personality and his music. The struggles of Cudi’s life have put him in extreme emotional positions, where he writes, “It’s close to go and trying some coke. And a happy ending would be slitting my throat.” Cudi is real and he is not ashamed of his upbringing (he’s originally from Cleveland), his addiction to drugs and his emotional instability. The hip-hop scene needs more artists who put down their guard and become real people with real life problems.

The theme of Man on the Moon: The End of the World is based on a call to society to be more creative. However, the creativity that Cudi is pushing happens to be heavily based on marijuana influence. The entire album centers on his addiction to marijuana and in the song Pursuit of Happiness, Cudi brags, “[I] crush a bit, little bit, roll it up, take a hit.” The main inspiration of his songs come from the dreams he has while stoned, Cudi said in a recent interview. Just when I thought I liked Kid Cudi, I lost an immense amount of respect for him. It turned out that he was, indeed, just like all the other rappers of today.

On a separate note, the actual music on Man on the Moon: The End of Day is very unique to a typical rapper of this generation. While the majority of rap beats today blend together, Cudi collaborates with electro-rock duo Ratatat to produce several of his beats (Alive and Pursuit of Happiness). Other noteworthy songs on the album include the single Day ‘n’ Nite, Heart of a Lion (Kid Cudi Theme Music) and Sky Might Fall, which is produced by label mate Kanye West.

Nevertheless, this album, like any other rap album, becomes repetitive and has its flaws. A large majority of the songs sound the same and Cudi’s voice – though unique – gets old halfway through the album. Man on the Moon: The End of the World is not something I’d be listening to over and over again. Although Cudi is new and fresh and unique, he still supports the basic principles of most rappers through the theme of marijuana influence. However, I will admit it. Kid Cudi is one of the better rap artists in the scene today.

For the past several months, I have been searching for a new band to listen to. I wanted something different that few people listen to; I wanted a band that would actually sound like how I truly felt. When I found House Party by Right Side of the Tree, I knew I had found my band.

Right Side of the Tree (RST) has a different sound to it, and as soon as I heard the song Drunk on a Tuesday – Uncut, I fell in love with them. It is by far their best song and may be one of the greatest acoustic songs I have heard in years; this song speaks to me and gives me a great vibe. As far as singles go, this acoustic song is one of the few out there that I can put on repeat and relax to the melody.

The songs Welcome 2 Life and Live it Up are two great songs that show that RST isn’t just a one-hit wonder, and also that they can be diverse. It balances out their best song well, by showing a different side to them. These songs definitely help you to get pumped up and put you in a great mood.

As far as the other songs on the album go, most of the songs are hit or miss. For instance, Party Like Robots is, for lack of a better word, stupid. The lyrics are dreary and dull and the beat is too simple to enjoy. Not to mention, the song is meaningless and actually gets on my nerves.

The only problem with House Party is that every song reminds me of every other song. I would have liked the album to have been a little more varied. Now obviously, if you are at a house party, this is the perfect CD to blast through your stereo. But for those of us who like to listen to music in our cars or just to relax to, the album leaves a lot to be desired.

I wouldn’t say the album is worth the 10 dollars you’d have to spend for every song, but if you get on iTunes or any mp3 downloading site and get some of RST’s best tracks for around three dollars, you’ll find a fresh sound that you will definitely enjoy. RST could possibly be one of the best bands I’ve ever heard, but their lack of consistency shows that they aren’t there yet. Hopefully, in the future, they’ll find their niche and not try to stretch their reach and produce “party” songs.

The title of Motion City Soundtrack’s latest release, My Dinosaur Life, might have some fans wondering if the band is headed for extinction. I certainly hope not. While this isn’t their best album, it should still satisfy most of the band’s fans, mixing the harder and faster edge of their earlier work with the smooth, radio-friendly pop of their previous album.

The album begins with Worker Bee, a brilliant choice for the opening track (much like Attractive Today from their finest release, Commit This to Memory). Justin Pierre stretches his vocals farther than ever for these songs, sounding angrier and more powerful than ever in Disappear. After slowing their pace for their last album, Even if it Kills Me, the band pulls out all the stops for My Dinosaur Life. Pulp Fiction will surely become a fan favorite and a highlight of the band’s entire career; despite its nearly nonsensical lyrics, it’s clear that this song represents the band having the most fun they’ve had in a long time.

Sadly, a small handful of poorly executed (and poorly placed) songs prevent the album from ever really taking off. The appropriately named @!#?@! shows the band having a little too much fun, awkwardly mixing together references to the Legend of Zelda video games with a spiteful, profanity-filled chorus. History Lesson is also a dud – the band produced the song themselves, and with a producer like Blink-182 extraordinaire Mark Hoppus tackling the rest of the album’s production, it’s a head-scratcher that this song made the final cut.

The band thankfully manages to pull together a solid ending for My Dinosaur Life, despite a few bumps along the way. The final track, The Weakends, closes the album on a high note, mirroring the determination shown earlier in Worker Bee. All things considered, while this is certainly not a bad album, its fatal flaw is a lack of progress. Motion City Soundtrack has consistently evolved with every single release, but it seems as though My Dinosaur Life is not so much an evolution as simply a fusion of the band’s previous works. Hopefully, the band can survive the threat of extinction and make up for their missteps on My Dinosaur Life with future albums.

This album is heavy. Period. If you are down to feel your body rumbling, put this CD in your car immediately.

For Today is not just another stereotypical metal band that wears tight jeans, Vans shoes, and beanie hats. This band is on a whole separate level with their latest album, Portraits. If bass drops (when the percussion stops and then comes back in with an even heavier bass line) and breakdowns get you going, you will fall in love with this album.

Portraits, lyrically, exceeds any metal album that I have ever heard. The song lyrics are completely focused on religious beliefs, mainly Christianity. The entire album centers on “the fathers of faith.” The guys in this band live out their faith and it is seen by the straightforward lyrics throughout the album. In the song Immanuel (The Challenger), lead singer Mattie Montgomery says “Repent or perish.” If that isn’t blunt enough, then I don’t know what is. The heaviest songs include Joel (The Watchman) and Saul of Tarsus (The Messenger).

Even though the album is drenched in spiritually, Portraits can still be enjoyed if you are not a person of faith. The breakdowns and the technicalities of this record can be enjoyed by any fan of metal core music!

The talented musician Lenny Kravitz released Greatest Hits in 2000. However, this music sensation is still producing and touring on his music even today. But my favorite album is by far Greatest Hits. Of course, it has all of his good songs on it.

What makes Lenny’s Greatest Hits album stand out as my favorite Lenny Kravitz album and one of my favorite albums of all time is the song Again. Again was a previously-unreleased song and appears only on his Greatest Hits album. The first time I heard this song, when I was 8 years old, I fell in love with it. It made me think of somebody special that had not seen since I was a kid and made me wonder if I would ever see them again.

Although Again is a great song, there are many more great hits on this triple platinum album. Some of his other major hits include Are You Gonna Go My Way, Fly Away, Rock and Roll is Dead, It Ain’t Over Til’ It’s Over, American Woman, Stand By My Woman, and Let Love Rule.

Lenny Kravitz is a very talented musician and I am looking forward to hearing his upcoming album Negrophili, set for release in late 2010.  I would give Greatest Hits five stars, but it makes me mad that he has released many great songs after this album that aren’t on it, so I give it four stars.  Some day, I hope I have the pleasure of seeing him live.

If you want to listen to something soothing and mellow … you’ve got it. Maybe you want to listen to something a little more upbeat … no problem. Maybe you just want to listen to something that has a little bit of everything … coming right up. Just place your order Sunny Side Up.

Paolo Nutini’s second album Sunny Side Up came out this past summer following his first album These Streets, which came out in 2006. Both are filled with amazing vocals, instrumentals and lyrics. Nutini distinguished himself as a musician with his first album and showed us how much natural talent he had to offer. With Sunny Side Up, this Scotsman displays his soulful voice with its distinct scratchiness through the maturity and wide-range in his music.

Songs like 10/10 shake things up a bit with its upbeat vibes, while songs like Pencil Full of Lead take you back into the ’40s era. His hit song Candy is bittersweet, and like all of his music, you will get wrapped up in the atmosphere his music creates.

When I saw him live in Chicago this past August, I was amazed at how effortless he made performing seem. This guy is the real deal. You just don’t get a voice more genuine or authentic than Paolo’s. And at only 22 years old — there’s no telling what’s to come!