Matthew Sweet is celebrating his 10th studio album with a concert. Check out some of his music and concert dates below.

Tour Dates
10/20 Boulder, CO – Fox Theater
10/22 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue Mainroom
10/23 Chicago, IL - Park West
10/24 Pittsburgh, PA – Mr. Smalls Funhouse
10/25 Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
10/27 Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
10/28 New York, NY – Webster Hall
10/29 Falls Church, VA – State Theatre
10/30 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
11/01 Covington, KY - The Madison
11/03 Charleston, WV - Mountain Stage syndicated radio show
11/05 Baltimore, MD - 8X10
11/06 Philadelphia, PA - The Trocadero
11/07 Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
11/08 Athens, GA - 40 Watt
11/09 Nashville, TN -3rd & Lindsley
11/19 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
11/26 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey

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When we talk about bands that produce two records with two completely different sounds, The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi from The Receiving End of Sirens fits that perfectly. TREOSs first album, Between the Heart and the Synapse, was a rock-driven artistic masterpiece while The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi is mostly artwork with a hit of their rock and roll roots laden into the backdrop of the album. On the whole, the two albums sound completely different and it would be difficult to conceive that they were even produced by the same band.

As I stated above, the sound the two albums are drastically different. Between the Heart and the Synapse was a rock-driven album with well-placed artistic overtones and nuances. The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi is nearly the complete opposite- an artsy album with rock undertones. Don’t get me wrong, there’s not wrong with a musical 180, its perfectly natural in the course of events of a musician. And in the case of The Receiving End of Sirens, it could be the result of the band continuing their story telling- since the two albums are symbiotic of each other. The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi needs Between the Heart and the Synapse to tell its story- while Between the Heart and the Synapse needs The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi to continue its story. Without each other their stories have no meaning, and without each other they don’t exist. And since existence is the underlying tone of both albums, it is, in this writer’s opinion, is all part of the genius that is The Receiving End of Sirens.

While the sound of the albums is different, the lyrics and meaning are still intertwined. Between the Heart and the Synapse spoke of coming into existence and trying to find one’s self, The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi takes that to the next level and speaks about being in existence and watching the world from the eyes of an outsider, or as someone who always ignored or overlooked. On those same lines, the album questions that existence and in essence, makes the listener watch as that existence seems to fade away. True to nature, the album is lyrically intelligent- still commanding the English language and using poetic and literary devices with the utmost perfection. One addition in The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi is the imagery. TREOS uses imagery in the album like a great sci-fi or fantasy novel, the lyrics will take you and place you into the point of view the speaker, whoever it may be. Tolkien would be proud.

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I’m a big fan of hip hop and rap music. I’m selective in what I listen to, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from Necro, in his first album produced by Koch Records. Necro has been a part of the underground hip hop scene for years. Known for combining his love of heavy metal with rap and horror movies, I had no idea what I was going to find when I popped this CD into my player.

This review is being done live as I listen to the music. You will get my initial feelings and thoughts as I listen to the CD, and then I will provide an overall analysis of this CD at the end of this article.

The CD, Death Rap is Necro’s fifth album. It features 14 songs. Here is some information and my thoughts on each song on this album.

1. “Creepy Crawl” – I first noticed the funky beat had an old skool kind of feel to it. I can’t really even explain how weird the beat is for this song. I’m not sure where the metal sound came in on this, but most of it sounded like crazy rap to me. This wasn’t one of his best songs. We’re off to a bad start.
Grade: C-

2. “No Remorse” – I like the beat already. It has more of a metal feel to it then the last song. The lyrics are a bit more reflective of what I’d expect from a death rapper. I definitely like this song better than the last one. The chorus is a bit simplistic compared to other rappers. However, the rest of the lyrics are pretty damn fly. The background chorus sounds like a Gregorian type of chant and it’s pretty sweet. All of the elements of this song go together well.
Grade: A

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I received Puddle of Mudd’s newest CD, Famous in the mail recently and I couldn’t wait to pop it in and give it a listen. I decided to live blog this because it will give you a better idea of my feelings for each song and the band as a whole. Each track below is listed in order on the CD, with my thoughts attached.

“Famous”: “Famous” is an awesome song. It’s really reminiscent of the Puddle of Mudd sound. If you are fan of the group, then you will love this song. It was a good choice for them to start with on this album. Some of the lyrics give nods to 80s rock music, which is a nice touch. I won’t be surprised if this ends up being a hit with the radio stations. I love it when CDs start out with a good song because it signals that it’s likely to be a good CD.

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