In the early '80s, with guitars and keyboards fighting for song supremacy, a crashing Canadian rock wave flooded America with bands running down the radio market. Stylistically lodged between the prog-metal of Rush and the power pop of Nick Gilder (but with the same helium tenors), Loverboy, Aldo Nova, and Prism coveted a piece of Foreigner's and Journey's action. Multitudes of fine records were casualties of these AOR wars, including Arc Angel's debut. Shining opener {&"St...   [ read more ]

CD $9.45

Idaho-bred singer/songwriter Josh Ritter's V2 Records debut follows in the footsteps of 2003's Hello Starling only in instrumentation. While he retains his literate tongue and expressive voice, there is far less humor on Animal Years than on his previous two outings. Producer Brian Deck (Iron & Wine, Modest Mouse) keeps Animal Years intimate but transient, like a circus train crawling through a small town on a busy Saturday afternoon. Essentially built around two startlingly affe...   [ read more ]

CD $43.68