Listening to All I Ever Wanted I feel I may have been a little to harsh when reviewing Kelly Clarkson’s last disk My December (see: You're Going Crazy, Running on Empty). My big complaint was that she tried to do too much herself, even if she had no ability to create a memorable melody, almost def...

Editor's Note: This blog was contributed by Shaun Rogan. Be sure to read his previous blogs for Zoom In Online: A Trip Thru Hell with the C.A. Quintet and Lux Interior (1946-2009): A True Legend of Rock N Roll. read more...

King Tutt - The Evolution EP (Unruly Records) When I picked King Tutt as the best club music producer in the City Paper's 2007 Best Of Baltimore issue, I was really trying to look ahead, and find someone less known that was showing a lot of potential, instead of just giving the award to someone more...

Poe & Rasheed- Diverse Hustle (Dogg University R-Sinal Records) Here's another mixtape that I kinda dug out of my stack of neglected CDs and can't really remember where I got it, although there's an Akbar Entertainment Designz logo on it so I guess Skarr Akbar did the artwork, maybe I got it from hi...

NOE - Deal Or NOE Deal (DJ Daa One) My review of NOE's latest mixtape is in this week's City Paper. It's got a bunch of songs with Jim Jones and other Byrd Gang dudes, including that "Swagga From Us" song that I already voiced my opinion about a while back, and there's a good track of him freestylin...

When I listen to Michael Zapruder’s latest solo effort (is it a solo album if you have 15 people on the album?), I get a lot of stuff. There’s some Rufus Wainwright, Arcade Fire, Vic Chesnutt, and maybe even a little Beck. Then there’s the wide range of instrumentation. Some songs ...

Maybe I’m biased because I listened to Fox Confessor habitually for months. Or because I think she’s hot. Or because she is what makes The New Pornographers listenable. Or maybe she is just really good at making music that does everything right. It’s like listening to the sounds of...

Ron G - Lunch EP (Mania Music Group) Back when the Mania Music Group site did their whole "month of Mania" promotion back in October and gave away a bunch of free music, Ron G's was the last of the solo EPs they posted. And I wanted to kinda chill and not post about them all at once, so it took me a...

As a This Will Destroy You fanboy, this was an essential release for me to check out. They don’t have much material, so anything new is always welcomed. That warm, post-rocky goodness is impossible to resist. This split EP proved to be a bit of an anomaly, though. Not being all that familiar w...

Franz Ferdinand "Tonight" (Domino)I'm suspicious of rockers in suits; maybe that's why I won't cut the Jonas Brothers any slack. At any other time in the economic cycle, those kids would seem merely precious -- and that's bad enough. But......