In 1996 Nada Surf was on top of the world.  Their hit single, "Popular" was an anthem for depressed high school students.  The song served as a painstaking guide book to teenage popularity.  They had a major label record contract and were destined for greatness.  Fast-forward 9 years and the mainstream music scene had basically written them off.  They were a one hit wonder.  With four albums to their name, Nada Surf released "The Weight is a Gift" at the end of 2005 on Barsuk Records.  The album serves as a beacon of

Any successful band has to deal with the downside of knowing when they are past their prime.  Lately, there have been a lot of albums that have turned out to be major disappointments.  This is not one of them.

Most music fans over the age of 14 and under the age of 35 know who The White Stripes are, if not, they might have heard of Jack White the guitar player. Not as many fans have heard the name of the Raconteurs, but they will.

Pearl Jam is back, I'm not saying they ever left, but remember when Aerosmith quit drugs and came back with a hugely successful album, that's kind of like this. Pearl Jam has never stopped creating music or touring almost non-stop in the past 15 year. This new album, I think, is the best thing they have ever done. I know there are a lot of Pearl Jam fans that will disagree with me, but regardless, this music is right for this moment in time.

Fifty states = fifty albums.  This is the goal of singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens.

It's always hard to sum up a whole CD in just a few paragraphs. Some artists work their lyrics into their music and some make the music around the words they write. Devendra Banhart's fourth album is a combination of both smooth melodies and pop beats. His style of music he is creating crosses into the "freak-folk" category.  This is the first album of his I have heard but understand he comes from a very four track solo artist background. This album is very polished and you can tell the 24 year old is finding his own voice and sound.