It wasn't easy to successfully follow-up her debut album Eye To The Telescope, but Scottish singer/songwriter K.T. Tunstall has done a pretty fair job on Drastic Fantastic. Her strength on this album - as it was on the debut - is her ability to write engaging pop songs that don't venture too far into the pop song jungle. You don't have to be ashamed to say that you dig K.T. Tunstall.

KT Tunstall is a sparkling new songwriter with Chinese blood, a Scottish heart, great legwarmers and a cool name who celebrates classic singer-songwriting with an articulate, accessible, immediate brew of rootsy sass, wistful quandary and after-hours atmosphere. more...

Damon Albarn's musical foresight may be well-documented, but it's arguably never been more fully realized as it is on Plastic Beach, the new album from Gorillaz. The sun has risen again on the virtual world that Albarn and Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett first brought to life nearly a decade ago.

There's that cliché about putting the "bounce back in your step. Well, after recruiting the Austin-based rock band Relentless7 to join forces, Ben Harper not only put the "bounce back in his step," but he refueled with a group of musicians that take his highly emotional songs to an explosive level.

Here's a new album from the Irish band that always sound as if they're eternally drenched in California sunshine. Teenager, the brand new album from The Thrills, is full of stylish pop hooks and the unique vocal stylings of Conor Deasy. What's different about this third release from the band is its overall consistency. There's no one song that pops out at you and screams "Radio Single!," but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

It wasn't easy to successfully follow-up her debut album Eye To The Telescope, but Scottish singer/songwriter K.T. Tunstall has done a pretty fair job on Drastic Fantastic. Her strength on this album - as it was on the debut - is her ability to write engaging pop songs that don't venture too far into the pop song jungle. You don't have to be ashamed to say that you dig K.T. Tunstall.

On Lifeline, Ben Harper has gone back to his roots in a major way. Already the king of effortless groove, this album sounds like it was conceived, written and produced in a few weeks... which it was (the whole recording process took just a week, start to finish). That's a very good thing in this instance, because the spontaneity is absolutely refreshing. The songcraft on Lifeline rivals any other Harper release, and Ben and the Innocent Crimminals play the tunes with an uplifting sense of discovery.

KT Tunstall is a sparkling new songwriter with Chinese blood, a Scottish heart, great legwarmers and a cool name who celebrates classic singer-songwriting with an articulate, accessible, immediate brew of rootsy sass, wistful quandary and after-hours atmosphere. more...