C-Ville Weekly | Music | Reviews | AAN.org

Is the Madonna on 'Celebration' Compilation a Material Girl, or a Beautiful Stranger?new

Oh, remember when Madonna promised to lead us through the wilderness with a witty, ambitious combination of disco sex appeal, businesswoman savvy and cardinal danger? Remember when she had her own cheekbones?

C-Ville Weekly | Cathy Harding | 10-09-2009 | Reviews

Tags: Celebration, Madonna, pop music

Danny Schmidt Saves the Best for Lastnew

If the only stupid question is the one not asked, then Danny Schmidt, a Charlottesville expatriate and a founding father of the local folk scene, is thumbtack sharp, a songwriter with the curviest question marks.

C-Ville Weekly | Brendan Fitzgerald | 03-25-2009 | Reviews

Tags: Danny Schmidt, Instead the Forest Rose to Sing, folk music

Shannon Worrell Lays On the Nostalgia on Her Latest Albumnew

The thing about nostalgia is that it's deliciously indulgent, like turtle cheesecake, and Worrell's record is comparably rich. The Honey Guide is thick with string, twang, and image-heavy writing, and the elements that make it perfect for certain occasions are the same elements that make it a little too much for everyday listening.

C-Ville Weekly | Laura Eve Engel | 10-29-2008 | Reviews

Tags: Shannon Worrell, The Honey Guide

Ani Difranco's Latest is Overproducednew

Red Letter Year is a string of songs that, more often than not, sound heavy instead of layered, muddy instead of nuanced, and bury Ani's trademark percussive finger picking and vocal flexibility.

C-Ville Weekly | Laura Eve Engel | 10-08-2008 | Reviews

Tags: Ani DiFranco, Red Letter Year

'Death Magnetic' is a Return to Form for Metallicanew

The band's 10th studio album, produced by Rick Rubin, was hailed as a return to Metallica's speed metal days long before it was released in September. And it is.

C-Ville Weekly | Scott Weaver | 10-01-2008 | Reviews

Tags: metal, Metallica, Rick Rubin, Death Magnetic

Beck Offers Gloom You Can Move to on 'Modern Guilt'new

By enlisting DJ Danger Mouse, Beck seemed poised for a return to the madcap sound collages of his early landmark albums. But on Modern Guilt, Beck's 10th album, Danger Mouse streamlines the meditations on personal stasis and existential dread that have been the core of Beck's output since the acoustic gloom of Sea Change.

C-Ville Weekly | Kaveh Ardalan | 07-23-2008 | Reviews

Tags: Beck, Danger Mouse, Modern Guilt

'Lookout' Brings a New Plot Twist to the Silver Jews Saganew

Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea is an ecstatic experience in the literal sense, an often joyous, crisp rock album that leaves David Berman poised on another precipice, ready to start another chapter or, should he desire, a new book altogether.

C-Ville Weekly | Brendan Fitzgerald | 06-25-2008 | Reviews

Tags: Silver Jews, Drag City Records, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea, David Berman

Gnarls Barkley Forges an Identitynew

There's a big gap between accepting Gnarls masterminds Cee-Lo Green and Brian Burton and understanding who they are, or what it is, exactly, they're doing.

C-Ville Weekly | Brendan Fitzgerald | 05-14-2008 | Reviews

Tags: Gnarls Barkley, the odd couple

'Hard Candy' is a Good Dance Record, but is it a Good Madonna Record?new

Ray of Light, Music, Confessions on a Dance Floor, Erotica -- these are Grade A Madonna, pop music for the thinking woman. But this time around, while there's no shortage of beats, it seems that Madonna let somebody else do the thinking for her.

C-Ville Weekly | Cathy Harding | 05-07-2008 | Reviews

Tags: Hard Candy, Madonna

She & Him Beats Modernity Back with a Bit of '60s Popnew

The project, which pairs M. Ward and actress Zooey Deschanel, doesn't succeed because it's innovative or unexpected. It's just two souls in love with good ol'-fashioned pop music, and that love gives Volume One a warm glow to wrap around yourself on a chilly night.

C-Ville Weekly | John Ruscher | 04-09-2008 | Reviews

Tags: She & Him, Volume One, M. Ward, Zooey Deschanel