George Benson & Al Jarreau - Givin' It Up

Monster/Concord

George Benson and Al Jarreau together on record for the first time is all it takes to make "Givin' It Up" a bona fide event. Still, they make it even better with guest talents that include Herbie Hancock, Paul McCartney (a gospel-flavored arrangement of Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home to Me") and Jill Scott.
The overall feel is of two virtuosos setting up in a nightclub and just having a good time with friends. Benson and Jarreau push each other plenty, inventing new versions of their respective hits "Breezin'" and "MorninÕ," and crafting vocal melodies for Miles Davis' "ÕLong Come Tutu." Superstar collaborations are risky, but this delivers far more than the sum of its parts.

Alejandro Sanz - El Tren De Los Momentos

Warner Music Latina

Alejandro Sanz's seventh album and first new material in two long years, "El Tren De Los Momentos" includes ten songs. Filled with his poetic wordplay the album comments on the body of political emotion. This new record includes collaborations on several songs with artists Shakira, Antonio Carmona, Juanes and many others.
Editor's Note: included are a number of Latin artists celebrating the independence and left-leaning situation in many latin-American nations including Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Equador and others.
Latin nations have become aware that the wealth in their nations no longer is owned by the United States and our corporations; they are no longer "banana republics."

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Live at the Fillmore East, 1970

Reprise/Warner Bros

March 6th and 7th, 1970 at New York's Fillmore East have been the subject of legend for decades because of the monumental step it was for Neil Young, Crazy Horse and the rest of rock'n'roll. Neil Young was being referred to as "the Young" of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
It was a major career step in the right direction for him to start playing solo, as he was one of the best in the day. When he split his set in to halves, playing solo and closing the set playing with Crazy Horse, Young proved his ability to stand firm as a solo artist as well as he could in a group project.

Various Artists - New Orleans Playground

Putumayo

As a part of Putumayo's Playground series, "New Orleans Playground" is a superb collection of cultural songs based on the rhymes, times and dines of New Orleans. The artists showcased here are famed members of the New Orleans musical family. Jazz, blues, zydeco and gospel selections are included for a truly pleasurable experience.
Putumayo has once again put together the best collection of music for a good cause. For anyone who is not aware, this label is consistent and constantly presenting eclectic albums and giving the proceeds to reputable charities and humanitarian efforts.

Ima Robot - Monument To The Masses

Virgin/EMI

Ima Robot staked their place on the throne of the cutting edge back in 2003 when they debuted. They have drawn enthusiastic comparisons to Devo, Bowie, Iggy Pop and the Cars, all agreeing that this is a band that is beyond the times.
Now we have an electric-pop-rap wave taking over the mainstream radio and we have the disarming imagination, quirky dance energy and the symphonic presence of Ima Robot... it is almost like Ima Robot was sent to herald in the new era of music.

Various Artists - A Tribute To Barbara Mandrell: She Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool

BNA/Sony BMG

Thanks to a string of hit singles and a popular television variety series, vocalist Barbara Mandrell was arguably the biggest female star in country music in the late 70's and early 80's.
Now a decade has nearly passed since she walked away from the stage, and she has been honored by a tribute album featuring Reba McEntire, Kenny Chesney, Gretchen Wilson, Willie Nelson, Randy Owen and CeCe Winans. With the talents of so many more artists, it is a proper tribute to the woman who epitomized '70s and '80s country-pop.

Victory - Fuel to the Fire

Armageddon/Locomotive

Victory is the Hanover, Germany, power metal band that in its 20-year career has elicited raves, both good and bad, from fans and critics alike. Now they have added fuel to the never-ending fire by re-recording some of their better songs to try to add more of a modern day sound.
Completely rearranged, newly performed, remixed and re-mastered, these twelve tracks represent the zenith of half-assing as an art form. Rather than trying to create new material, these guys figured they were going to try to string fans along by retuning twenty year old songs. Umm, hope they aren't playing the same songs over and over for the next twenty years or so.

Various Artists - The Bluegrass Tribute to the Strokes

CMH

The Strokes seemed to spring from nowhere. Taking their cue from classic New York bands of the 70's like Television, the band injected a swagger and cool into the stagnant New York City music scene, Their debut album became a huge underground hit, selling over a million copies in the US alone. Rising above the massive media hype, The Strokes, "difficult second album" proved they were no one-hit wonder and still streaks ahead of the droves of imitators that followed in their wake.
This album presents their latest tribute to an unique band. Top musicians tackle the Strokes music with clean intensity. Banjo, dobro, fiddle and mandolin replace the chiming electric guitars and pounding drums of the original tracks. 'New York City Cops,' 'Last Nite,' and 'Hard to Explain' are transformed from modern rock nuggets to old-time Appalachian gold while maintaining a dynamic, melodic heart and attitude.

Robin Thicke - The Evolution of Robin Thicke

Interscope

"The Evolution of Robin Thicke," is the second album from the critically acclaimed, Grammy award winning songwriter, producer. The album is a timeless work of art with Robin using his voice of purity, passion and soulfulness to relate the stories of his last two years.
The album has a magic of its own. It tells the tales of love, loss, temptation. redemption and finding hope when all odds are against you. Reflective, redemptive, passionate and etched with an undeniable hope, this is an imaginative and heartfelt album that you cannot help but be moved by.

Greenskeepers - Polo Club

OM/ADA

If you pick up a copy of the Greenskeepers' "Polo Club" and are expecting a serious head driven affair then you obviously havenÕt listened to either of their two previous albums.
In less than a second of the title track 'Polo Club' it is clear that the Greenskeepers are once again going for a tongue in cheek approach to house music; don't be surprised when the F bomb drops in this post-punk anthem that has a slight whiff of the Ramones.
Nick Maurer's distinctive yet strangely chameleonic vocal gets an absolute workout during the entire album. His talent is no more obvious than during '15 Minutes' where he somehow manages to capture the essence of Morissey even if with a lot less heart.
*********** EDITOR'S NOTE: I've been into music for 50 years, but the Greenskeepers create maditative sounds that goes beyond anything that I've ever heard. **************

Various Artists - Flushed Away Soundtrack

Astralwerks/EMI

The soundtrack to the lovable Dreamworks animation features songs by the Dandy Worhols, Billy Idol, Tom Jones, The Slugs, Fatboy Slim and many other talented artists. The chosen songs help to carry the movie through many mishaps and adventure. From the opening toilet flush to the last comical "beware" this is a great soundtrack.

Spanish Harlem Orchestra - Live at the Rhythm and Roots Festival

FestivaLink

The Rhythm and Roots Festival is held every year. During the Labor day weekend more than 10,000 people come together to celebrate cajun. blues, zydeco, folk and many other styles of southern-born music. The fest is a culture immersion, with traditional dance, music, and food.
This last year, featured on the main stage, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra performed magnificently before thousands. What you will hear when you listen to this rare find is stage presence! This is a well recorded live performance that takes from your winter cottage to the red-hot warmth of a summer night. Under the direction of famed piano player Oscar Hernandez, they put on a stellar show.
Editor's Note: I know I must have heard this music in east Harlem in New York City where I went whenever I was down to lift me up.

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

Capitol/EMI

Capitol has recently rereleased one of the more diverse, well worked Lennon albums ever put together. In Plastic Ono Band, Lennon brutally, brilliantly and definitively underlined the differences between himself and Paul McCartney. This is rock'n'roll as he saw it. Anger, passion and the drive to change the world came together in his deliverance. He paved the way for the rest of his more steady works with the efforts he put forth here.

Various Artists - Songs of the Year

Vector/Cracker Barrel

The selection of songs on this album were either named Song of the Year by the ACM, CMA or Grammy's. The songs, though they may not be performed by the original artist, are gems of country music today.
What I loved about this compilation was that the music was from such a vast gap of time, that the progression of country music can be seen. Showcased are artists that include Deana Carter, George Jones, Trisha Yearwood, Jo Dee Messina and many more accomplished buzzworthy artists.

Brown Boy - Livin' Shady

Street Noize/AME

Even though Latin rap music did not garner much national attention up until the 2000s (with some exceptions like Cypress Hill and Big Punisher), America's Southwest always has seen a number of Latino/a rappers, like California's Brown Boy, compete for radio airplay with widely known artists. Brown Boy's "Superman" slow jam topped many radio outlets' favorite playlists and appeared on Billboard's Top Rhythmic 40 in 2006.
Hailing from Blythe, CA, Brown Boy earned his name from his baby-faced look and Chicano pride. Although his greatest influence was alternative hip-hop group Lighter Shade of Brown, Brown Boy's first two albums, Change the Game and Represent the Brown, were filled with hardcore Chicano raps.
Dario Perez is devoted to making music that is positive. He is a former middle-school math teacher whose vision is projecting a positive image for latinos with his music.
***So Nice, Gotta Do It Up Twice (Created by the Original NYC DJ, Jocko, 1955)***

Be Your Own Pet - Be Your Own Pet

Elastic Peace!/Universal/UMG

Blasting out of Nashville, TN, like a bottle rocket, the teenage garage-noise-pop band Be Your Own Pet makes music that's as frenzied as it is catchy. The band formed in 2003 out of the ashes of Night Shift Nurses, which was the project of the drummer and his bassist brother.
The noise they are making today is by far greater than their influences. I find it is a little sloppy and it leaves my mind mashed like a banana that has been mutilated. It is kinda like that coffee house you can't seem to get away from, busy, chaotic but you belong there.

Ennio Morricone - 50 Movie Theme Hits

3 Disc Set Cooking Vinyl/EDEL

Ennio Morricone is possibly one of the most famous prolific successful composers on the International Film scene, maybe even the 20th century. His latest compilation, "50 Movie Theme Hits," brings together his best works in a three disc set, giving the listener a thrilling overview of Ennio's musical soundtrack spectrum.
While you listen you will find yourself being transported to a forgotten era, experiencing the sun rise on an untarnished west. You may find yourself living through the emotions of triumph, loneliness, indignation and honor. This is a great collection that anyone should own for their personal collection' especially if you are a Clint Eastwood fan!

Carrie Rodriguez - Seven Angels On A Bicycle

Back Porch/Train Wreck/Virgin

On "Seven Angels on a Bicycle,"Carrie Rodriguez establishes herself as a front woman and songwriter. Best known for her collaboration with veteran songwriter, cardplayer and performer Chip Taylor, the duo released three albums together including 2005Õs critically acclaimed Red Dog Tracks.
She has created for herself a strong beautiful solo debut. I love to see a confident latin sister coming forth with her own style and brand of folky-assertive poetry. Blessed with a remarkable voice she has blessed us with a magnificent record.

Razorlight - Razorlight

Mercury/Universal Motown

The boys are back with more great songs brimming with hooks, singalong choruses and plenty of attitude. Having spent much of last year touring the states the album has a couple of songs reflecting their time here including "America" and "Los Angeles Waltz". Also included on the album is the great new single "In The Morning". Wow the UK really does seem to do UK pop better.

Psychic Ills - Early Violence

The Social Registry/SC

The Psychic Ills are Tom Gluibizzi, Elizabeth Hart, Brian Tamberello and Tres Warren. This material captures the early days of the Brooklyn based band. It is a collection of songs originally recorded on limited vinyl that had completely disappeared until now.
These guys have that dance band-by-accident thing working to their advantage. Everything about them is intriguing and befuddling. They have become the best in psychedelic garage electric rock.

Damien Rice - 9

Heffa/Vector/Warner Bros.

"9" is enchanting, awkward, honest, raw, and beautiful. And Damien Rice proves that the only expectations that matter are those imposed by the creator. Opening the album, aided by RiceÕs plaintive piano, Lisa HanniganÕs vocals soothe us into a classically brooding ballad. The album falls from one work of art to the next as cello, flute and piano help to color these great songs. It has been worth it to me to listen to.

Uh, with your bad self
Say it louder (I got a mouth)
Say it louder (I got a mouth)

Look here, some people say we got a lot of malice
Some say it's a lotta' nerve
I say we won't quit moving
Til we get what we deserve
We've been buked and we've been scorned
We've been treated bad, talked about
As just as sure as you're born
But just as sure as it take
Two eyes to make a pair, huh
Brother, we can't quit until we get our share

Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud
Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud, one more time
Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud, huh

I've worked on jobs with my feet and my hands
But all the work I did was for the other man
And now we demands a chance
To do things for ourselves
we tired of beating our heads against the wall
And working for someone else

Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud
Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud
Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud
Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud, oowee

Ooowee, you're killing me
Alright uh, you're out of sight
Alright, so tough, you're tough enough
Ooowee uh, you're killing me, oow

Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud
Say it louder,
I'm black and I'm proud

Now we demand a chance to do things for ourselves
We tired of beating our heads against the wall
And working for someone else
A look here,
One thing more I got to say right here
Now, we're people like the birds and the bees
We rather die on our feet,
Than keep living on our knees

Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud, huh
Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud, huh
Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud, Lord'a Lord'a Lord'a
Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud, ooooh

Uh, alright now, good Lord
You know we can do the boog-a-loo
Now we can say we do the Funky Broadway! Now we can do, huh
Sometimes we dance, we sing and we talk
You know I do like to do the camel walk
Alright now, huh alright,
Alright now, ha

Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud
Say it louder,
I'm black and I'm proud, let me hear ya
Say it louder,
I'm black and I'm proud
Say it louder,
I'm black and I'm proud

Now we demand a chance to do things for ourselves
We're tired of beating our heads against the wall
And working for someone else, huh
Now we're our people, too
We're like the birds and the bees,
But we'd rather die on our feet,
Than keep living on our knees

Say it louder,
I'm black and I'm proud
Say it louder,
I'm black and I'm proud, let me hear ha', huh
Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud, huh
Say it louder,
I'm black and I'm proud
Say it louder,
I'm black and I'm proud

Oooow, oowee, you're killing me, alright
Uh, outta' sight, alright you're outta' sight
Ooowee, oh Lord,
Ooowee, you're killing me
Ooowee, ooowee, ooowee, ooowee, ow

Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud, huh
Say it louder,
I'm black and I'm proud , Lord I feel it
Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud
Say it louder,
I'm black and I'm proud

Political Article: Routine and Systematic Torture Is at the Heart of America's War on Terror (In the fight against cruelty, barbarism and extremism, America has embraced the very evils it claims to confront) By: George Monbiot Back To Top After thousands of years of practice, you might have imagined that every possible means of inflicting pain had already been devised. But you should never underestimate the human capacity for invention. United States interrogators, we now discover, have found a new way of destroying a human being. Last week, defence lawyers acting for Jose Padilla, a US citizen detained as an "enemy combatant", released a video showing a mission fraught with deadly risk - taking him to the prison dentist. A group of masked guards in riot gear shackled his legs and hands, blindfolded him with black-out goggles and shut off his hearing with headphones, then marched him down the prison corridor. Is Padilla really that dangerous? Far from it: his warders describe him as so docile and inactive that he could be mistaken for "a piece of furniture". The purpose of these measures appeared to be to sustain the regime under which he had lived for more than three years: total sensory deprivation. He had been kept in a blacked-out cell, unable to see or hear anything beyond it. Most importantly, he had had no human contact, except for being bounced off the walls from time to time by his interrogators. As a result, he appears to have lost his mind. I don't mean this metaphorically. I mean that his mind is no longer there. The forensic psychiatrist who examined him says that he "does not appreciate the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him, is unable to render assistance to counsel, and has impairments in reasoning as the result of a mental illness, ie, post-traumatic stress disorder, complicated by the neuropsychiatric effects of prolonged isolation". Jose Padilla appears to have been lobotomised: not medically, but socially. If this was an attempt to extract information, it was ineffective: the authorities held him without charge for three and half years. Then, threatened by a supreme court ruling, they suddenly dropped their claims that he was trying to detonate a dirty bomb. They have now charged him with some vague and lesser offences to do with support for terrorism. He is unlikely to be the only person subjected to this regime. Another "enemy combatant", Ali al-Marri, claims to have been subject to the same total isolation and sensory deprivation, in the same naval prison in South Carolina. God knows what is being done to people who have disappeared into the CIA's foreign oubliettes. That the US tortures, routinely and systematically, while prosecuting its "war on terror" can no longer be seriously disputed. The Detainee Abuse and Accountability Project (DAA), a coalition of academics and human-rights groups, has documented the abuse or killing of 460 inmates of US military prisons in Afghanistan, Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay. This, it says, is necessarily a conservative figure: many cases will remain unrecorded. The prisoners were beaten, raped, forced to abuse themselves, forced to maintain "stress positions", and subjected to prolonged sleep deprivation and mock executions. The New York Times reports that prisoners held by the US military at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan were made to stand for up to 13 days with their hands chained to the ceiling, naked, hooded and unable to sleep. The Washington Post alleges that prisoners at the same airbase were "commonly blindfolded and thrown into walls, bound in painful positions, subjected to loud noises and deprived of sleep" while kept, like Padilla and the arrivals at Guant‡namo, "in black hoods or spray-painted goggles". Alfred McCoy, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, argues that the photographs released from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq reflect standard CIA torture techniques: "stress positions, sensory deprivation, and sexual humiliation". The famous picture of the hooded man standing on a box, with wires attached to his fingers, shows two of these techniques being used at once. Unable to see, he has no idea how much time has passed or what might be coming next. He stands in a classic stress position - maintained for several hours, it causes excruciating pain. He appears to have been told that if he drops his arms he will be electrocuted. What went wrong at Abu Ghraib is that someone took photos. Everything else was done by the book. Neither the military nor the civilian authorities have broken much sweat in investigating these crimes. A few very small fish have been imprisoned; a few others have been fined or reduced in rank; in most cases the authorities have either failed to investigate or failed to prosecute. The DAA points out that no officer has yet been held to account for torture practised by his subordinates. US torturers appear to enjoy impunity, until they are stupid enough to take pictures of each other. But Padilla's treatment also reflects another glorious American tradition: solitary confinement. Some 25,000 US prisoners are currently held in isolation - a punishment only rarely used in other democracies. In some places, like the federal prison in Florence, Colorado, they are kept in sound-proofed cells and might scarcely see another human being for years on end. They may touch or be touched by no one. Some people have been kept in solitary confinement in the US for more than 20 years. At Pelican Bay in California, where 1,200 people are held in the isolation wing, inmates are confined to tiny cells for 22 and a half hours a day, then released into an "exercise yard" for "recreation". The yard consists of a concrete well about 3.5 metres in length with walls 6 metres high and a metal grille across the sky. The recreation consists of pacing back and forth, alone. The results are much as you would expect. As National Public Radio reveals, more than 10% of the isolation prisoners at Pelican Bay are now in the psychiatric ward, and there's a waiting list. Prisoners in solitary confinement, according to Dr Henry Weinstein, a psychiatrist who studies them, suffer from "memory loss to severe anxiety to hallucinations to delusions ... under the severest cases of sensory deprivation, people go crazy." People who went in bad and dangerous come out mad as well. The only two studies conducted so far - in Texas and Washington state - both show that the recidivism rates for prisoners held in solitary confinement are worse than for those who were allowed to mix with other prisoners. If we were to judge the US by its penal policies, we would perceive a strange beast: a Christian society that believes in neither forgiveness nor redemption. From this delightful experiment, US interrogators appear to have extracted a useful lesson: if you want to erase a man's mind, deprive him of contact with the rest of the world. This has nothing to do with obtaining information: torture of all kinds - physical or mental - produces the result that people will say anything to make it end. It is about power, and the thrilling discovery that in the right conditions one man's power over another is unlimited. It is an indulgence which turns its perpetrators into everything they claim to be confronting. President Bush maintains that he is fighting a war against threats to the "values of civilised nations": terror, cruelty, barbarism and extremism. He asked his nation's interrogators to discover where these evils are hidden. They should congratulate themselves. They appear to have succeeded.

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