Editorial Reviews Music Review:
Music Review
Fire & Stone: Pagan Rock Volume 1
Mozart - Complete Sacred Works / Harnoncourt [Box set]
Music: Mr. Sandman [CD-single] [Import]
Ministry of Sound: Chillout Sessions - Ibiza 2002 [Import]
Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out
Mendelssohn, Bruch: Violin Concertos
Amazon.com
Working on their 14th year, North Carolina's Connell brothers, Mike and David, have returned with another example from the countrified, college-rock-fueled, Southeast-based community of vibrant pop forged in the wake of R.E.M. Since the mid-'80s, the Connells have maintained a placid bravado in their resistance to musical trends of the present, be it dire, angst-ridden Nirvana-isms or bass-and-drum mixology lessons, sticking with the summery, listenable, indie-pop jangles that originally got them noticed. The new record represents one of the better incarnations of the sound, with road-trippy folk music like "Curly's Train," and the radio-friendly "Crown" typifying the literate, hook-crammed structure that the band seems to have in their blood. An assured and comfortable ride, Still Life seems perfectly appropriate a name for the record, befitting a collection of songs that don't worry about really getting anywhere, tailor-made for lazy days on empty, serene highways. --Matthew Cooke