Album Review: Jimmy Fallon, “Blow Your Pants Off” (2012)

I have a decade-long love affair with Jimmy Fallon. I first fell in love with him back during his run on Saturday Night Live; sure, he ended up collapsing into fits of laughter during every sketch he was in, but it always made me laugh, anyway….

Album Review: Miguel, “Kaleidoscope Dream” (2012)

For the most part, I don’t really listen to R&B music. I listened to it a lot when I was younger, but I guess I just outgrew the genre; as I got older, I started becoming less impressed with much of what was released. Most…

Book Review: Veronica Roth, “Divergent” (2011)

Veronica Roth’s debut novel, Divergent, is set in a universe wherein society is split into five factions: Abnegation (the selfless), Amity (the peaceful), Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave) and Erudite (the intelligent).  The intention of the factions is to create a harmonic society within…

Album Review: Jonathan Coulton, “Best. Concert. Ever” (2009)

My fiancé turned me onto Jonathan Coulton’s music.  I’d heard the comedic singer-songwriter’s stuff a few times before; his song, “Code Monkey” was familiar to me, as was his acoustic cover of Sir. Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back”.  But when my fiancé and I started dating,…

Album Review: Massive Attack, “Mezzanine” (1998)

I hadn’t really heard of English trip-hop duo, Massive Attack, until one of my favourite artists, Jamie Cullum, performed a cover of one of their songs in concert.  I fell in love with Cullum’s version of “Teardrop”- so much so that I decided to follow…

Album Review: The Lonely Island, “The Wack Album” (2013)

I don’t know why I keep trying with The Lonely Island.  The comedy trio’s first album, Incredibad, had a few great songs, but it was mostly filled with clunkers.  Their follow-up, Turtleneck & Chain, suffered from the same dilemma.   While the guys of The Lonely Island (Andy…

Album Review: John Mayer, “Paradise Valley” (2013)

At the start of the summer, when I heard that John Mayer was releasing a new album, I was half-convinced that Christmas had actually come early. After all, it is winter in Australia, so the combination of the cold weather, and well – the best…

Album Review: Lady Gaga, “The Fame Monster” (2009)

I’m not a Lady Gaga hater just for the sake of being one. To be honest, I enjoyed her when her first album was released- before the world proclaimed her as the best thing since sliced bread. Some of my hatred of Gaga and her…

Album Review: Kate Nash, “Made Of Bricks” (2007)

Sometimes you listen to a musician and just wonder, ‘Why wasn’t this artist more successful?’. I’ve wondered that time and again about English singer-songwriter, Kate Nash. Maybe my only answer to that question is that she arrived on the music scene at an unfortunate time;…