I supsect that a lot of people on my FList are already hip to Blue October (the band from Texas and not the techno-ambient band from the U.K. which has the same name) and their new release Foiled. I figured I might as well pimp some of the band's back catalogue 'cause if all you have is Foiled, man, you are missing out.

I decided to do my little salute to Blue October in anticipation for getting my grubby paws on their latest CD, Foiled (Amazon tells me it's en route). Since I have every CD they've released through Universal Records, I figured I'd give everyone a mega retrospective all in one go. (I should add, no, I do not have their independently released debut album The Answers in my collection. Just their major label releases.)

As a result, there are a ton of MP3 samples for you to try out from this band. I'm very sure that at least one MP3 (pointedly does not look at 'Balance Beam') will not only get you hooked on Blue October, but will send you running to Amazon to snap up all four of their CDs without another thought.

( Blue October...Because Every Rockin' Texas Band and Needs a Violin )



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I love it when I get a lovely surprise. In this case, a CD that completely lives up to its billing of awesomeness.

Below the cut, KT Tunstall's Eye to the Telescope and my usual MP3 sample downloads.

( My favorite Scottish import next to Lorna Doone cookies )



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My favorite kind of reviews: Demos from unknown artists who were supposed to be the Next Big Thing, but never managed to make it out of the jewel box.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present (the new) CW Network Soundtrack Wanna-Be Staple...Binocular!

Give it up y'all and then download the tunes herein for a little entertainment.

( The Amazing Disappearing Binocular )



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This LJ will now return to its usual frivolous programming.

And what better way to start than to continue with the herculean task of listening to every single CD in my collection. Thanks to my years living in the the Bordersverse — which meant more free demos and discounted tunes than you can even imagine — as well as my deep love for used CDs stores, I'm faced with the prospect of listening to more than 2,000 discs. (Most of which were...believe it or not...free or insanely cheap.)

Needless to say, I'm not even close to the end of this job.

Today's MP3 downloads are from Big Country. I blame speakr2customrs for putting a reference to this very CD in a fanfic for the happy bounce I experienced when I threw it on the CD player.

( Big Country In a Big Country )



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Random observation: 5-and-a-half-hours to Bruce!

Just sayin'.

Today we're sort of back in the land of the single-artist CD. My lone Better Than Ezra CD makes its public debut. Too bad it's paired up with a compilation CD of some classic Motown tunes aka The Big Chill Original Movie Soundtrack.

Yeah. That's not at all an awkward transition.

Just FYI:
For those you who are interested, I've started "ghosting" these reviews over on my Vox Blog. Let me make this clear: I will not be moving these CD reviews over to my VOX blog nor do I have any plans to make the reviews exclusive to there.

The reason why I'm mirroring the reviews at VOX is because VOX gives me the ability to "stream" the MP3s I offer for download here. In addition, those streaming files will be available to listen to long after the downloadable files I offer through this LJ are long gone.

Now, on to the reviews and the MP3 downloads,

( The Big Chill of Better Than Ezra )



Now Playing:

Now, that's much, much better.

Here's a most excellent CD with some most excellent downloads for you to enjoy.

You can't resist Mary Black, John Stewart, Joan Baez, Catie Curtis, and Cliff Eberhardt. Click on the cut for more. You won't be sorry.

( Good Contemporary Folk Music from Putumayo )

Nothing makes me more sad than two bad CDs for my little reviews.

In looking ahead, however, tomorrow promises to be much, much better.

In the meantime, let's savage a couple of CDs, shall we? We will be making fun of an 80s music compilation CD and a dance club tune compilation CD. I promise I didn't throw the worst tracks up for MP3 downloading. They're actually the best tracks. Really.

*beams innocently*

( Hard Time in Compilation Hell )