Admiral Twin - The Center Of The Universe

Sterling: Like modern alt-rock Jellyfish. Crisp guitars and laid-back vocals, poppy tunes with much life.
Maureen: Nicely done power-pop. Full sound and fleshy arrangements. OK Go. Gret production.
John: Pretty good stuff, nice changes.
Lou: Not bad, but kind of a yawn.

David Bavas - Songs Of Love, Death, And Trains

Sterling: Very down, indie alt-country… dark vocals and beautiful guitars on precise and hearty songs. Excellent.
Maureen: Good alt-country with sapping indie vocals. Like the Pat Boone or Vanilla Ice.
John: Sorry David, I have reached my alt-country limit. I no longer want to drink.
Lou: Decent interesting songwriting but he needs to be more aggressive on the vocals.

Bettysoo - Little Tiny Secrets

Sterling: Poppy songwriter fare from Texas… her voice is too young, but the drums are excellent.
Maureen: It's all very nice and all. Sweet lilting vocals backed by decent musicians. Yuck.
John: Just don't care anymore. There's no revival here.
Lou: Singy-song writy chicky guitar piano music.

C.O.C.O. - Play Drums + Bass

Sterling: Lack of guitars makes for poor rock… off-key vocals don't help. White Stripes anyone?
Maureen: Intentionally crappyproduction, but great bottom. The rhythm section, not the girl. Pretty sweet.
John: Good K records stuff… needs more.
Lou: Bizarro White Stripes. I am left feeling like it's missing something though.

Fallen Tears - 'Faith'

Sterling: You can't out-goth the gothfathers of goth. Cure covers record but more modern… therefore bad.
Maureen: I love it, no whining, great arrangements… Update, some whining, still an improvement.
John: Sex music if you hate the sun and colors - the Cure.
Lou: They are doing something clever here… or so I'm told.

Grand Ole Party - Humanimals

Sterling: Weird rocking mix of White Stripes and Heart… but not like either one. Cool drums.
Maureen: Hippies turned drama-punks. Her voice is more painful since I got a head-butt earlier.
John: Pretty good hep-cat music for the coffeehouse crowd.
Lou: White Stripes plus one in musical complexity. Vocals that are difficult to digest.

Kelli Hanson - Our Buildings

Sterling: Vaguely Bjork-ish Ameri-pop with beautiful strings and more beautiful guitars. Great vocals, 80's keyboards.
Maureen: A little Kate Bush, some Lush and horse-riding rhythms. Real nice. Sounds European.
John: The kind of happy dreary that will put you right to fucking sleep.
Lou: Good, strong, melodic, musical. All around really decent.

Hoax Funeral - Pour Away The Ocean

Sterling: Low dark English Americana. Mazzy Star with more country influence. Tremolo guitar & brushed drums. Beautiful.
Maureen: Mazzy Junkies. Lovely. Perfect soothing music for my aching Guliver. Is my nose broke?
John: Dreamy, faraway stuff. -2 points for using a toy piano without Ozzy's permission.
Lou: That mid-to-late seventies man in the mountain kind of crap.

Ingram Hill - Cold In California

Sterling: Poppy alt-rock with quirky vocals… Train wants their songs back. Nice production & thick guitars.
Maureen: Hooty and the blowjobs. The middle of all roads. Most Christian rock has credibility.
John: Counting Crows feasting on the roadkilled carcass of the Wallflowers.
Lou: Uninspiring music for people that like to go with the flow and not challenge anything.

Mike Mangione - Tenebrae

Sterling: A funky Ray LaMontagne… classic sounding rock, well produced and well written. Somewhat dark.
Maureen: The only guy who made it out of his town, the rest killed themselves.
John: Should fight James Blunt for the pansy-weight title.
Lou: Probably does well with the backward hat, khaki pants-wearing losers.

Paulie Rhyme & Deedot Present: Public Radio

Sterling: Indie hip-hop with a generally positive message and some really fine production. Nice toasting.
Maureen: Well-formed flows with a 70's vibe. Wish the rap was less monotone.
John: B+ hip hop needs to get better hooks. Good beats.
Lou: Conscientious underground hip hop, not bad.

Rock, Star - Inamorato

Sterling: Husker Du type rough rock… very east coast and almost punk rock. Great attitude, guitar.
Maureen: Nervous energywith no respect for key. Sometimes they like a melody. Foo Faster.
John: Littlem Jawbox, little Naked Raygun, all good - and only took 7 years to master.
Lou: Recorded in 2000, mastered in 2007, what happened in between?

Bobby Rush - Raw

Sterling: Solo acoustic blues from a true master of the genre. Thick & gritty like great chitlins.
Maureen: Stripped-down real deal blues. Bobby got some good songs and a few covers. Sexy.
John: Will be performing on a front porch before somebody at Starbucks will decide in some Oprah-like sweep of magnanimous grandeur that this will help to sell the non-fat soy milk lattes to people who believe that the blues can be environmentally friendly, thereby "exposing" Bobby to a lot more money and countless unwanted conversations.
Lou: Run of the mill blues complete with harmonica.

Shantel - Disko Partizani

Sterling: The Turkish Falco… awesome gypsy-inspired dance pop. Amazing instrumentation and some great rapping.
Maureen: Best foreign disco since O zone. The traditional stuff is killer.
John: Polka in latex w/ cock rings. Hidden San Fernando of Bollywood - kiss Richard Gere and get an honor killing.
Lou: Pure awesomeness. I absolutely love it.

Mishka Shubaly - How To Make A Bad Situation Worse

Sterling: Lou Reed style tales of depravity and free verse stories of life in the city.
Maureen: Angry drunk Crash Test Dummies. Dangerous but fewer killing songs than Nick Cave.
John: Morphine & Son Volt have a baby swaddled in lumberwear.
Lou: Simple, basic, honest, but still a little undercooked. Looking forward to the next one.

The Weightlifters - Last Of The Sunday Drivers

Sterling: Jangly pop music with late 60's flair… bit of Byrds and Matthew Sweet without distortion.
Maureen: 70's bubblegum with no joke in the wrapper. Oh Mort, what's with the turtleneck?
John: Softee cake muffin.
Lou: More happy seventies music. Ick.