The reviews expressed on this site are the opinions of the reviewer and do not reflect the views of the Santa Fe Springs City Library.  | The Black Keys
El Camino
| As close as you can get to a smoky club interior, The Black Keys' El Camino has the driving rock sound and crunchy guitar reminiscent of intelligible grunge with blues thrown in. Although they've toned down a bit from their early days, the energy is still incredibly high. Play this CD really loud! - Review by JR |  | Adele 21 | Musically precocious Adele has done it again with the powerful 21. Rolling in the Deep has fast become my favorite song, but others on the album (Rumour Has It, Don't You Remember) are just as memorable. Sounding like a cross between something out of Motown and Carole King, Adele's deeply affecting vocals and great storied lyrics will make you come back for more again and again. Excellent! - Review by JR
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| Flobots Fight With Tools | For those looking for some politics with your rap, might I suggest the Flobots. This rap has little repetition, rapid-fire Eminem-style rhymes (without the bad language), and gives a great grassroots bang for your buck. "Handlebars" was the first song I heard and leads us to think of ways where our positive influence has some hardcore negative repercussions. Also of note is "Same Thing," decrying our government's foreign policy of the last 30 years. This album's great strength is its ability to galvanize you to "log on, tune in, stand, and be counted." - Review by JR
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| Collie Buddz | Thanks to Mr. Bob Marley, I’ve always enjoyed the sound of reggae music. But since Bob Marley’s albums, I have never found a reggae artist whose whole album I fully enjoyed. Collie Buddz’s self-titled album blew me away. Having never heard anything about him, I listened to a remix of his song “Come Around” featuring rap artist Young Buck and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I decided to check out Collie Buddz album to give it a try and couldn’t take it out of my cd player. I put almost all of his songs on my ipod and after hearing them about 50 times, none of his songs have gotten old. I only wish there were more exposure to this album and his music received more radio playtime. - Review by DZ
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| Kanye West 808s & Heartbreak | Kanye West’s album 808s & Heartbreak is a complete change from his normal rap style which was featured on albums College Dropout through Graduation. This album relies largely on a voice synthesizer called an Auto-Tune which does exactly what it sounds like it does, auto-tunes the singer’s voice. This new style that Kanye West has adapted was very surprising to me when the album first came out but I quickly fell in love with the new sound. The two singles from the album, “Love Lockdown” and “Heartless” are both brilliantly done along with the rest of his album. Although there were some songs which I felt were lacking, overall, I feel this album is very strong. I have heard much criticism regarding his change in style for the new album however as an artist, if you don’t reinvent yourself, you’ll be forgotten quickly. - Review by DZ
|  | Madeleine Peyroux Careless Love | I know this CD is from 2004, but I still love it. Peyroux's voice has been compared to the early blues singers of the 20th century and she uses it to great effect. Her opening song Dance Me to the End of Love still gives me chills. Her cover of an old Josephine Baker song is wonderful. This is a must for any blues or jazz fan. - Review by JR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
