JEFFREY MORGAN’S MEDIA BLACKOUT #497.126!

Live In Your Way – Waking Giants (Solid State) :: I wonder if the singer could scream louder if he had a pair of jumper cables clamped to his balls. OK, try it now.

Michael Moore – Sicko (Dimension) :: Yeah, like I’m going to let a big fat slob lecture me about health care. Try losing 150 pounds first, tubby.

The Exies – A Modern Way Of Living With The Truth (Eleven Seven) :: Are these guys the modern masters of the power ballad? Beats me, I hate power ballads.

Witch’s Hat – Mastery Of The Steel (Emergency Umbrella) :: When a record company tells me that a record is “undeniably epic, somewhere between Iron Maiden and Dance Punk,” I immediately put it on. When I hear otherwise, I immediately take it off.

Pointed Sticks – Waiting For The Real Thing (Sudden Death) :: Two dozen thinly recorded 1980s new wave pop tunes from Vancouver that sound awfully dated now. I guess you had to be there.

Jen Paches And Friends – Pretty Little Stars (self released) :: A besotted babe version of Neil Young’s Tonight’s The Night with a beer chaser instead of a line of smack.

Cara Luft – The Light Fantastic (Black Hen) :: Cara is a founding member of the Wailin’ Jennys, so it’s no surprise that her first solo album is a buoyant babe version of Neil Young’s Harvest and— surprise!—Led Zeppelin III.

Neil Young — Arc (Reprise) :: And you thought that no one would ever record a live version of Metal Machine Music.

SIZZLING PLATTER OF THE WEEK: Marillion – Somewhere Else (MVD Audio) :: Some say that the classic art rock concept album as defined by the likes of Pink Floyd and early Genesis is dead, but don’t you believe it because lush state of the art sonics and high-end graphic design live on in Marillion’s latest. Inspirational lyric: “He who dies with the most toys is still dead.”

Be seeing you!