VARIOUS ARTISTS: WAR CHILD PRESENTS HEROES (ASTRALWERKS) **½ Proceeds from this CD go to War Child, which aids children affected by war, so by all means buy it - don't download it for free, cheapskate - and some of the tunes actually are quite good, although others are positively heinous. ...more

March 19, 2009

On "Alright, Still," her 2006 debut, Lily Allen had most of us at the first F-bomb, the rest when she rhymed "Tesco" with "al fresco." Cute and cheeky, smart and less shallow than she might have first appeared, Allen harked back to The Specials and early Blur. Cuts such as "LDN" candy-coated cynical sentiments in sweet, bouncy pop. ...more

February 26, 2009

Card-carrying member of PETA, she ain't. Pop singer Lily Allen turned heads when she wore a dress emblazoned with decapitated Bambis (complete with hot pink blood) to the U.K.'s Glamour Women of the Year Awards on Tuesday night. The "Smile" singer, who sported a matching pink hairdo, took home the Editor's Special Award - and a hangover that wasn't caused by her dress. ...more

June 5, 2008

GRAND OLE PARTY: HUMANIMALS (DH) *** Drummer Kristin Gundred's vocals are Grand Ole Party's immediate hook. She's got a strong and abrasive voice in the manner of Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O or The Gossip's Beth Ditto. ...more

February 14, 2008

DION: SON OF SKIP JAMES (VERVE FORECAST) *** He's best known for doo-wop and streetwise, East Coast rock 'n' roll, but Dion DiMucci was brought up on blues, folk and country like all the early rockers. ...more

January 24, 2008

Lindsay Lohan is about to see dead people. The 21-year-old actress soon will be working at a morgue as part of her punishment for misdemeanor drunken driving, her attorney, Blair Berk, told a judge Thursday. ...more

January 19, 2008