THE BILLIE BURKE ESTATE-“Let Your Heart Breakâ€
The Billie Burke Estate’s second full-length, “Let Your Heart Break,†is a curious collection of charming pop tunes. There’s nothing offensive or edgy here–much like ‘70s AM radio (think: Elton John or Randy Newman), the focus is on piano-based hooks and toe-tapping, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. “Everybody’s Gonna Die,†despite it’s heavy title, is my favorite track on this light album. It recalls The Beatles’ “You Won’t See Me,†with a crispy chorus eased between sing-song verses. This is a well-produced, clean and clear record. In a world where so much is heavy and dark, it’s nice to know that Billie Burke Estate is producing good old-fashioned pop music.
February 1, 2008
ekko1
Please Quiet Ourselves. 
10. 
Astrid Swan’s web page! Best Killers cover ever, and a rare example of a cover song better than the original tune.
1. “Don’t Stop Believin’.” The end of The Sopranos will go down in history as being both the best and worst ending of a series ever. One of the great things about it, though, was that it revived a great heart-pumping anthem. From Cam’Ron and other rappers using the riff as a hook to the genius version recorded almost entirely acappella by Petra Haden, this classic song emerged from retirement better than Jay-Z ever could.
Is there a better modern postpunk pop album than Hard Fi’s “Stars of CCTV?†Maybe not. Although the band’s follow-up isn’t quite as good (it smacks a little too much of money and production), it’s nevertheless a great, fun release. Is there a rawer, more earnest modern postpunk album than Arctic Monkeys, “Whatever They Say I Am I’m Not?†Maybe not. Although the band’s follow-up isn’t quite as good (it smacks a little too much of money and production), it’s nevertheless a great, fun release. I’m ranking AM above HF here because AM have more wit, more range, and, clearly, more fun. There’s a sense of danger in Favourite Worst Nightmare that is noticeably absent from Once Upon a Time in the West. If the band’s ska/reggae influences were to be labeled, Arctic Monkeys would be the Peter Tosh to Hard Fi’s Bob Marley. Hard Fi clearly wants to be liked and wants to sell albums, so they produced a less desparate, less disjointed album. Maybe that’s why they got pretty much ignored by every blogger out there except for me. Maybe I’m crazy to dig Hard Fi so much in spite of that fact. Sometimes, clean, well-produced dance punk is just what the doctor ordered. But if your prescription is for something more punk, you
But it isn’t. This duo occupy a space somewhere between the breathy voice of Liz Phair and the borderline shoegaze folk of Metric, on 
Everybody’s talking about Radiohead these days. Radiohead Radiohead Radiohead. But there was an artist who went online first–who refused to be a SLAVE to the major labels, took his act on the net, and even gave away his CD at shows. Yeah, that was the artist known as Prince who was formerly known as the Artist who was formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince who was formerly known as Prince who was formerly known as Prince Rogers Nelson, who also calls himself The Purple One.
