Epinions Recent Reviews for helenekhoffman

The Tigers Have Spoken: Neko Case's Wonderful Live Set

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:39:01 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - I know (and love) alt country chanteuse Neko Case from her work with Canadian power poppers The New Pornographers and her stunning 2007 solo release Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. The Tigers Have Spoken (2004) just cements her...

Lucinda Williams' Raw (but Disappointingly Uneven and Unfocused) Little Honey

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:00:47 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - Listening to Lucinda Williams' 2008 release Little Honey, I can't help but compare it (unfavorably) to 1998's Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. I can't say that Williams has been one of my favorite artists or...

Planet Earth by Prince: Prince's Enjoyable, Underwhelming Planet Earth

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:24:20 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - So...Planet Earth, the album that came out shortly after Prince's showstopping Superbowl performance (2007), and that irritated fans with its download-only packaging. (Which I agree sucks. Dude, you could have...

Pretty Vocals, Ear Candy, Chugga Chugga...Yep, It's a Evanescence Album

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:34:30 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - I'm a casual Evanescence fan, in spite of the nagging feeling that I should have already outgrown their goth-lite shtick when the gajillion selling Fallen first put them on the pop music map. (Not to mention their awful band name, the...

My First Bjork Album: The Seductive, Creepy, Jarring Volta

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:08:00 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - The list of artists who I like and respect but have never bothered to take a concentrated listen to any of their albums is longer than I care to admit. Thanks to the good folks at Hillsborough County Public Library, I can now check off Iceland's...

Yellow Pills: The Best of American Pop! Vol 1 - Various Artists: Yellow Pills Vol 1: Awesome (albeit semi-rare) Power Pop Compilation

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:09:11 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - Being sadly out of print, Yellow Pills: Best of American Pop! Vol 1 is one of those compilations you have to stumble across at your local used record store to avoid a hit on your wallet. (I've seen it online for as "low" as $25 and as high...

Teenage Fanclub's Bandwagonesque: Helene's 90's Rock Nostalgia Trip, Part 5

Wed, 7 Jan 2009 16:20:53 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - In 1991, Nirvana's hair band slaying cultural touchstone Nevermind wasn't the only album being breathlessly hyped by the powers that be. Remember Teenage Fanclub's Bandwagonesque? You can be...

Juliana Hatfield's Hey Babe: Helene's 90's Rock Nostalgia Trip, Part 4

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 13:31:24 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - My first glimpse of Juliana Hatfield was not on MTV, on a CD or in a magazine, it was on the stage of the Sunrise Musical Theater in South Florida. I was in eighth(?) grade and there to see the B-52's, and opening for them was this...

Cadillac Records Soundtrack: Put this Down and Pick up a Chess Comp Instead

Wed, 3 Dec 2008 00:48:17 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - I've been fairly interested in the upcoming film Cadillac Records, which is set in 1950's Chicago and dramatizes the lives of legendary R&B performers on the seminal Chess label. After hearing the soundtrack, I'm still interested, but...

Concrete Blonde's Bloodletting: Helene's 90's Rock Nostalgia Trip, Part 3

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:56:37 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - Concrete Blonde's Bloodletting (1990) holds so much sentimental value for me that I probably shouldn't be attempting to write an objective review of it. It's one of my oldest CDs, and was the first album I bought from a band outside...

The Flaming Lips' Transmissions from the Satellite Heart: Helene's 90's Rock Nostalgia Trip, Part 2

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:59:43 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - The Flaming Lips have had an interesting career arch: Indie eccentrics with cult following make blip on the modern rock radar screen circa 1993 (with the fluke hit "She Don't Use Jelly") continue to make records without batting...

Urge Overkill's Exit the Dragon: Helene's 90's Rock Nostalgia Trip, Part 1

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:35:53 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - My memories of 90's alt rock trio Urge Overkill are fuzzy. The "Sister Havana" video (briefly pimped by MTV via the "Buzz Bin"), the Neil Diamond cover on Tarantino's Pulp Fiction soundtrack. The retro 70's wardrobe with the...

Prince's Around the World in a Day: Psychedelic? Only on Occasion. Good? Yep.

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:06:33 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - Prince Rogers Nelson is a weird little genius that I've respected only from a distance until now. It's probably a shame that I've waited so long to take a concentrated listen to his albums, but here I sit with 1999 < i>and Around the World in a...

A Baroque Hoedown with Sixteen Tambourines: The Three O'Clock's Scrappy Mod Debut(s)

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:29:47 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - The Three O' Clock are one of those bands that make me wonder why I like them when I sit down to write about their music critically. (At times they played an unholy union of the most hokey and dated elements of 60's and 80's music.) But like them...

Mates of State's Re-arrange Us: One of Those Aural Sugar Rushes

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:58:31 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - "So, are you guys, like, married?" "Yes." "That's so cute!" The above was an exchange between Mr. helenekhoffman and a 21 year old punk rock girl from New Orleans watching our friend's band with us. I bring this up not only...

Horse Feathers' Words are Dead: The Rustic Backporch Meets the Classical Recital

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:42:38 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - Though I love sharing my life and a home with my husband and enjoy spending time with my friends, there is a side of me that's a bit of a privacy craving loner. I don't indulge Hermit Helene nearly as much as I used to (and for the sake of my wonderful...

Leinenkugel's Berry Weiss: Barely Beer, But Very Tasty

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:13:55 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - I really like the idea of wine coolers and other fruity, pre mixed alcoholic beverages. (I love beer, but it gets hot down here in Tampa...thus I sometimes crave something more refreshing for daytime drinking.) But unfortunately, I can barely...

Hats Off to the Brits for The Golden Age of American Rock n' Roll

Tue, 20 May 2008 11:41:41 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - Since I've gotten into pre-British Invasion American rock n' roll, it's been my impression that (sadly) the Brits and the Europeans do a much better job of packaging and anthologizing this stuff than we do. (One example out of many: This...

Poolhall Junkies: Fun, Formulaic Low Budget

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:46:28 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - Poolhall Junkies (2002) is a scrappily charming bargain basement version of [insert glossier, more serious sports/gambling movie here]. What it lacks in novelty and sophistication it makes up for in energy, self awareness, and fun. The plot of...

Read the Hits: Best of the 80's? Nah, but Reasonably Entertaining

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:55:10 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - Read The Hits: The Best of the 80's is one of my oldest CDs, dating back to my high school days. I actually have a funny/embarrassing memory associated with it (that reads like a scene from a bad 80's teen comedy.) One night, my ex and a...

Livingston Chablis Blanc: Living Up to the Stereotype of Screw Cap Wine...but Passable

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:40:31 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - And so, my adventures in drugstore wine continue with Livingston Chablis Blanc.* Livingston Cellars is apparently affiliated with Gallo, manufacturers of inexpensive, quaffable party swill. (If memory serves, my dad often had a big ol' jug of...

Shattered: Generic Thriller with a Silly Premise (and a Tacky Ending)

Tue, 8 Apr 2008 13:46:19 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - My husband and I are easily amused to the point where it's almost sad, so it's rare when we both actively dislike a movie. But hey, it happens, and Shattered (2007) is the latest one we both gave the thumbs down to. Shattered is a...

Joan Jett's Bad Reputation: For Lovers of Melody, Energy and Brevity (Covers W/O)

Tue, 8 Apr 2008 13:37:07 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - It seems backwards that I enjoy Joan Jett now but thought she was lame in her heyday (when I was a young 'un.) I found her b-movie bad girl image ridiculous and her music cartoonish (apparently, I was missing a sense of humor back then.) Sure, I'd...

Ruth Brown's Miss Rhythm: Adequate Anthology of a Seminal Performer

Fri, 4 Apr 2008 11:47:27 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - Ruth "Miss Rhythm" Brown deserves our respect as a groundbreaking proto-rock n' roller, even though her seminal R&B/jump blues hits will likely sound more like poppy jazz to modern listeners. Brown is also widely credited as the artist who...

Sutter Home Sauvignon Blanc: Um, Yeah...It's Sutter Home

Thu, 3 Apr 2008 13:35:39 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author helenekhoffman - My impression is that Sutter Home is to wine what Anheuser-Busch is to beer. I expect a product of theirs to be cheap and inoffensive; something quaffable to have on hand for unadventurous house guests. (I've kept their White Zin on my rack on a few...