Shotgun CD reviews are short reviews on CDs that you can usually pick up for $10 or less. For further explanation, check the FAQ

Milt Jackson - The Wizard of the Vibes (jazz): If you’ve ever bought a jazz album, you know that a lot of them top out at five or six tracks long, even when you include alternate takes. This album, on the other hand, contains seventeen tracks, only four of which are alternates. It was recorded in two sessions in 1948 and 1952, and contains not only all of the players that would later become The Modern Jazz Quartet, but also includes Theloneous Monk on piano for half of the album. If you’re a sucker for the vibes, it’s a very relaxing pile of fun. Grab a martini, and play it while looking at the city lights from the window of your space age bachelor pad. B+

DJ Nu-Mark - Hands On (dj): This is the first and only solo album from ex-Jurassic 5 DJ Nu-mark, and while the first half of the disc is a smooth, continuous DJ set, there is nothing that really stands out about it. It’s mixed so that you don’t notice the transitions between tracks, but then again, so were those old K-Tel continuous party records, which no one really considers to be impressive. Somewhere in the middle, the album’s blandness is suddenly and inexplicably replaced with a multinational rap album, featuring rap in French, German, Spanish, Japanese, and a thick Scottish accent that might as well be a foreign language. This album is a strange but generally smooth ride, but it seems to be missing both the body rocking groove and impressive DJ tricks that I would’ve expected from someone like Nu-Mark. B

The Reverend Horton Heat - Liquor in the Front (Poker in the Rear) (rockabilly): Released in 1994, this was the third album from the rockabilly trio, and the last featuring Patrick “Taz” Bentley’s heavy metal drumming style. You would think that a double bass drum would sound completely out of place sandwiched between Jim Heath’s rockabilly guitar and Jimbo Wallace’s upright bass, but it somehow worked for them. If nothing, this album is a whole mess of driving, tongue in cheek, rockabilly and arguably the last album before Horton Heat’s slow slide into obscurity. B+

Madball - Legacy (NYC hardcore): Ah, I am a sucker for Pro-pain style NYC hardcore. Madball, who started as an Agnostic Front side-project, is not only authentic and pedigreed NYC hardcore, but they are stereotypical 90’s NYC hardcore. They have the guitar sound, the grunty vocals, the juggada juggada jah pacing, and most of all, the hardcore breakdown. Thanks to all the crappy bands you’ve listened to in the last fifteen years, you forgot about the raw power that a speed-cutting, moshable breakdown creates, didn’t you? Madball not only remembers the power of the breakdown, but they use it in most of their songs. If this album had been released in the late 80’s or early 90’s, the younger Jon Dyer might’ve picked it out of scores of hardcore bands available at the time, but because it was released in 2005, the older Jon Dyer loves it. Like that old bomber jacket in the attic, this album fits, despite being years out of style. It’s a fully restored muscle car existing outside of its time. B+

DMX - It’s Dark and Hell is Hot (rap): I consider this hardcore rap album to be a “must buy” for rap fans. Although it’s on-par with the genre in terms of violent content and foul language, it adds an interesting human undertone to the typically hard gangster character. Where violence is the unconditional answer to every question on an average hardcore rap album, the human side of It’s Dark and Hell is Hot adds a another dimension by creating a more believable struggle between violence and conscience. The lyrics are clever enough to keep me from feeling like my intelligence is being insulted, and the beats overrun the reality of my nerdy outward appearance with a feeling of cool. Because it doesn’t overrun the rest of the world’s perception of my outer nerdiness, this album has the potential to make me look like a complete idiot when I’m out in public. A

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