New Singles: Rihanna Scores, Bieber Falls
The record labels are pushing out stuff fast and furious for the holidays.  Here’s other high-profile music hitting stores.

Making Great Use of Her ‘Lungs’
When I listened to Florence and the Machine’s debut, “Lungs,” I was quite excited by what I heard throughout much of the album. 

And ‘Now’ for Something Different...
Both releases offer dance reworkings of tracks that have seen chart success, with “Club Hits” focusing more squarely on U.S. popular artists and songs, while the “Dance Imports” entry spends more time on tracks that had bigger overseas success.

Mariah Carey’s Latest ‘Imperfect,’ but Solid
One would think she’s lost it all, but the new album, “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel,” dispels that relatively quickly.

Houston’s New ‘Look’ Holds Its Own
All this, of course, is nonsense for someone like myself, who only has to concern himself with the 11 tracks that make up “I Look to You,” her first studio album in years. And unfortunately, the news is not good.

Guetta Shows Dance Fans Some ‘Love’
David Guetta, on his third outing with “One Love,” takes the ultimate step, and does quite well putting it all together.

Cascada has Mastered the ‘Dancefloor’
The prolific Cascada, made up of singer Natalie Horler and producers Manian and Yanou, is back again, this time with “Evacuate the Dancefloor,” the group's third LP released on the Robbins Entertainment label. This is a much more eclectic set of songs; this is an album that elevates the group to a new level.

Singling Out Great New Songs
Late summer is traditionally a slower time for music, but there’s some new singles, released recently, that are worth your attention.

Sozzi’s Brand New ‘Day’ a Winner
This is a worthy collection with enough strong dance tracks to keep the listener entertained.

‘cradlesong’ Good, But Missing Something
So it’s nice to say that he’s back, with his latest solo effort, “cradlesong,” a new collection of material that thankfully is as adventurous and rewarding as previous solo material.

Daisy takes the road less traveled
Daisy’s ballsy determination and confidence shines through on her first single through Robbins Entertainment, “Everytime,” which has a strong, catchy beat and is full of hooks.

It’s ‘Just Dance,’ But the Beat’s a Bit Flat
It straddles an awkward line: there’s a few big names on here, such as Rihanna and Ne-Yo, with more traditional dance artists like Kim Sozzi.  It allows for the names to sell the disc while mixing in some lesser known dance artists to give the CD some dance cred.

A Chat with Tiffany
The Tiffany of 2009 isn’t doing the cheesy dance moves anymore, but is instead consistently putting out engaging music in various genres. While Tiffany is no stranger to Connecticut, her return to the state for Hartford Pride is a welcome one, both for her fans and for Tiffany herself.

"Amanda Leigh" a Personal Triumph for Mandy Moore
This leads me to her newest CD, “Amanda Leigh,” released on May 26.  What results is easily one of the best releases of the year so far, and even more so is a standout release out of the thousands of CDs I’ve listened to over the years.

ONLINE FIRST: An Interview with Swing Out Sister's Corinne Drewery
One might say it was a “Beautiful Mess.” That’s how the chaos leading up to deadline was described to them, and that phrase became the inspiration for the name of Swing Out Sister’s latest album, their ninth original full-length disc, recently released in the U.S. on Shanachie a year after its original U.K. release.