Brad Webber

Hothouse Flowers Songs from the Rain (London) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) Dublin's Hothouse Flowers straddle folksy populism and parade a few pompous rock hooks better suited to their mentors, U2. "Songs from the...

The The Dusk (Epic) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) 1/2 Matt Johnson opens "Dusk" by asking: "Have you ever wanted something so badly that it possessed your body and your soul, through the night...

Black 47 Fire of Freedom (SBK) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) Co-opting the musical tools of political upheaval-punk, rap and reggae-New York City's Black 47 spews revolution rock with an Irish jig. Expatriate Irishman...

808 State Gorgeous (Tommy Boy) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) Techno band 808 State lists 47 models of synthesizers and keyboards, plus a few woodwinds and a lonely guitar, in its "Gorgeous" liner notes....

Ralf Illenberger Soleil (Narada Equinox) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) 1/2 "Soleil" unfolds with the haunting strains of "First Beam," seemingly plucked from a spaghetti western. Not one to be thrown from his saddle,...

Utah Saints Utah Saints (London) (STAR)(STAR) 1/2 Something Good (London EP) (STAR)(STAR) "Utah Saints use samples to free us from the confines of popular instruments," reads the liner notes to...

Th Faith Healers Lido (Elektra/Too Pure) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) Groovy guitar-grunge sparkplugs Th Faith Healers make the most out of a few notes and a couple of chords. Funky bass hooks and...

Go West Indian Summer (EMI) (STAR)(STAR) 1/2 Peter Cox and Richard Drummie's eponymous Go West LP in 1985 arced the gap between British technopop and classic Motown. What then was...

Sundays Blind (DGC) (STAR)(STAR) 1/2 Harriet Wheeler`s mesmerizingly breathy singing defines The Sundays mod-pop sound. Wheeler`s elfin vocal range (imagine Rickie Lee Jones on helium) broadened since the Bristol, England,...

Ned`s Atomic Dustbin Are You Normal? (Columbia) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) Ned`s Atomic Dustbin might be Tiger Beat`s answer to alternative rock, but the quintet`s restlessness makes ''Are You Normal'' a spirited follow-up...