Stellar Kart - Expect The Impossible

Track listing: 1. Innocent 2. Automatic 3. Jesus Loves You 4. The Right One 5. Sunshine 6. Pray 7. Shine Like the Stars 8. Eyes 9. I Give Up 10. Letters 11. Centerfield

'Stellear Kart' is well known for being a band full of energy and happiness, and 'Expect The Impossible' continues to live up to that expectation. The majority of the tracks are cheerful and light hearted, which can begin your day with a good frame of mind if you're listening to the album on the way to school or work. In the midst of all this happiness is the touching song 'Jesus Loves You', which is written as if Adam Agee (the lead singer) is singing to a friend whom he has been trying to bring to God for a long time, but has so far been unsuccessful. While it's easier to glance over this song, I found it held my attention longer than most other tracks on the album.

Other standout tracks for me were 'Shine Like The Stars' and 'I Give Up'. Both of these tracks have an edgier feel to them than the rest of the songs on the album, and I felt this helped balance out the album and reinforced the 'punk' half of their 'pop punk' genre categorisation. The last track on the album, 'Centerfield', was a bit of a let down for me, as it drew heavily on imagery from baseball. As the sport is far less popular in Australia than America, this only served to alienate me from the band, as while I think I 'get' the idea behind the song, the emotions it is supposed to draw from are much less powerful.

In conclusion, if you like your music to pick you up and lift your mood, or just like punk styled music in general, 'Expect The Impossible' isn't too bad a choice. However if you prefer your music to be more down to earth and serious, it may be a better choice to keep looking.

My Top Track: Shine Like the Stars
For Fans Of: Relient K, Run Kid Run

And Then There Were None - Who Speaks for Planet Earth?

Track listing: 1. Murmurs of... 2. John Orr the Arsonist 3. The Hospital 4. Reinventing Robert Cohn 5. Action Is The Anecdote 6. The Atmosphere 7. Cloak and Dagger 8. Right Here Waiting 9. Bed of Nails 10. Thank the Watchmaker 11. The Alamo 12. Insozzz...

'Who Speaks for Planet Earth' is an album full of energy and strong beats, as is to be expected from dance music. The electronic sound is complex and layered, and rarely backs off in intensity. I found the beats to be easy to grasp, and I'm sure you'll be tapping along in no time, however there is quite a lot of depth to the music if you're willing to sit down with a good stereo or even better, a great pair of headphones to listen.

The lyrics can be a little hard to grasp and somewhat abstract at first, and for a lot of people their experience with the words may not be much more than a catchy chorus. However when attention is paid, it's quite obvious that the members of 'And Then There Were None' are trying to express a whole range of emotions with their music, and the flexibility of the dance music genre gives them great scope to achieve that.

Overall, while this is certainly a very solid album, if you prefer to indulge in simpler, cleaner instrumentation, or don't already like dance music, don't expect this album to win you over. On the other hand, if you're looking for some new and modern electronic dance music, you would do well to not pass this album by.

My Top Track: The Hospital
For Fans Of: tobyMac, Andy Hunter

Number One Gun - The North Pole Project

Track listing: 1. The Massacre 2. Million 3. The Best of You and Me 4. Wake Me Up 5. Bad Habits 6. I'll Find You 7. Thank You Ending 8. Find Your Escape 9. The Different Ones 10. The Holiday

Number One Gun's latest efforts have been compiled into their new album 'The North Pole Project' - and it makes for some excellent listening. What was established in their previous album, has been built on and extended. It doesn't feel like these changes have been 'tacked' onto something either - it's more a natural, progression - an evolution of the band. This album is their best yet and is sure to satisfy the hunger of any fans, along with hooking new listeners on their unique sound.

You can view their purevolume page, and listen to their music here: http://www.purevolume.com/numberonegun

For fans of: Number One Gun, Ivoryline

Ivoryline - There Came A Lion

Track listing: 1. Days End 2. We Both Know 3. Parade 4. All You Ever Hear 5. Be Still And Breathe 6. Remind Me I'm Alive 7. Left Us Falling 8. And The Truth Will End This 9. Bravery 10. Hearts And Minds 11. The Last Words

'There Came A Lion' by Ivoryline is one of the better albums I've heard recently. Each and every track is delivered solidly and remains well-polished. The band has plenty of potential, and I can't wait to see where they head in their future albums. 'There Came A Lion' is certainly worth purchasing - and is bound to get plenty of play time.

You can view their purevolume page, and listen to their music here: http://www.purevolume.com/ivoryline

For fans of: Ivoryline, Number One Gun, Pillar

Sanctus Real - We Need Each Other

Track listing: 1. Turn On The Lights 2. We Need Each Other 3. Black Coal 4. Whatever You're Doing (Something Heavenly) 5. Sing 6. Leap of Faith 7. Lay Down My Guns 8. Eternal 9. Half Our Lives 10. Legacy

The new album from Sanctus Real entitled 'We Need Each Other' is a great continuation of what was started with their previous effort 'The Face of Love'. Some of the songs have the same 'feel' as some of those featured on the last album, while also introducing songs which are completely different. This album is no doubt, the best to date. If not already, this album should be added to your 2008 'Albums to get' list.

You can view their purevolume page, and listen to their music here: http://www.purevolume.com/sanctusreal

For fans of: Sanctus Real, Detour 180

Anberlin - Lost Songs

Track listing: 1. The Haunting 2. Uncanny 3. Like A Rolling Stone 4. A Day Late [Acoustic] 5. Enjoy The Silence 6. Cadence [Acoustic] 7. Downtown Song 8. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out 9. Dismantle. Repair. [Acoustic] 10. The Promise 11. Naive Orleans [Acoustic] 12. Inevitable [AOL Sessions] 13. The Unwinding Cable Car [AOL Sessions] 14. Creep [Acoustic / AOL Sessions] 15. Baby Please Come Home 16. Ready Fuels [Demo] 17. Driving (Autobahn) [Demo] 18. Everywhere In Between [Demo] 19. Glass To The Arson [16 Bit Remix] - Unlisted bonus track

This latest album features a number of previously unreleased songs, as wells as some of their demo tracks and various acoustic versions of their popular songs. Overall, there is enough new stuff here to interest fans, or new listeners. The addition of the 16 bit remix was a bit of a surprise, when that song played - I thought I'd jumped straight into a "Mario-themed" game. For a cheaper CD, there are plenty of songs on here, and almost all of them are brilliantly executed and well-written (Although a number of the tracks were written by other artists) - this album showcases Anberlin's diversity.

Some of these songs, have already been available on the special edition of their last album 'Cities', and the acoustic version of 'A Day Late' was available as a free download from their purevolume site for a short while. Even taking this into account, there is still plenty of material to get you hooked into their new album. This one is a 'must get'.

You can view their purevolume page, and listen to their music here: http://www.purevolume.com/anberlin

For fans of: Anberlin, Mae

Newsboys - Go Remixed

Track listing: 1. Wherever We Go 2. Go (I Wanna Send You) 3. Something Beautiful 4. Your Love Is Better Than Life (St. Petersburg Mix) 5. City to City 6. The Mission 7. Secret Kingdom 8. I Am Free 9. In Wonder 10. Let It All Come Out 11. Gonna Be Alright

While releasing a remix album only 6 months after the original (simply titled 'GO') can easily be seen as a bit premature, GO Remixed certainly stands alone in its own right as an album. Much more than just touching up the original songs, most songs have been totally rearranged and many have an entirely different feel.

Stand out tracks include the opening track 'Wherever We Go' which is a fairly happy track with a lot of 'up', as well as the deep song 'Something Beautiful, which on the original album was a smash hit. The first track I really fell for on the album though was 'Love Is Better Than Life' (sometimes referred to as 'I duno') which gives the band an almost British sound (it should be noted however that most of the current line up is Australian) and features such powerful lines as "I dunno if I should push ahead or stop and grieve / I lie awake and wonder how to make a city believe / I dunno when it’s a ministry and when it’s a show / maybe neither, maybe both, I dunno, but this one thing I know".

The album also features strong, electronic version of worship songs 'I Am Free' and 'In Wonder'.

Quite a lot of the instrumentation on GO Remixed consists of synthesised sounds, and as such may not appeal to all fans of the original album. However if you like strong beats driving your music, this album is definitely worth a look.

For fans of: TobyMac, Newsboys