Tribune Critic Greg Kott picks........!!!

THREE out of TEN of Greg Kott's favorite local picks for 2008 came out of JoyRide Studio and frankly, we here at JoyRide could not be more pleased.

Greg's number one pick is Shot Baker's "Take Control". Greg sez, "In the melodic hardcore-punk tradition of Chicago’s mighty Naked Raygun, this quartet delivers straight-up, no-nonsense, guitar-driven anthems that reaffirm and thoroughly reinvigorate the spirit of ’82. (Mastered at JoyRide.)

Next up at #4, Local H "12 Angry Months". Greg comments, "Kanye West wasn’t the first guy with Chicago roots to craft a great album about a bad break-up this year. Scott Lucas beat him to the punch with this gut-wrenching yet cathartic song cycle. Brian St. Clair’s walloping drums insure that any hint of self-pity never intrudes on the rock. (Recording on 4 tracks at JoyRide.)

Next up at #8 is Al Rose "My First Posthumous Release". Greg sez, "Perhaps in a different era, Rose would’ve been a fixture on the North Side folk circuit alongside John Prine and Steve Goodman. As it is, his sharply detailed, often wickedly witty songs easily shift among genre boundaries with luminously orchestrated arrangements. He’s been doing it, and doing it well, for two decades. (Recorded, Mixed and Mastered at JoyRide.)

Greg Kott is the Chicago Tribune music critic and 1/2 of the syndicated radio show "Sound Opinions".