For the past few months now I have been listening to this album wondering how I passed it over in 2002. This is the debut album of Rosie Thomas and it has on its tracklist what could be one of the greatest songs ever recorded - Wedding Day. This song lives somewhere between a director's omitted scene from Sideways and the version of Alanis Morissette in the back seat of the Ironic video. Wedding Day is about how you pick yourself up when the perfect marriage you had goes absolutely south and you find yourself back on the road to single. Rosie's vocal style and range capture absolute raw emotion that under the right circumstances and mood will make you spontaneously burst into tears. After you move beyond the potential tears, Wedding Day and the accompanying remainder of the album become a great companion in your car on a long drive.

This album is just the beginning of Rosie's career that has been quite prolific- she recently released her fourth album in under five years. Other great standout tracks on this album include Farwell, which recalls the pain of a family split by divorced and I Run that catalogues a person's own struggle to cope with collapsing circumstances around them through perpetual emotion. The material on this album is thick and deep and not for the meek at heart - but the musical style and Rosie's 'pretty' delivery along with her malleable voice can will certainly give the causal listener warm autumn fuzzies. A deeper closer listen will absolutely floor you.

SiSe "More Shine"

Wow..wow...wow! If you ever wondered who would be a true contemporary to Sade, look no further than this smooth operator and her glorious new-generation version of Sweetback. From the opening track Sometimes to the first single More Shine, SiSe demonstrates sensuality, musical prowess and class all in a distinctive, unforgetable package. Acousitc, sexy, rhythmic, and solid are the best ways to describe this album. Check out the two mentioned tracks on iTunes, and for an extra bonus, check out my thrid personal favorite A La Bahia; a very smooth operator indeed! Sade, your first born has arrived. Grade: A

Vienna Teng "Dreaming Through The Noise"

Vienna Teng's new album titled "Dreaming Through The Noise" has made it onto my iPOD yesterday. I absolutely am in love with her music and think that she has an incredible sense of how to craft a perfect piece. She combines elements of classical music, singer-songwriter excellence, and a bit of contemporary Tori-esque style into a wonderful package. My favorite track off of this new album is City Hall about the legalization of gay marriage in San Francisco (even though it was short lived and killed by the state government). This album is, in a sense, a departure from her previoius recordings and is much more mature in its execution than prior releases. That being said, it lacks some of the magic that made her prior two albums indie favorites.

I met Vienna in Philadelphia after she gave an in store performance of songs off of her 2004 album titled "Warm Strangers". She performed Harbor live and it was absolutely perfect. Dreaming marks her first album for the Rounder music group, who is home to great performers such as Duncan Shiek, Sarah Harmer (in the US), and Madeline Peyroux. Grade: B+

Charlotte Martin "On Your Shore"

Originally released in 2004, Charlotte Martin's On Your Shore proved to be one of the most stunning examples of Kate Bush contemporary influence since the release of Tori Amos' Little Earthquakes. Rather than direct immitation of Bush or Amos, Charlotte Martin flatters to the utmost creating a stunning debut album. One listen to Limits of Our Love and you are immediately transformed to that place occupied solely by Bush's Running Up That Hill. Whlie not as lyrically convoluted as Amos or Bush, Martin remains more accessible to listeners, but like Amos and Bush, Martin can turn gorgeous into stunning darkness on a dime. Other highlights include tracks such as Haunted, Steel and Every Time it Rains. Grade: A-

Hem "Funnel Cloud"

I started listening to Hem about three years ago after hearing them on LIVE365.com on their Into the Mystic online music station. They are a great group of musicians that advertised in the Village Voice for a vocalist. They got a response from the amazing Sally Ellyson in the form of home-made recordings of Sally singing lullabies. Three formal releases later and Hem has put out probably their most accessible album to date with really memorable tracks such as Not California and Reservoir. Tracks such as He Came to Meet Me and Curtains are instant Hem classics that are references to their older material . Welcome to autumn of 2006. Here is your soundtrack. Grade: A