pop Archive

Album Review: Peggy Lee — Norma Deloris Egstrom from Jamestown North Dakota

If you were a rock fan in 1972, chances are good that you had no use for so-called “easy listening” music. That was the stuff your parents and their uncool […]

Album Review: Rick Wakeman — A Gallery of the Imagination

Rick Wakeman is staggeringly prolific. I defy anyone to absorb his entire body of work; hell, even coming up with an accurate count on the number of albums he’s released […]

The Shiny, Timeless Pop of Tchotchke

There’s a strong classic pop sensibility running through the songs on Tchotchke, the self-titled debut album by the New York City trio. The three musicians admit as much. “I grew […]

Hundred Word Reviews, February 2023, Part Four

In the last few days I’ve covered new releases; now it’s time for quick looks at five reissue/archival releases of note. APB – Something to Believe In I will admit […]

Hundred Word Reviews, February 2023 Part Three

Tasty new music, with reviews brought to you in easily digestible 100-word form. Juniper – She Steals Candy It has been three years since Juniper Shelley released her debut album. […]

Hundred Word Reviews, February 2023 Part Two

More capsule reviews. All new releases. Get ‘em while they’re hot. Ward White – Ice Cream Chords When I reviewed Ward White’s 2021 album The Tender Age, I was struck […]

Album Review: Richard Öhrn – Sounds in English

Some of the best and most inventive pop has come out of Sweden. Tages, for example, were never well-known in the US, but they made some sterling music. Much more […]

Album Review: Librarians with Hickeys – Handclaps & Tambourines

Their name might be on the unfortunate side, but Librarians with Hickeys know how to craft a winning tune. The trio engages in some straightforward truth-in-labeling on their latest release, […]

Album Review: Richard X Heyman – 67,000 Miles an Album

There are few artists as capable of such consistently wonderful songwriting mastery as Richard X. Heyman. A master of jangle, the NYC-based multi-instrumentalist has a seemingly inexhaustible well of creativity, […]

Album Review: Bird Streets – Lagoon

John Brodeur is Bird Streets. Last time around – on 2018’s self-titled debut – he collaborated with Jason Falkner; the result was excellent. This time there’s no Falkner, and the […]