pop Archive
01 Mar 2016
Colin Hay: Man Still at Work with “Next Year People”
Anyone who came of age in the early 1980s – anyone who ever watched MTV back when they showed music videos, for that matter – is familiar with Men at […]
26 Feb 2016
Hundred-word Reviews for February 2016, Part 5
This latest week-long dive into my backlog of worthy music for review wraps up with five archival releases. Vulgar Boatmen – You and Your Sister First things first: the album […]
25 Feb 2016
Hundred-word Reviews for February 2016, Part 4
Tuneful rock, pop, and rock/pop is the theme of today’s set of hundred-word reviews. All are recent releases of new music. Hurricane#1 – Find What You Love and Let it […]
23 Feb 2016
Hundred-word Reviews for February 2016, Part 2
Today’s hundred-word reviews focus on a variety of rock-oriented releases; all are (more or less) current. The Sideshow Tragedy – Capital As a rule – at least to my mind […]
18 Feb 2016
Vanessa Carlton Knows She’s Part of Something Bigger
Vanessa Carlton released her debut album, Be Not Nobody, in 2002. She was marketed (and pegged) as a precious pop star. That guise didn’t fit her well, though; she’s a […]
17 Feb 2016
Album Mini-review: Grizfolk — Waking Up the Giants
File next to: Coldplay, The Mary Onettes, thenewno2 Swedish acts from across the musical spectrum have made critical (and commercial) inroads into the North American market of late. Though these […]
17 Feb 2016
Album Mini-review: Brooke Waggoner — Sweven
File Next to: Suzanne Vega, Zero 7, Penelope Houston Waggoner may be an associate of Jack White, but with its tinkling keyboard and pizzicato strings, this expressionistic album feels more […]
09 Feb 2016
Album Review: Todd Rundgren & Utopia — Disco Jets
Todd Rundgren has long been known for being, as the expression goes, ahead of the curve. His experiments, forays, and even innovations in computer and video technology are well-documented. The […]
04 Feb 2016
Album Mini-review: David Bowie — Blackstar
In some quarters, Blackstar has been characterized as a “jazz” album. That’s not accurate: though instrumentation closely associated with jazz (most notably saxophone) is employed throughout the album’s seven tracks, […]
02 Feb 2016
Neil Finn: Goin’ His Own Way
Two Australia/New Zealand-based giants of heartfelt and intelligent pop music – Paul Kelly (a solo artist and longtime leader of The Messengers) and Neil Finn (member of Split Enz, founder […]