pop Archive
24 Jan 2013
Capsule Reviews: January 2013, Part 6
Here’s the final — for now — of four installments in my occasional series of capsule reviews; you’ll find rock, blue-eyed soul, fusion and breezy SoCal pop. I had a […]
09 Jan 2013
Album Review: A Fragile Tomorrow – Be Nice Be Careful
As baseball boffin / bowtied blowhard George Will likes to begin especially forceful pronouncements, “It is axiomatic.” What exactly is axiomatic in this case? That big-label backing does not always […]
02 Jan 2013
Album Review: Cleaners from Venus – The Late District
On The Late District, Cleaners From Venus (the nom de pop of Martin Newell) depart ever-so-subtly from their winsome brand of pastoral, homespun pop. Newell dials back (but certainly doesn’t […]
28 Dec 2012
Adventures with Mr Yeats: The Waterboys’ Mike Scott
The Waterboys are that curious band about which the critics and cognoscenti fall all over themselves raving (and for good reason), but that doesn’t make large ripples in the commercial […]
04 Dec 2012
EP Review: DC Fontana – Pentagram Man
With their latest EP Pentagram Man, DC Fontana have executed a deft musical left-turn. The group first came to my attention via the inclusion of the neo-Northern Soul (albeit with […]
23 Jan 2012
Album Review: Maggie and Terre Roche – Seductive Reasoning
Since my discovery of their music, The Roches have long been a sentimental favorite for me. Having grown up on a steady diet of pop and rock, I didn’t take […]
09 Jan 2012
Album Review: An American Underdog – Always on the Run
To the degree that such inherently qualitative things can be quantified, a key determinant between good and great pop is what the songwriter/performer does beyond the verses and chorus. Yes, […]
02 Feb 2010
Album Review: Frank Sinatra – Strangers in the Night (2010 reissue)
Sure, the title track of Frank Sinatra’s 1966 album Strangers in the Night is sappy, MOR stuff. Impeccably arranged and finding the 51-year old Sinatra in fine vocal form, the […]
20 Jan 2010
Album Review: The Orange Peels – 2020
“Happy listening.” That was the message handwritten on a post-it from The Orange Peels‘ Allen Clapp. Owing to a slight mix-up in messaging, I ended up receiving a copy of […]
24 Aug 2009
My (sort-of) Cocktail with Howard (Kaylan): My Dinner with Jimi
Howard Kaylan is best known as the lead singer of 60s pop group the Turtles. That group chalked up an impressive string of hit singles including “Happy Together,” She’d Rather […]