rawk Archive
28 Feb 2021
Album Review — Kimon Kirk — Altitude
There’s always a place for chiming, ear-candy rock with folk and singer-songwriter tendencies. And that’s what’s offer on Altitude, the new album from Boston-based Kimon Kirke. This guitarist and songwriter had a solid understanding of pop music values, and he crafts accessible tunes that draw the listener in. There are hints of country in subtle
26 Feb 2021
Todd Rundgren’s “Clearly Human” Tour: The Ever Popular Geofenced Artist Effect (Part Two)
Continued from Part One … “We’re doing 25 shows specifically targeted to 25 markets,” Rundgren says. “And everything that we do will be in the pursuit of preserving the experience both for the audience and for the band.” The focus is squarely on making each show a unique event, in a manner as close as
25 Feb 2021
Todd Rundgren’s “Clearly Human” Tour: The Ever Popular Geofenced Artist Effect (Part One)
An edited version of this feature appeared previously in New City. For his latest concert tour, perennial wunderkid Todd Rundgren is revisiting his 1989 album Nearly Human. With an expanded band featuring longtime musical associates Kasim Sulton, Gil Assayas, Prairie Prince, Rundgren’s wife Michele and five others, the “Clearly Human” tour represents the latest in
24 Feb 2021
Album Review: Miles Davis’ ‘Jack Johnson’ at 50 (Part Two)
Continued from Part One … Side Two of Miles Davis’ Jack Johnson features the same players plus a different lineup, and in fact the aggregation wasn’t credited on the original LP. McLaughlin returns, joined by gonzo electric guitarist Sonny Sharrock. The bassist now is Dave Holland, and Jack DeJohnette plays drums. Bennie Maupin – whose
23 Feb 2021
Album Review: Miles Davis’ ‘Jack Johnson’ at 50 (Part One)
Much is made – and rightly so – of Miles Davis’ landmark 1970 release Bitches Brew. The album represented Davis’ adventurous foray into the (previously unoccupied) space in which rock and jazz coexisted. True, others had made moved toward bridging the gap between the two genres, but none had done so as forcefully and uncompromisingly
19 Feb 2021
Boxed Set Review: Iggy and the Stooges – From KO to Chaos
In music fan and critical circles, the concept of “blues police” comes up in conversation from time to time. Simply put, blues police is a pejorative term applied to self-anointed arbiters of What Is And Is Not Blues™. These auto-deputized lawgivers would have us believe that, say, Ana Popovic isn’t blues because she didn’t grow
18 Feb 2021
Hundred-word Reviews: February 2021, Part 3
These five are all archival, reissue and/or compilation releases. There’s even a vinyl release here. Wolfgang Lackerschmid & Chet Baker – Quintet Sessions 1979 I was only recently introduced to the sublime collaborative genius of Lackerschmid and Baker via this release. Now, from the same era, comes this archival release. It’s even better, featuring as
16 Feb 2021
Hundred-word Reviews: February 2021, Part 1
The majority among these five lean in a powerpop direction. Rob Fetters – Ship Shake If Fetters’ name strikes you as familiar, that may be because you fondly remember The Bears, the arty powerpop group featuring him and Adrian Belew. And maybe you incorrectly assumed that Belew’s prodigious creativity was the Bears’ sole center of
08 Feb 2021
Album Review: Jack Oblivian and the Sheiks — Lone Ranger of Love
Jack Oblivian and the Sheiks released Lone Ranger of Love in 2016; as good as it was, it quickly went out of print. But Black and Wyatt Records has had the good sense to reissue it in late 2020. If your taste in music leads you to understand that King Khan and the Shrines’ 2008
05 Feb 2021
The Making of Wilco’s ‘Summerteeth’ (Part 2 of 2)
Continued from Part One… Jay Bennett had bought a classic Mellotron, Stirratt remembers. The band first came into direct contact with the Chamberlin – a close mechanical relative of the fabled (and temperamental) Mellotron – sometime earlier, when they were visiting famed producer Mitch Easter (R.E.M, Game Theory, Velvet Crush) at his Drive-In Studio outside