compilation Archive
31 May 2024
Album Reviews: Pete Ham – ‘Gwent Gardens’ and Tom Evans – ‘I Am Myself’
The careful, exhaustive and ongoing campaign to document (and share with the world) the cache of demos, home recordings and other audio arcana from core members of Badfinger continues apace. […]
25 May 2024
Album Review: The 23rd Turnoff – Michael Angelo
Depending on one’s mindset, the name suggests either a trademark late-’60s attempt to apply a psychedelic vibe to something ordinary, or merely something very pedestrian (as it were). The truth […]
20 Apr 2024
Album Review: The Westbound Sound
Armen Boladian’s Westbound Records was an important force in the funk and r&b scene of the late ‘60s and early 1970s. With Funkadelic as its anchor artist, the label turned […]
28 Mar 2024
Quick Reviews, March 2024: Archival Jazz Releases
One of the many rewarding consequences of being a music journalist/critic is that I’m often among the first to hear about archival releases. Artists who have already created an extensive […]
26 Mar 2024
A Look Back at Johnny Winter Archival Releases
IMPORTANT NOTE: This review concerns the long out-of-print vinyl releases of early Johnny Winter material — The Johnny Winter Story, About Blues and Early Times — NOT any subsequent reissues. […]
24 Feb 2024
Album Review: Al Stewart – Songs on the Radio
By most any reasonable measure, Al Stewart is not a singles artist. Though the Glasgow-born singer-songwriter has had a long and creatively fertile musical career, his primary artistic vehicle has […]
20 Feb 2024
Album Review: Neon Leon – 1979-84 Singles Collection
Here’s one out of left field. I’ll admit a complete lack of knowledge of Neon Leon, but even a few seconds into “Rock ‘N Roll is Alive,” the opening track […]
18 Feb 2024
Album Review: Real People, Great Radio Vol. 2
Indie by definition and indie in spirit, Real People, Great Radio Vol. 2 is a compilation featuring Asheville musical artists. Curated, sponsored and put together by community radio station AshevilleFM […]
22 Jan 2024
Album Review: Shiva Burlesque – Mercury Blues + Skullduggery
Independent Project Records continues its dazzling campaign of thoughtfully curated compilation/reissue releases with Mercury Blues + Skullduggery, a 21-track set of music from L.A.-based Shiva Burlesque. With a sound vaguely […]
13 Jan 2024
Album Review: The Ophelias — Bare Bodkin
From a musical perspective, psychedelia’s heyday was the period between the mid- and late 1960s. The style’s influence, however, has endured since then in the form of various artists’ reinterpretation […]