new release Archive
11 Jul 2020
Album Review: The Limits – Garage Nuggets ‘65-’68
It’s nice when an important figure in music says nice things about your music. Even if that person is something of a cult figure like Alex Chilton, it counts. And […]
10 Jul 2020
Album Review: Jimmy Sweeney — Without You
Another in the (happily and) seemingly endless stream of unearthed gems, Jimmy Sweeney’s Without You is a collection of songs by a singer who was all but unknown. His claim […]
09 Jul 2020
Album Review: Holy Hive — Float Back to You
Combine crystalline, upper register vocals with a musical aesthetic that’s part Philly Soul, parts indie rock and relentlessly melodic, and the result – if it’s lucky – might sound a […]
08 Jul 2020
Feminazgul: None More Black, None More Feminine
From the beginning, Asheville-based atmospheric black metal duo Feminazgul staked out its own unique musical territory. The genre is known for its focus upon punishing riffs, themes of violence and […]
06 Jul 2020
Album Review: Holsapple & Stamey — Our Back Pages
As wonderful as the dBs were during their original run (featuring Peter Holsapple with and then without Chris Stamey), the more acoustic-flavored efforts by Holsapple and Stamey – 1991’s Mavericks […]
01 Jul 2020
30 Days Out, July 2020 #1: Blake Ellege Band, Rocky MTN Roller, Life Like Water, Mr. Jimmy
Once again it’s time for a look at live music events in and around Asheville in the coming 30 days. And for the first time since early March (and those […]
30 Jun 2020
Album Review: Juniper Shelley — Juniper
I should admit right up front that I look with skepticism upon an album featuring a 15-year-old girl. It’s simply that I don’t expect the music to be aimed at […]
29 Jun 2020
Boxed Set Review: Mojo Nixon — The Mojo Manifesto
Years ago while watching some or other “madcap” comedy film, I came to a realization: drama is comparatively easy, but comedy is difficult. It’s a fairly straightforward affair to tug […]
28 Jun 2020
Album Review: Aloud — Sprezzatura
When I reviewed Aloud’s debut single more than two years ago, I expressed my belief that the group had real potential. I had no idea just how right I would […]
27 Jun 2020
Album Review: Sonar with David Torn — Tranceportation (Volume 2)
In my April 2018 review of Vortex, the first collaboration between Sonar and guitar master David Torn, I likened the music to ‘80s-period King Crimson at its most accessible, citing […]