new release Archive
09 Dec 2016
Album Mini-review: Jake Shimabukuro — Nashville Sessions
File next to: Michael Hedges, Joe Satriani Generally associated with Hawaiian music and culture, in recent years the ukulele has gained wider acceptance and credibility as a musical instrument suitable […]
08 Dec 2016
Album Mini-review: Gang of Four — Live … in the Moment
File next to: Wire, Mission of Burma This Leeds group is often cited as a punk pioneer; with its original lineup, the Leeds, England quartet explored and pushed beyond the […]
08 Dec 2016
Album Mini-review: Opeth — Sorceress
File next to: Porcupine Tree, Metallica On their 12th studio album, Swedish group Opeth continues its move away from its death metal origins. Fans who cherish Mikael Åkerfeldt‘s Cookie-Monster-from-Hell vocal […]
07 Dec 2016
Captivate and Provoke: The modern black roots music of Fantastic Negrito
Note: this is the second of two features I’ve written recently about Fantastic Negrito (here’s the first one). Expect more; this guy is one to watch. — bk Fantastic Negrito […]
06 Dec 2016
NRBQ: the Unity of Man (and of former members), Part 2
Continued from Part One … From NRBQ‘s start, jazz pianist Thelonious Monk was a hero to Terry Adams and his band mates. “The music of Thelonious had a big impact […]
05 Dec 2016
NRBQ: the Unity of Man (and of former members), Part 1
Longtime critics’ darlings NRBQ has kept the music going in one form or another since before recording and releasing its self-titled debut album in 1969. While sales figures of NRBQ’s […]
02 Dec 2016
Hundred-word Reviews for Nov./Dec. 2016, Part 10 of 10
Two weeks of capsule reviews wrap up today with the final five. The Well Wishers – Comes and Goes Style: powerpop Jeff Shelton is the Well Wishers. And he’s quite […]
01 Dec 2016
Hundred-word Reviews for Nov./Dec. 2016, Part 9 of 10
Gary Ritchie – Poptimistic Style: powerpop Melodic, good-natured powerpop is the order of the day on Ritchie’s new album. Musical touchstones include the obvious ones (Beatles, Raspberries, Romantics) and some […]
29 Nov 2016
Hundred-word Reviews for Nov./Dec. 2016, Part 7 of 10
Farewell Milwaukee – FM Style: heartland jangle-rock Jangling guitars, good-timin’ harmonica, well-worn chord changes … those are the key ingredients in the musical recipe for this album. Familar echoes of […]
28 Nov 2016
Hundred-word Reviews for Nov./Dec. 2016, Part 6 of 10
All through last week, I plowed through my to-be-reviewed CD shelf, covering 50 discs (45 CDs, 5 DVDs) in five days. All of the music was reissues, compilations and/or archival […]