new release Archive
22 Dec 2015
Video Review: Frank Zappa — Roxy: The Movie
There’s no consensus among Frank Zappa fans as to which album is his “best.” But most will agree that the 1974 double-live LP Roxy & Elsewhere is a high point. […]
17 Dec 2015
Album Review: Ancient River — Keeper of the Dawn
With its transgressive album cover – photos arranged in an upside-down crucifix style, featuring spooky overlays of grinning skulls – you’d be forgive for guessing that Ancient River‘s Keeper of […]
14 Dec 2015
Album Review: Donovan’s Brain — Heirloom Varieties
At peril of engaging in a mild bit of hyperbole, Donovan’s Brain can rightly be described as a college-rock supergroup. “College rock” – those of you over thirty may recall […]
11 Dec 2015
DVD Review: Frank Sinatra — All or Nothing at All
When I was growing up, Frank Sinatra made what was considered music for adults. I distinctly remember when his duet with daughter Nancy Sinatra, “Somethin’ Stupid,” was all over the […]
04 Dec 2015
Album Mini-review: Supersuckers — Holdin’ the Bag
File Next to: Long Ryders, Jason & the Scorchers, Peter Case If Michael Jackson could hubristically anoint himself King of Pop, it stands to reason that Supersuckers should be allowed […]
30 Nov 2015
Album Mini-review: Keep Shelly in Athens – Now I’m Ready
File Next to: Cocteau Twins, Beach House With their gauzy, heavily-reverbed ambience, this Greek chillwave duo sounds a bit like synthy Britpop a la Cocteau Twins, crossed with a less-mannered […]
27 Nov 2015
Holiday Music Roundup 2015
Imagene Peise — Atlas Eets Christmas Let’s get a few things out of the way right up front about this holiday-themed release. First there is no Imagene Peise; despite a […]
26 Nov 2015
Full-on Fun: Guitarist Martin Barre’s Post-Jethro Tull World
Ask most people who the leader of Jethro Tull was, and they say, “Why, Mr. Tull, of course!” No, that’s Ian Anderson you’re thinking of. But the mainstay of that […]
25 Nov 2015
DVD Review: Taste — What’s Going On: Live at the Isle of Wight
It happens quite rarely: I discover an album or video by a rock artist active decades ago, one who is totally unknown to me. And it’s happened now. Taste was […]
24 Nov 2015
Just Plain Wonderful: Iain Matthews and Plainsong Reinvent Richard Fariña
Richard Fariña was a significant member of the American folk music movement of the early 1960s. A fixture of the Greenwich Village scene that brought forth Bob Dylan, Fariña made […]