new release Archive
16 Apr 2014
Ask Me Some Questions: The Graham Parker Interview, Part 1
Once pegged as one of rock’s angry young men, these days Graham Parker is neither angry nor young. And while his profile these last few decades has been lower than […]
09 Apr 2014
Book Review: The Evolution of Mann
Lately I’ve been mulling the age-old question: what makes a bandwagon-jumper? Pop music’s history is filled with examples of bands and solo artists who have adopted stylistic u-turns in a […]
08 Apr 2014
Album Review: Magic Sam — Live at the Avant Garde
Soulful blues guitarist Magic Sam (Sam Maghett) was only documented on album-length studio recordings twice in his short career. West Side Soul in 1967 and the following year’s Black Magic […]
07 Apr 2014
Album Review: Tower of Power — Hipper Than Hip
For quite a number of years – primarily the mid 90s to around 2006 – I was immersed in a consuming hobby of sorts: I collected and traded bootlegs […]
27 Mar 2014
Album Review: Lisa Loeb — No Fairy Tale
Last weekend I was wandering about in an antique/ephemera mall that also housed a coffeehouse (this is Asheville; you routinely find such things here). There was an acoustic guitar singer-songwriter […]
24 Mar 2014
EP Review: Marshall Crenshaw — Driving and Dreaming
By now, most have either been hipped to the songwriting genius of Marshall Crenshaw, or they haven’t and sadly probably never will. With Crenshaw’s releases stretching all the way back […]
21 Mar 2014
Album Review: American Professionals — We Make It Our Business
Opinions vary – they’re in fact quote polarized on the issue – but people seem to either love or hate powerpop. While at its worst, it’s weak and derivative, at […]
18 Mar 2014
Album Review: Various — The Del Shannon Tribute: Songwriter Vol. 1
The history of rock’n’roll is littered with artists who — for one reason or another – never quite got their due. Del Shannon is on that list. Best known as […]
06 Mar 2014
Hundred-word Reviews: New Rock/pop
More albums that deserve your time, but that I haven’t the time nor space to cover in a more in-depth fashion. Levin Minnemann Rudess – s/t This project brings together […]
05 Mar 2014
Hundred-word Reviews: New Jazz
So much music, so little time. I’m still a relative novitiate when it comes to jazz, but I know what I like. And I like these. All new/contemporary artists, these […]