new release Archive
29 Aug 2013
Album Review: Magic Sam and Shakey Jake — Live at Sylvio’s
Maybe you don’t know who Magic Sam is. With a moniker like that, you might guess he’s a character from Willie Dixon‘s “Wang Dang Doodle.” But the blues guitarist born […]
27 Aug 2013
Album Review: Maxi Dunn – Edmund & Leo
Perhaps it’s unfair – no, there’s no two ways about it: it is unfair – but if you’re a musician from Liverpool, great things are expected of you. The Beatles, […]
23 Aug 2013
August Capsule Reviews
Here’s another in my occasional series of quick cuts. This time ’round I’m covering recent releases by names who’ve been around the block a few times. These are people whose […]
21 Aug 2013
Album Review: Caravan — Recorded Live in Concert at Metropolis Studios, London
Even when I was a kid, I’d read the liner notes of the LPs I’d buy. And I’d look at the printed inner sleeves when they were included. It was […]
20 Aug 2013
Book Review: Boys Don’t Lie: A History of Shoes
Sidestepping tired allusions to Boston‘s Tom Scholz, Guns’n’Roses and Chinese democracy, Boys Don’t Lie: A History of Shoes was a long time coming. Author Mary Donnelly began work on the […]
19 Aug 2013
Album Review: Volto! — Incitare
In the related and sometimes overlapping fields of marketing and customer service, “bait and switch” is – quite rightly – considered a bad thing. Drawing a potential customer in with […]
12 Aug 2013
Album Review: Spock’s Beard – Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep
Less dedicated bands would have called it a day and gone home by now. But the guys in California-based progressive rock outfit Spock’s Beard seemingly have no intention of waving […]
08 Aug 2013
Stick Man for Stick Men: The Pat Mastelotto Interview, Part 2
Continued from Part One… BK: This is an oversimplification, but bear with me. In rock, the drums pretty much keep the beat. In jazz, the beat is often implied. In […]
07 Aug 2013
Stick Man for Stick Men: The Pat Mastelotto Interview, Part 1
Though his major-label introduction to the rock world was as drummer for Mr. Mister, Pat Mastelotto’s résumé would subsequently include a staggering list of credits in a dizzying array of […]
05 Aug 2013
Album Review: Tommy Keene – Excitement At Your Feet
There’s a fascinating thread that has run through my interviews with recording artists over the last several years. Not surprisingly, many of my favorite musicians are also world-class fans. And […]