new release Archive
09 Sep 2023
Album Review: The Mommyheads — Coney Island Kid
It’s like they never left! While New York City band the Mommyheads were reasonably prolific during their initial run, releasing five albums in a decade, the group went quiet for […]
04 Sep 2023
Album Review: Johnny’s Uncalled Four – The Lost Album
It’s among life’s little ironies that some of us are lucky enough to cross paths with individuals whom we see as regular-ol’-people-like-us, only to discover that under their unassuming exterior, […]
03 Sep 2023
Album Review: Wreckless Eric – Leisureland
If your only knowledge of Wreckless Eric is “Whole Wide World,” you’re in for a treat. The man has been on a sustained creative peak for ages now. He left […]
02 Sep 2023
Album Review: Scott Gagner – Reverse
When I reviewed Gagner’s Hummingbird Heart in 2019, I characterized the music within as “intimate and melancholy,” and noted the Midwestern character to the material. When I covered his 2021 […]
30 Aug 2023
Album Review: Martin Denny – Deep Exotica
Some readers of this blogzine may remember the 1990s, a period when – for a moment, at least, it seemed – exotica made a comeback. Exemplified by the self-consciously retro […]
29 Aug 2023
Album Review: Various Artists – March of the Flower Children
A strong case can be made that Lenny Kaye started it all. When Nuggets appeared in the early 1970s, the idea of curated archival releases wasn’t a common one. Kaye’s […]
28 Aug 2023
Album Review: Dengue Fever – Ting Mong
Led by brothers Ethan and Zac Holtzman and fronted by the exquisite vocalist Chhom Nimol, Dengue Fever combines the traditional sound of Southeast Asia with Western pop values, and the […]
27 Aug 2023
EP Review: Dennis Davison – Creaturefeature
I’m not sure what the current status of The Jigsaw Seen is; I haven’t seen any official announcement signaling their end (which likely came about some years ago). But I […]
26 Aug 2023
Album Review: Coco Montoya – Writing on the Wall
Guitarist Coco Montoya first came to my attention way back in 1997 when he was featured on Behind the Iron Curtain, the then-new album from John Mayall’s reactivated Bluesbreakers. I […]
25 Aug 2023
Album Review: Chuck Owen and the WDR Big Band – Renderings
It’s more than a bit remarkable that the big band format has sustained into the 21st century, no less into 2023. But indeed it has, and much of the credit […]