new release Archive

Album Review: The Anderson Council — The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon

Album cover art often offers clues to the music contained within. But this isn’t always the case. The latest album from The Anderson Council features a cover that uses tarot […]

Album Review: Bill Pritchard – Sings Poems by Patrick Woodcock

It’s remarkable and noteworthy when a composer-songwriter of great stature decides to make an album featuring lyrics by another artist. Not a covers project, exactly, but a kind of semi-collaborative […]

Album Review: The Salt Collective – Life

In late 2019 I named The Loneliness of Clouds as one of my favorite releases of the year. At the time, the group (not exactly a group, but I’ll get […]

Album Review: Selwyn Birchwood — Exorcist

I’ve written about Selwyn Birchwood on a number of occasions. Back when I was writing my “30 Days Out” column for Asheville’s altweekly (for a few years now it’s been […]

Album Review: Marco Rossi — The Sincerest Form of Flattery

I’m as interested as the next listener when an artist/songwriter of quality decides to embark upon what we used to call a “busman’s holiday.” David Bowie’s Pin Ups, John Lennon’s […]

Album Review: Various Artists — Shine On

One of popular culture’s great tragedies is the absence of Pete Ham. The Welsh singer-songwriter-guitarist was the creative center of gravity in Badfinger; his distinctive voice and superb songwriting were […]

Album Review: Savoy Brown — Blues All Around

Kim Simmonds was part of the wave of British blues guitarists of the late ‘60s. From 1965 onward, he led Savoy Brown, one of the most workmanlike and indefatigable blues […]

Album Review: Ernie Vincent – Original Dap King

The title of this album is something of a red herring. Best as I can tell, New Orleans-based guitarist Ernie Vincent has no substantive connection to the Brooklyn-based ensemble that […]

Album Review: NXTOFKIN — Where Did We Go Wrong?

In much the same way that many music journalists and/or critics (this one included) are musicians, so too are many record label heads, especially those of the smaller indie variety. […]

Book Review: In Your Mind – The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono

It’s difficult to think of an artist more unjustly maligned than Yoko Ono. Whether one appreciates her music or not – for the record, I very much do – it’s […]