new release Archive
29 Jan 2022
Album Review: Scott T. Jones — Fictional Characters
If your tastes run toward fusion – not the watered-down Weather Channel background music, but the muscular, virtuosic but melodic stuff – then you might well be frustrated with the […]
27 Jan 2022
Album Review: The Grip Weeds – Dig
If you’re a band that has a well-earned reputation for top-notch original material, an album of covers had better add something worthwhile to listeners’ understanding and appreciation of what you […]
26 Jan 2022
Album Review: True West — Kaleidoscope of Shadows
Even among vinyl aficionados like myself, there’s an acknowledgment that the CD era brought with it some important benefits. Chief among those was the archival movement: compilations and reissues of […]
25 Jan 2022
Album Review: Spygenius – Blow Their Covers
When a group – especially one with a proven track record of releasing high quality original material – appears with an album full of covers, it’s fair to wonder. Have […]
24 Jan 2022
Album Review: Novelty Island – How Are You Coping With This Century?
Being a musician and recording artist from Liverpool carries with it certain responsibilities. One has to reconcile the fact that their music is made in the shadow of Echo and […]
23 Jan 2022
Album Review: David Brookings – Mania at the Talent Showcase
A quick bit of context here, if you don’t mind. I’ve been a fan of Brookings’ music for some years now, and have reviewed at least two of his albums […]
22 Jan 2022
Album Review: The Freeway Jubilee — On the Horizon Volume 1
The close vocal harmony that opens “In Motion” sets a mood and establishes a high bar. The first track on The Freeway Jubilee’s On the Horizon Volume 1 is suffused […]
21 Jan 2022
Deerhoof’s Slow Burn Approach to Making Magic
The following feature was commissioned by a publication, but prior to its running, their management made an editorial decision to cut arts and entertainment coverage. I’ve rescued it from obscurity […]
16 Jan 2022
Album Review: John Mayall — The Sun is Shining Down
John Mayall is widely acknowledged as the godfather of British blues. And that’s not the result of any sort of revisionism; it’s a title he earned long, long ago. As […]
14 Jan 2022
Album Review: Hushdrops — The Static
Hey, remember the ‘90s? No, not the hair metal-lite of the era, and not the flannel-wrapped grunge of the Pacific Northwest. Well, maybe a little of that. What I’m thinking […]