new release Archive
17 Dec 2020
Kronos Quartet on Thelen’s “Circular Lines” and Kronos’ 50 for the Future
Zürich, Switzerland composer Stephan Thelen has composed four new modern classical works, collected on a new album, World Dialogue. Three of the string pieces are performed by Polish all-female ensemble […]
16 Dec 2020
Kronos Quartet Meets the Music of Pete Seeger
Ever since its inception in 1973, Kronos Quartet has been pushing the boundaries of music. The San Francisco-based ensemble has made a mission of finding unexplored connections between seemingly disparate […]
14 Dec 2020
Book Review: Ready Steady Go!: The Weekend Starts Here
Launched a few years ago, BMG Books broke into the market with the excellent Hotter Than a Pepper Sprout, Billy Edd Wheeler’s lively memoir. Soon thereafter, the publisher began its […]
13 Dec 2020
Samara Jade: Saved by ‘Zero’
Life experiences can inform the creative product of artists in unusual ways. The chamber folk of Samara Jade’s latest album, Zero, is in part the result of the circumstances under […]
12 Dec 2020
Virginia and the Slims: Push on Through
Sporting a name inspired by ‘70s era cigarettes marketed to women, Asheville-based Virginia and the Slims have endured a convoluted history. Musicians have come and gone – to the point […]
11 Dec 2020
Album Review: The Neptunas – Mermaid A-Go-Go
There’s something inescapably, relentlessly cool about surf rock. The style had its heyday in the early ‘60s, but it’s never gone away. And for good reason: there’s something irresistible about […]
09 Dec 2020
Album Review: Chicago Soul Jazz Collective – It Takes a Spark to Start a Fire
On their first recording, the Chicago Soul Jazz Collective tackled a collection of familiar genre standards, and the results were impressive. For their newest release, however, the group applies its […]
08 Dec 2020
Album Review: George Benson – Weekend in London
As the emcee tells us right up front, this recording marks the first time George Benson appeared onstage at Ronnie Scott’s in some 45 years. In the interim he has […]
04 Dec 2020
Album Review: The Krayolas – Savage Young Krayolas
In the shady corners of rock’s history, there have been more than a few retro purveyors who managed to breathe new life into well-trodden styles. Occasionally, they’ve done more than […]
28 Nov 2020
Book Review: Chris Hillman — Time Between
Musician memoirs/autobiographies are a decidedly mixed bag. Even when an artist is known for his or her songwriting wordsmith skills, that’s not a truly reliable indicator that said artist can […]