rawk Archive
18 Dec 2019
Album Review: Rachid Taha — Je Suis Africain
Are you familiar with a musical genre called Chaâbi? Me neither. Put simply (and reductively), it’s North African folk music, sort of a cousin to another style, raï. One of […]
17 Dec 2019
Album Review: Daystar — The Complete Recordings
It’s always tricky choosing a band name. I once had a group called the Buzztones; we played obscure ’60s garage-psych. But one day we discovered there was another Buzztones, and […]
16 Dec 2019
Neil Young is Here to Stay: the ‘Rusty’ Year of 1979
As the 1970s wound toward a close, Neil Young placed himself in a curious position. By that point he had been in the public eye as a musician for more […]
15 Dec 2019
Hundred-word Reviews for December 2019, #3
Here’s the final installment of the year (and the decade!) of my quick, condensed album reviews. Ten titles, 100 words each. Seven are new releases; the remaining three are archival […]
14 Dec 2019
Hundred-word Reviews for December 2019, #2
With the end of 2019 on the horizon, I figure now’s as good a time as any to bring things up to date with another batch of quick reviews. In […]
08 Dec 2019
Album Review: Bask — III
For a small city, Asheville is home to musicians representing a staggering array of musical styles. In an era that many see as post-album, post-rock and post-all other manner of […]
07 Dec 2019
The Church: Further, Deeper, Infinity
This essay appeared previously in NewCity. The Church debuted with Of Skin and Heart (known worldwide as The Church) in 1981. The Australian foursome never fit neatly into the then-thriving […]
04 Dec 2019
Hunger for the Dreams: ‘The Allman Brothers Band’ at 50
When the eponymous debut album by The Allman Brothers Band appeared on record store shelves in November 1969, record buyers may have thought they were discovering a new group. To […]
03 Dec 2019
Hundred-word Reviews for December 2019, #1
As 2019 heads toward its end, there’s time for one more house-cleaning set of quick reviews. Here’s a look at notable new releases in jazz, blues rock and even country. […]
02 Dec 2019
Rock and Bounce: Big Freedia and Low Cut Connie
Note: This story was originally published in October in Mountain Xpress. Combing different musical genres is more common than it was a generation ago; the barriers between styles have been […]