reissue Archive
06 Mar 2019
Way Out West with Sonny Rollins, Part Two
Continued from Part One… Subsequent CD-era reissues of Way Out West have included various previously-unreleased outtakes from the late-night recording sessions, but for the 2018 vinyl reissue, another unheard recording […]
05 Mar 2019
Way Out West with Sonny Rollins, Part One
With its unusual cover photo and its non-standard trio format, Sonny Rollins’s 1957 album Way Out West stands apart from the jazz releases of its era. Sixty years after its […]
05 Feb 2019
Badfinger’s WB Years Revisited, Part Two
Continued from Part One… As brilliant as the original mixes of Badfinger’s two Warners albums are, the 2018 bonus mixes shed additional light on the process of making those records. […]
04 Feb 2019
Badfinger’s WB Years Revisited, Part One
The story of Badfinger is a cautionary tale, one filled with betrayal, despair, missed opportunity, unfulfilled promise, neglect and two suicides. But all of those discomforting elements should not overshadow […]
01 Feb 2019
Hundred-word Reviews for February 2019
I’ve been doing these hundred-word reviews for many years now; they’re a handy way to communicate my enthusiasm for new and newly-reissued albums without taking the time for a deep-dive […]
29 Dec 2018
Video Roundup 2018
Covering DVDs and Blu-Rays takes more time than reviewing albums; I have to set up in my living room, with a recliner, a couple of cats and (generally) a good […]
22 Dec 2018
A Vinyl Roundup to Round Out 2018
So much good music has found its way into my ears in 2018. As the year winds toward its close, I’d like to share words on a few of these […]
17 Dec 2018
Album Review: Semisonic — Feeling Strangely Fine (20th Aniv. Edition)
Certain music becomes an exemplar of the time in which it was made and released. If the artist involved is lucky, that music not only evokes memories of that period, […]
22 Nov 2018
Blitzen Trapper’s Earley Years, Part Two
Continued from Part One… When the Black River Killer EP came out, I assumed that it consisted of the leftovers from the Furr sessions. But as the new deluxe edition […]
21 Nov 2018
Blitzen Trapper’s Earley Years, Part One
Songwriter, guitarist and singer Eric Earley founded an experimental group, Garmonbozia, in Portland, Oregon in 2000. The group’s material shows a band grasping for its signature style; free-form psychedelic excursions […]