review Archive
02 Mar 2025
Album Review: The Big Ol’ Nasty Getdown – Repurpose Purpose Vol. 1
One of the many qualities that sets jazz – especially the ‘50s and ‘60s era variants – apart from rock is the loose-aggregation approach. Rather than coalesce around bands in […]
28 Feb 2025
Album Review: XTC – Skylarking (2024 edition)
A widely acknowledged peak in the work of XTC – a group that never made a bad album, and rarely made one less than great – Skylarking has nonetheless long […]
27 Feb 2025
Album Review: Jhelisa – Galactica Rush
One of the more compelling musical undercurrents of the ‘90s and beyond is trip hop. Bands like Massive Attack and Zero 7 crafted a sound that drew from jazz and […]
25 Feb 2025
Album Review: Mile Marker Zero – Coming of Age
Listeners who luxuriate in the heartbreakingly fragile, melancholy moments within Steven Wilson’s catalog – songs like “The Raven Refused to Sing” – have something new they should hear. Even though […]
21 Feb 2025
Album Review: Trees Speak — Mind Maze
As I mentioned in a recent review, Mind Maze, the 2023 album by Arizona-based instrumental band Trees Speak slipped by without my notice. And as I’ve emphasized on many occasions, […]
20 Feb 2025
Album Review: The Elephant 6 Recording Co.
Launched in Louisiana and with connections to Memphis, the Elephant 6 Collective is thought of as a kind of follow-on from the Athens, Georgia musical community that brought forth the […]
19 Feb 2025
Album Review: Fania Records: The Latin Sound of New York (1964-1978)
Latin and salsa music took off in a big way in the 1950s and ‘60s. Oddly enough, it was thanks in large part to television star Desi Arnaz, Jr. – […]
18 Feb 2025
Album Review: The Saints – (I’m) Stranded Box Set
Accepted wisdom holds that punk rock came about circa 1976-’77, primarily in London and New York City. The truth is that the seeds of the style were sown much earlier, […]
17 Feb 2025
Album Review: Laura Nyro – Hear My Song: The Collection, 1966-1995
If the Mamas and the Papas were combined into one individual, or if Carole King were somehow genetically engineered to have commensurate talents but a different musical perspective, the end […]
13 Feb 2025
Album Review: Ed Rawlings – A Foolish Inconsistency
Way back in 1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” The line is from his essay “Self-Reliance,” itself an ironic title, seeing as […]