review Archive
14 Feb 2014
Hundred Word Reviews: February 2014, Part Five: Jazz
As previously threatened, here is another clutch of jazz capsule reviews. Each of these albums is a reissue of an old release, but is worthy because of its (a) relative […]
13 Feb 2014
Hundred Word Reviews: February 2014, Part Four: Jazz
I’m still working through an enormous backlog of CDs in my must-be-reviewed pile. You should see the rejects pile: a lot of pretty good music didn’t make the cut, owing […]
12 Feb 2014
Album Reviews: Camper Van Beethoven — Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart and Key Lime Pie
You know that marketing term “early adopter?” Those are the people who bought CD players in 1984. They bought Blu-Ray players before there were any Blu-Ray discs available. And they […]
17 Jan 2014
Album Review: The Warlocks — Skull Worship
For many years now, it’s been a shortcut to hip/trendiness (for some, at least) to claim that your group sounds like the Velvet Underground. But merely echoing some of the […]
15 Jan 2014
Album Review: New Model Army — Between Dog and Wolf
New Model Army are one of those groups whose body of work has gone all but unnoticed in the USA while enjoying some measure of success in the band’s home […]
14 Jan 2014
EP Review: Old 97’s and Waylon Jennings
The argument is often put forth – and not wholly without merit – that modern commercial country and western is an extension of rock music. The thinking goes that today’s […]
13 Jan 2014
Album Review: Night Beats — Sonic Bloom
Modern perspectives on 60s garage rock have littered the musical landscape in the 21st century. But I’m reminded of an oft-repeated response to all that by a friend of mine. […]
10 Jan 2014
Concert Review & Photoblog: Fitz and the Tantrums, Asheville NC, 5 Nov. 2013
Modern r&b-flavored pop act Fitz and the Tantrums returned to Asheville recently for an enthusiastic, packed-house reception. Focusing on tunes from their second album (2013’s More than Just a Dream) […]
07 Jan 2014
Concert Review: Project/Object, 22 Dec. 2013, The Grey Eagle, Asheville NC
Viewed as an entire body of work, the music of Frank Zappa is near-impossible to pin down. There are significant elements of everything from doo-wop to progressive jazz to avant-classical […]
30 Dec 2013
Album Review: The Chills — Somewhere Beautiful
While I choose to believe that – on some exceedingly modest level – I have reasonably good critical sense of measure where music is concerned, I have no illusions about […]