review Archive
21 Sep 2011
CD Review: Vegas With Randolph – Above the Blue
Comparisons to Fountains of Wayne are inevitable: strong melodies, well-thought-out vocal harmonies, middling tempos, clever lyrics, high-octane guitars. That’s the recipe on Above the Blue from Washington DC-based Vegas With […]
20 Sep 2011
CD Review: Rufus Thomas – Do the Funky Chicken
It’s easy to dismiss the work of Rufus Thomas (the world’s oldest teenager™) as the work of a novelty artist. Too easy, in fact. And it does a disservice to […]
19 Sep 2011
CD Review: The Dramatics – Whatcha See is Whatcha Get
Though Stax/Volt was (and will remain) closely linked with its hometown of Memphis, not everything that came out on the legendary label was Memphis-based. Some of it wasn’t even recorded […]
16 Sep 2011
CD Review: The V-Roys – Sooner or Later
I don’t go much for country-rock, especially when it’s outfitted in the all-hat-no-cattle trappings of modern Nashville. But when it’s an authentic distillation of the best of the two genres, […]
15 Sep 2011
DVD Review: Frank Sinatra – Around the World
Even well into the rock era, plenty of spectacle surrounded a Frank Sinatra concert; it was an event. Though he was arguably past his prime, Sinatra had amassed such an […]
14 Sep 2011
Tommy Keene: A Parade of Timeless Albums
Consistency is often thought of as being anathema to creativity. Ralph Waldo Emerson famously asserted that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” Yet there are a special […]
13 Sep 2011
CD Review: DC Fontana – La Contessa
Some years ago – long before it was available on DVD – I got a dub of an obscure television special. Done toward the tail-end of their time in the […]
12 Sep 2011
Concert Review: Styx (September 3, 2011)
I’m shaking my head slowly, with a wry smile. Why? Because I just returned from a few hours of time travel, courtesy of Styx. I missed the opportunity to see […]
09 Sep 2011
CD Review: Jackie DeShannon – When You Walk in the Room
Count me among those who believe strongly in the proposition that a good song is a good song. What I mean is this: a well-written song can withstand reinterpretation in […]
08 Sep 2011
CD Review: June and Jean Millington – Play Like a Girl
Fanny was a remarkable band for any number of reasons. As the first high-profile all-female rock band – band, I say, as in they sang, played and wrote – they […]