review Archive
18 Jan 2011
Album Review: The Very Best of the Rat Pack
Consider this: Three entertainers who didn’t write their own material, who were in possession of a sense of entitlement that meant they paraded about town as if they owned the […]
17 Jan 2011
Album Review: Vince Guaraldi Trio – Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus
All too often, when presented with the phrase “crossover jazz,” contemporary listeners bring forth mental visions of Kenny G. His sort of insipid, non-challenging elevator music is, for many, the […]
14 Jan 2011
CD Review: Let Me Tell You About the Blues / Nashville
The liner notes come right out and address the argument some might raise against this package. Thought it’s titled Let Me Tell About the Blues: Nashville, most people will agree […]
13 Jan 2011
CD Review: Lannie Flowers – Circles
I will readily admit it: I’m a slave to the jangle. Give me a dose of high-energy, upbeat powerpop and I’m yours (musically speaking). And that’s precisely what happened when […]
12 Jan 2011
CD Review: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Damn the Torpedoes (Deluxe Edition)
This is a bit of an odd one for me. Generally when I consider reviewing reissues, the material dates from the 1960s, or occasionally early 70s. But Tom Petty and […]
11 Jan 2011
DVD Review: David Bowie Rare and Unseen
The latest in an ongoing series that has seen DVD releases spotlighting the Beatles, John Lennon, the Rolling Stones and others, David Bowie Rare and Unseen takes a slightly different […]
10 Jan 2011
CD Review: Dirty Water – The Birth of Punk Attitude
As its name makes clear, Dirty Water: the Birth of Punk Attitude takes a unique approach to the concept of punk: here it’s defined more as an attitude than a […]
03 Jan 2011
DVD Review: The Sacred Triangle
Don’t be put off by the breathless, overselling and somewhat pretentious title. The Sacred Triangle: Bowie, Iggy & Lou 1971-1973 is a thoughtful look at the convergence of three important […]
23 Dec 2010
2010 Odds and Ends (Capsule Reviews)
Even if one is (for example) a reviewer of measured fame and notoriety, one still ends up with a ton of unsolicited and semi-solicited audio material arriving via post. (The […]
20 Dec 2010
Album Review: Dave Brubeck – The Definitive Dave Brubeck on Fantasy, Concord Jazz, and Telarc
“Definitive” is a strong word. Not to belabor the obvious, but it means to define something; definitive means that the things affords an accurate representation of another thing. In this […]