review Archive
02 Aug 2023
Album Review: D.K. Harrell – The Right Man
Some albums take a slow-build approach. They start modestly, with some subtlety, drawing the listener in. On his debut release The Right Man, D.K. Harrell takes a very different path. […]
30 Jul 2023
Album Review: Various Artists — Redrawn: A Tribute to The Pencils
Have you ever heard of The Pencils? Me neither. But as it happens, this band from Hertfordshire, England made some exuberant powerpop in the very early 1980s. For their trouble […]
28 Jul 2023
Album Review: Various Artists – Jem Records Celebrates Ray Davies
The reactivated Jem Records has established itself as a welcoming home for a particular brand of melodic powerpop. In addition to releasing a steady stream of albums by its featured […]
27 Jul 2023
Album Review: Ani DiFranco — Little Plastic Castles
One of popular music’s most refreshing and encouraging developments of the last couple of decades has been the rise of the independent artist. True, there have always been occasional artists […]
26 Jul 2023
Album Review: R.E.M. — Collapse Into Now
After the mixed reception that greeted 2004’s Around the Sun, R.E.M. seemed to rally with its studio followup, Accelerate, released four years later. Both critical response and sales figures seemed […]
25 Jul 2023
Album Review: R.E.M. — Around the Sun (Part 2 of 2)
Continued from Part One… Picking up after my last post’s lengthy contextualization, here’s my look at Around the Sun, newly reissued as a 2LP set. “Leaving New York” certainly comes […]
24 Jul 2023
Album Review: R.E.M. — Around the Sun (Part 1 of 2)
Artists evolve; that’s what they do. Unless they’re outliers (Oasis inevitably comes to mind as the exception that proves the rule), the music they make at the start of their […]
21 Jul 2023
Album Review: Bob Corritore & Friends – Women in Blues Showcase
Grammy nominee Bob Corritore has had a long and esteemed career in and around the blues. As a harmonica player, venue owner, radio show host and multiple award winner (Living […]
20 Jul 2023
Album Review: Arthur Adams – Kick Up Some Dust
Legendary author F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, “there are no second acts in American lives.” But Fitzgerald passed away in 1940, some three years before Arthur Adams was born in […]
19 Jul 2023
Album Review: Various Artists – Detroit Harmonisers
Music licensing requirements in the UK and Europe are less stringent than they are here in the U.S.; what that means for listeners interested in compilations exploring music made in […]