review Archive
17 Sep 2022
Album Review: Mark Duda – Bodega Flowers
I’ll be honest: this one confused me. From the Halloween-themed font to the woman on the cover (is that Mark Duda?) And the Japanese(?) lettering, I had no idea at […]
14 Sep 2022
Album Review: The Krayolas — Happy Go Lucky
If the Smithereens were from Texas instead of New Jersey – and if they built on their Beatles influences not by exploring an affinity for Black Sabbath but instead for […]
13 Sep 2022
Concert Review: Interpol (Sep 3 2022, Asheville NC)
It’s been 20 years since Interpol released their celebrated debut Turn On The Bright Lights, an album that came at a time when the indie music scene in New York […]
11 Sep 2022
Album Review: Jem Records Celebrates Pete Townshend
Too often, various-artists tribute albums are like celebrity roasts: it’s far less about the ostensible honoree, and for more about the roasters (or, in this case, “tributers”). And I’m on […]
10 Sep 2022
Album Review: Keith Lamar and Albert Marques – Freedom First
A visceral, moving and thought-provoking project, Freedom First is unlike most anything else you’re likely to hear in 2022. Against a varied backdrop of jazz improvisation (and sometimes more structured […]
09 Sep 2022
DVD Review: Waiting – The Van Duren Story
In recent years, a remarkably personal style of documentary has come into vogue. Whereas in a traditional documentary, the narrator is both invisible and omniscient, and this new (or newly […]
08 Sep 2022
Concert Review: Spoon (Sep 3 2022, Asheville NC)
Known for putting on a spirited and memorable show, Spoon’s September 3rd performance at Rabbit Rabbit was alive, dynamic, and tight. The band is touring on their latest record Lucifer […]
06 Sep 2022
EP Review: Rue ’66 — Partie de Dames
I’ve written now and then (here and here, for example) about French pop of the 1960s. The so-called yé-yé movement, and the charming if slightly odd insularity that characterized the […]
02 Sep 2022
Album Review: The Mutants – Curse of the Easily Amused
The Mutants were exemplars of what can accurately be characterized as San Francisco’s “art punk” aesthetic. Formed in 1977, the band of musical misfits and art students combined the DIY […]
30 Aug 2022
Album Review: The Iveys – Golden Delicious Demos (1966-69)
Badfinger fans (and perhaps a handful of others) know that when that group was signed to The Beatles’ Apple Records, they were still known as the Iveys. Their first single […]