review Archive
25 Sep 2021
Album Review: Steve Barton – Love & Destruction
Steve Barton is best known as one of two guitarists and songwriters in Translator, the San Francisco band that gave us “Everywhere That I’m Not.” But while the band went […]
24 Sep 2021
Album Review: Memphis Slim – 1964 Live
As Ray Templeton reminds us in his liner notes for this newly-issued archival release, “When Memphis Slim first visited Europe in 1960, he was already a twenty year veteran recording […]
19 Sep 2021
Album Review: The Cruzados – She’s Automatic
When Los Angeles punk outfit The Plugz metamorphosed into The Cruzados in 1984, they altered their musical approach. The spiky punk textures showcased on the soundtrack of Repo Man remained, […]
04 Sep 2021
Album Review: Explorer Tapes
As someone who follows such things – and as such ought to know better – I nevertheless continue to be amazed whenever I learn about a promising act that recorded […]
03 Sep 2021
Album Review: John McLaughlin — Liberation Time
A deeply spiritual artist, John McLaughlin makes music that moves the mind, body and spirit. There’s certainly plenty of technical precision in his music, but with in it beats a […]
31 Aug 2021
Album Review: Alchemy Sound Project – Afrika Love
Jazz differs from rock in some important, fundamental ways. While there are exceptions, one is the manner in which jazz ensemble tend to be collectives of equals rather than stars […]
30 Aug 2021
Album Review: The Black Watch — Led Zeppelin Five
I don’t make a habit of employing Yiddish words or phrases in writing of speaking. I’m not a member of the tribe. But when the situations call for it, when […]
29 Aug 2021
Album Review: The Gun Club — Fire of Love
Blixa Sounds released an expanded reissue of the Gun Club’s Miami in 2000, and now their similar treatment of the Los Angeles punk band’s debut album, Fire of Love, is […]
28 Aug 2021
Album Review: Etta James — The Montreux Years
Announced in March 2021, an archive of historically significant musical recordings is now beginning to be shared with the wider listening audience. Run by Claude Nobs, the highly regarded Montreux […]
27 Aug 2021
Album Review: Joe Jackson & Todd Rundgren featuring Ethel — State Theater New Jersey 2005
It was more than sixteen years ago that two of popular music’s most iconoclastic artists decided to work together (sort of). Todd Rundgren and Joe Jackson teamed up for a […]