review Archive
09 Feb 2021
Album Review: Ron Thompson – From the Patio
For more than a decade, guitarist Ron Thompson was a regular fixture at San Jose, California’s famed Poor House Bistro. As this album’s brief liner note essay by the club’s […]
08 Feb 2021
Album Review: Jack Oblivian and the Sheiks — Lone Ranger of Love
Jack Oblivian and the Sheiks released Lone Ranger of Love in 2016; as good as it was, it quickly went out of print. But Black and Wyatt Records has had […]
03 Feb 2021
Album Review: The Ed Palermo Big Band — The Adventures of Zodd Zundgren
Frank Zappa’s body of work is massive. Even if one limits oneself to the music released during his lifetime, it’s a lot. Me, I have his first 45 or so […]
02 Feb 2021
Album Review: Tenant From Zero — Flight
With a sound halfway between late-period Roxy Music and ‘90s triphop/chillwave/downtempo a la Massive Attack and Zero 7, Brooklyn-based Tenant From Zero makes moody, hauntingly romantic music for the ages. […]
31 Jan 2021
Album Review: Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra — Bernstein Reimagined
Established in 1990, the 17-member Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra is the orchestra-in-residence at the National Museum of American History. Though it’s primarily a live act, since its formation the Orchestra […]
30 Jan 2021
Album Reviews: Big Stir Singles — The Seventh and Eighth Waves
Time was, Jordan Oakes reigned as the tastemaker supreme in the powerpop world. His Yellow Pills compilation series shone a light on the very best that the genre had to […]
29 Jan 2021
Album Review: Rick Hromadka — Better Days
Rick Hromadka’s music has gone in a number of directions, and every single one of his efforts has been interesting. In fact, more than a few of his projects classify […]
28 Jan 2021
Album Review: The Fuzztones — NYC
Though they first came on the scene in the middle of the ‘80s garage rock revival, The Fuzztones have endured. And they’ve remained busy this past decade and a half. […]
27 Jan 2021
Album Review: Johnny Iguana’s Chicago Spectacular!
Pianist Johnny Iguana (born Brian Berkowitz) may not have been born in Chicago, but he’s long since made the Windy City his home, and his understanding of Chicago blues is […]
26 Jan 2021
Album Review: The Gun Club — Miami
I recall sometime in 1982 when a friend attempted to turn me on to The Gun Club’s Miami. I wasn’t having it: I got most of the way through “Carry […]