Beauty, Darkness, Intrigue, Weirdness Fill The Academy of Sun’s ‘The Quiet Earth’ (ALBUM REVIEW)
How’s this for a description of a record? “Like if Werner Herzog made a chamber-prog-punk record under DMT in The Chelsea Hotel.” That is as apt and vivid a description as any for The Academy of Sun’s new opus The Quiet Earth, a sweeping epic that takes in disparate themes and styles and forges them […]
Rickie Lee Jones Reboots & Thrives With Versatile Covers LP ‘Kicks’ (ALBUM REVIEW)
It’s no secret that when Rickie Lee Jones, one of the great songwriters of her generation, comes up against walls in her own writing, she turns to the great, luminous tunesmiths before her for inspiration. Jones, an artist of innate honesty and vitality, is too in sync with her muse to force the issue – […]
40 Years of Rickie Lee Jones – Revisiting The Jazzy Songstress’ Eponymous Debut LP
Rickie Lee Jones released her eponymous debut album forty years ago this month. Here, we look back at a classic LP that deserves a reappraisal. You can see it in the Norman Seeff cover portrait. Insouciant, effortless cool: a brown cigarette dangling from puckered lips; sandy ash-blonde hair lightly falling over a gamine face; red […]
Looking Back at Tom Waits’ Asylum Years: ‘Closing Time,’ ‘The Heart of Saturday Night’, ‘Nighthawks at the Diner,’ ‘Small Change,’ ‘Foreign Affairs,’ ‘Blue Valentine, ‘Heart Attack & Vine’
Tom Waits’ first seven albums, originally released by Asylum Records through the 1970s, have been remastered and reissued on CD, vinyl, and digital this year. Here, we take a closer look at the first phase of this legendary artist’s career. Closing Time (1973) The modern and most popular perception of Tom Waits is of the […]
An Extensive Examination Of Björk’s 10th Album ‘Utopia’
Björk’s albums have always exhibited a curious mix of sounds and styles. A single record could include explosive beats alongside gentle harps, guttural moans and shrieks buried among breathy coos; demonic choirs, atonal strings, and glorious orchestrations. As the years have passed, she has increasingly orbited a more avant-garde musical universe of long-form structures and […]
Tom Petty & Stevie Nicks: In Depth On An Inventive Musical Relationship
When rock pioneer Tom Petty died on October 2, the music world mourned a soulful troubadour, a fiercely original and melodic songwriter, and a quietly affecting frontman. A committed writer, performer, and musician to the core, Hall of Famer Petty’s was a legendary career that married consistency with invention. His loss is huge – for […]