Posts by Shawn Donohue

Tunde Adebimpe’s debut solo album, Thee Black Boltz on Sub Pop, opens with the poetic spoken word title track, setting the scene. What follows is a mix of lo-fi indie rock, electro dance-ready beats, industrial banging, and 80s synth pop as Adebimpe sings about loss, love, and an uncertain future over varied backgrounds.  Not too far removed from […]

When the legendary Bootsy Collins releases a record, you know it will be a funky party and Album of the Year #1 Funkateer is no exception. Collins maybe 73 years old at this point, but he still plays multiple instruments and brought in a bunch of A-list friends and a few newcomers to deliver a […]

When the Soul Queen of New Orleans, Irma Thomas, first recorded with the funk outfit Galactic in 2010, the resulting single “Heart of Steel” became a staple in both of their respective live sets. While it took a while, they have pared back up for a whole album’s worth of goodness titled Audience with the […]

Over the last four albums of his solo career, Craig Finn has written the words and had a musical partner in producer/multi-instrumentalist Josh Kaufman. The pair tried out a wide range of backing sounds for Finn’s patented tales of good-hearted, tough luck, small-time addicts, and struggling (mostly) midwestern Americans seeking redemption or at least an […]

The veteran instrumental outfit from San Diego, CA, The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble, continues its smooth grooving ways on the band’s sixth offering, Gemini. Keeping the vibe alive from their last studio offering, 2022’s Step Down, the players deliver jazzy, funky, and soul-accented offerings that roll all night long. The nine-piece band is comprised of Tim Felten on keys, […]

Kinky Friedman was never a prolific songwriter (running for governor of Texas and writing detective novels does take up a chunk of time). Still, his late-career musical renaissance has been impressive over the last ten years. Starting with the mostly cover song effort The Loneliest Man I Ever Met (2015), continuing with new originals for […]

The newest release from ZZ Ward, Liberation, finds the songstress rediscovering her love of the blues and delivering a stirring effort. Judging by the title and lyrical themes, Ward feels free of preconceived notions and makes her own musical choices for this record, becoming a blues artist on her terms.  Working with producer and multi-instrumentalist […]

The second solo album, following 2014’s You Should Be So Lucky, from veteran Benmont Tench, The Melancholy Season, is aptly titled as the pianist/singer/songwriter delivers a record that ebbs and flows but never gets too high or too low. Known for his supportive sideman work, Tench takes center stage working with Jonathan Wilson (Dawes, Father […]

Tipitina’s Record Club has done an excellent job releasing out-of-print albums and live sets, specializing in the music and culture of New Orleans over the last four years. Their newest vinyl offering (just in time for Mardi Gras) is a never-released live set of The Wild Tchoupitoulas featuring The Neville Brothers New Orleans ’77 that is […]

Mdou Moctar released one of the best albums of 2024 with Funeral for Justice, a blisteringly swirling cumulation of all their righteously loud Tuareg guitar-rocking talents. Now, the outfit follows up that offering with this companion piece, Tears of Injustice, an acoustic re-recording of the original album.  While the resulting album isn’t as loud as the original, […]

The Los Angeles-based folk-punk artist/activist Sunny War’s seventh studio effort, Armageddon In A Summer Dress, continues her sonic evolution following 2023’s breakthrough Anarchist Gospel.  Coming off touring for that record, Sunny moved into her late father’s house in Chattanooga and began conversing with ghosts, writing the album about their presence. It turns out that major gas leaks in the old […]

The Boulder, CO-based rock trio The Velveteers’ sophomore album A Million Knives touches on several subgenres while exploring songs that veer toward the sad and brokenhearted. Recorded in Nashville with Dan Auerbach on Easy Eye Sound, the group has expanded its sonic palette while maturing.  The band comprises singer/guitarist Demi Demitro and drummers Baby Pottersmith and Jonny […]

A couple of songs into his blazing set, Jack White yelled from the stage, “That’s the New York I know!” as they packed to the rafters, the Irving Plaza crowd cheered and clapped along with the rocker. Just a few days ago, no one knew anything about this show, but a quick announcement and instant sell-out allowed […]

Over the last few years, the Dublin, Ireland-based Inhaler has been touring the world, opening for some heavy hitters like Harry Styles, Arctic Monkeys, Pearl Jam, and Kings of Leon. Now, with their third album, Wide Open, the band seems to have taken successful aspects of all of those acts and filtered them into their arena-ready, pop-rock sound, crafting their strongest record […]

For her newest release, Sharon Van Etten has shifted gears, moving from a solo artist to a band leader with the first self-titled album as Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory. Her musical landscape has also evolved, gone are the singer songwriter aspects and in their place are dreamy, hazy, electro-based outings that yearn, […]

The New Orleans long-running funk outfit Galactic pulled into Brooklyn Bowl on Friday, January 31st, for the first gig of a two-night stand in Williamsburg that wrapped up their mini Northeast winter tour. The group was firing on all cylinders as they played new jams, tasty covers, and tried and true crowd favorites.  Opening up this night […]

There aren’t many ass-kicking live records from 75-year-old punk rockers to reference when reviewing Iggy Pop’s newest offering, Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 2023. It’s safe to say Pop is one of a kind, still raging hard, swearing like a drunken sailor, and delivering the smoking (and shirtless) goods onstage.    Arriving in Switzerland with a […]

On his first release of new music in over 15 years, Dax Riggs returns with 7 Songs For Spiders, a collection of ominous meditations on spirituality, love, death, and what lies beyond. Having started his career with the death/sludge outfit Acid Bath (who are also returning this year) and branching out to more blues rock with […]

The seventh studio album from Canadian folk outfit The Weather Station, titled Humanhood, finds frontwoman Tamara Lindeman yearning for tangible connections and normalcy in a world that is on fire. Using dizzying electro synths, rich horns and jazz influences, Linderman and company deliver a tangled collection of dense offerings. On album closer “Sewing,” Linderman uses the […]

The Seattle-based Polyrhythmics septet made a rare New York City appearance on a frigid Saturday Night, December 7th, in Greenwich Village. While the temperatures were below freezing outside, the band’s hot mix of jam band experimenting, tight grooves, and horn-based instrumental funk kept the packed club Groove cooking all night long.  Before the headliners took […]