Posts by Shawn Donohue

One of the world’s richest twelve days of music starts this weekend when the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival kicks off Thursday at the Fairgrounds. While each day at the festival allows attendees to experience a range of music, there are also tons of unique late-night shows to choose from. One of those special […]

The veteran New Orleans-based singer/songwriter Anders Osborne’s 17th album reflects on his past, the country’s problems, New Orleans, musical heroes, and a touch of whimsical escapism as Picasso’s Villa displays some of the artist’s strongest work in years.  Backed by a dynamite core band of Waddy Wachtel: Guitars, Bob Glaub: Bass, Chad Cromwell: Drums, Percussion, […]

On Thursday, April 18th, an unseasonably cold spring night in NYC, Humbird pulled into town to deliver an hour-long set of their experimental indie-folk tunes at Groove in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.   Fresh off of their tour with Indigo De Souza, Siri Undlin (guitar/vocals), with support from Pat Keen (bass, synth) and Nate LeBrun (drums and […]

The band’s fifth LP (and first in eight years), That Delicious Vice, finds Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds scaling down to a trio as their unique style of spacious art rock/post-punk rolls out.  The group (Kid Congo Powers—guitar/vocals, Mark Cisneros—bass/guitar, Ron Miller—drums/percussion/vocals) are all veterans of the scene and mix and match sounds […]

GospelbeacH’s final album is titled Wiggle Your Fingers, and it finds the outfit delivering more of its modern-day Laurel Canyon-inspired, slightly tripped-out pop rock vibes. Brent Rademaker has stated that the title of the album came to him “in the middle of the night while listening to the Meat Puppets play live on the Howard […]

Under the cold spring rain of April 11th, MonoNeon (aka Dwayne Thomas Jr.) was smack in the middle of his ten-show run at the historic Blue Note in New York City. The venue was sold out for the early show as the maestro of funky bass commanded the stage with his fluid band and special […]

The title of the newest release from Leyla McCalla, Sun Without The Heat, is a reference to a speech Frederick Douglass gave six years before the Emancipation Proclamation, foreshadowing a great struggle for progress, one we are still grappling with today. While politics are never far from McCalla, her lyrics for this record focus more […]

The hard-to-classify debut from the Chattanooga, TN-based Call Me Spinster is titled Potholes, as a trio of sisters delivers a quirky, shifting record that never sits still for very long.  Amelia Graber Jacobs, Rachel Graber Fortin, and Rosalie Graber play a kaleidoscope of instruments and sing with smooth harmonies throughout the effort which was produced […]

On 2020’s Atlas Vending, Canadian noise rock trio METZ moved away from their early career migraine-pounding directness and opened up their world with more nuanced (yet still loud) sounds. That shift continues on their follow-up, Up On Gravity Hill as the band pushes and pulls at the sonic ether around their distortion-based tunes.      Alex Edkins […]

Last year the Circles Around The Sun released Language and a major highpoint on the album was the title track where they teamed up with harpist Mikaela Davis. Following up on that success comes After Sunrise, a four-song offering with over a half hour of languid (mostly) instrumental offerings that cruise along with the same […]

Since The Black Keys returned from their hiatus in 2019, they have put out fine, if not very memorable albums (‘Let’s Rock’, Delta Kream, Dropout Boogie) and seem to be checking the boxes needed to continue as one of the few arena-filling rock bands left on the scene in workmen like (if uninspired) fashion. That […]

In 2022 Marcus King released a driving, classic rock-soaked album Young Blood. His follow-up is titled Mood Swings, and it does just that, completely shifting his sound towards soul, stripping out his blazing guitar playing, substituting electro keys and orchestral string work to support his fluid vocals as lyrical pain pours out.  Produced by Rick […]

Marco Benevento’s second official live offering was captured very close to his literal home as Barn Burner: Live at Levon’s was recorded a few short blocks from his Woodstock residence in early 2023.  Benevento is joined by his longtime bandmates Karina Rykman (Bass & Background Vocals) and Chris Corsico (Drums) who deliver Marco’s upbeat, electro-jam […]

From the retro-fashioned album cover you know that Thee Sinseers’ newest release Sinseerly Yours will be a throwback in every fashion as the Southern California outfit delivers the soulful goods on this Colemine Records release.  The group (Joey Quinones on vocals and keys, vocalist Adriana Flores, Christopher Manjarrez on bass, Francisco Floreson on guitar, Bryan […]

On 2019’s No Record Home, Kim Gordon’s solid solo debut, the veteran artist put down the guitar/bass (for the most part) moving into unique noise/pop territory working with producer Justin Raisen. Continuing their partnership, they have taken the best aspects of that record and excellently exploded things even further out there as The Collective is […]

Al Jourgensen has stated in recent years that he is looking to end Ministry soon but that may be a bit premature as things line up powerfully on the group’s 16th studio album. HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES is the sound of Ministry laying out all their past influences and tackling the burning issues in 2024.  This being Jourgensen […]

On his newest album, Yours Until The War Is Over, Amigo the Devil (Danny Kiranos) continues down his avant-garde songwriting path in the vein of his heroes Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits as the thirteen songs run the emotional gamut from wild freakouts to nuanced emotional pathos.  Kiranos showcases the appreciation of his influences directly […]

For her first solo album in almost 15 years, Mary Timoney worked through the pain of losing both parents and the ending of a long-term relationship, conjuring a mix of freak folk, art rock, and a touch of pop on the excellently mysterious Untame The Tiger.  Timoney’s successful outings with Ex Hex and Wild Flag […]

The High Hawks recorded their sophomore album in Minnesota at historic Pachyderm Studios, close to the Mississippi River and Highway 61. What would roll out on Mother Nature’s Show would be a journey through the heartlands of the USA, from the snowy north to the sunny south.    The band, Vince Herman guitar, Tim Carbone fiddle/guitars, […]

Back in 1986, the de facto European manager of Sonic Youth, Paul Smith compiled and sold this “bootleg” presentation of the young NYC-based band. The double live LP contains pieces of Sonic Youth’s 1985 live shows (complete with tuning, and chatter) from their early concerts in England. The band was not happy with this ‘unofficial’ […]