John Hiatt's latest release The Open Road is a loose, very spontaneous affair, much like its predecessor Same Old Man. But unlike that prior album, where the focus remained on the songs, the material on this new album is the means to the end of making music, during the course of which Hiatt himself is an integral member of highly-skilled band.
If ever a classic rock album was not suited for a deluxe reissue, it's The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street. The textbook definition of a whole being (far) greater than the sum of its parts, the album works in strange mysterious ways, and the various packages can only go so far to reveal exactly how that process worked.
Mixing up laid back southern charm (“Clinic Cynic”) jazzy instrumentals (“St. Louis”), compositions from old friends (Jerry Joseph’s “North”) and plenty of dynamic song-writing, there’s no arguing the oxymoron that Widespead Panic is the best studio band in the jam scene.
The '59 Sound, Gaslight Anthem's 2008 release, got a lot of comparisons to Springsteen. That was fair enough as there is no doubt that the band's sound was influenced by the godfather of their home state's rock and roll scene. However, what seemed to get lost in those comparisons, was that weren't simply Springsteen imitators even as his mark on them was clearly heard.
The Plimsouls were virtually alone as an authentic rock and roll band within the lemming-like procession of New Wavers that followed the punk explosion of 1979. In this Halloween 1981 recording from the Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles, this group's savvy fusion of influences is absolutely galvanizing.
As the spirit descended upon the South African band, BLK JKS (pronounced “Black Jacks”), again in the time following their 2009 full length release, After Robots, it brought forth messages of celebration and conveyed new adventures to be translated musically. The answer to that interpretation has come in the form of their latest release, a five song EP titled “ZOL!,” which will debut on Secretly Canadian just days before the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The collection of songs is deeply rooted in vast African culture and combines psychedelic guitar riffs with complex drum patterns and echoing vocals.
After last year's What It Takes to Move Forward, Empire! Empire! certainly seems like they are the very pinnacle of emo creativity and execution, breathing new life into a genre currently choking on its co-opted mainstream success. With the genre's elder statesmen like Sunny Day Real Estate and Promise Ring defunct (aside from the occasional Sunny Day reunion), Empire! Empire! may, in fact, be the genre's best active band. This EP couples them with relative newcomers, Football, Etc, perhaps a daunting task for the latter band.
As Band of Horses strays farther from the sound of their debut, undoubtedly some fans of their earlier material are going to feel let down. Grandiose rock anthems like “The Funeral” are nowhere to be found here. Instead, their third effort sets a mood of subdued melancholy. Infinite Arms is an album whose sound is a better fit on the front porch of a country home than in an arena.
Relatively unknown to mainstream success, singer/songwriter, Sean McConell has been writing and recording music for over 10 years. McConnell’s songs have been covered by everyone from American Idol contestant, Jason Castro to country superstar, Tim McGraw and he has exploded in the Texas music scene. Sean McConnell delivers his most accessible and strongest album to date with Saints, Liars, and Thieves, which blends his Americana/R & B sound with introspective lyrics alongside a soulful vocal rang. McConnell’s sound is very unique in that it pulls from soul, country, folk, and R & B but it his beautiful lyrics and touching songs that separate him from most mainstream music out there right now.
Dr. Dog's initial project for the Anti label after a string of releases on Park the Van that, along with their infectious live shows, has helped the Philadelphia group redefine grassroots appeal, Shame, Shame is also the first project on which Dog has collaborated with an outside producer. Rob Schnapf, who's worked with Beck, The Vines and Elliott Smith among others, helps bring a clarity to the sound (preserved, no doubt, by the mastering of Greg Calbi), most obvious in the impact of the rhythm section, as on the opening "Stranger". The density of the music hasn’t decreased, compared to 2008’s Fate, but the components of the arrangements are rendered more distinct.
