Album Reviews

Surf Ride gathers together three early Art Pepper sessions from 1952, 1953, and 1954; an era when he was refining his voice and helping shape the early contours of West Coast jazz. Rather than feeling like a loose compilation, the album flows surprisingly well, offering a clear look at Pepper’s bright alto sax tone, quick […]

‘Somni’ from Catalan translates to ‘Dream’ in English, so immediately there is no mystery about the album theme, a cinematic series of dreams, both of the relaxing and nightmarish kind. It’s the second collaboration between Michael League’s Snarky Puppy and Metropole Orkest, the Netherlands-based ensemble renowned for its symphonic fusion of jazz, pop, and classical […]

After three albums of synth-pop, Danz CM (formerly Computer Magic) has fully embraced the “synth” and done away with the “pop.” With LÄRM!, Danz CM pivots decisively into a more conceptual and exploratory mode. Recorded entirely with analog synths and a tape machine in her home studio, the album blends the locked-in pulse of ’70s […]

It’s been a significant year for chamber-pop band Winterpills. The Western Massachusetts quintet recently marked their 20th anniversary with a remixed reissue of their debut album—complete with a pair of bonus tracks—and now they’ve returned with This Is How We Dance, their eighth album and first release in nine years. Across these 12 songs, the […]

Throughout his idiosyncratic career, it has been impossible to figure out where Mike Patton will turn next, but even his most diehard fans would have been hard-pressed to believe the announcement of a new group with folk chart-toppers The Avett Brothers was true, yet that is exactly what happened. The newly christened AVTT/PTTN worked together on a self-titled album […]

At this point, rock legends Cheap Trick have nothing left to prove. From fan-favorite rockers releasing acclaimed albums at breakneck speed, to becoming an overseas sensation, and landing themselves in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the band has achieved something most bands can only hope for. Not only did Cheap Trick emerge from […]

Saxophonist Dave McMurray departs from his last two Grateful Deadication albums with I LOVE LIFE even when I’m hurting, his fourth Blue Note album. Well, almost. He does have one Grateful Dead tune on the record. Beyond that, the album is eclectic. There are vocal, jazz,  soul, and funk tracks. In many ways, it is […]

Drain, the hardcore punk trio from Northern California that is slowly making a case for being one of the most exhilarating acts the genre has seen in years, still has plenty left to prove. With two LPs that showcased how this band is fully capable of making thrashing, metal-tinted punk with raw passion, and a […]

As much a result of his own prolific nature as the moving effect of reaching the milestone referenced in the album title, Paul Kelly’s Seventy arrives hot on the heels of Fever Longing Still, his studio album of just last year.  Shorn of the horns and strings of the latter, however, the Australian’s twenty-eighth studio […]

Don’t be misled by the generic-sounding album title, Hill Country Folk Music. Singer-songwriter Terry Klein’s eleven songs therein are those of a master craftsman. It’s Klein’s fifth album and third with producer/guitarist Thomm Jutz, a collaborative pair as strong as any in roots music. Jutz didn’t even listen to the demos before agreeing to book […]

The album graphics for Aaron Parks’ By All Means provide an immediate clue, as the typography evokes Jackie McLean’s 1965 Blue Note album It’s Time. Even McLean’s sentiment at the time mirrors Parks’ thinking for this record. When we last heard Parks on 2024’s Little Big III, he was purveying electric music that blended Radiohead, […]

Some bands can be described as tireless artists who simply can’t help but create. Then, there are prolific bands containing the same restless energy, yet are also driven by the urge to share their creations with the world. Then, there is The Mommyheads, veterans of the New York City rock scene who relentlessly push themselves […]

Portugal. The Man, the genre-agnostic outfit led by the multi-faceted John Gourley, is changing before our very eyes. Not in the way this band has been since they emerged in the mid-2000s, consistently shifting sonic terrains throughout their wonderfully colorful discography, but on a more personal level. Gourley is now a father, fully independent after […]

The record industry’s shift away from vinyl in the late ’80s and ’90s did a real disservice to live albums. The rise of CDs — and the ease of skipping past less familiar tracks — may have been convenient for albums padded with filler, but it taught a generation of listeners to overlook the deeper […]

Apart from hip-hop and the occasional rock or country song, these times of protest and divisiveness lack the musical voices of the Civil Rights or anti-Vietnam War movements of the ‘60s.  No longer do we hear the power of those classic songs such as “We Shall Overcome,” “I Shall Not Be Moved,” Respect Yourself,” and […]

We’ve long marvelled at Jano Rix’s ability to play drums and keyboards simultaneously with The Wood Brothers. Now we know that it’s all part of his DNA as his lookalike dad and mentor, Luther Rix, proves to be a talented drummer and composer. The father-son duo records together for the first time on RIX: Legacy, […]

The real attraction(s) of the Little Feat reissues in recent years have been the live recordings of the band at various stages of its career, and the four-compact-disc-plus package of The Last Record Album is no exception. But the studio inclusions here are equally enticing and intoxicating on their own terms. As with its companion pieces, concert […]

Midlake, the rock-fusion outfit that emerged from Texas in the late nineties, has proven and endured a lot over the years. From band members leaving to drastic sonic shifts that range from atmospheric psychedelia to twinkling experimental indie rock, the band has long proven that their range knows no bounds. Still, there is an underlying, […]

Recorded in two sessions in 1956 and released the following year on Savoy, Hank Mobley’s Jazz Message #2 stands as one of those compact but essential hard bop statements that rewards close listening far beyond its brief runtime. It captures Mobley still a few years shy of his Blue Note masterpieces like Soul Station and […]

There is an intimacy to Lydia Luce’s third and latest LP, Mammoth, that feels almost invasive. Across a dozen ethereal tracks, she touches on pain and relationships, eventual acceptance, and ultimately to contentment, all delivered over a lush soundtrack. Luce gets right into it with the opening title track —a slow-tempo, remarkably beautiful song about […]