Album Reviews

King Khan’s The Nature of Things Balance Free Jazz With An Engaging Groove (ALBUM REVIEW)

Shawn Donohue March 10, 2023 No Comments

King Khan’s The Nature of Things balance free jazz with an engaging groove

Fever Ray (With Help From Trent Reznor) Keeps It Industrial On Imaginative ‘Radical Romantics’

Mac Lockett March 10, 2023 No Comments

Radical Romantics is a Fever Ray album in that its fixations swarm around Karin Dreijer, all their proclivities, and all their vulnerabilities. It’s also the closest Fever Ray has ever sounded like The Knife

Pianist Eric Red Keeps It Spiritually Centered On ‘Black, Brown and Blue’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

Jim Hynes March 9, 2023 No Comments

In a move certainly unrelated but similar in concept to Terri Lyne Carrington recognizing female composers in her Grammy-winning New Standards Vol. 1, pianist/composer Eric Reed takes a somewhat parallel

Eyelids Keep Power Pop Sounds Steady on ‘A Colossal Waste Of Light’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

John Moore March 8, 2023 No Comments

On their fourth LP, A Colossal Waste Of Light, Portland, Oregon’s Eyelids drift in and out of decades for musical influence. You can hear echoes of everyone from 1970s Big

Matt Andersen’s ‘The Big Bottle Of Joy’ Brings Ecstatic Soul Via Nine Piece Band (ALBUM REVIEW)

Jim Hynes March 8, 2023 No Comments

There’s enough joy in New Brunswick-based singer/songwriter Matt Andersen’s aptly named The Big Bottle of Joy to fill multiple parade routes or churches.

Van Morrison Brings Back Big Ripe Notes On ‘Moving On Skiffle’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

Jim Hynes March 7, 2023 2 Comments

Moving On Skiffle reflects Van Morrison as inspired as we’ve ever heard him, certainly since his two albums in 2018 with the late Joey DeFrancesco (You’re Driving me Crazy and The Prophet Speaks).

The Nude Party Deliver Strongest Work to Date with Free-flowing ‘Rides On’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

John Moore March 7, 2023 No Comments

On their third effort, Rides On, The Nude Party producing themselves for the first time manage to create their most consistent album yet. The vibes may be a little chiller,

Kendra Morris’ 2016 EP Babble Gets Plush Reissue With Three New Tracks (ALBUM REVIEW)

Shawn Donohue March 3, 2023 No Comments

Colemine/Karma Chief Records are re-releasing Kendra Morris’ 2016 EP Babble and adding three new tracks to mark the occasion. The record’s mix of soul, hip hop, and jazz all support Morris’s strong voice as Babble does more than just ambulate along

Drayton Farley Pairs Vivid Lyrics with Americana Sounds on ‘Twenty on High’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

Gary Schwind March 3, 2023 No Comments

Drayton Farley is a relative newcomer at least when it comes to recording albums. The Alabama songwriter has released a couple full-length albums and some singles. He definitely draws some

Craft Recordings Serves Up Vinyl Reissue of Vince Guaraldi Trio’s ‘Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

Joey Willis March 3, 2023 No Comments

1959 saw the release of Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus), a foreign film that reimagined the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in the setting of Rio De Janeiro during Carnival. The