Album Reviews

Some live albums are musical breakthroughs for bands, some are simply released as stopgaps and some are cultural artifacts. One of the important moments in rock history is now released with The Stooges – Live At Goose Lake: August 8th, 1970, this set captures the end of the original furious Detroit four-piece.    Newly released on […]

If you didn’t see a current picture of Daniel Donato, you’d swear he grew up in the parking lot of Austin’s Armadillo World Headquarters sometime in the mid-‘70s, busking between Flying Burrito Brothers sets and palming spare joints from Willie and mushrooms from the Dead.  The 25-year-old Nashville native goes full on Cosmic Cowboy with […]

Freedom, thusly named for the appreciation of different cultures, is the debut album from trombonist, composer, arranger, and educator, Dr. Javier Nero. Inspired by his multi-cultural ancestry, and amidst the current politically-charged times, Nero has found his sense of freedom in blending jazz with elements of folk, Americana and blues in his attempt to establish the […]

An early ’90’s proponent of Americana music with his band, 6 String Drag, Kenny Roby has remained true to his roots through a series of endeavors under his own name as well as the recent reunion of the aforementioned band. The Reservoir, his seventh solo album is dedicated to the late lamented guitarist Neal Casal, […]

Pianist/producer/composer Jesse Fischer with nine new originals explores the connections between groove-based modern jazz, music of the African diaspora, and Fischer’s own Jewish heritage on Resilience. Featured guests include Grammy-nominated trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, vocalists Becca Stevens and Sarah Elizabeth Charles, harmonica master Gregoire Marét, and young lion Morgan Guerin, appearing on tenor sax, […]

North Colorado-based singer-songwriter Cary Morin is best known for his amazing finger-picking guitar skills that have earned the respect of icons such as David Bromberg, not to mention many press accolades. In recent years though, Morin has gained great respect for his songwriting too. Dockside Saints, though, is something completely different – great songs delivered […]

Immanuel Wilkins is a 22-year-old alto saxophonist and Julliard graduate from greater Philadelphia who came to the attention of most with his impressive playing on Joel Ross’ outstanding 2019 Blue Note debut Kingfisher. Now with Omega Wilkins makes his own Blue Note debut as leader. Wilkins is not only an astute student of jazz tradition: […]

One of the great tragedies in the world of indie rock is the early passing of Jason Molina, who died at the age of 39 in 2013 of complications related to alcoholism. The posthumous new solo album Eight Gates is composed of songs recorded in 2009 a year before Molina would basically walk away from […]

When Boston-area roots string band Grain Thief set out to record their second full-length album Gasoline this past winter, they had a clear vision to recreate, in the studio, the sound & energy from their renowned live performances. While the talented quintet’s previous studio efforts – the Animal EP (2015) and Stardust Lodge (2018) – […]

Mary Chapin Carpenter returns with The Dirt and the Stars, her first album of all-new material since 2016’s brilliant The Things That We Are Made Of. Just as with 2018’s Sometimes Just the Sky, mostly new versions of previously recorded songs, she again has Ethan Johns producing, this time recording entirely live at Peter Gabriel’s […]

We covered the acoustic trio The Furious Seasons’ 2018 release Now Residing Abroad on these pages and with this, La Fonda, the band is releasing their seventh album and third as an acoustic trio. Bandleader/ guitarist/songwriter and vocalist David Steinhart sees this as a focused effort, a new song cycle dealing with losing a best […]

Andy Blunda (aka Blunda) is a composer and musician from North Hollywood. He is a busy man, and even if you don’t know it, you may have heard his compositions on shows like Ax Men and Jay Leno’s Garage. On top of his duties composing music for television shows, he is a producer and has […]

Better late than never indeed and progressive rock fans shall rejoice. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jon Anderson, venerable frontman of iconic prog-rockers Yes across three tenures between 1968 and 2008 and prolific solo artist pulls one from the vaults to form his 15th solo album titled 1000 Hands: Chapter One. And yes, […]

It seems almost unreal that it’s been 29 years since The Psychedelic Furs last put out an album’s-worth of all new material. Perhaps that’s because the band has been almost ubiquitous over the past decade. After sitting out a big chunk of the ‘90s, the band reformed in the early aughts and have been touring […]

Dirty Streets is a trio from Memphis whose albums have always been filled with soul-infused boogie rock songs that could just as easily have been recorded in the mid- to late 70s. In fact, if these guys had been alive then, it’s easy to imagine that they would now be a staple on classic-rock radio.  […]

Coming off of 2019’s highly regarded debut LP Drogal, the Dublin based post-punk band Fontaines D.C. return with their follow up – A Hero’s Death. The band has eased back on the tempo from their debut as their tightly wound dark rock dips into various gloomy territories, painting morose scenes as it goes. Led by […]

Long-time admirers of Paul Kelly know to expect the unexpected from the brilliant Australian composer, performer and recording artist. Still, Please Leave Your Light On may surprise even died-in-the-wool fans as much as those music lovers only familiar with the man through the anthology issued earlier this year, Songs From the South Greatest Hits 1985-2019, […]

On the eve of his 80th birthday, the trumpet great Eddie Henderson is releasing his 26th album as a leader, and with over 100 appearances as a sideman, he is nearing a discography of 130.  That’s impressive enough but Henderson continues to have two careers, one as psychiatrist and the other as a musician. With […]

Last year Charley Crockett released The Valley, an album of 16 songs that was recorded before he had open-heart surgery. It showed his abilities as a songwriter and storyteller. Not only that, it showed that he is a country musician that is worthy of your attention. It would have been easy for Crockett to rest […]

It’s been about five years since the Raleigh-based roots rock band Jack the Radio last put out a record and they have clearly been inspired by the break (though members have been involved in other musical projects in the interim). Creatures, their latest LP, is their most musically diverse set of songs yet, adding influences […]