Album Reviews

The fourth album from the twice Grammy-nominated, New Orleans-based Afro-Indigenous funk collective Cha Wa finds the band in a transitional state, moving in new directions with Rise Up.  The core of Cha Wa, musical director and drummer Joe Gelini, and “Spyboy” Irving “Honey” Banister Jr. of the Golden Sioux Tribe, worked with producer Dave Trumfio […]

Battle Station, the debut album from Lucie Sue, is an energetic blend of alt-rock influences, incorporating elements from industrial metal, punk, and pop rock. The French rocker delivers head-banging riffs and pounding rhythms, meshed with melodic vocals and danceable beats. It’s party rock for the alternative scene, where the partygoers are misfits from various genres. […]

It’s a testament to Marshall Crenshaw’s songwriting and performance that even his castaways make for a compelling record. Recorded across two decades starting in 1990, From The Hellhole is a 14-track collection of remixed and remastered songs culled from a series of EPs and several rare deep cuts, that were mostly recorded in Crenshaw’s home studio (dubbed […]

Anna Tivel has always maintained a singular presence in the burgeoning modern folk scene, but that has not stopped the singer-songwriter from landing in the blinding light of critics’ and fans’ attention. Since her 2014 debut, and especially since her output has reached a prolific level since 2019, Tivel has been thrust into the center […]

Geographic locale seems to be a moving target with Rodney Crowell. His 2023 album was titled The Chicago Sessions, though the Houston-born singer-songwriter is in the lineage of the great Texas singer-songwriters. He lives in Nashville, but on this latest effort, the aptly titled Airline Highway, he reminisces about his youthful days across the Texas […]

The fourth album by the 17-piece Christian McBride Big Band is nothing like your dad’s big band albums. Without Further Ado, Vol. 1 is as much a vocal album as a big band effort, and within those vocals lie several genres. Now, as surprising as that may sound, it is more typical of Christian McBride’s […]

Kenny Burrell’s 1957 self-titled album is a short, inviting set that shows off why he’s considered one of jazz guitar’s greats. Backed by baritone saxophonist Cecil Payne, pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Doug Watkins, and drummer Elvin Jones, Burrell leads with warmth, clarity, and effortless style. At just over 36 minutes, it’s a tight collection, but […]

Frank Wess, John Coltrane, Paul Quinichette, Mal Waldron, Doug Watkins, and Art Taylor’s Wheelin’ and Dealin’ is a compact but thrilling snapshot of hard bop energy from 1958. Clocking in at just over 35 minutes, the session feels more like a live club set than a polished studio date, which gives it an immediacy that’s […]

When Jon Wurster left Superchunk in 2023, it felt like the end of an era. His three-decade tenure had been central to the band’s chemistry, and few groups survive that kind of change intact. But instead of folding, Superchunk welcomed drummer Laura King, leaned into their scrappy instincts, and made Songs in the Key of Yikes, a […]

On the press tour for World Music Radio, Jon Batiste mentioned lofty goals of uniting listeners globally through his music. It is easy to see how Batiste had stars in his eyes coming off his excellent, GRAMMY-winning breakthrough WE ARE, unfortunately, World Music Radio, disappointed with middle-of-the-road blandness. His newest offering, Big Money, succeeds as Batiste is far less image-conscious […]

Listening to Fade Away Blue, Pete Droge’s emotionally stirring latest effort, it’s hard to believe this is the same songwriter who perfectly captured 1990s snark and cynicism with the witty earworm, “If You Don’t Love Me (I’ll Kill Myself)”. Fade Away Blue, his first solo release in almost 20 years, is an emotionally heavy album, […]

Believe it or not, 2025 marked two years since songstress Laufey landed on everybody’s radar. The landmark, critically acclaimed release of 2023’s Bewitched intoxicated the world with the artist’s moody, hazy, jazzy approach to the modern soul revival, and spawned an instrumental and deluxe version of the modern monster. Laufey’s 2022 debut and her breakthrough […]

Jazz listeners caught a glimpse of pianist Paul Cornish on Joshua Redman’s latest Words Fall Short, as Cornish is a member of Redman’s new quartet. That was just the appetizer. Now we have Cornish’s coming-out party as he leads a trio in his Blue Note debut, You’re Exaggerating. Like the Redman album, there are contemplative […]

Throughout the past few years, more specifically since 2019, modern-day lo-fi indie rock icon Mac DeMarco has stayed on the quieter side. While the past few years have included instrumental releases and collections of demos and rough drafts, the internet’s favorite guitar-wielding multi-hyphenate hasn’t released a straightforward album since 2019’s Here Comes the Cowboy. The […]

In 2002, the roots music world was abuzz when singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards released her debut, Failer. Granted, Edwards spent a decade away from music, but nothing she has released since has measured up to that album. Billionaire has just changed that. Her acute lyrical bent, honesty, and flair for hooks have returned. She is the […]

Accomplished Rhode Island-based guitarist Ryan Lee Crosby fell in love with the Bentonia Blues style when he first heard its most famous proponent, Skip James. The last living Bentonia bluesman is the Grammy-nominated 77-year-old Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, who owns and runs the Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, as his mother did before him. The 2019 […]

For Daniel Donato, the term “Cosmic Country” accounts for much more than just his quartet’s moniker. It also represents a musical and personal ethos. The journey and the destination. As the affable guitarist explained to Glide in a 2023 interview, “Cosmic Country is kind of like this tale as old as time. It’s the duality of […]

Cass McCombs’ eleventh album, Interior Live Oak feels like a homecoming that’s less about nostalgia and more about reconnection. Named for a hardy tree species native to Northern California, the album finds McCombs returning to the Bay Area, where he first honed his craft, with some of his earliest collaborators, including Jason Quever and Chris Cohen. The […]

Throughout the past 15 years, Pile has woven a web that ties the loose ends of post-punk, indie rock, and experimentation together in a knot that would make Henry Rollins proud. All the while, Pile never abandoned the DIY ethos that made them the band they are, keeping a prolific release schedule intact with six […]

At this point in her career, singer/songwriter Mae Powell is on the verge of a major breakthrough. After stunning the world with her powerful songwriting and wistful vocals on her 2021 debut, Both Ways Brighter, it was clear the young artist contained multitudes. By tackling socio-political topics and personal emotions alike, Powell was able to […]