Album Reviews

Fresh off their last year’s Grammy-nominated Here in Babylon, it was finally the right time for Texas-bred, California-based Teresa James and her band, The Rhythm Tramps to capture their live performances on record.  Their high octane energy, inimitable band chemistry, and sparkling musicianship threaten at times to blow the roof off the club. The performances […]

The most popular toy of all time, Play-Doh, is the title of pianist and composer, the Colorado-based Carmen Sandim’s album, perhaps serving as a metaphor for her facility with piano, and encouragement for her bandmates to improvise or shape the tunes in numerous ways. Sandim is originally from Sao Paulo. She graduated from Berklee in […]

Lots of bands pay tribute to the music of the 1950s and 60s. It’s not a hard thing to list or mention your influences. The challenge is in actually nailing the sound. If you’re too faithful, you sound like a cover band. If you’re too progressive, the spirit of the original is lost. And that’s […]

Pianist/composer/beatsmith Javier Santiago had so much music in the can for his 2018 debut, Phoenix, that he reserved these more traditional, acoustic-oriented tracks for this, B-Sides: The Phoenix Sessions, a set of all originals, save one that’s a takeoff on an American standard.  Santiago plays mostly acoustic piano, but you’ll hear Fender Rhodes, organ and […]

In the latest Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle offers his illustrated commentary on Redefining Home, the new album from Americana-meets-punk outfit Little Teeth, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution (best viewed on desktop):

Singer-songwriter Nick Nace hearkens back in some ways to our favorite folk and roots singers. He tells stories that are both relatable and intriguing in a distinctively deep resonant voice, Nace is still emerging (heck, by Americana Music Association terms that could be for another five years) with Wrestling with the Mystery his third full-length […]

Tanya Tucker has not released a new album of original music since I was 12. To say the least, much has changed. For example, I received my driver’s license, smoked a few cigarettes, and have experienced one too many drinks, all in true Tucker fashion. While I’m Living, Tucker’s latest album was released last August on […]

We last heard from singer-songwriter/guitarist Chris Bergson and his frequent collaborator, soul man Ellis Hooks, on Bergson’ 2017 release Bitter Midnight and the two played on Bergson’s 2013 Live at Jazz Standard.  Both artists reside and NYC and have an avid following in that region as well as in Europe, where they often appear at […]

This is the album that singer-songwriter Allison Moorer has been waiting years to make and if it’s not career-defining, it is certainly her most focused, personal, and revealing one. Her rich Southern emotive alto voice remains a remarkable instrument and her writing is sharper than it’s ever been. These ten songs on Blood serve as […]

Québécois indie rock 4-piece Corridor is Sub Pop’s newest signing, pushing the Seattle imprint’s current ratio of international artists to over 20% of the roster. The Montreal quartet has the distinction of being the first Francophone signing in the label’s 33 year history, and with the worldwide release of Corridor’s third album Junior (except in […]

You don’t have to hear much of Hannah Williams to realize that she is a vocal powerhouse. Going back to her 2012 release A Hill of Feathers, that much was evident. She followed that with Late Nights and Heartbreak, which is another good example of her vocal prowess. Jay Z noticed her and liked what […]

On her first-ever solo album No Home Record, Kim Gordon displays an experimental style with her breathy vocals, crafting poetic images around digital dystopian flourishes. Since her public divorce and the dissolution of Sonic Youth, Gordon has musically moved more into free improvisation instrumental noise rock with Body/Head. While there are some screeches and guitar […]

Brussels, Belgium-born Casimir Liberski began as a child prodigy, a gifted pianist who gained notice in the European and international jazz circles at the age of 13.  Liberski’s personal style is informed from all areas and eras of jazz, blues and funk and his growing up in the ‘90s had Nintendo games, grunge, alternative rock, […]

This tribute, Don’t Pass Me By, of artists covering 15 of the late blues artist Sean Costello’s songs is one that needs support for all the right reasons.  The artists have already done their part. The production and performances of all the artists were donated to benefit The Sean Costello Memorial Fund to Benefit Bipolar […]

The video for Mark Lanegan Band’s “Stitch It Up,” off Somebody’s Knocking features Jimmy the Cab Driver. Jimmy, played by Donal Logue (before he was famous), was an MTV fixture in the 1990s, performing meandering monologues about the various bands showcased by the music network. One of those MTV-anointed bands was Lanegan’s Screaming Trees, which […]

The Magpie Salute’s High Water II is a powerhouse rock and roll record. But its prevailing volume is only part of what makes it a mirror image of its predecessor. The album’s high-decibel impact is all the more remarkable because it is NOT the result of the road work the group conducted subsequent to the […]

72-year-old Mississippi bluesman Jimmy “Duck” Holmes’ star continues to rise with this, Cypress Grove, his sixth studio album since 2006. His prior release, It Is What It Is was the inaugural release for the Holmes-owned Blue Front Records, and appropriately, was recorded inside the Blue Front Café, the oldest juke joint in Mississippi, which is […]

Yes, Jake La Botz’s They’re Coming For Me is a strange one but in that same delightfully curious way we find ourselves attracted to artists like Tom Waits and Captain Beefheart. La Botz has been around the block more than a few times. He grew up as a hard-luck kid in Chicago who would volunteer […]

Fastball is a band best known for “The Way”, a song that spent seven weeks at #1 on the Billboard charts. The band hasn’t been dormant since then even if their songs haven’t been quite as ubiquitous as “The Way”. The Help Machine – produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos and numerous other notable […]

Powerhouse singer Andrew McConathy is commanding from the outset on “Fire in House” as he proceeds to light up Wheels of the City, the latest from the Colorado-based roots-rock band, Drunken Hearts. McConathy rich deep expressive baritone evokes that deep sound of the lead singer for the Crash Test Dummies. Okay, nobody’s voice is that […]