Album Reviews

Little Steven created a stir with his 2017 Soulfire release, followed by last year’s 3-CD live version.  This momentum, and this strong 14-piece band, were primed to do more and have now delivered Van Zandt’s first album of new material in 20 years with Summer of Sorcery. Like those efforts, this is written, arranged, and […]

The photo on the back of the jacket provides a strong indication of what this collaboration between Rhiannon Giddens and Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi sounds like. The two are encircled by an array of string instruments and various types of frame drums; three different types of banjoes, for example. The drums trace to Italy, Morocco, […]

In the latest Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle offers his illustrated commentary on Human Question, the new album from bluesy rock and rollers the Yawpers, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution (best viewed on desktop):

“For a musical group to come along like this is very rare — a swirling double helix of truth and love-male and female-earth wind and fire. When they play, I feel it very deep in my DNA and it registers — we are all the same.” – Jim James Leaving a smartphone behind for the […]

When Resonance Records undertakes a project, they persist even if it takes seven years as did in this case from unearthing yet more work from iconic jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. Montgomery is one of the mainstays for the label’s efforts to release unissued archival jazz. This is the label’s sixth Montgomery collection, a 2CD, 2LP […]

In what may or may not be the swan song for Foxygen, the indie duo has released a nine-track collection of tightly crafted pop songs. Seeing Other People is the most accessible Foxygen album, especially coming on the heels of the chaotic double album …And Star Power (2014) and the theatrical bombast of Hang (2017). […]

A genre as timeless as folk possesses its icons of every age. From the wandering minstrels of ages past who passed tales on between generations to popular giants of the recording age the likes of Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan, the ability to articulate in a song that which lies within us all seems to […]

Bear’s Den began as a three-person folk-rock band in the vein of Mumford and Sons. Their debut, Islands, featured lots of banjo and acoustic guitar. Their follow-up, 2016’s Red Earth & Pouring Rain, which had the band now a duo (after the departure of banjoist Joey Haynes), pushed them in more of a rock direction, […]

It is not hyperbole to declare Nils Lofgren one of contemporary rock’s greatest collaborators. His long-term connection with Neil Young dates back to 1970’s After The Gold Rush, through Trans and last year’s Crazy Horse reunion shows, an extended stint that overlaps the multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/songwriter ‘s membership in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band since 1984. Such […]

Louisiana singer/songwriter/guitarist Josh Hyde is back with his second album, Into the Soul, buoyed by the success of his 2017 Call of the Night. Again guitarist/producer Joe V. McMahan (Kevin Gordon, Mike Farris) is at the helm for this effort which is more ranging than its predecessor. It’s a different sound technically as well. Hyde […]

Colorado-born, Los Angeles-based neo-folkie singer/songwriter Patrick Park is not prolific but has now made seven records since his debut in 2003. As he did on his most recent Love Like Swords, he once again, five years later, on Here/Gone highlights his voice as the number one instrument. It ebbs and flows throughout this record and he masterfully […]

Buddha and the Blues is the album that New Orleans-based guitarist and singer-songwriter Anders Osborne and producer Chad Cromwell have wanted to make for many years. The album is a showcase for Osborne’s singer-songwriter side as opposed to his aggressive guitar playing that we heard when he was recording for Alligator. And, despite the title, […]

For those keeping score at home, Craig Finn has released three solo albums since the last Hold Steady record, his most recent is I Need A New War and it is the best of the bunch. Coming after 2015’s Faith in the Future and 2017’s We All Want The Same Thing the run is less of […]

The National brought their mini-tour to a sold-out show at Beacon Theatre on Monday, April 22. Dubbed “A Special Evening with The National,” the gig gave fans a taste of their soon-to-be-released new album I Am Easy to Find, along with a screening of its accompanying short film. In between, there was also a brief […]

It has been five years since their last studio record, 9 Dead Alive, but the instrumental guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela are still strumming out upbeat excursions before freeing themselves from earthly bonds by covering one of Pink Floyd’s most experimental numbers. Mettavolution finds the duo locked back in and where their last record was […]

Russ Tolman’s Goodbye El Dorado is a far cry from the dual guitar-based rock and roll he created with those residents of the Paisley Underground of the Eighties True West. On the contrary, this eighth solo album of his sounds like a somewhat ethereal soundtrack to a noir cowboy epic taking place in an alternate […]

Wargirl is a band from Long Beach, California, that was formed by Matt Wignall, a longtime collaborator with Cold War kids. That’s not the only musical pedigree in the band. Vocalist Samantha Park is the daughter of James Lafayette Parks, the leader of 70s funk band Bull and the Matadors. While Wargirl is not a […]

Emily Reo’s albums are frequently described as kaleidoscopic, her densely layered and warped pop creations blossoming and bursting with complex twists and fiery vocals, her classically trained voice expanding and robotically folding back on itself through deftly-applied vocoder. On her third full-length, Only You Can See It (Carpark Records), Reo gives this bright kaleidoscope treatment […]

Usually, a band will tour behind a new release, but the Rolling Stones are apparently working on a new studio record. So, they’ve opted to bring to you another set of ‘best of,’ which we’ll have some fun with. Are these really the best Stones songs spanning 1971-2016, or are they songs the audience will […]

Will Kimbrough’s five-year hiatus from a solo album with I Like It Down Here does not mean he hasn’t been busy. Few have been busier. This spring could see Kimbrough enjoying some of the fruits of his labors. He produced Shemekia Copeland’s outstanding America’s Child and co-wrote “Ain’t Got Time for Hate,” nominated for Album […]