Album Reviews

[rating=7.00] A Mineral Love is the kind of record that transforms with each listen. There are so many personalities inhabiting the musical world that Bibio, née Stephen Wilkinson, has created on this album — it’s hard to nail down exactly what kind of album it is. Looking for some psych-inspired backwards-guitar sounds with Shins-esque gentle vocals […]

[rating=8.00] If you’re of the mind that Robbie Fulks cannot make a bad record, you know that you will gladly consume anything he creates. And with his latest creation, the stunning Upland Stories, Fulks has only solidified his place as one of the true prolific songwriters of the South. The sepia-toned portrait that graces the […]

[rating=6.00] The first I heard of Shonen Knife was “Cycling Is Fun,” their contribution to 1989’s Flipside Vinyl Fanzine Vol. 3.  The cutesy twee pop leanings of that song were … well, cute.  But nothing about it made me think it was any more than just punkster kitsch for those who were so punk they […]

[rating=7.00] Moderat is releasing their third album titled appropriately III. Happily, that is the only part of the album not worthy of comment. As with their previous albums, III is a brilliant mix of dark beats, heavy basslines, haunting vocals, and the general grit that can only be found in the merging of German acts […]

[rating=8.00] Every few years an artist comes along that makes you wonder where they’ve been hiding all this time and why you’ve never heard them before. And when Margo Price belted her songs out on the museum stage at Newport Folk Festival last summer, she convinced a packed house that she was one of them. […]

[rating=7.00] Over the past decade, Vancouver-based Black Mountain have never been afraid to experiment with their sound. While each of their past albums hold a nostalgic sound of the 70’s, each also have their own distinct personalities. Where their debut self-titled album referenced the music of early Rolling Stones and Jefferson Airplane, Black Mountain’s newest […]

[rating=7.00] One of the greatest things about music is that it acts as a living, breathing memory catcher, soundtracking your activities and becoming the mental time machine that can take you back to precious life moments. In today’s highly digital day-to-day, this can unfortunately mean music is simply accompanying your work in a dark cubicle […]

[rating=9.00] Violent Femmes live up to the title of this first album in 16 years from founding members (and erstwhile enemies) Gordon Gano and Brian Ritchie: given enough time, you can do anything. It’s been a lifetime since their last full-length stab, and that’s part of why this long-awaited product is so satisfying. Not only […]

In the newest installment of Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle reviews the final album from Portland, OR alt-country band Richmond Fontaine, You Can’t Go Back If There’s Nothing To Go Back To, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution:    [youtube id=”WucmFCvbve4″ width=”630″ height=”350″]

If Van Morrison’s career had never progressed past his years with Them, he might still deserve his own chapter in the history of contemporary rock and roll. And that’s because his galvanizing presence, transcends the familiar trademarks of mid-Sixties stylists: a knowledge and reverence for blues roots and, at his/Them’s best, an intuitive grasp of […]

[rating=7.00] At the tender age of 22, Parker Milsap has accomplished quite a bit in a very brief career. His eponymous debut turned quite a few heads in high places, reaping him honors as a contender for Americana Emerging Artist of the Year, along with praise from the likes of The Wall Street Journal, USA […]

[rating=10.00] In the late Sixties Gram Parsons came up with the term Cosmic American Music as a more eloquent and hippie-dippie way to describe the type of music he was making. Gram despised the term “country-rock” and felt his term was a more accurate if not generalized way to sum up the blend of rootsy […]

[rating=8.00] As part of the Fiery Furnaces, Eleanor Friedberger was never shy about giving vent to her quirkier impulses. It served the duo well when it came to getting them on the radar, but it stifled their opportunities from there, keeping them from ever blossoming beyond any kind of rarified stature. Happily then, New View […]

[rating=7.00] RJD2’s career since his bold instrumental hip-hop and heavily sampled debut Dead Ringer and sophomore effort Since We Last Spoke has been on the downhill in terms of genuine creativity of crazed patchwork cuts. His third album, The Third Hand, indicated he had strived for too much and he had lost everything that made […]

[rating=8.00] You’d expect Lukas Nelson to be something of an insurgent, given that his dad, Willie Nelson, is something of an insurgent himself. But whereas his old man occasionally dips into more adult terrain — a tendency that by his latest effort, a tribute to George Gershwin — Lukas, his brother Micah and their fellow […]

In the newest installment of Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle reviews the gritty new album from Chicago rabble rousers The Waco Brothers, Going Down In History, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution:  For more Waco Brothers goodness check out Lee Zimmerman’s full album review and our recent interview with Jon Langford.  [youtube id=”Yl9fed8ZMy0″ width=”630″ height=”350″]

[rating=9.00] Since the 1980’s, Steve Kimock has held a special and honorary position in the music community throughout the Bay Area and worldwide. Most of us know Kimock from his work within the jam band scene and Grateful Dead-related side projects. From the late 80’s standing beside the late and great Captain Trips (Jerry Garcia) […]

In the newest installment of Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle reviews the gritty new album from one-man-band Lincoln Durham, Revelations of a Mind Unraveling, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution:  [youtube id=”BKQ5qT3GZBg” width=”630″ height=”350″]

[rating=8.00] The things Bonnie Raitt does best are the things she’s done best for the past 40 years, namely expressing a soulful sinewy sound that reflects her lifelong devotion and affection for blues and R&B. And indeed, why alter the formula if it’s served you so well for so long? Granted, there’s little here that distinguishes Dig […]

[rating=7.00] Like father like son. The dual tragedies that led to the premature passing of Tim Buckley and his son/musical successor Jeff serve as sad reminders of what transpires when a star burns bright and rapidly turns to an ember all too quickly. Rummaging through the remains of a recording catalog already thought to have […]