Album Reviews

[rating=7.00] Given Charlie Hunter’s use of a seven (once eight) string guitar, it should come as no surprise that, with Curtis Fowlkes on trombone and Bobby Previte on drums and cymbals, Let the Bells Ring On finds the musicians in a wide variety of spaces and places. Yet it’s uncanny how the trio shed new […]

[rating=7.00] Ben Jaffe and Suzanne Santo have been making music as HONEYHONEY for close to a decade. With Santo’s strong lead vocals, banjo, and violin melding together with Jaffe’s soft harmonies and lead guitars, they’ve garnered positive press and a loyal following by playing a raw and honest blend of country-influenced Americana that tilts less […]

[rating=7.00] Every now and then an artist seems to suddenly emerge from the ether and create an album that compels people to literally scratch their heads and wonder where he or she has been hiding. In the case of Rob Nance, he hasn’t been hiding at all, but rather journeying through the heartland, playing his […]

[rating=8.00] Evan Phillips is having a hell of a year. Fresh off Resolution Road, his beautiful collaboration record with Tim Easton and Leeroy Stagger (Easton Stagger Phillips), Phillips’ new solo album Silhouettes continues his streak of gorgeously smooth pop country songwriting. Silhouettes is, in many ways, a throwback record. It has all of the moody, […]

[rating=9.00] Self-produced at Brooklyn Recording, the sound quality of The Bad Plus Joshua Redman is as stark and uncluttered as the album’s cover art. Yet, it serves a distinct purpose: to reveal the detail in the playing of four musicians who’d played a scant few shows together before entering the studio together and nurturing their […]

[rating=7.00] Heather Maloney’s sound is timeless. The Northampton singer-songwriter has a clear and pure voice, and she uses it to tell down-to-earth tales in polished folk songs. Her new record Making Me Break plays out like a picturesque musical photo album, with sepia-tone photos and pressed, sun-drenched wild flower fields. There are elements of romance […]

[rating=8.00] The opening, sixteen minute plus, “Vibration & Light Suite” on the Chris Robinson Brotherhood’s (CRB’s) latest release is representative of the band’s style and sound; clean meandering guitar lines, soaring harmonies, soulful vocals and just the right amount of weird. One of the benefits of recent technological advances is that live music is more […]

[rating=7.00] After nearly 30 years, the Indigo Girls have achieved far more than their limited musical palette might have initially promised. After all, unless you’re Simon and Garfunkel or the Milk Carton Kids, deft duos with folk finesse generally boast limited commercial possibilities. Better suited to twilight sing-alongs or more intimate encounters, dual guitar and […]

[rating=8.00] Dawes’ career to this point consists of two steps forward, in the form of initial studio works North Hills and Nothing Is Wrong, one step back, as represented by the sterile Stories Don’t End and a combination return to roots/holding pattern Stripped Down at Grimey’s. If All Your Favorite Bands doesn’t represent more progress, […]

[rating=7.00] For any band that lasts thirty years, the notion of a greatest hits compilation is almost silly. Even the best of these rarely do justice in capturing a band’s catalogue and respective eras. On their newly released vinyl compilation, Georgia alt. country legends Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ took a decidedly different approach to the “best […]

[rating=7.00] When putting together collections of songs, many artists fuss over the title. As it is typically a delicate process, some album titles are intentionally vague, random, or obtuse while others are a straightforward and direct nod to the thematic content represented. With his third release of material as Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Ruban Nielson went […]

[rating=8.00] When you hear the nearly eight-minute long blues guitar epic of Jimi Hendrix’s “Hey Joe”, the opening track off Otis Taylor’s latest record Hey Joe Opus/Red Meat, you’ll get just a taste of what you’re in for. And when the strings and horns kick in, adding an element of fantasy to this south western […]

[rating=9.00] Mikal Cronin has come a long way since 2013’s critically lauded record MCII. The praise was well-deserved for such a fantastic breakout album, and with his newest MCIII, Cronin is proving that he’s still got plenty of juice left in him. A breakup record to be sure, MCIII is moody, but buoyant and youthful. […]

[rating=8.00] Much superior to the initial reunion record, 2012’s Three Chords Good, Graham Parker & The Rumour’s followup Mystery Glue is the work of former band-mates fully reacquainted with each other. And if it doesn’t sound exactly like the 1979  watershed Squeezing Out Sparks, it’s because it’s not meant to. Hearing Mystery Glue is like […]

[rating=6.00] In the dead of winter in 2013, Tanlines, a prolific synthpop duo from Brooklyn, decided to record its second album far from home, and make it sound better than the first one. Neither quite happened that way. When the group’s laptop crashed before putting down a single note at guitarist Eric Emm’s childhood house […]

[rating=7.00] Everyone loves Rhett Miller as the front man of Old 97s, but his solo records have been a bit more divisive. Miller has been more experimental with his own music, recording more pop-heavy albums like The Instigator and The Dreamer. But on his latest full-length solo record The Traveler, he’s moved in a different […]

[rating=8.00] Voices like Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell are classic. Their simple, smart and beautiful country songs are timeless and never go out of style. On The Traveling Kind, the follow up to their 2013 collaboration Old Yellow Moon, they continue to charm with their warm, well-matched harmonies and clever songwriting. Each song is a […]

[rating=9.00] It doesn’t take but a moment into Sol Invictus, the long awaited album from a newly reunited Faith No More, to be reminded of all we’ve been missing in the 18 years since Mike Patton and company first called it quits. A stark piano chord flows from the speaker, feeling more like an announcement […]

[rating=8.00] The Milk Carton Kids are preserving folk music as they know and love it, whether it’s performing in their suits on stage, or keeping every song as simple as can be with just acoustic guitars and vocals. On their darkest record yet, Monterey, a follow up to 2013’s stupendous The Ash and Clay, they’ve […]

[rating=9.00] When any album is this instantly catchy and flowing, a quick double check is needed. The proprietor of said album? Bop English aka James Petralli, the frontman of the Austin based experimental rock band White Demin who is releasing his first solo record (which has been in the works for over a decade). The […]