Album Reviews

[rating=7.00] In an open letter to fans earlier this year, The Avett Brothers  said their new album, Magpie and the Dandelion, would have a strong feeling of “youthful wonder” about it, and they weren’t kidding. The album is filled with questions, defiance, romanticism and even something of a lone-wolf mentality that anyone can relate to. […]

[rating=10.00] In lieu of the more lavish five disc collection within a hard-bound book with additional photographic and written content, the two CD edition of The Band Live At The Academy of Music 1971 may suffice, especially as it is not what it appears on the surface: merely a reissue of the expanded version of […]

[rating=6.00] On Pearl Jam’s 2006 self titled release the band found their angst-ridden past melding swimmingly with their middle age present. There was a President they could rebel against, wars they felt were unjust and an overall pissed off feeling that resulted in an excellent disk. Things gradually changed with wars ending, their candidate taking […]

[rating=8.00] Amos Lee’s latest record, Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song, is a testament to the fact that there are artists out there who know what a true Americana record is, critics and fans be damned. It’s more than a genre and it’s more than a mood created by a certain set of generally accepted […]

[rating=8.00] Like an eulogy in reverse, a dreary organ hums the first notes of Mazzy Star’s first work in 17 years. During that time, Hope Sandoval and David Roback never stopped writing and recording together. This much is clear in the dreamy hour of loneliness that follows on Seasons of Your Day, a gently numbing […]

[rating=6.00] If you are looking for background music and aren’t too interested in paying attention to vocals or lyrics, then Innocents is probably going to be your cup of tea. Moby’s latest record is ultra-serious, incredibly moody, and—to its discredit—sounds largely like the same song played over and over. There isn’t a ton here that […]

[rating=6.00] The problem with The Speed of Things is not so much in how it sounds. For all intents and purposes, it is the sort of album that fans of electro pop and ‘80s-era pop should have no trouble enjoying. There are definitely moments where you can dance to some of the songs and enjoy […]

[rating=7.00] VII could very well be subtitled, “How Blitzen Trapper got Their Groove Back.” The band took a certain amount of flack from media and longtime fans for their last release, American Goldwing, because of everything from selling out to being drenched in sentimentality. The reasons—whether justified or not—seemed to be endless. VII feels more […]

[rating=7.00] Del the Funky Homosapien & co.’s postscript to their riveting, world-gone-mad opus, Deltron 3030, picks up in the post-apocalyptic year 3040, where life and all its forms have surrendered to the calamitous pit the 2000 album only warned us about. Corporate evil and economic collapse dominate the dark narrative of Event II, the second […]

[rating=8.00] Virtually an EP based on a running time of just over thirty minutes, recorded, like many of his albums, largely by himself with help on drums and occasional other instruments, Tommy Keene’s Excitement at Your Feet is an exercise in contemporary musicology, permeated with passion, by an artist with his own estimable pedigree. A […]

[rating=6.00] Rubblebucket, a fast rising seven piece from Brooklyn (by way of Vermont/Massachusetts), manage to combine the best of 80’s mainstream pop (think Madonna, Hall & Oates) with indie rock creativity/weirdness producing engaging music that is hard to define but easy to enjoy. This teaser EP Save Charlie contains three new songs, three remixes and […]

Between its solid songs, strong production, and varied, original pop music sound, Days Are Gone is an album for anyone who truly appreciates well-written and meaningful pop music.

[rating=8.00] With B-Room, Dr. Dog has begun the process of highlighting various aspects of the densely crafted sound they’ve developed over their decade-plus together. Like their previous efforts, recorded in their own self-designed and constructed recording studio (newly rebuilt from its Meth Beach predecessor), the Philly sextet bring melody to the forefront on songs like […]

[rating=7.00] Mike Doughty’s latest release, the unwieldy title of which will be abbreviated here as Circles, is much more than a re-hash of Soul Coughing tunes. This is a redemptive, personal album and there’s a lengthy and often unnerving back story to how Doughty arrived at this collection of his once-shunned songs. Here’s a short […]

[rating=7.00] Over the course of a career, most artists and musicians go through multiple phases in their approach to the craft. The shifting nature of the business and the turbulent lifestyle it requires tend to bring fluctuating levels of focus to artists’ perspectives and personas. Some play the comedown machine, bringing their raucous behaviors and […]

[rating=7.00] In addition to the diversity of solo projects he’s enacted over the years, Phish’s Trey Anastasio can now to add to his resume composer and producer of an Original Broadway Cast Recording. His devotees as well as musiclovers curious about the man’s versatility may find Hands On A Hardbody more or less an essential […]

[rating=5.00] Lifelong friends and native New Yorkers Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser have been kicking around the indie dance-pop scene for a few years now. Long enough to earn some rave reviews for their previous work, 2010’s Static on the Wire EP and 2011’s self-titled full-length, but due to their still relatively youthful ages, not […]

The Civil Wars eponymous second record, likely exemplifying the irony of their band name better now than ever, is an intensely melancholy and yet genre-expanding contribution from a band we may never hear from again.

[rating=8.00] On the cover of his new record, Good Graces, singer-songwriter Johnathan Rice, bearing a strong resemblance to a handsome movie star from a bygone era, sits alone, staring longingly into the abyss. Despite this visual imagery of solitude, the songs on the musician’s latest album reveal two things that are in stark contrast with […]

[rating=7.00] The Blind Boys of Alabama have been recording albums for over 60 years, and been together for over 70, so they are clearly doing a few things right. One of those things is maintaining the same spirit and fervor for gospel music that has characterized the band for so long, even if only one […]