Album Reviews

As issued in multiple packages including CD and vinyl, The Allman Brothers Band’s Brothers and Sisters deserves its 40th anniversary recognition. The 1973 album stands as a pivotal point in the iconic Southern group’s evolution in the wake of the eerily similar motorcycle deaths of founder/guitarist Duane Allman and charter member/bassist Berry Oakley (who was […]

[rating=7.0] I love how  some people hate Connor Oberst. He’s become very successful making legitimate DIY independent music, bringing the entire city of Omaha along for the ride no less. Let’s face it, you would have never heard of Cursive or Neva Dinova without Bright Eye’s influence on aughties culture.  Many people’s envy turns to […]

[rating=7.00] Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, MD – 9/17/72 As the first set of this September 1972 show in Baltimore closes, notes peal from Jerry Garcia’s guitar while Bill Kreutzmann kicks the band into a gallop, both actions emblematic of the surety permeating the playing of the Grateful Dead captured on this reissue of the 2001 […]

[rating=9.0] Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is the third release by the band of the same name. The group centers around lead singer and songwriter, Alex Ebert and his former paramour and vocalist Jade Castrinos. The moniker is the name of Ebert’s alter ego. The Magnetic Zeros are a cast of a dozen musicians […]

[rating=8.0] It’s been almost five years since Travis released their last record, and it seems like the lengthy break was the best thing they could have done. Where You Stand is a magical album that will almost make you forget the bloated mess that was 2008’s Ode to J Smith, and ranks up there with […]

[rating=6.0] The second release from the NYC songstress is a complete cover album as Kendra Morris takes on some well known staples of classic rock (and other genre’s) putting her sultry touch upon them. All of the tracks will be instantly recognizable to even casual music fans giving Morris the extra weight of preconceived listener […]

[rating=7.00] With a resurgence of lo-fi punk rock over the last decade it is good to see one of the best from the 90’s strap it back on as the Oblivians return to offer up Desperation in 2013. The trio of Greg Cartwright, Jack Yarber and Eric Friedl gained an underground cult following with their […]

[rating=9.00] You will not see this coming. Throw out everything you remember about KT Tunstall and her previous records because none of it applies here. For all intents and purposes, with her latest record, she has completely scrapped her previous discography as if to start afresh and take her career in a new direction. Whether […]

[rating=8.00] Überjam Deux provides proof positive of the chemistry of John Scofield’s Überjam Band. Some ten years since they last worked together–actually under the moniker the John Scofield Band on Up All Night–this new studio set flows as effortlessly as the musicianship at its foundation. The album begins in leisurely enough fashion with “Camelus,” a […]

[rating=8.00] Though he might have spent his early years hanging out with the likes of Patti Smith and Television at CBGB’s, it was at the recently shuttered rock ‘n’ blues club Kenny’s Castaways on Bleecker St. where a young Willie Nile made his name shortly after moving from his hometown of Buffalo, NY down to […]

[rating=7] Hockey first made their mark in the alternative rock world in 2009 with the infectious, upbeat singles “Too Fake” and “Song Away.” Following the success of their debut album, the band traded their cozy hometown of Portland, Oregon for the rural forests of upstate New York, where they spent months writing and revising over […]

With Black Horses, Adam Franklin & Bolts of Melody succeed at creating an album of depth that can be enjoyed repeatedly from start to finish. The evolution of this seasoned musician and his supporting group will undoubtedly continue to intrigue as they bring Black Horses on the road in the near future.

[rating=8.0] Born Sinner may be the strongest album of the summer, despite it still being the start of the season. J Cole simply mesmerized the rap nation with this piece of work, which is only his second album under Roc Nation.  A natural storyteller, Cole captured the entire spectrum emotion from partying to mourning to […]

[rating=6.0] Today it is impossible to separate “Kanye the Celebrity” and “Kanye the Artist”. It would appear “the celebrity” has overtaken “the artist” by dropping an album on the birthday of his tabloid fuel child, naming said album Yeezus and including a track called “I Am A God”. All the events surrounding the release are […]

[rating=6.0] By far the very best track on John Fogerty’s Wrote A Song For Everyone is “Long As I Can See the Light” recorded with My Morning Jacket.  Jim James’ voice turns him into something a younger version of Fogerty when he sings, while the prominent piano and organ echo the arrangement of the Cosmo’s […]

[rating=8.0] If you’ve been longing for a return to the jam-heavy, free-wheeling, good-time tunes which marked Robert Randolph & the Family Band’s debut, Unclassified, and the live albums which preceded it, your prayers have been answered. After a mild misfire in Colorblind and the band’s decision to explore the roots of soul, blues and rock […]

[rating=7.0] Normally when your lead singer dies, that spells curtains for a band. But Alice in Chains was always more about Jerry Cantrell than Layne Staley arguably speaking. And the guitarist’s decision to resurrect the name 11 years after the enigmatic and troubled original vocalist for the Seattle grunge titans succumbed to his crippling narcotic […]

[rating=9.0] Packaged with a collector’s loving eye for, the 25th Anniversary edition of Green recognizes a most significant milestone in the career of R.E.M. Notwithstanding the nay saying of the alternative music community of the time, the Athens GA quartet’s signing with Warner Bros was a logical extension of their career path to that point. […]

Though Fever Dream slows quickly following its title track, as an overall effort it transcends its flaws, standing as a promising EP from a young band with the capacity to wrap emotional, heavy lyrics inside a catchy accessible synth-pop casing.

[rating=8.0] In its latest incarnation, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress may be a slightly realigned and augmented version of The Greyboy Allstars, of which he is a founding member. But as captured on Get Thy Bearings, this band has as much of a distinct, albeit understated personality, as its leader. Recorded around the same general timeframe […]