Album Reviews

The Parlotones are the musical equivalent of drinking with your favorite crush. The one who likes to tease you by buying drinks with that knowing smile but only offers verbal tales of angst and confusion. You know its a little manipulative but damn it feels good. Then in the morning you’re confused. Why did you do that to yourself?

 The fact is that right now there is simply nothing stopping the Tedeschi Trucks Band.  If the current state of this band describes its immediate outlook for the future, the unit may be headed back to Swamp Raga to spend some time in the near future.  The Tedeschi Trucks Band is in a separate class of professionalism, and Everybody’s Talkin’ depicts that representation most effectively.           

Armed with a fresh vitality and a solid album that plays to their strengths, Garbage is back as talented as ever, and they won’t be leaving any time soon.

Joey Ramone’s “…ya know?” the second posthumous release of songs from the former lead singer of punk rock icons The Ramones, provides long-awaited insight into the singer’s musical influences and passions outside the group.

Beware and Be Grateful manages to dodge mediocrity with its bombastic sound and clever sonic architecture, but it still slightly misses the mark by flexing muscles that may have been better served with consistency over experimentation.

Although Leftover Salmon have always been grouped in with other jam bands, their roots lay more with The Band and Bill Monroe than the Grateful Dead and Aquatic Hitchhiker delivers a solid set of bluegrass, country, folk, funk and R&B, with a smattering of jazz and psychedelia thrown in for good measure.

This is Bear’s vision,” proclaims Stanley’s widow Sheilah in the liner notes to this collection. “How he heard the band live, and how he wanted to transmit that to you… this truly is Bear’s presentation of this phenomenal band and inspirational music.” Indeed it will be most exciting to anticipate what other preserved treasures will be unearthed from Bear’s library of sonic journals to offer further insight into the history of San Francisco’s vibrant rock scene. If what’s to come is even half as good as this phenomenal recording, we are in for quite a memorable trip.

You may not have heard of Archie Powell & The Exports before, but this Chicago group has just put out one of the catchiest rock and roll albums of 2012 with their second release Great Ideas In Action.  Building on an infectious run of upbeat drums and guitars that call to mind The Replacements and early Elvis Costello the band exudes in tales that flirt with the equal dangers of “Crazy Pills” and “Shooting Sprees”. 

Nashville-based Heavy Cream’s third release Super Treatment contains plenty of evidence to justify the band’s importance in the vibrant garage band movement percolating in Music City and various scenes around the country.

The new album Diver from Lemonade, is what happens when the music of the 80s comes back after the club years of the 90s. The album layers "classic" synth tracks with a vocalist whose sound is both understated and also clearly influenced by the singers under whom the likes of Paul Oakenfold (think Bunkka) has laid down beats.

Votolato has delivered another gem of a record, one which should be on year end lists without much question.

Bethany Cosentino, one half of Los Angeles, CA, indie rock duo Best Coast, is a firm believer in the age-old idiom, “Home is where the heart is.” Based on the cover art of the band’s latest album, The Only Place—which depicts a cartoon bear embracing an outline of California—her heart clearly resides in her home state.

Jack White never intended to make a solo album.  However, after Wu-Tang Clan abbot The RZA was forced to cancel a session he had scheduled at Third Man to record a 45 as part of the label’s acclaimed Blue Series, White decided to keep the musicians he hired on the clock to lay down something for himself.

Thanks to a fan who recorded an appearance at Detroit’s Fox Theater we can now hear Fela Kuti and his band Egypt 80 thrill the audience in a venue that once hosted legendary Motown performers.

In the midst of the band’s busy schedule, Nelson found the time to pen brand new songs, which he then brought to the band to help with the arrangements and sounds. Once the songs were fleshed out, the band left their home base in Venice, California and headed to Nashville, where the band recorded this new album, Wasted, live in the studio.

Over the course of ten tracks, Mancini leads his band-mates through an infectious bounty of sharp rhythmic, reggae-inflected tunes that pulse through with sharp energy and positive vibes.  There’s no deep rooted catharsis taking place on this album, nor are there veiled metaphors or exercises in haughty self-aggrandizing.  It’s not an album that demands your attention or begs for close introspection.  What is it, then?  It’s a fun listen filled with crafty grooves and sharp musicianship; listen to the twinkling keys that interlock with the horn section on “Trouble”, the rat-a-tat snare fills that anchor the Buddy Holly-esque “Little Things”, or the sneaky guitar work of “Blue Bag”. 

The first of two live recordings set to be released in 2012, Sky High effectively captures all the charm and empathetic musicianship The Wood Brothers have demonstrated on both their previously released studio recordings and in their  frequent live performances.

Little Broken Hearts suggests that maybe Jones isn’t looking to head back, but instead shake things up even further. If she is able to find a musical partner like Danger Mouse that she connects so well to, we’re due for yet another fantastic record from an artist many of us wrote off years ago.

With Luther Dickinson’s enlistment in the Black Crowes back in 2007 and his subsequent return to The North Mississippi All Stars, he’s inspired himself to nurture his propensity for collaborative projects. With The South Memphis String Band, a collaboration with Jimbo Mathus and Alvin Youngblood Hart, Dickinson  lends his versatile blues rock guitar playing to yet another roots project.

Father John Misty is Josh Tillman's (ex-Fleet Foxes) latest identity and this time around he strives for honesty over escapism. After leaving Fleet Foxes, Tillman set out to capture the truth inside of himself that he felt must be hidden underneath the layers of 'alter-egos' he has been collecting over the years. Fear Fun, Father John Misty’s full length debut on Sub Pop reveals something worth singing about and the message is something one discovers at their own pace.