Album Reviews

[rating=7.00] Since departing the cheery camaraderie of his Felice Brothers in 2009, Simone Felice has created a body of solo work cinematic in its detail and borderline hallucinatory in its introspection. Not wholly bereft of the rustic joviality of his former fraternity—2011’s Nothing Gold Can Stay by the duo of The Duke and The King […]

It feels lately as though Brandi Carlile has defied the odds. Since splashing onto the scene more than a decade ago with her sublime sophomore album, The Story, she’s built up a sizeable following and released a consistently solid string of records, but for the most part, it seemed as though things had plateaued for […]

[rating=7.00] Josh Rouse has always taken an unassuming stance throughout most of his career, never making music that sounds so assertive as to detract from his generally supple style. Love in the Modern Age is no exception, a breezy set of songs that shimmer and shine with an irrepressible radiance that invites and entices the […]

[rating=8.00] Nels Cline has it all figured out. He plays with Wilco for the bigger audiences and makes adventurous avant-jazz albums to satisfy his ever-changing, creative muse. Wilco’s lead guitarist since 2004 began his recording career in 1980 and with this release, Currents, Constellations; under his own name he has delivered almost 50 albums, this […]

[rating=9.00] It’s become a common colloquialism to say, “Who remembers much from the s’70s anyway?”  Let’s go back to 1971 when youngsters were listening to Led Zeppelin, The Who and when first Krist Kristofferson, and then John Prine, then a 23-year-old mailman from rural Illinois graced turntables. John Prine’s self-titled release was indeed a revelation […]

In the latest Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle offers his illustrated commentary on Years, the new album from country punks  Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution (best viewed on desktop):

[rating=8.00] Wisconsin’s duo, oft expanded to quartet, Dead Horses, have been steadily building a loyal fan base for eight years now. This is their third release and it cites the moon with circles on the disc cover just as the previous two. Moreover, My Mother the Moon was recorded at Cartoon Moon Studio in Nashville […]

[rating=7.00] The story goes that in setting out to record the follow up to Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s masterful 2015 record, Multi-Love, the band’s mastermind Ruban Nielson opted to shake up his routine. In a quest for further inspiration, Nielson and the band ventured outside his home studio to a host of other locations around the […]

[rating=7.00] For diehards of psychedelic rock, those who have clung to the threads of the genre weaving their wave through the decades, the formation of MIEN is a perfect storm. Alex Maas of The Black Angels, Tom Furse of The Horrors, Rishi Dhir of Elephant Stone and John-Mark Lapham of The Earlies joining forces in […]

[rating=6.00] Consider Blackberry Smoke a group of retro-sounding rockers who also cling to contemporary credence. While their sound is clearly modeled on certain Southern Rock standard bearers — Skynyrd, the Allmans, Marshall Tucker and the like — they’re wise enough to know that it takes more than a rebel yell to inspire a broad audience. […]