Album Reviews

[rating=6.00] The first proper solo album from David Byrne in fourteen years finds the former Talking Heads frontman sounding amazing vocally while experimenting with sounds and lyrics; not always hitting the complete musical mark. There is a constant push and pull between the organic and the programmed throughout American Utopia and it is on display with […]

[rating=8.00] There are times when an artist is so talented and interested in so many diverse styles of music that it takes some time to focus the disparate elements into one compelling package. That statement applies to Nova Scotia’s Erin Costelo, who writes, sings , arranges, and produces. This album, Down Below, The Status Quo […]

In the latest Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle offers his illustrated commentary on By The Way, I Forgive You, the new album from Brandi Carlile, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution (best viewed on desktop):

[rating=7.00] Sean Carey may have spent much of his career caught in the formidable gravitational pull of the infinite mass that is Justin Vernon as “that other guy from Bon Iver”, but such designations are perhaps unfair. His solo career as S. Carey has produced a body of work that stands on its own, forcing […]

[rating=8.00] It’s perhaps no coincidence that both Seun and Femi Kuti – the sons of Nigerian Afrobeat legend and pioneer Fela Kuti – have both released new albums a week apart in the wake of the raging success and subsequent high-profile discourse surrounding Marvel’s Black Panther. It’s a film that brought the grievances toward colonialism, […]

[rating=8.00] Four solo albums on, Tracey Thorn’s postscript to her tenure with Everything but the Girl continues to show quality control firmly in check. The succinctly titled Record retains the inherent imaginative qualities that made that duo so satisfying to both denizens of the dance floor and those that preferred their pop remain warm, engaging […]

[rating=9.00] On All Nerve, their first album in a decade, The Breeders have put together their strongest complete work since their cultural highpoint, Last Splash. Perhaps not coincidently the lineup from that album, Kim and Kelley Deal, Jim MacPherson and Josephine Wiggs, has reunited for the first time in 25 years resulting in All Nerve. The […]

[rating=8.00] There is no other musician in the public conscious quite like Andrew W.K. The Michigan-raised rocker claims titles like motivational speaker, club owner, radio personality, and music producer. Many remember W.K. for his controversial album cover for I Get Wet, which features a bloody-nosed, greasy, and intense Andrew staring maniacally. However it’s the energy […]

[rating=8.00] The Boston based Barrence Whitfield and the Savages have continued to put out strong, hard edged, punk infused soul music for over 30+ years and their newest, Soul Flowers of Titan continue their string of successes. The group has found a home on Bloodshot Records using their strengths of gritty retro R&B combined with […]

[rating=7.00] On Titus Andronicus’s last studio release, The Most Lamentable Tragedy, the band went for it all in absolute grandiose fashion with a massive triple album, punk rock opera. In the roll out to the follow-up, A Productive Cough, there were quotes that main man Patrick Stickles was “pulling a reverse Bob Dylan”, abandoning his […]