Album Reviews

[rating=9.00] Jonathan Wilson established a heady niche for himself early on. Veering slightly left of center as part of the so-called nu-folk revival, he took his cues from the halcyon Topanga Canyon scene of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s by retracing the same trails originally navigated by Joni, Neil, the Beach Boys, Crosby, McGuinn, […]

[rating=4.00] Two decades on from meeting while touring with their respective bands, Mike Stroud (Ratatat) and Agustin White (White Flight) have formed a new collaborative project, KUNZITE. Their debut LP, Birds Don’t Fly, came together via emails between band members across continents with spontaneous recording sessions in Hawaii, New York, California, Iceland, and even India. […]

[rating=8.00] There are pretentious artists and certainly plenty of blues rockers who sing in such an overwrought way, that they fail to connect. And then there’s the Atlanta-based southern rocker, singer-songwriter Michelle Malone who rings true in equal parts as a guitar slinger and vocalist with the songs to match. On this, her sixteenth album, […]

[rating=9.00] It’s been a year of belated accolades for the princess of modern protest and the earth mother of the folk faithful everywhere. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, given high honors by Amnesty International, lauded by the Grammy Hall of Fame, and inducted into the archives of the Library of Congress, […]

[rating=8.00] Chris Smither could have easily called it quits after his last release, the double -CD career retrospective Still on the Levee. Instead, Smither explores some new sounds, radically arranges some cover tunes, and makes another terrific record, playing with a full band on his 18th album, Call Me Lucky. Yes, we are still listening […]

In the latest Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle offers his illustrated commentary on Crushed Coins, the new album from country-Americana rocker Caleb Caudle, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution (best viewed on desktop):

[rating=7.00] Seth Walker’s music, a fusion of style at the flash-point of blues and country, is that very distinctive sort difficult, if not impossible to categorize, much less pigeonhole with ease. As a result, this songwriter, musician and bandleader must rely on the inexorable process he’s followed for many years now, recording and touring to […]

[rating=7.00] Some records are so strikingly beautiful, they burrow into your consciousness from the first listen on. And when looking for obvious examples, one need only look to the band Darlingside, whose celestial, neo-pop sound is not only harrowing and haunting but also compelling in its own lush and tender way. Extralife, the follow up […]

[rating=8.00] When Levon Helm passed, his fervent wish, as expressed to his close friends like Jim Weider and Jimmy Vivino, was to “keep it going.”  In that spirit, Levon’s famed barn, home of the Midnight Rambles, still hosts gigs. His daughter, Amy, is forging her own successful career. The Midnight Ramble Band continues as the […]

[rating=8.00] The Grateful Dead’s biographer and one-time publicist Dennis McNally has a deceptively brilliant style of writing, so in his essay accompanying GarciaLive Volume 10, he fully captures both the practical and ineffable virtues of this sublime double-CD set. This author, historian and music publicist is, at heart, like any music lover who can clearly […]