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”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
