Regardless, Ben Kweller remains one of music’s most reliable artists. Five albums into his solo career, he has yet to deliver a clunker. Go Fly a Kite may never reach the heights of Sha Sha, his best album, but the new record has certainly earned its rightful place amongst the rest of Kweller’s impressive catalog.
By keeping their songs concise and riffs big, moe. manage to maintain their status as solid studio band on their 10th album, What Happened to the La Las
The Brooklyn band Lowry’s newest release is a long running mid-tempo opus which is the end of a trilogy the band started back with 2005’s Awful Joy. Playing at over an hour the disc can lull and blend into the background with its soothing guitar lines and piano melodies floating over vocals that never want to disturb the tranquil mood, no matter what the subject matter addresses.
On Rodrigo y Gabriela's new release, Area 52, the duo is joined by a 13-piece Cuban musical collective known as C.U.B.A.. Although Area 52 is the twosome’s first studio collaboration with other musicians, the record contains no new material as all nine tracks are rearrangement’s of Rodrigo y Gabriela’s previous works. For those playing at home, Area 52’s final track “Tamacun” previously appeared on Rodrigo y Gabriela’s 2006 self titled album, 2008’s Live at Japan, and 2011’s Live in France.
If you thought Craig Finn could get wordy with his Hold Steady band mates behind him wait until you get him alone on Clear Heart Full Eyes and his cinematic tendencies aren’t under any restraints.
Checking in with Martin Sexton some 20 years after he sold his first self released cassette tape on the streets of Harvard Square, and 8 albums later, he can be found in a good place, his voice still spanning multiple octaves, his guitar a one man band, at once lead, rhythm, and percussion.
DiFranco's made a record that, while at times inconsistent and frustrating, continues to affirm her impressive songwriting hand and relevance as America’s leading folk singer.
The debut release from two of Nashville’s better singer-songwriters, Amy Stroup and Trent Dabbs, is meant to be something of an odd bird. From the sometimes coy lyrics to the jangly rhythms and grooves, the album’s eight tracks are straight out of the 50s and 60s, and in a time when it would be easy to write commentaries on the woes of the world 2012-style, they choose instead to give things a more upbeat perspective. It’s something of a departure from their solo material, but it works pretty well when all is said and done.
Something, Brooklyn-based duo Chairlift’s second LP, and their first since signing with Columbia, is a masterful stroke of experiential alterna-pop that demonstrates the power that creative freedom and big label investment can provide for exceptionally talented musicians.
With a name like Moon Taxi, the casual music fan might expect an electronica untz-fest that sounds better after midnight. Being so wrong rarely feels so right.
