Singer-songwriter Sara Wasserman knows a little something about patience. Her debut album, Solid Ground, took seven years to finish, and the carefully crafted project is as promising as it is polished.
Having performed for over a decade with the increasingly popular Celtic folk/punk act Flogging Molly, Nathen Maxwell is faced with the double challenge of living up to yet not rehashing his band's strong body of work. On his solo debut, White Rabbit, Maxwell brings songs that have been simmering inside of him, some for over a decade, and prepares to meet these challenges involved in stepping outside of his established work.
It may be no coincidence Ian Hunter’s newest solo album precedes a reunion of Mott the Hoople in autumn of 2009. The prospect of revisiting the most-high profile work of his career appears to have elevated him as a songwriter and performer on Man Overboard.
In his mid-90s heyday, Tom Morello was a top guitarist, mixing skill, innovation and groove that was at the heart of Rage Against the Machine's hip-hop/hard rock hybrid. In fact, his sound was so successful that he rode it to mainstream success a second time with Audioslave during the first half of this decade. After an acoustic aside for the past couple years and reliving the RATM glory years, Morello is back for another shot, this time with Boots Riley of the Coup.
There's been a palpable flow to a couple of the Grateful Dead Road Trips releases, but nothing so tangible as that which distinguishes the latest issue from the summer tour with the legendary “Wall of Sound.” It's no illusion each CD of the triple set segues to the next on the way to a rousing finish.
While his band, Minibar, is on hiatus, Simon Petty has resurfaced, recording under the alias Solomon’s Seal. His solo offering, The Sea, The Sea, is a collection of mostly delicate acoustic tunes that tug at the soul and bring a sense of wonder.
f this were the late 80’s/early 90’s, MTV still mattered an played videos while having a Buzz Bin, then “Skeletons”, the title track off of Tiny Masters of Today new album, would have been a huge hit.
With the third installment in their archival release series, Widespread Panic has given their fans Christmas in June with what many consider one of, if not the best, performance of their career. This multi-track recording has been professionally mastered and contains a three disc set recorded at Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama on April 2, 2006. Huntsville 96 captures the band coming off their infamous “Sit-n-Ski Tour” through the Rockies which gave the boys time to relax, ski and play some tunes in an acoustic setting.
Fronted by David Nelson on guitar and vocals with Buddy Cage on pedal steel, the chemistry of the current NRPS goes further than just the band personnel. Robert Hunter collaborates with Nelson on a half dozen cuts and the long-time Grateful Dead lyricist demonstrates an elegant command of language on the title song, while the band's playing on a close to eight minute track is articulate in its own way
So the title is throwing you off huh? This is not a greatest hits package, it is a scrapbook of the first 16 years (all ready?!!?) that the Donnas have been together. It gathers unreleased B-sides, live cuts of their better tunes, remix’s, 2009 versions of older jams, and even new material; it is a hodgepodge effort all around.
