Same Old Man may be the most accessible album of John Hiatt’s career. But it’s worth serious note that the rewards of hearing this album (repeatedly) far outweigh its simplicity and that’s due to the strength of the songs. Tunes such as “Cherry Red” and “Hurt My Baby” are just two instances in which the author turns the usual conceits of composition inside out.
Like their left coast cousins The Greyboy Allstars, Lettuce is something of a modern urban musical myth. Formed in the 90's out of common experience and taste, members of the band went out on individual projects—Soulive, Scofield and solo—before coalescing once again into a powerful funk collective.
n like Alkaline Trio with title track "The Walking Wounded" and out like Brand New on closing track "(Pop)Ular Science," Bayside have done it again-absolutely nothing–on their latest and far from greatest 3rd full length.
The Diplomat is a true DIY group. Unsigned and expertly unpolished, the group is the brainchild and vehicle for New Jersey native Yuri Fain.
To paraphrase Beck, if Evil Urges were one long note it would flash off some sick 17-octave range and put Celine Dion in a straight-up headlock. It's rare enough to find a well constructed album, but when a group of rapidly rising rockers rip off something this tightly diverse, well, the general public is sure to get put on notice come June 10th, the album's public release date.
DCFC albums take a while to sneak up on me, though, and Narrow Stairs is no exception. Death Cab tends to hide little presents in the dark spaces of their music, which makes it difficult to critique their albums after a few quick listens.
ust when you the thought the dance-rock thing had hit overkill, Foals tries to one-up the angular, jangly guitar movement. The Oxford quintet lists Steve Reich, Public Image Ltd and Afrobeat as key influences, but Gang of Four rings hard on their debut – Antidotes.
The Alchemy Index: Vols. III & IV Air & Earth marks the completion of Thrice’s foray with experimenting with the four elements of nature. Overall, the newest Alchemy Index displays Thrice’s explorations with instrumentation, rhythm, and feel.
Zooey Deschanel (She) is best known for her roles in Elf and Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, while M. Ward (Him) is regarded as a guitar vitruoso amongst the new-wave of indie rockers. Volume One, their debut album as She & Him, is a throwback to old country and pop that reflects in Jenny Lewis’ recent old timey project with The Watson Twins.
It’s been some years since Carlene Carter began her music career consorting with Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds and The Rumour back in 1979. In fact, Stronger is her first album of original material since 1995, a work of renewed creativity inspired in its own way, like that of sibling once-removed of Rosanne Cash’s Black Cadillac, by personal tragedies to which the cd title refers.
