Archive: 2018

Cross the afrofuturistic big band jazz of the Sun Ra Arkestra with the deep grooves and party mentality of Parliament Funkadelic and you get Golden Dawn Arkestra. Under the guidance of bandleader Topaz McGarrigle, known in Golden Dawn world as Zapot Mgwana, (organ, vocals, tenor sax), the avant-garde afrofunk troupe has assembled a cultish following […]

Black Label Society featuring Zakk Wylde rocked out the Electric Factory in Philadelphia on February 3rd, as the venue was celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Photos by Cathy Poulton

[rating=7.00] MGMT continues the inside joke of their satirical songwriting on their latest album,Little Dark Age, with a tip of the hat to convention. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden wrote their mega-pop hits “Kids”, “Time to Pretend”, and “Electric Feel” as tongue in cheek, but the songs ended up changing the pop music landscape and both […]

It’s over. It’s finally over.

Legendary singer, songwriter and performer John Prine will release his highly anticipated new album, The Tree of Forgiveness, April 13 on his own independent label, Oh Boy Records (pre-order now). Produced by Grammy Award-winning Dave Cobb, the album is Prine’s first featuring new material in over 13 years. In advance of the release, the song […]

Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy will embark on a solo acoustic tour of North America in April in support of his recently released album Together At Last. The tour goes on sale tomorrow (Feb. 9) via Wilcoworld.net and includes performances in multiple Canadian cities rarely visited by Tweedy as a solo performer or with his band Wilco, […]

Entanglement may seem all too familiar, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less charming.

[rating=8.00] Campfires and the cosmos feel like they share something fundamental at their core. Mysterious and elemental, they can conjure great loneliness and deep belonging; an eternal catharsis lying in the beauty of their steadfast indifference to the affairs of humans. One often burning in futile defiance beneath its colossal heavenly cousins, the two join […]

[rating=8.00] Riding the success of last year’s critically acclaimed Chris Hillman’s Bidin’ My Time (produced by Tom Petty), Omnivore Records now weighs in with their 20-track compilation of Hillman’s first two solo albums from the mid- ‘70s. This, of course, was after Hillman had made his mark with the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Manassas, and […]

[rating=9.00] Nina Simone is being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in April. Hardly a rock ‘n roller, Simone’s influence stretches across multiple genres and awareness of her work is probably as strong today as it ever was given some recent highly acclaimed documentaries. For this occasion, and to mark the 6oth […]

With the clarity of vision of a millenial, the old soul of a troubadour, and the timing of a stand-up comedian, John Craigie’s live shows have his rapidly growing audiences hanging on every word. The humor that runs throughout his songs and the narratives that accompany them touch on embarrassing iPhone photos, Election Night 2016, […]

Plus, Jessica Jones season 2 and more.

In response to overwhelming fan demand, Depeche Mode are pleased to announce they will return to North America for a final, exclusive run of shows on their widely celebrated Global Spirit Tour. The final North American shows in May and June follow an extensive, sold-out run across North America, the UK, Europe and South America, […]

John Perry Barlow, (who passed away 2/6/18) was many things besides Bob Weir’s lyricist for the Grateful Dead – a free speech champion and the builder of the influential Electronic Frontier Foundation. Making a top ten list of his greatest lyrical compositions seems almost unfair, but while fellow Dead lyricist Robert Hunter typically took a […]

[rating=6.00] There’s no denying the 1990s were an especially great decade for guitar-centric rock music. So great, in fact, that many of today’s young, up and coming rockers are reverting back to these not so distant golden years as a source of inspiration. Windang, Australia’s Hockey Dad is one of these bands. Zack Stephenson (guitar/vocals) […]

[rating=8.00] James Hunter has been a staple on the UK Soul scene since the mid-80’s and even while singing backups/touring the world with Van Morrison in the mid-90’s it seems that he is just now hitting his career heights in the late-2010’s. He has recently had songs featured on NBC’s Superstore and now The James […]

Today, Unknown Mortal Orchestra has announced their new record, Sex & Food, which will be released April 6th via Jagjaguwar. The follow-up to their critically acclaimed record Multi-Love, Sex & Food sees UMO mastermind Ruban Nielson tap into both familiar and unexpected territory. The delightfully shape-shifting album filters real-deal serious themes such as “What are […]