Archive: 2020

The latest from director Jim Cummings will have you howling…in both fear and delight.

The members of Yo La Tengo are no strangers to covers. Whether it’s their three cover albums, Fakebook, Fuckbook and Stuff Like That There, their fundraising efforts for WFMU in New Jersey, or their extensive live repertoire, the band has proven prolific in their effortless mimicry. Now, that would be a great party trick for […]

When one sees the band name Bahamas on an album, they could be forgiven for the confusion they may feel about what type of music it would be. However, the Canadian musician Afie Jurvanen has managed to use that alias to put out five albums to critical acclaim. His brand of singer-songwriter music incorporates many […]

Nina Yates is a healer. If you are fortunate enough to share even a little time with her you will surely feel her presence as it calms your nervous system and steadies your heartbeat. On Nina’s debut record, Mama’s Heart (out October 30th), eight of the ten songs were penned for a weekly Open Mic […]

Celebrating fifteen years since their debut release, The Budos Band is keeping the party rolling with their newest offering on Daptone Records, the eleven-song collection titled Long in the Tooth. While they have been at this for a while, the group’s commitment to funkified instrumentals has remained razor sharp. Their previous effort, the excellent Budos […]

Take Me Back marks the return of harmonica/vocalist/songwriter Kim Wilson to M.C. Records after 17 years. It was on that label that he recorded Smokin’ Joint and Lookin’ for Trouble, both of which were nominated for Grammy Awards in the Traditional Blues Category. Wilson goes truly traditional with this new recording, which is similar but […]

Today Alex Maas of The Black Angels announces his mesmerizing and soul-bearing solo debut, Luca. Named for Maas’ firstborn, whose name means “bringer of light,” Luca was a long time coming, with some of its songs dating back almost a decade, put together piece-by-piece over the course of a couple years. A powerful work of […]

This Is Certified, Legacy Recordings’ division for the celebration of Sony Music’s Hip Hop and R&B catalog, is commemorating the 20th anniversary of Stankonia, OutKast’s game-changing Hip Hop masterpiece, with a month-long October campaign leading up to the release of the album’s newly certified RIAA platinum hit singles–“B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad),” “Ms. Jackson” (3x platinum) and “So Fresh, […]

Keyboardist David Garfield really needs no introduction as his musical resume reads like a soul, jazz and classic rock how-to guide. Garfield has been a renowned songwriter, producer, bandleader (of Los Angeles based contemporary world jazz collectives Karizma and Los Lobotomys), arranger, recording artist, record label owner (Creatchy Records), session and touring musician, musical director […]

Paul Collins, founding member of The Nerves, The Breakaways and The Beat, is easily one of the most important architects of the American Power Pop genre. And yet, mainstream success was always just outside of reach. Along with Jack Lee and Peter Case, he helped bridge the LA punk and pop scene in the mid-to-late […]

For over 25 years, Life in a Blender has been the canvas for singer and songwriter Don Rauf’s blackly comic landscapes. The group has released albums ranging from screaming punk to orchestrated chamber pop, and has brought the high theatrics of its live act to stages from Berlin to Austin to Toronto to Brooklyn and […]

This past spring, Suzzy Roche and her daughter Lucy Wainwright Roche headed down to Nashville to make their third album together. Suzzy had written a batch of songs, informed both by personal loss — her sister, Maggie, and her mother died in 2017 — and her sense of the societal havoc stemming from the 2016 […]

Atlas Vending, the newest release from the Canadian noise trio METZ, aims to broaden their style and appeal while staying true to their junkyard screeching, wailing, and car crusher power. The changes they incorporate work incredibly well and while longtime fans may fear a grown up softening creeping into the band’s sound, there is still […]

When this writer first heard Colorado-based cornetist Ron Miles it was with the bluesman and fellow Coloradoan Otis Taylor with whom Miles appeared on at least six, if not more, of the trance blues maestro’s albums. Not long after, however, I heard Miles as a sideman on Bill Frisell albums and later as a leader […]

The Struts have shared their new single “I Hate How Much I Want You,” an explosive collaboration with Def Leppard’s Phil Collen and Joe Elliott. The stadium-sized anthem is the latest single from The Struts’ third album Strange Days, due out via Interscope Records on October 16.   Listen to “I Hate How Much I […]

Today, Descendents vocalist Milo Aukerman debuts his politically focused ukulele project, RebUke, with a three-song single 45…not a LP. The songs examine the current political state of the United States and the feeling of outrage & uncertainty that has intensified over the years. “I’ve spent most of my punk rock life avoiding the temptation to write political songs; it always […]

Instrumental outfit North Americans have shared a new track from their new album Roped In, which comes out this Friday, October 9 via Third Man Records. Album opener “Memory of Lunch” has debuted and can be heard below… Patrick McDermott began his North Americans project with two albums: 2013’s No_No, and 2015’s Legends. Both records were dense affairs, with blocks of sound shifting […]

Academy Award-nominated and Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Aimee Mann will debut a 20th Anniversary Expanded Edition of her acclaimed album, Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo, on November 27 as part of Black Friday Record Store Day. The colored vinyl reissue will be remastered and restored from the original session tapes and feature five additional tracks from […]