Archive: 2025

While they may have surpassed the ethos of hardcore with stunning experimentation and commercial viability, Hüsker Dü is a hardcore band through and through. The legendary trio of Bob Mould, Grant Hart, and Greg Norton became a trio in the late 70’s after Mould befriended Hart, who was working at a record store and selling […]

Aesop Rock is the type of artist who has held a veteran presence in Hip-hop since his debut record. Over the past few decades, the emcee/producer has crafted a discography that plays like a series of novels, each one capturing a chapter in Rock’s life as he navigates success and modern trappings. His consistently conceptual […]

New York songwriter Meir Levine is driven by two powers: melody, and the sheer force of will.  Levine’s “musical education” began before he could say those words. His father was a professional singer, and while Mr. Levine played more than a hundred gigs each year, Meir paid close attention—not only to his dad but to […]

Ben Nichols, frontman and songwriter for the long-running Memphis rock band Lucero, announced his sophomore solo album In the Heart of the Mountain will be released on July 25 via Lucero’s label Liberty & Lament. The album is one of his most personal pieces of work to date and marks his first solo release in […]

Listening to current Nashville resident Imogen Clark’s latest, Choking On Fuel, you’d swear she was a native who got her start playing dive bars around town before finally getting booked at The Bluebird Café or The Basement East. Surprisingly, Clark got her start as a teen playing bars in Sydney, Australia, not exactly the most […]

Goth and Glam Rock band The Ritualists released their new album, Too Pure To Cure, in April, and hit the road soon after to deliver the new music to fans. Following their expansion to a wider lineup for the previous album, Baroque & Bleeding, the new album takes a similar tack of pushing the possibilities […]

Blase is a Multi-instrumentalist from North Carolina. He started his musical journey in Chicago, IL, on the underground indie scene, playing drums with a handful of bands before debuting his self-produced project. The foundation of a Blase record or song will likely be built out of synths, lush reverbs, warped guitars, and thoughtful lyrics. Blase […]

Down the lost highway of damning self-indictments and apocalypse paralysis, there’s a party happening. That party is the eponymous debut full-length from NYC’s premier rodeo-core outfit, Dead Tooth. This album, out July 18 via Trash Casual, fearlessly unfolds like a ’90s blockbuster, replete with grandiose melodrama, black humor, and larger-than-life character arcs. As near-atonal hooks […]

Before each Memorial Day weekend in the Appalachian foothills of western Maryland, a unique phenomenon occurs. Tens of thousands of like-minded bluegrass-obsessed musical adventure seekers migrate to the welcoming confines of the Allegany County Fairgrounds in Cumberland, Maryland, for a four-day experience that stands as the epitome of what a music festival should be: DelFest.  […]

Boston Calling ignited the Harvard Athletic Complex this past Memorial Day Weekend, May 23-25, as always with an eclectic and electrifying lineup. Headliners included country sensation Luke Combs, pop-punk giants Fall Out Boy, and rock stalwarts Dave Matthews Band. This year’s festival promised and delivered a diverse musical journey, featuring punk-pop princess Avril Lavigne and […]

New Vienna is the fourth concert released from Keith Jarrett’s 2016 European tour, following Munich 2016, Budapest Concert, and Bordeaux Concert, the latter two of which we covered here. It is named such because Vienna Concert was issued in 1992. While that was recorded at the Vienna State Opera, New Vienna takes place in another […]

The prolific and consistently evolving Ty Segall is emerging from a period of experimentation. Not that the artist hasn’t built his career on shifting sonic landscapes, but 2024 proved to be a particularly daring year for the young psych-rock veteran. After releasing the distorted psychedelia of Three Bells, Segall dove headfirst into percussion-driven spiritual jazz […]

Rodney Crowell will release Airline Highway on August 29, 2025 via New West Records. The 10-song set was produced by Tyler Bryant and recorded & mixed by Trina Shoemaker in New Orleans, Louisiana. Crackling with live-wire energy, the album follows his 2023 Grammy Award-nominated The Chicago Sessions. The wise and vibrant Airline Highway features contributions from some of the most […]

From James Brown to Gorillaz, there is no shortage of song titles called “Feel Good.” Yet, some just ring true musically, that perhaps there’s nothing else that fits relatively better. And there’s nothing wrong with a title that leans toward the positive, and Minneapolis-based bluegrass group Maygen & The Birdwatcher nails the conclusive vibe without […]

Part of what made Sepultura such a compelling and visceral band back in the day was that their music came from a very raw and honest place (i.e., their native Brazil). You could feel that in their music, the fact they weren’t some flashy metal band playing super technical bullshit and flashy solos. The aggression […]

Watchhouse, formerly Mandolin Orange, is the North Carolina duo of Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz. Now they return four years later with Rituals, this time producing in conjunction with Ryan Gustafson (The Dead Tongues). Their sound is moving even further away from the bluegrass of Mandolin Orange into dreamy folk music, with both musicians embracing […]

The Whimbrels is the eponymous debut album by a power art-rock band with lineages to some of the most influential and raw music New York has produced – loud art with a back beat. Producer Jim Santo mixed and mastered at Tiny Olive Studios in Queens. Principal tracking took place in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, at Carousel Studios, […]

With a soulful, down-to-earth, and playful personality that bridges the divide between entertainer and audience, Levi Foster is a natural showman who has been making a living by performing country and rock cover tunes at venues and festivals throughout his home state of Virginia and beyond. After hightailing to Nashville in his mid-20s to seek […]