Label: Hear Music Released: June 9, 2009 Elvis Costello has had quite a long and varied career to say the least, making albums bordering on punk on one hand and working with the likes of Burt Bacharach and Allen Toussaint at others. The genres he’s avoided, like metal or hip-hop, are surely more by choice than inability. There’s no question… Read more »
Before this film had even been released, the comparisons to Spinal Tap were coming from all quarters, including, it seems, the film’s creators and promoters. There’s good reason too, because the parallels between the two films are uncanny, especially considering that one is parody and the other reality. While director Sacha Gervasi surely emphasized the similarities in the two stories… Read more »
Label: Columbia Records Released: April 28, 2009 When Bob Dylan released Love and Theft back in 2001, it seemed that he had more good music left in him than anyone expected. Five years later, Modern Times said otherwise (though many surely disagree). It was tired and old and adult. Now, in 2009, Dylan offers up yet another late career album… Read more »
Label: Evil Weevil Records Released: April 7, 2009 I’d almost forgotten what emo was like before it became a dirty word, but Everyone Everywhere is a clear reminder. Sure, the mohawk crowd is still going to find this to be too sappy, but it never devolves into the self-conscious and saccharine whine-fest that consumes the genre today. The vocals, sensitive,… Read more »
Label: Forcefield Records Released: January 27, 2009 This vinyl-only release collects two earlier City of Ships EPs from 2006 and 2007 that are clearly worthy of being issued on this superior format. Both EPs feature monstrous waves of dissonance underscored by shockingly melodic lines. The tension created isn’t pleasant, but reflects that nice is a minor virtue next to truth… Read more »
Label: Able Heart Records Released: April 28, 2009 I wonder why it is that when a band rehashes 60s garage psych or 70s hard rock, I’m so much more open to it than I am to the now-popular revisiting of 80s pop. I think the answer is two-fold. First, I lived through the 80s. I missed the 60s and was… Read more »
Label: Emarcy Released: March 31, 2009 Over the years, John Scofield has worked with a who’s who of jazz and fusion artists. He has established himself as one of the top names in jazz guitar and is almost as well known outside of jazz circles as he is within. He’s one of those artists who finds himself in the unique… Read more »
Label: self-released (available at the bands Myspace and at shows) Released: January 31, 2009 In recent years, there have been a number of bands who have returned to punk’s old loose hooks and gritty melodies. Against Me is at the top of that pile with bands like Gaslight Anthem quickly climbing up behind them. Many voices are screaming to be… Read more »
Label: Hopeless Records Released: March 10, 2009 Label: Doghouse Records Released: April 7, 2009 Thirty years ago, a subgenre of rock that had been building for a few years was just about ready to explode. AOR took the best elements of 70s rock, dummied it down, made it safe and sold millions of records whose broad appeal was based on… Read more »
Label: Copper Lung Records Released: March 24, 2009 I have long believed that artists only are only half of the creative force behind art. The other half of the creation is the interpretation. Often, the greatest art allows for significant breadth of interpretation even as it guides the very same. Most often though, the artist errs on the side of… Read more »