Label: MVD Released: May 19, 2009 A reunion can be viewed in one of two ways. On one hand, it could be an attempt to cash in on the current popularity of the band’s genre, something they may not have been able to do in their prime. On the other, it could be a way to expose the band to… Read more »
Label: self-released and free! Released: May 16, 2009 Thank You‘s title may prefigure last year’s You’re Welcome, but the sound is moving forward. THe BAcksliders don’t refine their previous effort, so much as distill what’s clearly in their hearts. Whether it’s the flat out energy of “Have You Ever Been Down” or the hard-edged soulfullness of “Last Call,” the band… Read more »
Label: Warner Bros Released: June 23, 2009 Straightforward. Subdued. Accessible. If Octohedron had been recorded by just about any other band, those words would never cross anyone’s mind. However, the Mars Volta has pushed the boundaries of their music and their mania time and again, leaving the expectation that each album will be a further exploration of psychedelic insanity. This… Read more »
Label: self-released Released: March 10, 2009 Folk and punk has found some common ground over the years. From Billy Bragg’s incendiary love and politics to Elliott Smith’s dark beauty, the two genres have occasionally met in strange ways that have never been entirely one genre or the other, yet clearly rooted in both. Brian Bond is a similar artist in… Read more »
Label: White Elephant Records Released: September 29, 2008 Even those who love prog rock often understand that its shortcoming stems from putting the head before the heart. While no genre in rock can compete with prog’s technical prowess, it’s still often dismissed as self-indulgent and lite where the true spirit of rock n roll is the exception, not the rule…. 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 »