John Mellencamp will release Life Death Live and Freedom, the eight song live companion to last year’s Life Death Love and Freedom. Get a sneak preview mp3 until the album is released on June 23rd. “If I Die Sudden” MP3
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 »
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: PR (or that’s what it looks like on the back) Released: unknown I picked this bootleg EP up on ebay and thought, “Who is J Adams? I wonder if it’s the skater? Nah…” When the record came, I found the following dedication: Dedicated to: Tony Alva, Shogo Kugo, Jimmy Plummer, Jim Muir & the “Z” boys.” So, what do… Read more »
Label: self-released Released: February 3, 2009 Everything Burns kicks off as a fairly typical post-emo mainstream rock album. There are bits of alt rock and emo tidied up in a nice, easily digestible package and yet…there’s something else, something deeper going on with this record. Underneath what seems at first to be a solid, but uneventful set of songs, there’s… Read more »
Label: Columbia Released: January 27, 2009 “The Wrestler” is the bonus track on Springsteen’s latest album, Working on a Dream. It’s a honest tale set to poignant music. It connects in the way we expect Springsteen to connect. However, it is appropriately labeled as bonus material, because it really doesn’t fit the rest of the album. The strings on the… Read more »
Label: Fontana International Released: November 11, 2008 There aren’t many albums as low-key as Sunday at Devil Dirt. Every movement of the album is so subtle that it’s difficult to discern. The first two tracks, “Seafaring Song and “The Raven,” seem more like movie soundtrack material than the road into a dynamic album, but they set the sparse scene for… Read more »
Label: Warner Brothers Released: November 18, 2008 Rod Stewart may have the perfect rock voice. It’s raw and honest and warm and he expresses emotion with ease. Its rough edges are its primary strength. The first handful of tracks on this collection, rock songs tied tightly to their folk, boogie and blues roots, are ideal vehicles for Stewart’s perfect imperfection…. Read more »
Label: Image Entertainment Released: November 18, 2008 I’ve always known that the Beatles are rock’s greatest band. There’s no denying it. But I do have to wonder why I question that every time I listen to the Who. I think it’s because the Beatles made rock music what it is, but the Who actually embodied it like no one else…. Read more »
Label: Afan Music Released: December 9, 2008 Amadan incorporate bits of the Clash, Billy Bragg, John Fogerty and the Mighty, Mighty Bosstones, but what I suspect they’re really going for is the Pogues mix of traditional Irish folk and biting punk rock swagger. They don’t nail the latter, but their success in other areas makes them a worthwhile listen. There’s… Read more »