On the Record
Whoa...a new Beachwood Sparks album in 2012? Where in the world did this come from? Perhaps it’s from a universe in which every band owes a substantial debt to the Eagles, the Grateful Dead, Gram …
On “Quasar,” the first song off of the new Smashing Pumpkins album, the band comes out of the gate with teeth bare. There is ferocity in the drums and a fire in the guitars that …
So, he's recutting almost everything here even though he didn't lose the rights to his songs to himself — just because he can. That's an Ant man for you. Opener "Losing You Makes Crucifixion Easy" …
When I look at the cover of the new Glenn Frey album of out-of-focus retro lights, it brings back memories of my own "after hours" in the nightclubs of my past. That is exactly the …
The thing about Beach House is that you know what you are getting. You know styles won’t strain, and that is the beauty of the dream-pop duo’s fourth album, Bloom. Sure, it is more polished …
Doseone has played many parts over his 25-year career. He's been an avante-garde philosopher for Deep Puddle Dynamics, memento mori muser with Germany-Oakland hybrid 13 & God, psych-spellbinder through Subtle, and something entirely new and …
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros deliver their second album, Here, with a gentle treatment of spiritual and festive cult-folk. Their debut, Up From Below, struck gold from the deep-blue nowhere. It was an unexpected …
Technique, writes pianist Kenny Werner in his liner notes, "clears all the brush, so to speak, between the player and his instrument." And I read that at first as "clears off the brush," but I …
Maren Parusel’s revamped synth-driven sound is revealed on her new album, Tightrope Walker.
After a repetitive electric organ intro, it's a relief when Jack White's voice chimes in on opening track "Missing Pieces." White knows that you can't stand the anticipation and it's a solace. The White Stripes …
With their seventh studio album, Spiritualized continue their legacy of ecstatic mourning, something divine and destructive, chaotic and focused. The album begins with lush string arrangements and then takes a sharp shift to lead single …
Blues-rock icon Bonnie Raitt's first studio album in seven years was worth the wait. In the album-cover photo of Raitt ascending stairs, she looks much younger than her senior-citizen status, and her voice and guitar …
Woe to you of earth and sea, for this time the devil sends the beast from Oakland with mitigated wraith! And the problem is Jesus’ twin, who perished at birth, is reincarnated into a time …
The Morning Benders recently decided to change their name to POP ETC; yes, caps lock on. As detailed in a lengthy post on the band’s old website, the cause of the change centered on their …
This is a new Shins, not the band that gave us the delicious acoustic-pop of Chutes to Narrow and Oh Inverted World. Nor the band that released Wincing the Night Away five years ago. The …