On the Record
Sam Beam, the heavily bearded indie virtuoso better known as Iron & Wine, has mastered the craft of the beautiful sad song. His folksy songs tell withered tales of loss and longing. Carrying these songs …
Anton Barbeau’s last one, Plastic Guitar, defied most expectations. Specifically, I didn’t expect a pop-monger to get funky courtesy of a few stealth Cake members, and the Jesus thing, while left-field, seemed sincere. Barbeau seems …
If Freddy Mercury were alive, I'm sure he would be in awe of Jake Shimabukuro's virtuoso ukulele version of "Bohemian Rhapsody." As he did on his first album with the George Harrison classic "While My …
Robert Wyatt, an art-rock category-confounder who sometimes lists toward the traditional, weaves seemingly disparate strands into this set of haunting sob-songs, jazz standards, and originals. Cello, alto sax, and strings throw washes of color behind …
I went through Tift Merritt's new one while reading John Glatt's Lost and Found — that's the true story of Jayce Lee Dugard, who, should you not recall, was/is the girl kidnapped off the streets …
Thirty years ago, the Jam was on top of their game and regularly saw the top of the U.K. charts. But Paul Weller had become tired with the “Jam sound” and wanted to break away. …
OMD's first album since 1996. The first classic-lineup album since 1986. "New Babies: New Toys" comes in clean like a virtual world sunrise then fuzz-rubbers the bass, toughs up the drums, throws words like "shit" …
Tapes ’N Tapes lead vocalist Josh Grier possesses a buoyant, elastic delivery that coils itself around whatever emotion a given song calls for. Cradled under mellow, precise chords reminiscent of Vampire Weekend, this formula breeds …
I frequently hear the claim that gangsta rap all sounds the same. And on the surface, that's true. Most gangsta rap deals with the same themes of violence and crime. But good gangsta rap goes …
It's 1972. Marc Bolan, born Mark Feld, son of a truck driver, sits on top of the fricking world. Or, at least, on top of as much of the world as matters to him — …
So far, the two biggest success stories from American Idol are power-pop belter Kelly Clarkson and country superstar Carrie Underwood. Well, after listening to Crystal Bowersox's debut album, all I can say is move over …
Between having tunes appear on hit TV shows Grey's Anatomy and Castle and another one on the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack, San Diego–based Anya Marina's music has gotten high-profile exposure, leading up to her latest …
Textured, moderately echoed/fuzzed guitar meshes with Quinn's I-have-a-caramel-in-my-mouth vocals and wide-(NYC)-eyed intonations irresistibly. Yeah, it sounds kinda ’90s, but in a "I miss the verve and innocence we took for granted" way. Liz Phair's thoughts …
Top ten reasons why Meat Loaf made the best album of 2010 bar none with his latest (last?) (and, yeah, I'm squinting at you Kanye West):• Meat sings "I put my pants on" and• "I …
First, one has to get past the cover photo of these two senior citizen ’70s rockers leaning back on their pianos to appreciate the original, entertaining music within. Leon Russell, looking like a fugitive from …