On the Record
On the eve of the release of Norah Jones's latest album, The Fall, Jazz 98.1 played a syndicated interview with the jazz-pop artist in which she discussed the disc song by song. Jones said that …
Only Life, the Feelies' third album from 1988, finds Bill Million wandering away from the songwriting, and Glenn Mercer, possibly to fill that gap, pondering more on concrete matters. "Got a ways to go/and so …
There just aren't that many honest bands around. I mean, bands that don't hide behind layers of sound and overdubbing. Not so Band of Skulls on their impressive guitar-driven debut album Baby Darling Doll Face …
British singer Noel McKoy has been on the fringes of the soul and acid-jazz scenes since the late ’80s. In the early ’90s he fronted the James Taylor Quartet. This year McKoy released his solo …
One travels around the globe when listening to the contemporary flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook. From his eighth album, The Rumba Foundation, we hear the influences of Colombia with modern interpretations of international guitar music in …
Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson, itching to create a prog-metal masterwork with the audacity of Tales From Topographic Oceans or The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, at last materializes his wish. The Incident takes up 55 …
Former New Order singer-guitarist Bernard Sumner debuts his new outfit, Bad Lieutenant, with Never Cry Another Tear. In the ranks of BL are New Order conscripts Stephen Morris and Phil Cunningham, but anyone expecting a …
Two years have passed since the Arctic Monkeys’ sophomore disc Favourite Worst Nightmare, so was Humbug worth the wait? On the first listen, it seems layered, structured, safe...mature. Happens to the best of us. Or …
First bold and underlined rule when approaching the new Scarlett Johansson and Pete Yorn duo disc: forget Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin. I mean, remember Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin if you want to. They …
The Manic Street Preachers' latest culls lyrics from the unearthed notebook of their former guitarist Richey Edwards, who vanished without a trace in the mid '90s after the band released their tragic masterpiece The Holy …
A novice bassist at 17, a professional bassist at 18, sideman to legendary trumpeter Chet Baker at 20, sideman to legendary pianist Bill Evans at 23, dead in a car wreck at 25: Scott LaFaro …
Embryonic, the Flaming Lips' 12th release, is a monster of an album. The Oklahoma trio channeled all the psychedelic guitars and raw sound they could into 18 tracks that sound more in tune with 1990's …
Each Weezer record produces at least one radio hit. The blue album had "Undone," the green album had "Hash Pipe," and the red album had "Troublemaker." These songs were good but each had the purpose …
Whenever a major label drops a band, there's a feeling that the artists are living on borrowed time. Danish duo the Raveonettes, who parted company with Colombia Records after failing to take the world by …
Wikipedia calls the two-man bass-and-drums OM a “stoner metal band,” but as the Good God is my witness, they don’t sound that stupid. Trying and esoteric, yes — if you’re looking for rough noisy explosions, …