Brian Q. Newcomb 
King’s X (w/ King of Spades): Rockstar Pro Arena, Dayton, Ohio – September 29, 2016 On a cool and gloomy Fall night, about 300 people filled the Rockstar Pro Arena, just east of downtown Dayton, to hear the world-class hard rock trio and recording artists, King’s x offer up a 90+ minute show that spanned … Read more
Probably the best thing about music festivals, aside from gathering some bands you want to see into one place for a long day of music, or three days if you have the stamina and interest, is the times you stumble onto good bands you’ve not encountered previously. As I was new to the MidPoint Fest, … Read more
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree Bad Seed LTD. [2016] Fire Note Says: Filled with pure, unbridled pain, Nick Cave once again exorcises his demons. Album Review: There may be nothing more painful to experience than pure unadulterated grief. Which is why many will choose to pass on the latest album from Australian … Read more
Glass Animals How To Be A Human Being Harvest Records [2016] Fire Note Says: A strong follow up record from Glass Animals. Album Review: Following that path of previous singles like “Black Mambo” and “Gooey,” Brit-pop quartet Glass Animals have dug deeper on the songs for their sophomore album, How to Be a Human Being, … Read more
No matter how jaded and cynical a music writer becomes, and there’s plenty going on in the music and journalism businesses to leave one jaded and cynical, most of us have artists whose history and/or music hits us in our warm spot, a place of personal satisfaction and joy. For instance, I’ll always have a … Read more
Thrice To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere Vagrant Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Thrice still bring an edgy melodic crunch. Album Review: Fresh from it’s hiatus of a few years, the alt rock/post-hardcore West Coast band Thrice is raging against the machine; with an apparent war on the horizon, they’re prepared to do battle. … Read more
The Kills Ash & Ice Domino Records [2016] Fire Note Says: The Kills combine familiar sentiments and musical grooves into an intimate package. Album Review: The classic female/male duo The Kills – made up of singer Alison Mosshart and multi-instrumentalist James Hince, much like similar duos The White Stripes, The Ravonettes, Phantogram… maybe, The Carpenters … Read more
Swans The Glowing Man Young God Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Swans is an acquired taste. Album Review: Perhaps the most obvious point of entry for those unfamiliar with the unique musical styling of the Swans is that moment in every Sonic Youth concert when the band slid out of their somewhat traditional alternative rock … Read more
Colvin & Earle Colvin & Earle Fantasy Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Colvin & Earle share a personal feeling in music here that is ultimately universal. Album Review: As a junior musicologist (every music critic thinks they know everything, and don’t believe them when they tell you otherwise), I have a few pet theories about … Read more
Tegan And Sara Love You To Death Warner Bros. Records [2016] Fire Note Says: A summer dance pop record that touches all the bases. Album Review: Fans who loved the musical evolution that took folk/rock twin-sister act Tegan and Sara into synth-pop territory for 2013’s Greg Kurstin produced Heartthrob, will find plenty to appreciate on … Read more
The Monkees Good Times! Rhino Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Good Times! delivers on the joy from the golden era of rock & roll. Album Review: By the mid-60’s, Liverpool, England’s The Beatles had gone from Tiger Beat/Teen Mania “Top of the Pop’s” stars to a credible rock & roll band, buoyed by Lennon & … Read more
Case/Lang/Veirs Case/Lang/Veirs ANTI- [2016] Fire Note Says: This isn’t just your typical collaboration. Album Review: To borrow a phrase from this record’s boldest rocker, in a world dominated by American Idol Voices, Disney divas and flash in the pan pop star wannabes, the collaboration of k.d. lang, Neko Casa and Laura Veirs proves to be … Read more
Bill Mallonee & The Big Sky Ramblers / Muriah Rose Slow Trauma / Beneath The Clay Self-Released [2016] Fire Note Says: Both experience and new beginnings shine on solo records from husband and wife team Mallonee and Rose. Album Review: Okay, let me climb up on a soapbox for a minute: Sometimes, often it seems, … Read more
Guns N’ Roses (w/ Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown): Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio – July 6, 2016 Here in 2016, it’s hard to gauge the significance of bands that were hugely popular in the 1980s after all the time that has passed. Few would argue against the dominance of L.A. band Guns N’ Roses … Read more
Garbage Strange Little Birds Stunvolume [2016] Fire Note Says: Strange Little Birds is, first and foremost, a fine modern pop record. Album Review: It’s always a fun, noisy, modern pop/rock explosion when we get a new record from Scottish vocalist Shirley Manson and her band Garbage, made up of mid-American studio hounds into punk, electronica/techno, … Read more
PJ Harvey The Hope Six Demolition Project Vagrant Records [2016] Fire Note Says: PJ Harvey’s creative musical efforts suggest a hope that springs eternal. Album Review: It’s never quite clear whether PJ Harvey’s latest project – her ninth full-length – is an art project exploring the exploitative nature of poverty tourism for political gain, or … Read more
Paul Simon Stranger To Stranger Concord Music Group [2016] Fire Note Says: Paul Simon continues to bring a certain rhythmic sensibility to life’s more perplexing realities. Album Review: Paul Simon has already had several huge careers as both a songwriter and performer. With Art Garfunkel, Simon contributed numerous classics to the Great American Songbook: “Sound … Read more
Red Hot Chili Peppers The Getaway Warner Bros. Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Peppers still like to push the envelope. Album Review: Looking at the list of alternative rock bands that started in the 80’s and were coming into their own — commercially and artistically — in the 90’s, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are … Read more
The Strumbellas Hope Glassnote Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Canadian band The Strumbellas play a familiar tune. Album Review: Canadian band The Strumbellas rode into to public acclaim on the back of their airplay single, “Spirits,” on the same post-banjo Mumford wave that brought us the likes of Icelandic band Of Monsters and Men, and … Read more
The Strokes Future Present Past (EP) Cult Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Fututre Present Past engages and entertain long time Strokes fans. Album Review: Probably the best thing to announce about this new four-song EP by The Strokes for their label, Cult Records, is that this suggests that the band is busily writing new music … Read more
Peter Wolf A Cure For Loneliness Concord Music Group [2016] Fire Note Says: Artful and engaging, Peter Wolf continues to serve up well-crafted songs. Album Review: Peter Wolf is an old school rock singer/icon, schooled in blues, soul, R&B, and country, essentially all the roots musics that came together to create the bastard child that … Read more
Mudcrutch 2 Reprise Records [2016] Fire Note Says: 2 succeeds with the writing skills and delivery of Tom Petty. Album Review: One of the challenges that artists fortunate enough to have a long and fruitful career have to face is how does one keep their work fresh, inspiring and entertaining for themselves and for their … Read more
The Jayhawks Paging Mr. Proust Sham Records [2016] Fire Note Says: Paging Mr. Proust is focused on strong songs and the band’s reliable sound. Album Review: Fans of Americana with a long enough memory, will remember The Jayhawks as one of the best bands of the mid-90’s, when albums like Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow … Read more
Santana Santana IV Santana IV Reocrds [2016] Fire Note Says: This collaboration is long overdue and worth the wait. Album Review: At the Woodstock Festival in 1969, Carlos Santana and the band that bears his name was coming into their full musical power. In the next two years they produced three of their most memorable … Read more
Eric Clapton I Still Do Bushbranch/Surfdog Records [2016] Fire Note Says: I Still Do finds Clapton in fine form creating music that first inspired him. Album Review: Clearly, with the release of his 24th solo studio recording, Eric Clapton feels he has nothing to prove. Given the 71 year old’s stunning history as one of … Read more