Porto GeeseDuckSheep Chase Records [2021] The debut album from Oslo’s Porto Geese is an intense mix of shoegaze and post-punk that is filled with strategic transitions, an array of instrument mashing and a speaker destroying rhythm of sound. The detail to every note on Duck is fantastic as the extra studio time the band clocked … Read more
Aimee MannQueens Of The Summer HotelSuperEgo [2021] Over the course of her nearly 40 year career, Aimee Mann has pretty much done it all. In the 80’s she led the new wave band ‘Til Tuesday, composing their biggest hit, “Voices Carry,” and even sang a rare duet with Rush’s Geddy Lee. When she went solo, … Read more
Velvet StarlingsTechnicolour ShakedownKitten Robot/SoundX3 Records [2021] Velvet Starlings is a 60’s infused garage rock ‘n’ roll band hailing from Los Angeles and the beach cities of Southern California. The band was founded by guitarist and organ player Christian Gisborne but now is rounded out with brothers Foster and Hudson Poling, who play drums and bass … Read more
Damon AlbarnThe Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream FlowsTransgressive Records [2021] In many ways, Damon Albarn’s official second solo album is as influenced by his physical surroundings in Iceland, as his early breakthrough albums with the band Blur – Modern Life Is Rubbish, Parklife, and The Great Escape – offered a window into the … Read more
Big HeetPlaying The BugLiving Lost Records [2021] David Settle has been on a hot streak for releasing music this year as the Philadelphia musician is responsible for The Fragiles back in February and the excellent Psychic Flowers album in July. Settle now returns with another established moniker of his with Big Heet that also finds … Read more
OvlovBudsExploding In Sound Records [2021] Connecticut four-piece Ovlov has released two LPs and a handful of EPs over the last decade and have called it quits more times than their output but the good news is – the band has made it to full length number three, Buds. The group has kept many things the … Read more
Robert Plant | Alison KraussRaising The RoofRounder Records [2021] The huge success created by the first collaboration by Led Zep rock howler Robert Plant and Americana/bluegrass darling of the Grand Ol’ Opry Alison Krauss was so counterintuitive that once they’d picked up their 6th Grammy Award for Raising Sand, “Album of the Year” for 2008,” … Read more
Ross JenningsA Shadow Of My Future SelfGraphite Records[2021] Ross Jennings is not a household name. Nor are either of his bands, Haken and Novena. But Haken are, in fact, one of the few true success stories to be found within the Prog genre (their video for “The Cockroach King” has garnered over two million views … Read more
Gary Clark Jr.: Express LIVE; Columbus, OH; Tuesday, November 9, 2021 Before the lights went down and Gary Clark Jr. led his band to the stage of Express LIVE in Columbus on Tuesday night, it became clear as the roadies were setting tuned guitars into stands, turning on the guitar amps, checking levels on drums, etc., … Read more
Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De AugustineA Beginner’s MindAsthmatic Kitty Records [2021] Just as Sufjan Stevens turned to video game culture to inspire the music of his triumphant 2020 release, The Ascension, often echoing the genre’s use of electronic sounds and fast beats, here in collaboration with Angelo de Augustine, they turn to a variety of … Read more
Curtis HardingIf Words Were FlowersANTI- [2021] Atlanta’s psychedelic vintage soul champion Curtis Harding set the bar high with his first two albums, 2014’s Soul Power and 2017’s Face Your Fear. The records highlighted a stylistic vision that put him in the upper echelon in the modern soul movement and now on his third long player, … Read more
Courtney BarnettThings Take Time, Take TimeMilk!/Mom+Pop Music/Marathon Artists [2021] Aussie indie/rock singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett’s third album, Things Take Time, Take Time, is the kind of intimate reflection on the small moments that combine to give shape to a person’s life that you might expect coming out of a pandemic lockdown. The chorus of “Rae Street,” … Read more
Laura Jane GraceAt War With The Silverfish (EP)Polyvinyl Records [2021] By now fans of Laura Jane Grace are well acquainted with her transitional journey, the physcial culmination of her songs on Against Me!’s 2014 album, Transgender Dysphoria Blues. While it’s not entirely clear what the future holds for Against Me!, Grace has been busily producing … Read more
My Morning JacketMy Morning JacketATO Records [2021] From all reports, there was a pretty good chance that the last music recorded by the members of My Morning Jacket playing together could easily have been the sessions that gave us 2015’s The Waterfall, and 2020’s leftovers, The Waterfall II. In the downtime following that tour, singer/songwriter … Read more
Lilly HiattLatelyNew West Records [2021] Nashville singer/songwriter Lilly Hiatt had the misfortune to release her last album, the Lincoln Parish (formerly of Cage the Elephant) produced Walking Proof, in March of 2020 just as the country was shutting down due to the pandemic. It was the kind of record you’d have expected the alt country/Americana … Read more
Neal FrancisIn Plain SightATO Records [2021] Chicago-based singer-songwriter-pianist Neal Francis has just released one of the most warm retro groove records of the year with his sophomore album In Plain Sight. The entire record is a faithful nod to everything that was good about late 70s rock, as its songs could sit in a playlist … Read more
RadioheadKid A MnesiaXL Recordings [2021] Radiohead has never been a band to rest on their laurels-or really even care. Yes, they defined what a guitar could do in the early 90’s with their albums Pablo Honey and The Bends. They then redefined what a band could do in 97 with their masterpiece OK Computer. But, … Read more
Chime SchoolChime SchoolSlumberland Records [2021] Chime School is the project of San Francisco musician Andy Pastalaniec. His self-titled debut is a solid slice of indie jangle pop that falls right in line with current releases from Slumberland Records label mates The Umbrellas and The Reds, Pinks & Purples. This upbeat and pleasant song structure offering … Read more
Mac McCaughanThe Sound Of YourselfMerge Records [2021] One of the perks of owning a record company would have to be that you get to make an album every now and then for your own pleasure, following your own muse without too much concern about marketing trends and commercial viability. Mac McCaughan, of the band Superchunk … Read more
Ada LeaOne Hand On The Steering Wheel The Other Sewing A GardenSaddle Creek Records [2021] All of the songs Ada Lea wrote for her follow-up to her 2019 release, What We Say In Private, describe events that have a deep connection to points in the neighborhood where she grew up in her native Montreal. While … Read more
The War On DrugsI Don’t Live Here AnymoreAtlantic Records [2021] It’s hard to imagine a new release with more anticipatory buzz than this new studio album from The War on Drugs. Following the band’s break out 2014 album, Lost in the Dream, which solidified the bona fides of Adam Granduciel’s songwriting, the band’s cohesion, and … Read more
Allison RussellOutside ChildFantasy Records [2021] In her solo debut album, Outside Child, Allison Russell finally gets around to telling her own story, in her own unique way. Previously in the Vancouver roots music group Po’ Girl, Russell migrated to the American midwest where she formed Birds of Chicago with her now husband JT Nero, mixing … Read more
Spirit WasHeaven’s Just A CloudDanger Collective Records [2021] Spirit Was is the new moniker used by multi-instrumentalist and illustrator Nick Corbo which found his primary music project, LVL UP, calling it quits in 2018. On his debut studio album, Heaven’s Just A Cloud, Corbo showcases his use of musical time and space as he creates … Read more
La LuzLa LuzHardly Art Records [2021] La Luz continue to refine their sound with every record they release and when their drummer left the band, reducing the group to a trio, it set up a perfect scenario for change for their fourth LP. The self-titled album slows down their surf psych rock and expands their … Read more
Guided By VoicesIt’s Not Them. It Couldn’t Be Them. It Is Them!GBV Inc. [2021] It wouldn’t feel like the year is coming to an end without getting one more Guided By Voices record to rock out to until the calendar flips to 2022. The band’s 34th album, It’s Not Them. It Couldn’t Be Them. It … Read more