Lake Street Dive: Obviously [Album Review]

Lake Street Dive ObviouslyNonesuch Records [2021] Lake Street Dive have carved out a unique place on the current musical landscape rooted in time honored pop music songcraft informed by classic R&B, with just the right dash of dance floor funk, delivered in jazzy arrangements that push the soulful lead vocals of Rachel Price to the … Read more

Har Mar Superstar: Rosevile [Album Review]

Har Mar Superstar RosevilleLove OnLine Records [2021] I’ll admit that the first and only time I saw Har Mar Superstar play live, opening for Afghan Whigs in Cincinnati in the Fall of 2017, more than once in the band’s nearly hour long set I wondered if it was a joke, that somebody had forgotten to … Read more

Todd Rundgren: Clearly Human Live Virtual Tour [Concert Review]

Todd Rundgren: Clearly Human Live Virtual Tour; Cleveland, OH (via Chicago, IL) – Monday, February 22, 2021 Anyone who’s paid attention to the technology of live concert touring, would not be surprised to learn that long-time early adapter, rocker, and producer Todd Rundgren would be one of the first people to reimagine live music experiences … Read more

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis: Carnage [Album Review]

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis CarnageGoliath Records [2021] The one time I was able to see the Australian band Nick Cave & The Bad Seed play live, they delivered a set in the afternoon on the 1994 version of the Lollapalooza festival, the year Beastie Boys and Smashing Pumpkins were the headliners. Fresh from the … Read more

Maxïmo Park: Nature Always Wins [Album Review]

Maxïmo Park Nature Always WinsProlifica Inc. [2021] British trio, Maxïmo Park combine the big, rock guitars of modern rock acts with the catchy electro-pop melodicism of 80’s new wave on their solid seventh full-length album, Nature Always Wins. With the departure of long-time keyboard player Lukas Wooller, the remaining trio of players have regrouped to … Read more

Joyann Parker: Out Of The Dark [Album Review]

Joyann Parker Out Of The DarkHopeless Romantic Records [2021] Joyann Parker, a Minneapolis-based singer/songwriter, brings her big, soulful voice to a set of originals that lean toward the traditional pop side of Americana’s spectrum of musical influences, from rootsy R&B to blues, country and rock & roll. Parker co-writes with her band’s guitarist Mark Lamoine, … Read more

Jeff Johnson & Phil Keaggy: Ravenna [Album Review]

Jeff Johnson & Phil Keaggy RavennaArkMusic [2021] Ravenna is the fourth instrumental collaboration from keyboardist Jeff Johnson and guitarist Phil Keaggy, this time inspired by 5th and 6th century mosaics from the Byzantine era, housed in 8 early Christian monuments in Ravenna, Italy, all now on the World Heritage List. As such this lush, layered … Read more

The Hold Steady: Open Door Policy [Album Review]

The Hold Steady Open Door PolicyPositive Jams/Thirty Tigers [2021] At this point, with 7 studio albums under their belt since debuting on the scene in 2004, The Hold Steady have locked down a pretty reliable piece of rock & roll real estate around the storytelling narratives of singer/songwriter Craig Finn. The band’s 2019 album, aptly … Read more

The Weather Station: Ignorance [Album Review]

The Weather Station IgnoranceFat Possum Records [2021] With the fifth album from her band The Weather Station, Canadian singer/songwriter Tamara Lindeman has expanded her band’s sonic palette to include a fuller sound that includes a richer, jazzier sound carried in the percussion and the increased textures achieved by the addition of saxophone, flute and in … Read more

Foo Fighters: Medicine At Midnight [Album Review]

Foo Fighters Medicine At MidnightRoswell/RCA Records [2021] Nobody who heard Foo Fighters’ self-titled debut in 1995, which featured Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl playing all the instruments and singing all the leads, could have guessed that 10 albums and 26 years later Grohl & Co. would be one of the most successful rock acts in the … Read more

Aaron Lee Tasjan: Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! [Album Review]

Aaron Lee Tasjan Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!New West Records [2021] To get a sense for the vast musical inspirations that fuel Aaron Lee Tasjan’s eclectic pop style, expressed across the 11 strong tracks of his fourth full-length album Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! you just have to consider the list of artists he’s collaborated with in one way … Read more

Charlie Peacock: Skin And Wind [Album Review]

Charlie Peacock Skin And Wind UTR Media [2021] Unless you’re someone who studies the small print credits list when you pick up a new album, you likely have never heard of Charlie Peacock, the producer of The Civil Wars’ 2011 debut, Barton Hollow, which picked up two Grammy’s for Best Folk and Best Country Duo Performance. … Read more

Ryan Adams: Wednesdays [Album Review]

Ryan Adams WednesdaysPAX-AM [2020] Early in 2019, Ryan Adams announced that he had three albums set for immanent release, but that was before the New York Times released a story in which seven women, including his ex-wife Mandy Moore, Liz Phair, and Phoebe Bridgers, accused him of sexual misconduct and abuse. Adams denied the allegations … Read more

Weezer: OK Human [Album Review]

Weezer OK HumanCrush Music/Atlantic Records [2021] With the pandemic postponement of the Hella Mega Tour with co-headliners Green Day and Fall Out Boy, Weezer has delayed the release of their promised Van Weezer record designed to re-visit the big noisy guitars of their hard rock and metal influences a la the likes of KISS, Sabbath, … Read more

Lucero: When You Found Me [Album Review]

Lucero When You Found MeLiberty & Lament/Thirty Tigers [2021] On the tenth studio album from long-time Memphis band Lucero, singer and songwriter Ben Nichols leads his bandmate crew through 10 songs that celebrate the rock & roll influences he heard on the radio throughout his youth in a series of story songs that reflect his … Read more

Steve Earle & The Dukes: J.T. [Album Review]

Steve Earle & The Dukes J.T.New West Records [2021] Steve Earle, one of the founding fathers of Outlaw Country and Americana, has gotten awfully good at something he likely never hoped to be known for. Especially this time. Back in 2009, Earle released Townes, a tribute to his friend and mentor, Townes Van Zandt, who … Read more

Matthew Sweet: Catspaw [Album Review]

Matthew Sweet CatspawOmnivore Recordings [2021] As big a fan of “High Fidelity” as one can be, I’ve always been too much of a completist to settle for the “top five” of anything, especially desert island discs. Didn’t the invention of the digital media player kind of put the lie to the idea that you’d ever … Read more

The Postal Service: Everything Will Change [Album Review]

The Postal Service Everything Will ChangeSub Pop Records [2020] In 2003, Death Cab For Cutie’s lead singer/songwriter Ben Gibbard and electronica musician Jimmy Tamborello (sometimes known as Dntel) released an album of songs they had recreated primarily by mailing tracks back and forth, thus the band moniker, The Postal Service. Late in the process of … Read more

Phoebe Bridgers: Copycat Killers EP [Album Review]

Phoebe Bridgers Copycat Killers EPDead Oceans [2020] After releasing her critically acclaimed sophomore release, Punisher, back in the summer only to have it earn her 4 Grammy nods including Best New Artist, singer/songwriter Phoebe Bridgers has collaborated with orchestrator Rob Moose to re-present 4 songs from that strong indie rock collection. Moose is best known … Read more

The Dirty Knobs: Wreckless Abandon [Album Review]

The Dirty Knobs Wreckless AbandonBMG [2020] Guitarist Mike Campbell, like Little Stephen Van Zandt (E Street Band) and Nils Lofgren (Crazy Horse & E Street Band), has both the distinction and anonymity of being a rock star’s sideman, playing for the better part of 50 years in the shadow of Tom Petty. While the Heartbreakers’ … Read more

The War On Drugs: LIVE DRUGS [Album Review]

The War On Drugs LIVE DRUGSSuper High Quality Records [2020] In a year when we’ve all had to forego live concerts, it feels like a gift that The War On Drugs took a break from the creation of their follow-up to 2017’s Grammy-winning Rock Album of the Year, A Deeper Understanding, to offer up a … Read more

Chris Stapleton: Starting Over [Album Review]

Chris Stapleton Starting OverMercury Records Nashville [2020] Like many country music artists, Chris Stapleton had already co-written several hit songs for and with artists like Kenny Chesney and George Strait before launching a solo career with his very successful debut, 2015’s Traveller. While his country music bona fides have been locked down tight since day … Read more

The Nels Cline Singers: Share The Wealth [Album Review]

The Nels Cline Singers Share The WealthBlue Note Records [2020] Wilco fans can no doubt remember when experimental jazz guitarist Nels Cline came on board, appearing for the first time on the band’s 2005 double live album, Kicking Television; Live In Chicago. While the band had plenty of experience coloring outside the lines – consider … Read more

Matt Berninger: Serpentine Prison [Album Review]

Matt Berninger Serpentine PrisonBook Records [2020] Given the constant chaos and change in our world right now, we hold on to any signs of consistency, something reliable and true. Well, one thing we can count on is this: it’s reasonable to suggest that it’s inevitable for the lead singer of any popular band to want … Read more

Elvis Costello: Hey Clockface [Album Review]

Elvis Costello Hey ClockfaceConcord Records [2020] By now, Elvis Costello’s fans have gotten used to his experimental collaborations and explorations of new musical territory. After all, he’s the same stripped-down punk rocker who gave us My Aim Is True in ’77, but by ’82 had delivered the lush, textured Imperial Bedroom. In 1986, he delivered … Read more