Jason Isbell And The 400 UnitWeathervanesSoutheastern Records/Thirty Tigers [2023] When Sam Jones’ documentary, Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed, hit HBO early this Spring, music fans not only got an inside look into the making of the 2020 release from Jason Isbell and his band The 400 Unit, “Reunions,” but we also witnessed the … Read more
Rufus WainwrightFolkocracyBMG [2023] While it took him 25 years, after making sophisticated pop albums both of the classic past and more modern pop as well as exploring the world of opera and classical music, Rufus Wainwright, the child of two well-known folk artists and what he describes as “a bona fide folkocracy,” has finally gotten … Read more
Foo FightersBut Here We AreRoswell/RCA Records [2023] Arriving a few months over a year from the unexpected, tragic death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, the 11th album from Dave Grohl’s Foo Fighters is dripping with grief, an emotion no doubt heightened by the death of his 84-year-old mother, Virginia Grohl, last August. Throughout the history of … Read more
Shannon LayCovers Vol. 1Sub Pop Records [2023] Shannon Lay, formerly with the band Feels and part of Ty Segall’s backing band, has released a handful of indie releases as well as Sub Pop. On the abtly titled Covers Vol. 1 she serves up 9 songs written by her influences, past and current. Largely played on … Read more
Rufus WainwrightRufus Wainwright (25th Anniversary Edition)UMe Released: May 19, 1998/Reissue: May 19, 2023Producer: Jon Brion, Pierre MarchandLength: 53:26/Reissue: 1:36:00 When the self-titled debut, Rufus Wainwright came out in 1998 it won high praise from numerous music critics for its uniquely romantic piano balladry but sold very modestly. The son of established musical artists, Wainwright was … Read more
St. Paul & The Broken BonesAngels In Science FictionATO Records [2023] For all their efforts to expand their 8-piece band’s sound to include psychedelia and hip-hop rhythms, and as wide ranging as their lyrical pursuits have been – whether exploring Greek mythology, space travel and astronomical phenomenon, or sci-fi fantasy – St. Paul and The … Read more
Bruce CockburnO Sun O MoonTrue North Records [2023] It’s been 6 years, since Canadian singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn (pronounced Coe-burn) released an album with voice and lyrics, Bone On Bone, and 4 years since he’d released an album of acoustic guitar instrumentals, Crowing Ignites. “Time takes its toll,” he sings on the opening track of his … Read more
The Salt Collective LifePropeller Sound Recordings [2023] It would be easy on an album featuring a so-called “supergroup” collaboration, with so many established indie/rock artists listed as participants, to lose track of the original songwriters and the actual songs themselves. So to begin at the beginning, Salt is a Paris-based trio that includes primary songwriter … Read more
Olivia JeanRaving GhostThird Man Records [2023] Back in 2019, when Olivia Jean was opening for The Raconteurs on tour The Fire Note review assessed that her mix of ‘50’s rock & roll, surf guitar sounds, girl group harmonies, and a definitive punk DIY attitude made for “some fun rock & roll nostalgia presented with plenty … Read more
The Lemon TwigsEverything HarmonyCaptured Tracks [2023] If there were really such a thing as time travel, it wouldn’t be all that hard to convince even the most astute music listener that the new album from The Lemon Twigs was a long-lost product from 1967, perhaps the one original copy hidden away in a time capsule … Read more
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss – Raise The Roof Tour; Rose Music Center at the Heights; Dayton, Ohio; May 3, 2023 Almost as incongruous as the coming together of Robert Plant, the now-74 year old former-lead singer of the prototype hard rock/metal band Led Zeppelin, and Alison Krauss, twenty years younger, with an award-winning career … Read more
Ian HunterDefiance, Pt. 1Sun Records [2023] One of the tells among all the other obvious signs that you are getting old, not just older but old, is when a band you remember from your youth hits the road with a “Seven Decades Tour.” Turns out Jethro Tull (remember jamming to “Locomotive Breath” and “Thick as … Read more
Mountain Stage with Larry Grace Featuring Wilco, Peter Case, Garrison Starr & more: Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on the campus of Ohio University; Athens, OH; Sunday, April 30, 2023 To be honest, when we purchased the tickets for the Mountain Stage performance over in Athens, OH, we were just looking forward to seeing Wilco again, … Read more
Indigo De SouzaAll Of This Will EndSaddle Creek Records [2023] The final track on Indigo De Souza’s sophomore album in 2021, Any Shape You Take, was “Kill Me,” a song she wrote at a very low time in her life. But by the time she recorded it, the closing line of explanation which suggests that … Read more
The Tallest Man On EarthHenry St.ANTI- [2023] In the title track of The Tallest Man on Earth’s 7th album, Henry St. Swedish singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson drops the façade for a moment, acknowledging that “I’m a little dude in the scape of songs/I know I’m wrong, I just feel it right.” While Matsson has described himself … Read more
FeistMultitudesInterscope Records [2023] Arriving six years after her last release, Canadian singer/songwriter Feist decided to workshop the songs for her sixth full-length album in a series of intimate residency events in Ottawa, Toronto and Hamburg. Throughout the 12 tracks of Multitudes, Feist returns repeatedly to the direct approach of folk music, finger-picking a nylon string … Read more
TemplesExoticoATO Records [2023] On their 4th full-length album, the often-labeled psychedelic pop/rock quartet Temples, have chosen a title that comes close to describing both the breadth of their compositions and the lush musical textures they created with producer Sean Ono Lennon. With their 2019 release, Hot Motion, the quartet displayed their dexterity with a broad … Read more
The Natural LinesThe Natural LinesBella Union [2023] From his own reporting, indie rocker Matt Pond PA has been trying to quit the music business for years, except for one thing. He says, “The problem is that I can’t stop writing songs.” So even after announcing in 2017 that he was laying his stage moniker—his real … Read more
MudhoneyPlastic EternitySub Pop Records [2023] Thirty-five years in, and two years after the Deluxe Edition re-release of their second full-length album, Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge; 30th Anniversary, Mudhoney has nothing to prove. Formed by singer/guitarist Mark Arm and lead guitarist Steve Turner, after their band Green River, which also included Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament … Read more
Alasdair RobertsGrief In The Kitchen And Mirth In The HallDrag City Records [2023] Scottish-native and singer/guitarist, Alasdair Roberts has always loved the traditional folk music of his homeland, and again after two dozen or so solo and collaborative releases, he returns here with 12 traditional ballads. Recorded live in the studio over the course of … Read more
The New PornographersContinue As A GuestMerge Records [2023] For over two decades, The New Pornographers have been a reliable indie rock staple with a line-up that has varied from studio recordings to live shows on occasion. Formed in Vancouver by A.C. Newman, with Neko Case, a solo artist in her own right, and a crew … Read more
The Hold SteadyThe Price Of ProgressPositive Jams/Thirty Tigers [2023] With 20 years and eight albums worth of songs under their belt, The Hold Steady are now a recognizable quantity. Coming together in Minneapolis their classic rock meets punk guitar rock vibe showed signs of taking to heart local music heroes like The Replacements and Husker … Read more
The Killers With The Lemon Twigs; Imploding The Mirage Tour: Schottenstein Center; Columbus, OH; Tuesday, March 21, 2023 Early in The Killers’ set on Tuesday night, the second official day of Spring, the band’s lead singer and front man, Brandon Flowers announced that when the band has played here in the past, it was always … Read more
Lana Del ReyDid You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean BlvdInterscope Records [2023] At several points on this monumental 9th album from singer/songwriter Lana Del Rey, she reports that “When you know, you know.” Yet after numerous listens to this album that no less than pop superstar Taylor Swift recently described as “brilliant” and … Read more
Depeche ModeMomento MoriColumbia Records [2023] By all accounts, Depeche Mode were unlikely to make their 15th album, “Momento Mori.” Tensions between the band’s two creative voices, Martin Gore and Dave Gahan became so intense during the making of their 2017 release Spirit, that producer James Ford had to kick everyone else, including the duo’s primary … Read more