Blog Feed: Something Else! Reviews

‘I wasn’t looking to duplicate Steve’s voice’: How the Spencer Davis Group carried on without Winwood

Published on 2012-10-03 08:02:42

The Spencer Davis Group was, and remains, more than Steve Winwood – having continued recording and touring into the new millennium under the auspices of its Welsh-born multi-instrumentalist namesake. Post-Winwood highlights have included 1967’s Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush film and soundtrack, a pair of Top 40 U.S. hits in “Time Seller” and “Mr. Second Class,” an underrated [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: John and Steve Hackett, “Down to the Domus Aurea”/ “Towards the Future” (2012)

Published on 2012-10-03 07:43:09

An extraordinarily productive period for Steve Hackett, with both the Squackett and Genesis Revisited projects, will also include the release of a pair of new instrumentals with his brother John. “Down to the Domus Aurea” and “Towards the Future,” two previously unissued tracks from Steve and John Hackett, is set to appear as in a limited-edition 500-copy run on October [...]

Max Ionata and Dado Moroni – Two For Duke (2012)

Published on 2012-10-03 07:09:15

Here’s a crisp set of eleven tunes either written by Duke Ellington or popularized by him, by a couple of Italian jazz aces a half generations apart: pianist Dado Moroni and tenor saxophonist Max Ionata. This might not be the first time a piano/sax duet has been the vehicle to render Duke songs, but Ionata and Moroni do a splendid [...]

Download: Grant Lee Phillips – NoiseTrade Sampler (2012)

Published on 2012-10-03 06:40:33

A six-song EP, available for free download now, offers listeners a glimpse into the forthcoming solo project by Grant Lee Phillips called Walking in the Green Corn. Due October 11, 2012, the new full-length album draws upon Phillips’ Native American heritage as a Muskogee Creek Nation tribal member — even as it deftly recalls the interior atmospheres and folky grace [...]

Desert Island Discs: Beatles Cover Tune Edition

Published on 2012-10-02 07:56:49

Whether you like the Beatles or not, their music can certainly take you to some interesting places — as reflected in our latest edition of Desert Island Discs. From Earth Wind and Fire to Marc Ribot, from the Jazz Crusaders to Adrian Belew, from Brad Mehldau to Joe Cocker, each of us has selected the must-have covers of Fab Four [...]

Jake Playmo – My Favorite Toys (2007, 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-10-02 07:22:40

If you were standing at the intersection of electronica, jazz and kraut rock, you’d be bound to bump into Jake Playmo and his Das Böse Ding band. The German saxophonist, flautist, composer and bandleader better known by his real name Jan Klare, Playmo made a record back in ’07 that came and went without nary a notice on American shores, [...]

Mike McCarthy – This Piano (2012)

Published on 2012-10-02 07:01:12

Mike McCarthy, a Phoenixville, Pennsyvania-based pianist, isn’t what he at first seems. He begins here with a series of contemplative runs, punctuated ever so briefly by these twinkling asides, recalling nothing so much as the nostalgic sweep of Vince Guaraldi’s most memorable work. Like Guaraldi, “An Open” doesn’t appear to have the profundity or the swinging attitude of Bill Evans [...]

Dio – The Very Beast of Dio, Vol. 2 (2012)

Published on 2012-10-02 06:34:12

The Very Beast of Dio Vol. 2 picks up where the first volume left off in Dio’s solo career and features tracks from 1996 onward. It’s an interesting period for me in that it features both what I consider Dio’s weakest work, 1996’s Angry Machines, and the record I consider an underrated masterpiece, 2000’s Magica. Also from the time period [...]

New Music Monday: Heart, Van Morrison, Charlie Hunter, Donny McCaslin, Diana Krall, Grateful Dead

Published on 2012-10-01 10:23:12

New Music Monday finds a couple of old-line favorites returning in Heart and Van Morrison, another terrific Grateful Dead reissue in the Dick’s Picks series, and two cool left turns from Diana Krall and Charlie Hunter. Diana Krall has a gutsy project on tap, one that melds forgotten pre-war gems with a handful of newer songs in the latest T [...]

Heart – Fanatic (2012)

Published on 2012-10-01 09:55:02

There’s a deeply personal feel to this new album, and a grinding loudness. That incompatible juxtaposition can make for a difficult entry into Heart’s forthcoming album Fanatic. It is, on its face, a confessional recording. There’s “Dear Old America,” which traces the story of a soldier returning after war, a thematic line that goes back to the Wilson sisters’ father [...]

Best of September 2012: Reader picks include Bob Dylan, Mark Knopfler, Neil Young, Jeff Lynne

Published on 2012-10-01 08:49:05

Bob Dylan, both with and without his legendary collaborators the Band, roared to the top of Something Else! Reviews’ reader poll for September 2012 — with entries at both Nos. 1 and 2. Our preview of Tempest, his soaring new original album, plus an intriguing new documentary on his work with Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel and [...]

The Charles Gayle Trio – Look Up (2012)

Published on 2012-10-01 08:06:43

Following by mere months the release of Streets, Charles Gayle’s return to his sax/bass/drums trio format, Look Up is a document of a live date in the same configuration from eighteen years earlier in Santa Monica, California. Touring the West Coast for the first time. Gayle, his tenor sax and bass clarinet took to the road with Michael Wimberly on [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Reason To Believe” (1982)

Published on 2012-10-01 05:30:53

Nebraska comes to a close with a song that sums up one of the underlying themes of the album: redemption. And man, we need some redemption here, what with the people dyin’ and folks being left at the alter and well, you know…just a few of the many happenings that can intrude on a life struggling to be well-lived. Redemption [...]

‘Everything has to be bigger’: David Byrne takes us inside his giant Talking Heads-era gray suit

Published on 2012-09-30 12:41:21

One of the most iconic images of the 1980s in general, and Talking Heads’ frontman David Byrne specifically, remains the giant gray suit he wore in the concert film Stop Making Sense. In a new talk with Entertainment Weekly, he discusses the genesis of the offbeat costume — and how he kept from overheating while wearing it. 1984′s Stop Making [...]

Van Morrison – Born to Sing: No Plan B (2012)

Published on 2012-09-30 11:47:17

Recorded live in the studio with a core six-piece band, Morrison’s 34th album — and his return to Blue Note — perhaps unsurprisingly has a jazzier atmosphere than his most recent studio effort, 2008′s Keep It Simple. Heck, Morrison even plays sax. All welcome news. But after getting off to a fast start with the finger-snapping rumble of its opening [...]

‘He just continues to get better’: Journey’s Neal Schon reconnects with former bandmate Steve Smith

Published on 2012-09-30 11:12:19

For years, Journey fans have hoped for a reunion between Neal Schon and Steve Perry. Maybe they were pushing for the wrong Steve from the band’s best-known recordings. Schon recently got back together with former Journey drummer Steve Smith in the studio for a forthcoming solo album called The Calling, and the guitarist emerged with effusive praise for one of [...]

An ‘incredible moment’: Yoko Ono on her new collaboration with Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore

Published on 2012-09-30 10:30:42

For Yoko Ono, who came to fame in the U.S. for offbeat art installations and outsider events like bed-ins, there was a kindred spirit to be found in Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon. “I’m very proud of them,” Ono said during a tandem live performance in 2010 at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles, “for being great, great avant-garde rockers.” [...]

Steely Dan Sunday, “Trans-Island Highway” (1993)

Published on 2012-09-30 07:14:45

> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** After an 11-year period of quiet, intermittent activity by both of our main protagonists, Steely Dan came roaring back into the public eye in 1993, starting with Fagen’s long-awaited follow-up to The Nightfly, dubbed Kamakiriad. The eyebrows were raised even further when it was revealed that Walter [...]

One Track Mind: Neil Young, the Sadies and Garth Hudson, “This Wheel’s On Fire” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-30 06:40:05

The forthcoming Chest Fever: A Canadian Tribute to the Band, curated and performed alongside co-founding keyboardist Garth Hudson, is nearly set ablaze by this ferocious new take on “This Wheel’s on Fire.” Elsewhere on Chest Fever, due October 2, 2012 from Curve Records, there are loving updates of Band classics from Cowboy Junkies, Bruce Cockburn and Blue Rodeo, but none [...]

Shows I’ll Never Forget: Rush, September 28, 2012

Published on 2012-09-30 06:19:11

At the Credit Union Center, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada: Well, I never thought I’d ever say this, but — I finally saw Rush. Decent seats in a nearly sold out house, too: Upper floor but first row, off to the side but far enough in front to see everything clearly and close enough to see the stage well. The pyro show [...]

One Track Mind: Euge Groove, “Knock! Knock! Who’s There?” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-30 05:52:24

Steven Eugene Grove aka Euge Groove, is a sax player who I see as the spiritual heir to the late George Howard: he’s not out to swing, he not out to bop and he’s definitely not out to freak out. It’s all about a sleek, accessible adult groove with Groove (get it?) , and every note out of his soprano [...]

Donny McCaslin – Casting For Gravity (2012)

Published on 2012-09-29 13:18:56

Perpetual Motion was Donny McCaslin’s big change of direction record, one which brought him a bevy of accolades last year, and rightly so, for a successful transition from the acoustic format to one that intelligently blends acoustic with electronic sonorities. This year’s Casting For Gravity, out next week, will immediately put a new tag on that prior record: transitional. McCaslin [...]

Steven Wilson – Get All You Deserve (2012)

Published on 2012-09-29 08:17:48

Get All You Deserve, the just-released concert DVD from Steven Wilson, showcases a live performer coming into his own, even as it provides a brief glimpse into his forthcoming new solo release. Recorded at Teatro Metropólitanon in Mexico City, as Wilson undertook the fifth of what would eventually be 26 concert dates, the film includes among its 16 tunes a [...]

Diana Krall – Glad Rag Doll (2012)

Published on 2012-09-29 07:44:16

From its vampy cover image to titles like “There Ain’t No Sweet Man that’s Worth the Salt of My Tears,” this album has the look and feel of a liberated woman pushing back — and hard — against convention. Good for Diana Krall. Cue up Glad Rag Doll, a T Bone Burnett production due October 2, 2012 on Verve, and [...]

Forgotten series: The Racket Squad – The Racket Squad/ Corners Of Your Mind (1968/69)

Published on 2012-09-29 07:09:21

In the beginning they were called the Fenways. Hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, they were a major draw on the regional circuit. Spunky singles such as “Be Careful Little Girl” and “The Walk” translated into huge local hits. The Fenways also played on “You’re The One” by the Vogues, which peaked at the No. 4 spot on the nationwide charts late [...]

One Track Mind: Rowdy House, “Don’t Let a Liar Lead You” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-29 06:41:36

Rowdy House, a group of anonymous non-partisan roots rockers, returns with another cautionary tale – this time, for those who think elections don’t matter. Despite all of the political theater associated with these annual exercises, Rowdy House reminds us that there is more at stake than late-night talk show gags. “Don’t Let a Liar Lead You” opens with a ruminative [...]

‘The best thing I ever heard Eddie Van Halen play’: After rebuffing his advances, Heart’s Nancy Wilson was given a song

Published on 2012-09-28 17:10:30

When Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart crossed paths with Van Halen in 1979, the brothers Eddie and Alex were at the height of their wild-and-crazy days. Nancy, in Heart’s just-released memoir, says the pair even propositioned her and her sister. The Wilsons, Nancy says in Kicking and Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul and Rock & Roll, demurred, and [...]

One Track Mind: Paul Westerberg, “My Road Now” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-28 13:35:15

There can’t be any better way, really, for a suddenly unveiled track from Paul Westerberg to begin than with a false start, followed by the erstwhile Replacements leader blurting out: “Fuck me.” It makes the opening of “My Road Now,” whatever comes next, like catnip for long-time fans. The good news is, there’s much to recommend about the rest of [...]

‘We look at the entire career’: Steve Howe says Yes’ repertoire has expanded without Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman

Published on 2012-09-28 10:38:32

Former members Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman don’t fit into the current configuration of Yes, guitarist Steve Howe says, because they wouldn’t commit to playing the group’s entire repertoire. Yes, Howe says in a new interview with Jeb Wright of Classic Rock Revisited, is focused now on delving into songs from throughout its lengthy history — “from 1968 to 2012.” [...]

Giordano Grossi – Old Stories (2012)

Published on 2012-09-28 07:08:55

In the liner notes for Old Stories by Italian bassist and composer Giordano Grossi, the narrator cautions listeners not to get so hung up on “technique” or a “’serious’ introduction about chords and rhythms.” The music in this record isn’t trying to impress you with that. Rather, she states, there’s something more important at play here: an emotion. Such a [...]

Alt-J – An Awesome Wave (2012)

Published on 2012-09-28 06:41:24

Alt-J may be one of the best recent examples of a band meeting in university and fucking around with sounds and kicking at the Weird until it bleeds something fantastic. Their An Awesome Wave is indeed making waves for all the right reasons. The four-piece met at Leeds University in 2007 and emerged with a number of inspirations, name changes [...]

One Track Mind: Charlie Hunter, “Blind Arthur” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-28 06:25:42

Jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter has the blues, or at least his version of such things, on this new song. For a guy who made his name playing it so outside — and so very, very cool — “Blind Arthur” is a brilliantly gritty, determinedly old school moment for Hunter. Inspired, it’s said, by Hunter’s passion for ragtime-based pre-war blues guitarist [...]

Joseph Mulhollen – Problematical Animals (2012)

Published on 2012-09-28 06:01:08

There’s an epic sweep to Joseph Mulhollen’s third effort, this layered melding of acoustic elegance and crunchy electronic sounds that constantly confounds expectations — even as it delves into deeply emotional places. Skillful yet ardent, and cunningly varied, Problematical Animals is revealed as a shape-shifting delight. The album, issued this week on Scenic Route Records, begins with a folky rumination [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Andy Williams – Moon River And Other Great Movie Themes (1962)

Published on 2012-09-28 05:33:38

Hey, I wonder what Susan Dey’s been up to? Silly question? Yeah, sort of. But there was a time when it wouldn’t have been. Or more specifically, there was a time when you could be pretty sure that just about anybody in the room would know who you were talking about. Now before you decide that I’ve driven down Nostalgia [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Steve Hackett, “Chamber of 32 Doors” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-27 13:32:58

The opening track from guitarist Steve Hackett’s forthcoming Genesis Revisited II project premiered just moments ago on planetrock.com, giving prog rock fans a sneak peek into this guest-packed tribute project. The redo of “Chamber of 32 Doors,” originally included on Peter Gabriel’s swan song with Genesis The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in 1974, begins with a gorgeous, classically inspired [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Jeff Lynne, “Mr. Blue Sky” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-27 12:36:30

A new video gives us our most complete listen yet as Jeff Lynne seeks to reimagine a series of his classic moments with the Electric Light Orchestra. “Mr. Blue Sky” is the title track from the upcoming Frontier Records release Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra, a set of 11 ELO do-overs — and one new [...]

‘The best year of my life’: New documentary follows Stevie Nicks’ collaborations with Dave Stewart

Published on 2012-09-27 11:17:07

A new documentary explores the recent collaboration between Fleetwood Mac’s Steve Nicks and Dave Stewart, of Eurythmics fame. “In Your Dreams: Stevie Nicks” premieres at the International Hamptons Film Festival and then the 20th annual Mill Valley Film Festival, both in October. Cameras were allowed into Nicks’ home, a mansion in the Los Angeles hills, as she worked with Stewart [...]

‘People went batsh*t’: Crosby Stills and Nash to conclude new tour by playing entire debut album

Published on 2012-09-27 10:24:36

Crosby Stills and Nash will wrap of their 80-concert world tour next month with a gala performance of their debut album in its entirety at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. The seminal supergroup was formed when David Crosby (the Byrds), Stephen Stills (Buffalo Springfield) and Graham Nash (the Hollies) got together for an informal 1968 jam at the [...]

Gimme Five: Solo Beatles records that, well, sucked

Published on 2012-09-27 07:30:20

For all of the promise that greeted their time apart — we’ll get four Beatles albums a year now! — the reality was far different as Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison embarked on solo careers. Lennon might have had the most disappointing solo career of them all, if only because he was the one who left with perhaps [...]

São Paulo Underground – Tres Cabeças Loucuras (2011)

Published on 2012-09-27 07:06:06

When Chicago-based trumpeter/cornetist Rob Mazurek decided to dig deeper and absorb the rich and festive melodies of Brazilian music, he didn’t do so by merely listening to a bunch of Jobim records, hang out with some transplanted Brazilian musicians for a while or even visit the South American country for a short spell. No, Mazurek went all-in, living in Brazil [...]

One Track Mind: Steve Gadd on “Aja,” “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,” “Take It Away,” others

Published on 2012-09-27 06:35:59

Steve Gadd takes us inside mythical sessions with Paul Simon, Paul McCartney and Steely Dan in this special edition of our regular One Track Mind feature. He also goes in depth on his lengthy working relationships with Eric Clapton and Chick Corea, with whom he has recorded and toured for decades. Gadd’s latest project has a similar star power: The [...]

The Association – The Complete Warner Bros and Valiant Singles Collection (2012)

Published on 2012-09-27 06:18:57

If there was ever a group capable of teaching the world to sing in perfect harmony (apologies to the Hillside Singers and the New Seekers), it would definitely be the Association. Equipped with spellbinding vocal power that married natural beauty with detailed complexity, the Los Angeles band amassed a clutch of high-charting singles between the years 1966 and 1968. But [...]

Something Else! Interview: Legendary drummer Steve Gadd

Published on 2012-09-26 07:57:55

Steve Gadd had established himself as one of the most versatile drummers working in music today long before the advent of the Gaddabouts. He used all of that experience in constructing this new band. Gadd, in fact, first heard something he liked by Edie Brickell back in 2000, and smartly coaxed the retired singer-songwriter into the studio. It then took [...]

Katherine Young’s Pretty Monsters – Katherine Young’s Pretty Monsters (2012)

Published on 2012-09-26 07:16:52

Just about every other symphony orchestral instrument has been drafted into service for the diabolically opposed world of improvised music, so why not the bassoon? That’s a question that’s not only been asked but also affirmatively answered, by Katherine Young. Having worked with Anthony Braxton and Faust’s Joachim Irmler, Young started making a name as a solo performer, cradling this [...]

On Second Thought: Stevie Wonder – Where I’m Coming From (1971)

Published on 2012-09-26 06:55:58

Where I’m Coming From is the big turning point in Stevie Wonder’s career. Released in 1971, shortly before his 21st birthday and around the time his original Motown contract expired, it was the first album under Wonder’s new deal in which Berry Gordy reluctantly gave the R&B superstar total artistic control of his work. When the record stiffed Gordy, who [...]

Iggy Pop, John Wetton, Nektar, Sweet, Todd Rundgren – Who Are You: An All Star Tribute to the Who (2012)

Published on 2012-09-26 06:27:13

The intrigue of compilations like this is when seemingly incongruent artists successfully combine, or when somebody turns a familiar tune inside out. Who Are You: An All Star Tribute to the Who — due October 2, 2012, from Cleopatra Records — offers its share of both. The set opens with John Wetton, who always sings like his life is in [...]

“We didn’t kick Steve out; he walked”: Journey’s Neal Schon still hopes to rebuild friendship with Perry

Published on 2012-09-25 13:44:20

Though Steve Perry has been out of Journey for 15 years, band co-founder Neal Schon says he’s never closed the door on their friendship. The two don’t speak, he admits to Matt Wardlaw in a new interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, without there being some kind of intermediary — be that management or a lawyer. But Schon insists the relationship, [...]

‘That would have been just terrible’: Mark Knopfler had to edit Privateering after creative outburst

Published on 2012-09-25 12:02:56

The wildly productive Mark Knopfler, who’s just issued a song-packed two-disc collection of rootsy goodness, tells Paul Sexton of the Independent that it actually could have been a triple album. Knopfler, 63, says he thought better of such a sprawling project, however — calling such things “unforgiveable.” Up next is a highly anticipated tour with Bob Dylan, who himself has [...]

‘More like Supertramp than Supertramp’: Roger Hodgson discusses fan reactions to new band tour

Published on 2012-09-25 11:25:48

Roger Hodgson tells Dave Richards of GoErie.com that fans are favorably comparing a new tour to his career-making work with Supertramp. Hodgson, who co-founded Supertramp before departing in the early 1980s, hadn’t played full-band dates in the U.S. in decades before mounting these on-going shows. Hodgson is perhaps best known for having helped Supertramp to a commercial peak in 1979 [...]

‘People tend to be very skeptical’: Dhani discusses following in George Harrison’s career footsteps

Published on 2012-09-25 10:46:42

Dhani Harrison, in an interview with Neil McCormick of the Telegraph, laments the pressure put on children of famous musicians — openly wondering why artists in other professions like acting get a pass. Harrison, of course, is inextricably linked to his father George Harrison, having been born to the former Beatle and Olivia Harrison in 1978. He made his professional [...]

Desert Island Discs: 1970s Fusion Edition

Published on 2012-09-25 08:54:58

Turns out, this was one funky ship that ran ashore. Our latest Desert Island Disc lists focus on 1970s fusion, and top vote-getters included Herbie Hancock’s thunderously groove-filled 1973 triumph Head Hunters. Billy Cobham’s Spectrum, a collaboration with James Gang/Deep Purple guitarist Tommy Bolin from ’73, also received two nods. Weather Report’s debut was mentioned twice, too. Meanwhile, so deep [...]

Animation – Transparent Heart (2012)

Published on 2012-09-25 07:16:19

Coming off of not one but two albums of the same live concert performing the songs of Bitches Brew, Bob Belden decided to wipe the slate clean on his exciting, hard-hitting fusion band Animation and turn inward for inspiration. “This record is not a jazz record, it’s about my life in Manhattan,” is how Belden plainly describes the new Animation [...]

Forgotten series: Tomorrow, featuring Steve Howe – Tomorrow (1968)

Published on 2012-09-25 06:47:51

Clad in a coat of psychedelic delusions, Tomorrow checks in as one of the best albums of its colorful kind. Originally issued on the Parlophone label in February of 1968 and reissued by See For Miles Records in 1991, the disc launches off in fascinating form to “My White Bicycle,” which spins and sputters with backwards guitars and jolting breaks. [...]

Neil Young, with Crazy Horse – Psychedelic Pill (2012)

Published on 2012-09-25 06:09:23

Like many of his contemporaries, Neil Young will forever be associated with the 1960s. On Psychedelic Pill, he joins together with Crazy Horse to construct a fiery requiem for the decade, and to chart a path away from its crushing disappointments. He begins, I think brilliantly, at the end: “Driftin’ Back,” a staggering epitaph for the 1960s, also intrigues because [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Chris Jasper, “Keep Believin’” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-24 07:09:08

If you believe like we do that the Isley Brothers of the ’70s and early ’80s were important in R&B and contemporary music in general, then you must have mad respect for Chris Jasper’s contributions through that band and subsequent projects. This Julliard trained, Billy Taylor mentored keyboardist co-penned nearly every one of their hits of that period and in [...]

New Music Monday: John Hiatt, Lee Ritenour, Shemekia Copeland, the Gaddabouts, Lee Konitz

Published on 2012-09-24 06:46:21

Another New Music Monday, another truckload of cool sounds — this time from the likes of John Hiatt, Lee Ritenour, Medeski Martin and Wood, Shemekia Copeland, Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris and the Gaddabouts, among others. Want to dig further back? Forthcoming reissues and live sets include stuff from Bob Dylan and the Band, Freddie Mercury, Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders, [...]

Kurt Elling – 1619 Broadway: The Brill Building Project (2012)

Published on 2012-09-24 06:11:57

There was a time when reviving the delicate wonders of the Gershwins and Cole Porter represented the leading edge of vocal songcraft. The only risk with such things anymore is smashing into someone else travelling the other way down the very middle of the road. That’s what is so refreshing about Kurt Elling’s forthcoming 1619 Broadway: The Brill Building Project [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “My Father’s House” (1982)

Published on 2012-09-24 05:30:56

I had a great relationship with my father. He was always there for me is so many ways. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve begun to realize just how much of his personality is with me. I’m here so he’s here, you might say. So it’s hard for me to imagine just how difficult it must have been for Bruce to [...]

Steely Dan Sunday, Special sneak peek: “I’m Not The Same Without You” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-23 17:00:34

*** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** There’s been a major development in Steely Dan Land since our last SDS, as RollingStone.com posted a stream of a track from Donald Fagen’s upcoming Sunken Condos release. That warrants putting off thoughts on the first track on Fagen’s second solo album in order to take a gander at the first officially released track [...]

Chris Knight – Little Victories (2012)

Published on 2012-09-23 06:51:03

Chris Knight actually does what most of the Nashville songwriters think they’re doing. He connects with country’s perceived blue-collar audience. But real connection doesn’t come through lyrics about pickup trucks and dirt roads. It comes through truth, honest emotion and hitting people where they live. Knight has always excelled at those things, and that doesn’t change on his latest record, [...]

Sam Newsome – The Art of the Soprano, Vol. 1 (2012)

Published on 2012-09-23 06:22:57

Uneasy rests the saxophonist being juxtaposed against John Coltrane, in general — and with regard to his monumental 1965 release A Love Supreme, in particular. Sam Newsome, however, sidesteps such direct comparisons on the forthcoming Art of the Soprano, Vol. 1 by stripping the spiritually charged suite down to just a solo soprano. Contrasts are easier to hear, while the [...]

Hannah and Maggie – Muscle and Bone (2012)

Published on 2012-09-23 05:43:31

New York acoustic folk-pop duo Maggie Kraus and Hannah Hickok are the perfect melding of Simon and Garfunkel and the Indigo Girls, offering quietly resonant songs conveyed through a shimmering vocal interplay. The difference on this, their follow up to the debut effort Fine Being Here, is the way Hannah and Maggie have advanced those notions toward a sound that’s [...]

‘Ready to move on’: Is Joe Bonamassa’s busy solo career going to be the end of Black Country Communion?

Published on 2012-09-22 15:07:54

A feud between Glenn Hughes and Joe Bonamassa is apparently behind the cancellation of Black Country Communion’s only scheduled show in the UK — and might yet be the end of the rock supergroup. Hughes, who previously served as frontman for both Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, has already expressed frustration that Black Country Communion has had to delay touring [...]

‘I simply do what I know I can do’: Prog god Rick Wakeman takes an organic approach to his art

Published on 2012-09-22 13:51:43

For Rick Wakeman, who’s preparing a new tour of New Zealand and a reissue of Journey to the Centre of the Earth, the approach to music remains steadfastly organic: “It,” the prog god offers, “sort of happens.” When it does, people take notice: Wakeman, who rose to fame as a member of Yes, ended up playing with that legendary progressive [...]

‘We are the real Beach Boys’: Brian Wilson opens up after being ousted by Mike Love

Published on 2012-09-22 13:05:08

Through the news release issued by the Beach Boys tried to portray their latest split as a planned event following a celebrated 50th anniversary album and tour, new comments from ousted leader Brian Wilson tell a different story. Mike Love, it’s now clear, has decided to retake a central role in the Beach Boys, having led an offshoot group that [...]

Julie Slick – Terroir (2012)

Published on 2012-09-22 07:39:44

Julie Slick’s second solo album, just issued after a successful Kickstarter campaign, advances every thrilling notion about her playing, and her creative vision, first hinted at during the 20-something bassist’s stint with the Adrian Belew Power Trio. Already a veteran of tours with Yes vocalist Jon Anderson and Police drummer Stewart Copeland as well, Slick brings all of these myriad [...]

Ferenc Nemeth – Triumph (2012)

Published on 2012-09-22 07:16:40

Hungarian born, Berklee trained drummer Ferenc Nemeth has high aims for only his second solo album, Triumph, a musical manifestation for his hopes for a world where people can attain their highest potential and work together harmoniously as a collective ambition. These are lofty goals, but understanding his mission you can clearly hear him work to send that message as [...]

Forgotten series: 13th Floor Elevators, Bubble Puppy, others – Never Ever Land (2008)

Published on 2012-09-22 06:44:26

Stationed in Houston, Texas, the independent label International Artists Records parented a plethora of prized platters between the years 1965 and 1970. Much of the imprint’s success can be credited to Lelan Rogers (brother of country crooner Kenny), who for a while there, held the dual role of promotion man and staff producer. A three-disc collection, Never Ever Land: 83 [...]

Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders – Keystone Companions: Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings (2012)

Published on 2012-09-22 06:21:02

Oscar and Felix, at least at first, had nothing on this odd couple. But there they were, Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders: stalwart friends, picking buddies and musical soulmates — whatever their obvious differences. Garcia (who died in 1995) and Saunders (who passed in 2008) met while both were doing some late-1960s sessions work, and discovered an immediate chemistry — [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Jeff Lynne, “Mercy Mercy” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-21 09:08:16

A new video directed by Martyn Atkins for Jeff Lynne’s single “Mercy Mercy” underscores how the former leader of the Electric Light Orchestra works these days: Lynne appears on vocals, as well as every other instrument. All of those Jeffs are covering a song that was originally a No. 35 hit for Don Covay and the Goodtimers in 1964, and [...]

Deep Beatles: “Mr. Moonlight” (1964)

Published on 2012-09-21 07:20:07

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I stand before you to defend the reputation of the Beatles’ 1964 cover of “Mr. Moonlight.” Since its first appearance on Beatles for Sale, fans and critics have derided the track as corny, cheesy, and overdone, unworthy of the band’s otherwise stellar recordings. Music theorist Alan W. Pollack summarizes common criticisms: “It must be [...]

Lee Ritenour – Rhythm Sessions (2012)

Published on 2012-09-21 06:46:50

“I love making albums!” declared super session guitar player Lee Ritenour, and he continues: “For me, creating a new project from beginning to end, is one of the most musically and spiritually rewarding things that I do in my life.” I’d probably love making albums too, if I can also get this kind of talent to play on it: Chick [...]

The Gaddabouts – Look Out Now! (2012)

Published on 2012-09-21 06:09:00

Look Out Now! begins with a top-of-their-head improvisation, and this loping, light-filled groove says everything about what the Gaddabouts, and their new album, are all about: Serious fun. “Meat On Your Bones” then gives way to a series of knee-slapping, ass-wagging, smile-popping concoctions filled with roots rock, country blues, cocktail jazz, rockabilly, front-porch folk — 19 in all, song after [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: David Byrne and St. Vincent – Love This Giant (2012)

Published on 2012-09-21 05:31:08

Even though I’ve recently downsized my collection, I still own a frightening number of books about music. And even though I profess a certain disdain for writing that gets too far into technicalities, it’s hard for me to not pay attention (at least initially) when a new book comes out. So after reading the first chapter of David Byrne’s book [...]

‘It’s just casual talk’: Joe Lynn Turner backtracks on new supergroup, apologizes to Michael Anthony

Published on 2012-09-20 09:07:00

Joe Lynn Turner has issued an apology to Michael Anthony, saying that talk of a new supergroup featuring the Chickenfoot/Van Halen bassist and drummer Carmine Appice was just that — idle talk among friends. That follows an unattributed report by Andrew McNeice at MelodicRock.com saying former Rainbow vocalist Turner was creating another all-star band in the vein of Voices of [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Prince, “RNR Affair” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-20 08:43:34

There’s still no announcement of a new album, but Prince — who last issued a full-length original project in 2010 — has released a new single to tide fans over. A breezy pop confection, “RNR Affair” is very much in the style of his mid-1980s work on Around the World in the Day — right down to its sun-flecked theme [...]

Movies: Bob Dylan and the Band – Down in the Flood: Associations and Collaborations (2012)

Published on 2012-09-20 07:37:28

Down in the Flood, a forthcoming documentary stuffed with new interviews, archival footage and seldom-seen photographs, joins a musical revolution already in progress: “It was as big a thing,” Rolling Stone’s Anthony De Curtis says, “as has ever happened in the history of rock ‘n’ roll, Dylan going electric.” And the band with him in that moment, on a raucous, [...]

Lee Konitz – Enfants Terribles (2012)

Published on 2012-09-20 07:22:12

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, enfants terribles describes “one whose startlingly unconventional behavior, work, or thought embarrasses or disturbs others.” Alto saxophonist Lee Konitz has enjoyed a six decade career where he’s been in the thick of unconventional work — Miles Davis’ Birth of the Cool Nonet and Lennie Tristano’s groundbreaking sextet, anyone? — but his mark on jazz [...]

Shows I’ll Never Forget: Rick Wakeman, June 21, 2006

Published on 2012-09-20 06:45:41

At The Keswick Theater, Glenside, Pennsylvania: I admit I was quite skeptical when the opportunity arrived to see Rick Wakeman’s 2006 Grand Piano Tour. I was expecting dinosaur rock ‘n’ roll from a dinosaur musician but instead we were all treated to an outstanding night of music from a man who is a true keyboard virtuoso. Wakeman played alone on [...]

One Track Mind: Dr. Lonnie Smith on his funky times, classic sessions and psychedelic turns

Published on 2012-09-20 06:18:54

Go inside the earliest sessions featuring legendary Hammond B-3 master Dr. Lonnie Smith, as he takes over our regular One Track Mind feature. Smith, who has just released a terrific live set on Pilgrimage called The Healer, also discusses his current trio, his reluctance to pander to his audience by playing nothing but pop hits, and the lasting intrigues of [...]

Jackopierce – Everywhere All The Time (2012)

Published on 2012-09-20 05:31:19

Everywhere All The Time underscores the idea that Jackopierce’s new-millennium reboot isn’t about nostalgia, so much as continuing to explore the duo’s still-maturing creative relationship — all while reminding us what made this Dallas-based band so special in the first place. This is the 11th release for Jackopierce, which features vocalists Cary Pierce and Jack O’Neill with a revolving group [...]

‘I’ve been trying to figure out ways’: Jeff Lynne considering tour with ELO bandmate Richard Tandy

Published on 2012-09-19 16:05:02

Jeff Lynne, though never a fan of the road, says he might attempted a scaled-back concert tour — perhaps with former Electric Light Orchestra bandmate Richard Tandy — if the details were right. Lynne and Tandy recently reunited in Lynne’s studio for a jam session featuring several ELO favorites, including “Evil Woman.” Tandy was the only former band member to [...]

Paul Simon – Live in New York City (2012)

Published on 2012-09-19 07:52:10

If you buy only one music DVD this year, Paul Simon’s Live in New York City should be at the top of the list. On June 6, 2011, Simon treated fans in New York City’s Webster Hall to selections from his vast catalog and his last album, So Beautiful or So What. From the crowd’s enthusiasm to the tight band [...]

Something Else! Interview: Legendary jazz organist Dr. Lonnie Smith

Published on 2012-09-19 07:20:02

Dr. Lonnie Smith, over a career that includes appearances on some 70 albums, has carved out his own unique niche — beyond the idea of being a living legend on the organ. Even as he’s played alongside a virtual hall of fame roster of jazz legends, he’s never let go of his own sense individuality — something that continues with [...]

True Hearts – True Hearts (2012)

Published on 2012-09-19 06:44:14

Just when you think the well has run dry and all the great power pop records from the past have been uncovered and pressed on compact disc, along comes True Hearts, a band from Houston, Texas. Founded in 1979 and initially called the Flirts, the group cut an EP on the Counterfeit label in 1980, trailed by several tracks that [...]

Medeski Martin and Wood – Free Magic (2012)

Published on 2012-09-19 06:19:52

Most bands tend to constrict themselves by setting up parameters or sticking to a formula within which they operate, in order to create a sort of trademark sound. Medeski, Martin & Wood don’t roll like that and haven’t at least since The Dropper. They might pull from the same inspirations ranging from chamber music to whack jazz, but their sources [...]

‘I don’t really understand why he would continue’: Geoff Downes on John Payne’s tandem version of Asia

Published on 2012-09-18 17:12:06

Despite the many permutations that Asia ultimately took, Geoff Downes says has always felt the original quartet would reunite one day. There simply was too much chemistry between them, Downes says in a new talk with Geeks of Doom. The supergroup formed in 1981 featuring former members of King Crimson and UK (bassist John Wetton), Yes (guitarist Steve Howe and [...]

‘I look forward to performing’: Mike Love takes the reins as the Beach Boys split again

Published on 2012-09-18 15:56:23

The good vibrations, apparently, are coming to an end. The Beach Boys will not continue with original members Brian Wilson, Al Jardine and David Marks after their final scheduled reunion concerts in London this month. A new statement concerning future dates only mentions Mike Love and Bruce Johnston, who had been touring together for the last 14 years as the [...]

Is Joe Lynn Turner putting together a supergroup featuring former Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne sidemen?

Published on 2012-09-18 15:32:03

A new report from Andrew McNeice at MelodicRock.com has Joe Lynn Turner working on a new supergroup featuring former members of Van Halen and Ozzy Osbourne’s solo bands. Turner, the voice of Rainbow, has previously built similar all-star amalgams like Voices of Classic Rock. The group, according to the same report, would include drummer Carmine Appice and bassist Michael Anthony, [...]

‘Oh God, I have no idea’: Ann Wilson on why Heart isn’t in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Published on 2012-09-18 14:49:57

Asked by The Examiner’s Justin Tedaldi to select a group that ought to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Ann Wilson quickly named Rush — though it was harder for her to determine just why her band Heart hasn’t been so honored, either. After all, Heart, which has sold more than 30 million albums, is one of [...]

Desert Island Discs: Original Movie Soundtrack Edition

Published on 2012-09-18 08:04:03

Make fun of the “Saturday Night Fever” all you want, but our group won’t be leaving for their doomed trek without this oft-dissed soundtrack. That late-1970s Bee Gees-dominated project found its way onto three lists for this edition of Desert Island Discs, tying it with the Band’s star-packed, far more critically acclaimed farewell concert film “The Last Waltz.” Elsewhere, the [...]

The Beauty Room – The Beauty Room II (2012)

Published on 2012-09-18 07:25:49

The craftiest revivalists of that early ’70s, soft, soulful LA rock sound are a couple of guys from the UK, virtually unknown stateside. But The Beauty Room, as they’re called, deserves wider notice on these and other shores. It’s been six years since their critically well-received self-titled debut but singer Jinadu and producer/keyboardist Kirk Degiorgio put in a lot of [...]

Michael Jackson – BAD 25 (2012)

Published on 2012-09-18 06:37:10

It’s hard to believe 25 years have passed since Michael Jackson released Bad, the much-anticipated followup to his megahit Thriller. While it didn’t match Thriller’s record-setting sales, it sold 30 to 45 million copies worldwide and spawned five No. 1 singles. Unlike Thriller and its predecessor, Off the Wall, Bad serves as a artifact of its time, a period where [...]

Haley Dreis – Lady with a Rocket (2012)

Published on 2012-09-18 06:10:24

Returning with another batch of tastefully shimmering, open and revealing pop, Haley Dreis doesn’t swerve from the ready-made template of her recent recordings on Lady with a Rocket, so much as tinker around the edges. Still, there was little that really needed fixing, as this former violin prodigy-turned-South Carolina coffeeshop favorite-turned upcoming Nashville acolyte continues a quick ascent toward long-deserved [...]

New Music Monday: Aimee Mann, Band of Horses, Ben Folds Five, Lonnie Smith, Marillion

Published on 2012-09-17 07:20:33

New Music Monday gets off to a quick start with great stuff from Aimee Mann, Band of Horses, Ben Folds Five, Dr. Lonnie Smith and Marillion. We’re also gassed up about reissues and live sets from the likes of Bad English, Peter Gabriel and the English Beat, among others. You might want to make a pit stop for product from [...]

Tia Fuller – Angelic Warrior (2012)

Published on 2012-09-17 06:48:26

Saxophonist, flautist and composer Tia Fuller has stated that “the Beyoncé gig has helped me to really appreciate the artistry and freedom that we have in jazz,” a conclusion borne out of five years performing in the pop diva’s band. Fuller has also been hired by Esperanza Spalding as Assistant Musical Director for Spalding’s Radio Music Society touring ensemble.. None [...]

Crypts – Crypts (2012)

Published on 2012-09-17 06:11:40

Announcing a genre as “dead” is as old as music itself. Jazz is dead, rock is dead, pop is dead, rap is dead, country music is possibly dead or should be, metal is dead, classical music is dead or at least most of the guys writing it are dead, soul is dead. There comes a point when the declaration of [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Open All Night” (1982)

Published on 2012-09-17 05:30:49

Unlike most of the rest of Nebraska, here there is no ominous subtext, no angst, no life about to be split apart. Instead, it’s just a guy rocketing down the highway toward his girl, fighting off the threat of speed traps and the weirdness of the Jersey nightscape, all of it set to an insistent guitar shuffle. And as simple [...]

‘It’s nice to do something unusual’: Alex Lifeson talks about the new wrinkles in Rush’s on-going tour

Published on 2012-09-16 13:24:22

Formed in 1968, Rush began working with its current lineup in 1974 when drummer and lyricist Neil Peart joined — sparking a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-worthy run of successes through this year’s Clockwork Angels. Yet despite that long history, the band has worked hard to avoid falling into a rut on the road. Peart, guitarist Alex Lifeson and [...]

‘Everybody bought into it’: John Oates says production changed in 1980s, but Hall and Oates’ songwriting didn’t

Published on 2012-09-16 12:31:25

Hall and Oates, the story goes, started out as this folksy doo-wop inspired duo. Then, the 1980s happened. Synthesizers, videos and a plasticine production style changed everything, right? Not so, says John Oates. Making an impassioned argument with Scott Mervis of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oates says the roots of their sound remained, even during their biggest Reagan-era successes. And, of [...]

Renaissance completes Grandine il Vento, prepares for series of upcoming performances

Published on 2012-09-16 11:16:51

Renaissance has completed sessions for its forthcoming release Grandine il Vento, the pioneering prog-rock band’s initial studio project in 12 years. Recording at Ridgewood, New Jersey’s Studio X, the album was produced by band members Rave Tesar and Annie Haslem, and is set for release in early 2013. Joining Haslem is fellow long-time Renaissance member Michael Dunford on guitars and [...]

‘Some things age better than others’: Steve Hogarth discusses how Marillion’s set lists balance the old and new

Published on 2012-09-16 10:28:52

Back now with an impressive return-to-form record, Marillion is in the midst of a well-received tour. Exploring the fresh revelations found in Sounds That Can’t Be Made is the easy part, though. The new album, their first since 2009′s acoustic project Less Is More, is just the latest release in a discography that stretches back into the early 1980s, when [...]

Steely Dan Sunday, “Reflections” (1988)

Published on 2012-09-16 07:46:26

> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** I really debated on whether this recording belongs in the series; this cut from the movie soundtrack for Arthur 2: On the Rocks is jointly credited to the song’s only performers: Steve Khan and Donald Fagen. Furthermore, it’s a Thelonious Monk cover. And lastly, Khan’s [...]

Band of Horses – Mirage Rock (2012)

Published on 2012-09-16 07:15:49

Band of Horses is still pushing their love of dusty-booted Americana through a busted guitar amp, only this time they’ve turned it up a little. The group, which started out as another in the long line of Grandiose Rockers, seemed to find this comfy place where tradition meets innovation during the sessions for 2010′s rootsy Infinite Arms, but alas they [...]

One Track Mind: The Jackson Investment Company, “What Can I Say” (1967)

Published on 2012-09-16 06:38:57

Whenever I’m asked what my very favorite song in the whole wide world is, I promptly reply, “What Can I Say” by the Jackson Investment Company. Released on the Paris Tower label in November of 1967 and incorrectly titled “What Can I Do,” the boss tune is so lively and catchy that it makes one wonder how on earth it [...]

Jackyl – Best in Show (2012)

Published on 2012-09-16 06:01:08

The output from these Kennesaw, Ga.-based rockers has often been uneven since their 1992 debut, but when they hit their stride, it’s great fun. They hit it hard on Best in Show, possibly the best record they’ve put out since their 1994 sophomore outing, Push Comes to Shove. Best in Show delivers exactly what you’re looking for in a Jackyl [...]

Electric Light Orchestra frontman Jeff Lynne hints at yet another new release — this one, all original

Published on 2012-09-15 12:24:55

Jeff Lynne has two albums set for release soon, his redo of Electric Light Orchestra favorites and a songbook recording. Or, wait, is it … three new albums? Seems so. During an event this week at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, where a new documentary on Lynne premiered, the longtime ELO frontman and celebrated producer reportedly mentioned during a [...]

‘Party every night, and getting paid pretty well’: Styx, Ricky Phillips showing no signs of slowing down

Published on 2012-09-15 11:28:39

Though Ricky Phillips is only nine years into his current stint as bassist with Styx, he’s actually a rock music veteran who was part of both the respected late-1970s group the Babys as well as 1980s hitmakers Bad English. Still, there’s no talk of retirement — not any time soon. Phillips joined the Babys in 1979, after the band had [...]

‘As valid as Beethoven’: Deep Purple legend Jon Lord’s final recording will be released as planned

Published on 2012-09-15 10:10:58

The late Jon Lord’s family will move forward with the release of his final project, the first-ever recording of the former Deep Purple keyboardist’s Concerto for Group and Orchestra. Set to arrive on October 1, 2012, through earMusic, this groundbreaking synthesis of rock and classical was performed with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, under the direction of Paul Mann in Liverpool [...]

One Track Mind: Ben Folds Five, “The Sound of the Life of the Mind” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-15 07:33:22

This is the sound of a group returning to something it loved, something that made sense in its time — and still does again, in the playing. “The Sound of the Life of the Mind,” the title track from Ben Folds Five’s first album of original material in 13 years — due September 18, 2012 on ImaVeePee-Sony — builds from [...]

The Billie Davies Trio – all about Love (2012)

Published on 2012-09-15 06:57:54

Belgium native Billie Davies first started drumming at the age of three, and even though she dabbled in a number of other artistic endeavors, like singing and DJ’ing, her skills behind the kit were notable enough to garner the attention of Max Roach, who offered her a scholarship at the Berklee School of Music. It was at a time of [...]

‘Produced by George Martin’: Inside his legendary collaborations with the Beatles, and beyond

Published on 2012-09-15 06:25:18

It’s nearly two and half minutes into this film — during a friendly game of pool with son Giles — before you notice the hearing aid in George Martin’s ear. It’s a devastating reality for music lovers of every kind. Martin, who gave us so many great sounds, can scarcely hear them anymore. Ever curious, ever involved, the legendary producer [...]

The Electric Prunes – The Complete Reprise Singles (2012)

Published on 2012-09-15 05:49:01

As fascinating as their name implies, the Electric Prunes thrived on experimentation. Hailing from the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, the band signed a deal with the Reprise label, and this packet promotes the singles they recorded for the roster. Released between the years 1966 and 1969, such tracks examine the group’s voyage from garage punks to psychedelic [...]

John Hiatt – Mystic Pinball (2012)

Published on 2012-09-14 07:20:11

When going back and reading my take on John Hiatt’s last album Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns I almost thought I had already written my commentary on the one he’s got on tap next, because virtually everything you can use to describe Dirty Jeans could easily apply to Mystic Pinball. Renowned producer Kevin Shirley behind the boards? Check. Backed up [...]

Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe – Live at the NEC, October 24, 1989 (2012)

Published on 2012-09-14 06:47:35

A new three-disc CD/DVD set celebrates that strange period in which a band not called Yes, including most of the individuals credited with the Yes sound, put together an album and tour that sounded just like … well, Yes. Only, for contractual reasons, they ended up calling themselves Anderson Bruford Wakeman and Howe. It was a bit like having a [...]

The Sheepdogs – The Sheepdogs (2012)

Published on 2012-09-14 06:14:55

With plenty of ’70s flavor and a whole vanload of grooves, Saskatoon’s the Sheepdogs solidify their presence with their eponymous fourth album. The September 2012 release is soaked in the boogie-woogie side of rock and roll, with the band unabashedly laying out some seriously thick grooves and killer rock riffs. The Sheepdogs have been building their rock cred steadily for [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Bob Dylan – Tempest (2012)

Published on 2012-09-14 05:30:36

This past Tuesday, Bob Dylan released Tempest, fifty years to the day since his first LP came out. Fifty years as a recording artist. That’s a pretty amazing accomplishment, especially when you consider how much effort Bob has put into his music-making from 1997′s Time Out Of Mind to the present. So a couple of days ago I’m listening short [...]

‘I don’t want to work that hard’: Why Chicago reunion with Peter Cetera might never happen

Published on 2012-09-13 12:11:27

Turns out, Chicago has made some overtures over the years with its erstwhile former bass playing singer Peter Cetera — but he’s just not interested in rejoining the horn-rock band’s aggressive touring schedule. Chicago, principally in the Cetera era, has sold more than 38 million albums in the United States alone, with 18 of them earning platinum level sales. That [...]

Marillion – Sounds That Can’t Be Made (2012)

Published on 2012-09-13 07:54:40

There’s a reason most prog albums leave the epic song for the end, as Marillion’s new album makes clear. They begin here with “Gaza,” a dramatic rumination on the senselessness of war, and then struggle for a while to regain momentum. It’s only with repeated listenings that the rest of this complex, deeply felt recording begins to coalesce. Given time, [...]

Forgotten series: Dennis Wilson – Pacific Ocean Blue (1977)

Published on 2012-09-13 07:34:52

In 1977, the music world was stunned to learn that the first Beach Boy to record and release a solo album was middle Wilson brother, Dennis. This was a shock because Dennis was always assumed to be the least musically accomplished of the three brothers. In fact, their mother had to force brothers Brian and Carl to accept him into [...]

Dr. Lonnie Smith – The Healer (2012)

Published on 2012-09-13 07:11:30

The Healer begins not with a fiery assertion of his soul-jazz supremacy, but with a smoky rumination called “Back Track” — and Dr. Lonnie Smith and Co. remain right there, stubbornly outside of expectations. Shadowing, and then leading, guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg, the legendary jazz organist deftly avoids all of the typical patois associated with his instrument. There’s not a hint [...]

Shemekia Copeland – 33 1/3 (2012)

Published on 2012-09-13 06:46:30

Hitting the age where you’re a third of the way to 100 years old is evidently a milestone to some; certainly it was for George Harrison. Shemekia Copeland has reached that age as the newly crowned queen of the blues following the passing of Koko Taylor. Like Taylor, Copeland has the sass, the power and the passion to dish out [...]

‘Recorded in a matter of 30 hours’: Jimmy Page goes inside the sessions for Led Zeppelin’s debut

Published on 2012-09-12 11:40:09

Brad Tolinski, in a forthcoming book called Light And Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page, shares a series of interviews held with the notoriously press-shy guitarist. A particularly interesting passage takes readers inside the sessions for Led Zeppelin’s self-titled 1969 debut recording. Led Zeppelin would go to No. 6 in the UK, and No. 10 in America — eventually earning eight-times [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Steven Wilson, “Luminol” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-12 09:04:20

Even as Steven Wilson reenters the studio with legendary engineer Alan Parsons to record his third solo LP, fans are getting a sneak peek at one of project’s new songs. A forthcoming concert DVD called Get All You Deserve, recorded on the fifth concert of a 26-show run at Mexico City’s Teatro Metropólitan, will include among its 16 tracks the [...]

‘Hanging in there’: Toto’s David Paich opens up about Mike Porcaro’s battle with ALS

Published on 2012-09-12 08:21:44

Toto has reformed over each of the last three summers to raise awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, after bassist Mike Porcaro was diagnosed with the motor neuron disorder most commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. A portion of the proceeds from their shows are going to Porcaro and his family. Band co-founder David Paich, in a new talk with Chambers [...]

Iris Ornig – No Restrictions (2012)

Published on 2012-09-12 07:40:40

About three years ago I went out on a limb and called my shots on up-and-coming female jazz performers — players, not singers — who are destined for bigger and better things in this formally male-dominated province. Part of the point of this exercise was to show that there are now so many talented women making their mark as virtuosic [...]

Gimme Five: Solo albums from members of Pink Floyd

Published on 2012-09-12 07:13:20

Nobody is going to accuse Pink Floyd — whether collectively, or apart — of inundating the market with product. The group has only issued three albums in the last 30 years, while its members have been just as stingy with solo albums. In fact, the late Syd Barrett, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and the late Richard Wright, between them, only [...]

Forgotten series: Don and the Goodtimes – Don and the Goodtimes (1994)

Published on 2012-09-12 06:37:38

Not only do Don and the Goodtimes boast a library of great music, but their family tree is quite interesting. To begin with, the band, which formed in 1964 in Portland, Oregon, featured Don Gallucci from the Kingsmen. Charlie Coe and Pete Ouellette, who both played in an early incarnation of Paul Revere and the Raiders, were also members of [...]

‘We would be celebrating Kiss’: Paul Stanley says no reunions planned for 40th anniversary

Published on 2012-09-11 15:32:07

January 2013 will make the 40th anniversary of Kiss, and details remain sketchy as to just what the band will do to celebrate. Well, except this: Co-founder Paul Stanley says there won’t be any reunions with former members. In a new talk with Metal-Rules.com, Stanley quickly brushed aside the idea of getting back together with the likes of Ace Frehley [...]

James Falzone & KLANG – brooklyn lines…chicago spaces (2012)

Published on 2012-09-11 14:06:46

James Falzone is part of a young, resurgent cadre of clarinet players that also includes the likes of Ben Goldberg and Anat Cohen, determined to prove the continued vitality of this sometimes-forgotten wood instrument of jazz. Coming from the Windy City, Falzone has applied some of the AACM principles — as well the groundbreaking work of Jimmy Giuffre — in [...]

‘One of those things that fizzled out’: Did Roger Hodgson almost take over as Yes’ frontman?

Published on 2012-09-11 13:35:27

Yes bassist Chris Squire recently participated in the all-star Cleopatra Records tribute to Supertramp called Songs of the Century, but it’s not his first intersection with the band. In fact, at one point, Supertramp legend Roger Hodgson — author of most of the tracks included on that new Billy Sherwood-produced tribute project — was rumored to be a possible replacement [...]

‘A real return to our sources, our roots’: Inside the retro-funky new Tom Tom Club EP

Published on 2012-09-11 12:44:08

The Tom Tom Club’s new groove-based, very 1970s six-song EP Downtown Rockers finds former Talking Head rhythmnists Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth digging back into their earliest influences. Founded in 1981 by the husband-and-wife duo, Tom Tom Club was initially established as a side project away from the Heads — and scored an early hit with “Genius of Love” from [...]

Desert Island Discs: Box Set Edition

Published on 2012-09-11 08:53:35

Given a chance to stuff five box sets into our baggage before that fateful trip, our panel of intrepid travelers has selected the Beatles and Miles Davis as must-have items. But not by much. The Fabs received votes for their recent stereo and mono boxes, along with the Capitol Records set; John Lennon also received a nod. Miles, meanwhile, was [...]

Darren Jay and the Delta Souls – Drink My Wine (2012)

Published on 2012-09-11 07:20:17

There’s not much Memphis blues traveler Darren Jay can’t do, as his varied, deeply absorbing Drink My Wine makes abundantly clear. Due September 18, 2012, Drink My Wine finds the U.S. Navy reservist — currently serving in Kuwait — opening on a tear with “Rider,” this tasty instrumental with just the right amount of grease. Darren Jay’s sound is close, [...]

Aimee Mann – Charmer (2012)

Published on 2012-09-11 06:46:30

If there’s a knock on Aimee Mann, and I’m not sure I buy this, it’s that the singer-songwriter’s albums haven’t always done enough musically to properly feature her mood-setting lyrical complexity. Charmer certainly answers the criticism head on. Mann remains, for me, one of pop music’s most evocative storytellers, and this album offers a series of spotlighting textures — without [...]

Neil Cowley Trio – The Face Of Mount Molehill (2012)

Published on 2012-09-10 07:10:40

Part George Winston, part Ben Folds, part the Bad Plus, the Neil Cowley Trio is a mighty mixture of elegance, attitude and wit. This week, we will be treated to more of that alchemy when this English band of three unveils its fourth album The Face Of Mount Molehill. A quick follow-up to last year’s Radio Silence, Molehill is much [...]

New Music Monday: Bob Dylan, David Byrne and St. Vincent, Neal Morse, Dio, ZZ Top

Published on 2012-09-10 06:46:58

Time for a cup o’ joe and a stack of great new music — courtesy of Bob Dylan, Chris Knight, David Byrne and St. Vincent, Fred Hersch, Neal Morse, Patterson Hood, Steve Forbert and ZZ Top. Forthcoming reissues and live projects set for release this week include Circle II Circle, Dio, Flotsam and Jetsam, Massive Attack, and the Rolling Stones [...]

Jim Basnight – Introducing Jim Basnight (2012)

Published on 2012-09-10 06:16:24

For the past few decades, Jim Basnight has been a regular presence among the independent music community. The Seattle, Washington-based singer, tunesmith and guitarist has certainly covered a lot of ground, having fronted critically acclaimed acts such as the Moberlys, the Rockinghams, the Jim Basnight Thing and the Jim Basnight Band. A well-regarded solo career further adorns his long list [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Used Cars” (1982)

Published on 2012-09-10 05:30:31

Is the automobile used too often in American songwriting? Some folks say so. Those complaints — particularly the ones aimed at Springsteen — have always made me wonder just how blind people can be to culture. The car has been a symbol of freedom and free spirit for as long as pop music has been around. The thing is, you’ve [...]

‘Something might pop its head’: Glenn Hughes hints at reunion with ex-Deep Purple bandmate David Coverdale

Published on 2012-09-09 13:14:30

Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale might be reuniting to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their joining the “Mark III-IV” versions of Deep Purple — and to pay tribute to the group’s fallen keyboardist, Jon Lord. Lord was a co-founding member of Deep Purple, and remained with the group from 1968 through its initial split in 1976. He returned when Deep [...]

‘It was sort of embarrassing’: Bob Mould discusses his musical debt to Richard Thompson

Published on 2012-09-09 12:26:14

For all of the musical ferocity associated with Bob Mould — both as a solo artist and as a key creative force in Husker Du and Sugar — there’s one key influence some might never have guessed: Folk legend Richard Thompson. Mould has just released Silver Age via Merge, another blast of guitar fury recorded with Jason Narducy (bass) and [...]

‘Well, who’s the singer?’: Journey guitarist Neal Schon’s role in the Sammy Hagar era of Van Halen

Published on 2012-09-09 11:53:06

Journey co-founder Neal Schon knew, from the first, that Eddie Van Halen was a special guitar talent. He’d also worked with Sammy Hagar on a project away from Journey — and that’s how Schon played a role in the second Van Halen era. Schon had seen Van Halen’s volcanic performances up close and personal, when Van Halen opened for Journey [...]

Steely Dan Sunday, “Shanghai Confidential” (1988)

Published on 2012-09-09 07:05:33

“Century’s End” wasn’t just released as a part of a soundtrack, it was the A side to a Donald Fagen single. Thus, Fagen had to come up with another song and so he recorded a rare instrumental, “Shanghai Confidential.” “Shanghai Confidential” sounds very much like the contemporary, “smooth” jazz The Yellowjackets were playing at that time, sans a sax player. [...]

Fred Hersch Trio – Alive at the Vanguard (2012)

Published on 2012-09-09 06:39:13

The title is so very appropriate, and not just because this set was recorded during a week-long stint at the Village Vanguard. Fred Hersch, after a near death experience in 2008, has never sounded more present — more, in short, alive. One of the few modern-day pianists to embody Bill Evans’ delicacy even while advancing it with his own impish [...]

Mystery of ‘FIVE’?: Unclear on what Led Zeppelin’s up to, we return to handful of old favorites

Published on 2012-09-09 06:15:05

A cryptic message from Led Zeppelin on its Facebook page — this image of the word “Five,” displayed in a font used on 1973′s Houses of the Holy — had fans in a frenzy. New album? New reissue? Reunion show? We decided to dig into the old stuff for solace. Of course, three of Led Zeppelin’s initial four recordings were [...]

On Second Thought: Enrico Rava – The Pilgrim and the Stars (1975)

Published on 2012-09-09 05:47:24

“Woo!!!” And with that, we have “2″ — the official total number of “Woo!”‘s in the ECM catalog. This one comes from Enrico Rava, as guitarist John Abercrombie unleashes a particularly intense solo passage. (The other comes from Pat Metheny, who let go with a “Woooooo! Jack DeJohnette man!!” after the music faded on the class album 80/81. Actually, he [...]

‘Recording as we speak’: New album in works from Yes alums Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman and Trevor Rabin

Published on 2012-09-08 12:55:10

Jon Anderson’s on-again, off-again recording project with fellow Yes alums Rick Wakeman and Trevor Rabin is apparently back on again. The three are passing around demos, and even contemplating a tour together. Anderson was a co-founding member of Yes, singing on 19 band projects between 1969-78 and 1983-2001. Anderson last appeared on stage with Yes in 2004, and officially departed [...]

‘It’s a Kiss thing’: Tommy Thayer stands by using Ace Frehley’s makeup, guitar effects

Published on 2012-09-08 12:31:16

Long-time Kiss fans know that Tommy Thayer not only takes the stage in ex-member Ace Frehley’s iconic makeup, he also shoots rockets out of his guitar — one of Ace’s signature moves. But Thayer says those things are part of the band’s legacy, and don’t belong to any one member. Kiss is touring now in advance of their new album [...]

‘A real labor of love’: Billy Gibbons on the long journey ZZ Top took toward La Futura

Published on 2012-09-08 11:11:05

The lengthy period of time that ZZ Top took in completing its forthcoming release La Futura was spent, Billy Gibbons says, literally tearing the songs apart to make sure that each element worked perfectly. The guitarist, Frank Beard (drums) and Dusty Hill (bass) began work on the album some four years ago with producer Rick Rubin and engineer Dave Sardy, [...]

‘He never wants to stop’: Daughter Kelly says Ozzy Osbourne lives for busy tour schedule

Published on 2012-09-08 10:29:16

Is Ozzy Osbourne continuing on what seems like a never-ending tour because he can’t stay off the road — or because his controlling wife/manager pushes him to continue at this torrid pace? Their daughter says: The love of music. Ozzy, 63, is coming off a series of shows with two of the three other co-founding members of Black Sabbath, capped [...]

YamaYama – Party Dog (2012, EP)

Published on 2012-09-08 07:20:04

Remember when fusion jazz was both fertile and fun? Eugene, Oregon’s YamaYama does. Formed five years ago by alto saxophonist Scott Mitchell and drummer Merlin Showalter, the quartet that also includes bassist Milo Fultz and keyboardist Dario LaPoma is poised to cut loose their first record, an EP called Party Dog. Although this is their recording debut, this a document [...]

Shows I’ll Never Forget: The Richie Furay Band, August 30, 2009

Published on 2012-09-08 06:46:23

At the Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, Pennsylvania: Richie Furay took the stage with his current band who, not coincidentally, are all parishioners of the church he leads in Broomfield, Colorado. Furay played acoustic and electric guitar and handled lead vocals while his indispensable sideman, Scott Sellen, contributed lead guitar, banjo, pedal steel, keyboards, plus harmony and background vocals. Furay’s daughter Jesse [...]

Various artists – Joy Road: The Complete Works of Pepper Adams (2012)

Published on 2012-09-08 06:19:59

It’s perhaps faint praise to call Pepper Adams one of the best of jazz music’s baritone saxophonists, so thinly populated is the confederacy of players on this most unwieldy of instruments. Instead, as the sweeping new five-volume, 51-track anthology Joy Road: The Complete Works of Pepper Adams makes clear, Adams was one of the more underrated figures in the hot-house [...]

Forgotten series: The Ugly Ducklings – Somewhere Outside (1967)

Published on 2012-09-08 05:44:28

Coming to be in 1965, the Ugly Ducklings from Toronto, Ontario, Canada held ground as one of the region’s most popular acts of the era. The band has actually remained quite active throughout the years, and are particularly worshiped by garage rock aficionados. Originally pressed on the Yorktown label in 1967, Somewhere Outside is firmly modeled on the bluesy beat [...]

‘Our history is going to continue’: Peter Wolf discusses the ugly J. Geils Band lawsuit

Published on 2012-09-07 12:04:38

The J. Geils Band isn’t stuck in any freeze frame, despite an ongoing dispute with a former namesake member. In fact, the legendary party band will return to their home state this weekend for an appearance at Boston’s House of Blues. Remembered by most for their 1981 charttopper “Centerfold,” the J. Geils Band had widespread radio exposure with 1974′s “Must [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Jeff Lynne – Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra (2012)

Published on 2012-09-07 07:52:55

All 12 tracks of Jeff Lynne’s forthcoming solo redo of the Electric Light Orchestra’s greatest hits are available for preview at elo.biz. Are they imaginative new takes or simply redundant covers? You decide. When announcing the new project, set for release along with a songbook tribute album called Long Wave on October 9, 2012 via Frontiers Records, Lynne said he [...]

Deep Beatles: “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey” (1968)

Published on 2012-09-07 07:39:00

Would the Beatles’ self-titled 1968 album (otherwise known as the White Album) have been stronger as a single-disc work? Was it as fragmented and disjointed as critics then claimed? As Paul McCartney exclaimed in the Anthology documentary, “I mean, it’s great, it sold, it’s the bloody Beatles White Album! So shut up!” Initially, music critics like the New York Times’ [...]

‘The magic of music’: An encouraging sign for Journey fans, as Steve Perry signs new deal

Published on 2012-09-07 07:04:49

Another sign that Steve Perry may be readying his first solo project since leaving Journey in the 1990s comes with his signing of a new exclusive deal with the Universal Music Publishing Group. The agreement, which focuses on countries outside of North America, covers everything Perry has written or co-written, either as a member of Journey or as a solo [...]

New, delectable whack jazz impurities from New Atlantis Records (2012)

Published on 2012-09-07 06:47:40

Whenever I listen to any music by New Atlantis Records, it feels like the spirit of the original ESP-Disk Records departed New York, went west and made a new home at New Atlantis’ Yellow Springs, OH offices. Launched a year ago with its first batch of releases out on September 11 of last year, the label is marking their first [...]

Steve Forbert – Over With You (2012)

Published on 2012-09-07 06:14:07

Still witty, if a little more weathered, Steve Forbert returns with a full-band album marked by this notable spaciousness. There’s a thrilling willingness to let things play out. Credit for that, in many ways, goes to producer Chris Goldsmith (Ben Harper, Big Head Todd, Charlie Musselwhite, Ruthie Foster), who not only narrowed a stack of songs down to the 10 [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Roy Eldridge – 1957 “Live” (1957)

Published on 2012-09-07 05:35:12

So it’s late and TheWife™ has gone to bed early and, because I’m kinda tired, I decide it would be a good idea to watch a movie instead of read. It seemed like a good choice at the time. My eyes were more than a little burned out from work so maybe a little passive entertainment would be the thing. [...]

A special Sean Noonan Double String Quartet performance scheduled at the Roulette in Brooklyn!

Published on 2012-09-06 19:38:29

On August 8, I told you about how drummer, composer and bandleader Sean Noonan was about to turn Third Stream Music inside out. On August 14, Noonan backed up my words with the release of A Gambler’s Hand, a completely different take on Bartok, punk jazz and improvisation, and executed by a crackerjack string quartet plus Noonan’s drums. On September [...]

David Byrne and St. Vincent – Love This Giant (2012)

Published on 2012-09-06 08:01:35

Not so much a collaboration as a smashing together of ideas, and I mean clanging them about with wild abandon, Love This Giant is a party record for pop nerds — all weird observations, glinting horn stabs and off-kilter beats. After a period of emailing song fragments, arrangements, partial lyrics and stray ideas back and forth, David Byrne (Talking Heads) [...]

‘A special evening’: Genesis, Yes’ Rick Wakeman, Rush honored at first Progressive Music Awards

Published on 2012-09-06 07:25:44

Genesis received a lifetime achievement award, former Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman was deified and Rush took home album of the year honors in the first annual Progressive Music Awards, held overnight at England’s Kew Gardens. The inaugural “prog god” award went to — who else? — the cape-wearing Wakeman, while Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree fame took home “guiding light” [...]

One Track Mind: Jordan Young, “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-06 06:46:06

A few years ago Pat Metheny made a solo guitar “covers” record What’s It All About, a record I adore as much for the melodies he picked as how he nursed them. In discussing the idea behind the album. Metheny said, I was born in 1954 and all of these songs were songs from the Top 40 during my childhood [...]

Forgotten series: Magi – Win Or Lose (1976)

Published on 2012-09-06 06:19:26

Trivia buffs take note, as future Long Ryders bassist Tom Stevens played in this Northern Indiana based band. A self-released effort, Win Or Lose originally saw the light of day in 1976. Recorded at Uncle Dirty’s Sound Machine Studios in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the disc stands as Magi’s one and only album. A couple of years after Win Or Lose was [...]

Steve Hillage Band – Live at Gong Family Unconvention, Amsterdam (2012)

Published on 2012-09-06 05:50:08

Even as Steve Hillage paid tribute to the psychedelic rock band Gong in 2006 at the Melkweg in Amsterdam, he also took a lengthy look back at his own underrated solo work from the 1970s. Live at Gong Family Unconvention, Amsterdam, due in both CD and DVD formats on September 10, 2012, from Gonzo MultiMedia, focuses on the latter — [...]

Bob Dylan – Tempest (2012)

Published on 2012-09-05 07:21:50

The forthcoming Tempest, with a scarifying Titanic narrative as its centerpiece, promised to be the ever-enigmatic, never-tiring Bob Dylan‘s most somber, ruminative work yet. But it’s different in the listening. For all of the album’s off-handed menace, for its many betrayals, for all of its fiery condemnations, Tempest — due September 11, 2012, from Columbia Records — offers commiserate moments [...]

Michael Feinberg – The Elvin Jones Project (2012)

Published on 2012-09-05 07:02:45

For his third album Michael Feinberg originally sought to pay tribute to all the great bassists before him, but a funny thing happened on the way to making this record. Elvin Jones happened. In researching the history of his favorite bass players, Feinberg made a startling discovery: at some point they all played with Elvin. Soon afterwards, his focus shifted [...]

On Second Thought: J.J. Cale and Eric Clapton – The Road to Escondido (2006)

Published on 2012-09-05 06:38:58

It was just one of those nights. So much better than expected. In one evening, I got to see Rock God Eric Clapton and his blues father Muddy Waters. That one of the cutest girls in the school (let’s call her “Doris” because, well … that was her name) went with me just added to the sum of surreal. That [...]

One Track Mind: Third International, “Chemical Eyes/ Good Friday at Little Rock” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-05 06:11:19

As Third International’s new double-sided single “Chemical Eyes/ Good Friday at Little Rock” spins, one thing becomes utterly clear: There’s no round hole to put this square peg. “Chemical Eyes,” as uncategorized as it is intriguing, could rightly be called a stew of sounds – each of them more palpably dangerous than the next. It boasts an ambling old-west guitar [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Marillion, “Gaza” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-04 13:39:12

Marillion’s “Gaza” is a sweeping testament to the lingering power of the prog-rock epic, yet it remains — and this is what gives the track its resonance — firmly rooted in today’s world. A 17-minute examination of the dangers of nationalism, the often-shocking aftermath, and the small things we grab for in order to make sense of the emotional dissonance [...]

Rolling Stones reveal long-awaited plans – not for a tour, but for a new greatest-hits compilation?

Published on 2012-09-04 09:43:35

The Rolling Stones have updated the cover image on their Facebook page, announcing the upcoming release of a new best-of compilation to be called GRRR. GRRR!, to be issued in November, will be available as a three-disc, 50-track set and as a special deluxe box set with more than 80 songs. Both formats will include “Gloom and Doom” and “One [...]

Desert Island Discs: Greatest Hits Edition

Published on 2012-09-04 08:11:27

For some bands, it’s all about the albums. For others, though, it’s all about the songs — and you’ll need a handful of best-of sets, too, for your fateful trip to this isolated desert isle. Our well-listened passengers, in the latest edition of Desert Island Discs, say that Bob Marley and the Beach Boys (with three separate mentions) have issued [...]

One Track Mind: Neal Morse, “Momentum” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-04 07:40:09

Former Spock’s Beard frontman Neal Morse doesn’t just return to solo mainstream prog rock on the title track from his new album, he dives headlong into the genre’s most familiar sounds: There’s a fleet opening riff straight out Styx, a thumping bass-organ signature that recalls early Yes, the swirling classically inspired counterpoints of ELP. Yet, there’s nothing derivative about “Momentum,” [...]

Capital City Rockets – Capital City Rockets (1973; 2010 reissue)

Published on 2012-09-04 07:07:10

This Ohio band announced the return of Jamie Lyons, former lead singer of the Music Explosion, who scored a giant hit with “A Little Bit O’ Fun” in 1967. Future Godz bassist Eric Moore was another noted member of Capital City Rockets. Initially released on the Elektra label in the summer of 1973, Capital City Rockets (Wounded Bird Records) causes [...]

Carl Weingarten – Panomorphia (2012)

Published on 2012-09-04 06:34:43

I’m often amazed at the technique displayed by some of the world’s finest guitarists, but over time, I’ve also come to appreciate the sounds wrung from a guitar by some of the more out-of-the-box practitioners of the instrument. Robert Fripp, of course, was one of the pioneers with his “Frippertronics” technique and we’ve discussed the similar path taken by the [...]

‘We avoided the pitfalls that have plagued him’: ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons on working with Rick Rubin

Published on 2012-09-03 13:49:43

Though ZZ Top now says they’re thrilled with the results on the forthcoming new longplayer La Futura, they admit that it wasn’t always smooth sailing with eccentric producer Rick Rubin. The album, due from American Recordings on September 11, 2012, is ZZ Top’s first since 2003, and includes 10 new songs. Sessions, held in between tours at Malibu’s Shangri La [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “State Trooper” (1982)

Published on 2012-09-03 07:54:46

I’ve always loved the tension that builds up in this little ticking bomb of a song. The sparse yet insistent guitar, the unhinged shouts and howls, and a man carrying that one secret that’s been with him for a long, long time: …the only thing that I got’s been both’rin’ me my whole life Every time I listen to Nebraska, [...]

Dan Meinhardt – Gone West (2012)

Published on 2012-09-03 07:37:41

I’ve found that young jazz musicians — the more ambitious ones, at least — like to hit the ground running and start establishing their foothold in the jazz world as soon as they’re wrapping up their advanced studies at some good graduate college music program. That usually results in some fresh-sounding records full of promise and energy. Occasionally, like Kait [...]

New Music Monday: Bob Mould, Chick Corea and Gary Burton, Dave Stewart, Mark Knopfler

Published on 2012-09-03 07:15:19

You’ll want to jump start your short week with some new sounds from the likes of Bob Mould, Chick Corea and Gary Burton, Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame, and Melissa Etheridge. Also featured in this latest edition of New Music Monday are fresh reissues and concert recordings from the likes of Judas Priest and Tommy Bolin. The stack of new [...]

‘I’m not just this tribute singer’: Long-time fan Jon Davison thrilled to put his stamp on Yes

Published on 2012-09-02 15:16:02

Jon Davison says he got tremendously positive feedback from Yes fans during a summer tour, with many praising him for echoing the band’s past triumphs even as Davison makes his own distinctive contributions. Davison, a long-time Yes fan, was best known previous to joining co-founding bassist Chris Squire and Co. as the newly installed frontman of the Chattanooga, Tennessee-based prog [...]

‘Completely self contained’: Paul Stanley on why Kiss will never use outside writers again

Published on 2012-09-02 14:30:16

There was a time in which outside writers made huge contributions to the music of Kiss, but Paul Stanley says that time is done — and the band’s forthcoming album Monster is more cohesive for it. Kiss became known for bringing in well-known composers in the 1980s, during a period in which fellow band co-founder Gene Simmons seemed to be [...]

‘Quite a band’: Jonathan Cain goes inside the original sessions for Journey’s “Faithfully”

Published on 2012-09-02 13:25:05

Sometimes, inspiration can happen with all of the suddenness and illumination of a lightning strike: Such was the case when Journey entered the studio to record “Faithfully,” keyboardist and songwriter Jonathan Cain says. The Cain-penned track, which rose to No. 12 on the Billboard charts, was originally included on Journey’s 1983 effort Frontiers. That album, home to three other Top [...]

‘I’d rather live in the now’: Genesis co-founder Mike Rutherford moves on with Mike and the Mechanics

Published on 2012-09-02 12:41:03

Genesis co-founder Mike Rutherford didn’t often return to moments with old band during this year’s tour with Mike and the Mechanics. In fact, over a nearly two-hour set, Rutherford included no more than three Genesis tracks. Mike and the Mechanics began as a side project in the mid-1980s, with a series of sessions musicians and guest vocalists — including Paul [...]

Steely Dan Sunday, “Century’s End” (1988)

Published on 2012-09-02 07:01:20

> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** After The Nightfly Donald Fagen continued to work in music but over the next decade, he lowered his profile. For the remainder of the 80s, he contributed a song or his keyboard playing skills for an album here and there for jazz-leaning artists ranging from The Yellowjackets to Rickie Lee Jones. Fagen and [...]

One Track Mind: Jeff Lynne, “At Last” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-02 06:39:31

At last! Jeff Lynne, having most recently issued a solo album in 1990 with Armchair Theatre, will be returning with two new studio recordings. But … “At Last”? The Etta James number? At first, I couldn’t get past the first two words on this advance track from Lynne’s Long Wave, the two words that James so completely owns — the [...]

Movies: Ozzy Osbourne – Speak of the Devil (2012)

Published on 2012-09-02 06:10:20

First off, the name of this DVD might be a little confusing. Though recorded on the same 1982 tour, this is not the visual companion to Ozzy’s album of the same name. While that record was made exclusively of his versions of Black Sabbath classics, the setlist on this DVD primarily pulls from his solo works. In fact, we only [...]

Donna Greenberg – Mav’rik (2012)

Published on 2012-09-02 05:27:54

Mav’rik lives up to its title from the first, as Donna Greenberg does that most unusual of things — populate a jazz singer’s album with 12 original compositions. Eschewing what has become the tried, true and finally badly bedraggled habit that most have of trotting out Gershwin, Porter and such, Greenberg instead puts the “songwriter” part back into singer-songwriter, and [...]

Missing Cats – Larry Brown Amen (2012)

Published on 2012-09-01 07:31:20

Named for the late Oxford, Miss., writer Larry Brown, the Missing Cats aspire to the same kind of brutally honest storytelling, set inside a deeply involving mixture of American roots music that once propelled the Band’s best sides. College buddies Sherman Ewing and JoJo Hermann (of Widespread Panic fame) lead the group, with additional contributions across Larry Brown Amen — [...]

Best of August 2012: Readers pick Steve Lukather, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Scrapomatic

Published on 2012-09-01 06:47:48

A timely sit down with Steve Lukather, just as he and Toto were ramping up for a summer jaunt through Europe, not only powered its way to the top of the August reader poll, it became the most-read item in Something Else! Reviews history. Also recognized was a sneak peek into the lead track from Bob Dylan’s forthcoming Tempest project, [...]

Jon Lundbom and Big Five Chord – No New Tunes (2012)

Published on 2012-09-01 06:36:48

The daring guitarist/composer Jon Lundbom is back at it again, meting out intense, unpredictable guerrilla jazz with his Big Five Chord quintet. No New Tunes follows up on last year’s Quavers! Quavers! Quavers! Quavers! with a half dozen steaming fresh batch of originals that vary in tonality, intensity and character. This record, like Lundbom’s prior two, is a Hot Cup [...]

One Track Mind: Eric Van Aro, “I’m Not Anyone” (2012)

Published on 2012-09-01 06:20:19

Stripped of its typical grandiosity, Paul Anka’s “I’m Not Anyone” becomes a far more emotionally complex tribute to the late Sammy Davis Jr., in the hands of jazz vocalist Eric Van Aro. The tune opens with an absorbing piano signature, courtesy of Fabio Gianni, before Van Aro enters to offer a confidential, quietly conveyed vocal: This is a song about [...]

One Track Mind: Dave Stewart featuring Orianthi, “Girl in a Catsuit” (2012)

Published on 2012-08-31 07:30:19

There is a droning, strangely intoxicating groove to this song, like a reckless combining of a two-on-the-tongue night of acid and some grease-popping north Mississippi blues. Dave Stewart retraces the lyric on “Girl in a Catsuit,” verse by verse, with all of the insistence of a shotgun’s report — repeating them like mantras, but dirtier, hungrier, with a carnal desire [...]

Forgotten series: The Leaves – Hey Joe (1993)

Published on 2012-08-31 06:47:59

Although folk singer and future Quicksilver Messenger Service vocalist Dino Valenti is said to have composed “Hey Joe,” it was actually copyrighted by Billy Roberts. Hundreds of artists have recorded the tune, which told the ghastly tale of a fellow who killed his girlfriend and fled to Mexico, but the Leaves were the only band, at least in America, to [...]

Jefferson Starship – Tales from the Mothership (2012)

Published on 2012-08-31 06:16:58

A star-stuffed stop by Jefferson Starship at the Roswell UFO Festival offers new insight into the legends of Jefferson Airplane, the Dead and CSN, as well — along with a powerful reminder of that era’s deep sense of musical community. Founding member Paul Kantner is joined here by longtime contributor David Freiberg and former Starship multi-instrumentalist Pete Sears, as well [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Thomas Dolby – The Golden Age Of Wireless (1982)

Published on 2012-08-31 05:39:11

A couple of mornings ago, me and one of my music nerd friends were having a good chuckle over the results of a recent scientific study, the distillation of which was published online at The Economist. The study employed all manner of swank statistical analysis on the sound levels, beats, chords, and melodies of half a gabillion popular songs. They [...]

Something Else! sneak peak: Shemekia Copeland, “Lemon Pie” (2012)

Published on 2012-08-30 12:34:16

In an election year, there are a lot of political issues being discussed, argued, spun and distorted. But the newly crowned Queen of the Blues Shemekia Copeland is doing her level best to make sure the intractable problem of income disparity stays part of the discourse with an advance stream below from her upcoming 33 1/3 CD. Now, Something Else! [...]

‘No further surgeries are needed’: New health scare for Eddie Van Halen, but it’s not cancer

Published on 2012-08-30 07:56:10

Eddie Van Halen’s health has forced his band to postpone a scheduled swing through Japan in November, but the good news is: It’s not a return of his cancer. Van Halen was diagnosed with tongue cancer back in 2000, and he subsequently lost a chunk of his tongue during an aggressive treatment plan that also included an experimental radioactive rinse. [...]

Bob Mould – Silver Age (2012)

Published on 2012-08-30 07:29:05

Silver Age is that rarest of Bob Mould records: An unadorned, primal rocker, all bloody-knuckled riffs and flinty attitude with little or no introspection, much less sentiment. That makes sense, in many ways. After all, this forthcoming project (due September 4, 2012, via Merge) arrives not long after Mould oversaw the reissue of his former band Sugar’s 1992 debut Copper [...]

Patterson Hood – Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance (2012)

Published on 2012-08-30 07:01:32

Patterson Hood is an aspiring novelist, destined to someday become the next William Faulkner. Well, maybe; his day job often gets in the way of that. As a frontman of The Drive-By Truckers, Hood makes his living writing short stories set to melody (i.e., songs). That hadn’t kept him from writing his Great American Novel, a somewhat autobiographical tale of [...]

The Wife – Bad Habits (2012)

Published on 2012-08-30 06:39:05

Complex and brutally honest, Swedish band the Wife’s Bad Habits delineates the hard journey we all make through this world, yet finds a way in the end to make peace with its most difficult moments. The group gets much of its core sound from the spooky jangle associated with Neil Young’s Harvest recordings, but with a rawly emotional singer in [...]

Books: Alex Hendler – Please, Please Me (2012)

Published on 2012-08-30 06:13:03

Something different was happening. Paul — (John’s) partner, friend, and, yes, sometime rival — whom John felt he knew as well as anybody, yet sometimes feel he didn’t know at all, was with him, on this magic carpet ride, soaring into the rafters of the cavernous Studio Two, trying to blow the roof off this sterile loony bin of a [...]

Chicago makes belated return to recording, but far from the traditional studio setting

Published on 2012-08-29 16:01:39

Chicago has gone ages without a new album — but technology, and a willingness to play it by ear, are helping the veteran classic rockers get back on track. In a new interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, co-founding keyboardist Robert Lamm says the band set up computers with Pro Tools and recorded in hotel conference rooms while on the road [...]

‘A worthy heir to Jimmie Lee Vaughan’: Kim Wilson, Tinsley Ellis to honor Sean Costello

Published on 2012-08-29 15:20:33

A guest-packed benefit show to support the Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bipolar Research is set for September 29, 2012, with appearances scheduled by Tinsley Ellis, Kim Wilson and Gina Sicilia, among others. When you first heard Costello as a 20-something with his whole future ahead of him, with his soulful, emotive voice and his tasty guitar licks, it was [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Jeff Lynne, “Point of No Return” (2012)

Published on 2012-08-29 09:05:24

Jeff Lynne’s forthcoming redo of classic Electric Light Orchestra songs includes one eagerly awaited new composition, called “Point of No Return.” Check it out here! The track sounds, at least in the early going, like the typical solo Lynne production, dominated by his now familiar drum signature, propelled by a Byrdsy guitar, enveloped with a double-tracked vocal. Add in Roy [...]

‘I lost every bit of identity’: Don Felder opens up on his emotional departure from the Eagles

Published on 2012-08-29 08:12:56

For former Eagles guitarist Don Felder, the story of his nearly three decade gap between solo efforts reads like a rock-star biography — with plenty of highs (packed arenas, superstardom) and lows (his sudden divorce). The divorce happened within 12 months of Felder’s leaving the Eagles, he tells MusicRadar, leaving the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer without much of [...]

Sammy Hagar to be honored in California, as Chickenfoot prepares deluxe reissue of debut

Published on 2012-08-29 07:46:04

Sammy Hagar and Chickenfoot will each find the spotlight again in the coming days. The band will see a deluxe re-release of its initial recording, while lead singer will be recognized with Sammy Hagar Day in Roseville, California. The self-titled Chickenfoot debut, originally released in 2009 by the now-defunct Redline, will return as a deluxe double-disc reissue on October 16, [...]

Remembering Katrina: Aaron Neville, “Louisiana 1927″ (1991)

Published on 2012-08-29 07:30:09

Today marks the seventh anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, an event that touched off the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Although “7″ isn’t a landmark anniversary like, say, 1, 5 , 10 or 25, it’s impossible to erase this tragedy from my consciousness. Especially when there’s yet another hurricane bearing down on the Gulf Coast as I [...]

Mark Knopfler – Privateering (2012)

Published on 2012-08-29 06:54:32

Mark Knopfler works with a loose theme here, that of living by your wits on the high seas, but the broader messages found on Privateering are sure to resonate with anyone who’s faced down life’s mighty struggles. It’s been three years since the former Dire Straits frontman issued Get Lucky, and he clearly has been busy: The forthcoming Privateering, due [...]

Books: Danny Seraphine – Street Player: My Chicago Story (2010)

Published on 2012-08-29 06:32:16

Danny Seraphine served as the drummer for Chicago from 1967 to 1990. He may not be one of the more famous drummers in rock ‘n roll history but he is definitely on the list of the most respected skin beaters of the classic rock era. Twenty years after the band dismissed him amid great acrimony, he and collaborator Adam Mitchell [...]

Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi – WhoCares (2012)

Published on 2012-08-28 08:01:58

This new two-disc set of rarities and unreleased tracks, built around a double-sided benefit single from Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi, traces a series of intriguing side trips traveled by Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. There’s nothing on the order of “Iron Man” or “Hush,” but the two new cuts featured on WhoCares (due today from Armory Records-Ear Music) thrum [...]

‘An extremely magical band’: Steve Hackett previews his latest Genesis Revisited project

Published on 2012-08-28 07:29:43

Steve Hackett, in a newly posted video chat, takes fans inside a forthcoming tribute to his days as Genesis’ guitarist. Genesis Revisited II, as the name implies, is Hackett’s second trip through his 1970s tenure with the legendary prog rock band, following Watcher of the Skies: Genesis Revisited in 1996. The guitarist is quick to correct any early assumptions that [...]

Desert Island Discs: One Hit Wonder Edition

Published on 2012-08-28 07:17:00

By this estimation, the decade of the One Hit Wonder was the 1970s, as our panel of potentially stranded passengers voted for 18 tracks from that era to take along on their doomed trip. The 1980s came in second, followed by the 1960s and 1990s (in a tie), and then the 2000s. A quartet of these shooting-star songs received multiple [...]

On Second Thought: Badfinger – The Best of Badfinger (1995)

Published on 2012-08-28 06:54:16

Just as the Beatles were breaking up, along comes Badfinger, attacking radio stations everywhere with a song bearing an uncannily resemblance to a prime piece of power pop of the Fab Four variety. The tune we’re talking about is “Come And Get It,” which was indeed imbued with ties to the Beatles, as it was penned and produced by Paul [...]

Chick Corea and Gary Burton – Hot House (2012)

Published on 2012-08-28 06:30:59

When Chick Corea and Gary Burton get together, as they have every year for the last forty years, it’s a communion of music masters that has no peers. As the first — and possibly — the only permanent piano/vibes duo, the two’s unbroken collaboration has been slotted in between many career-defining turns of the individual artists themselves, and many more [...]

‘You don’t have to make an album anymore’: Alan Parsons says no new projects in works

Published on 2012-08-27 12:41:57

Though Alan Parsons recently took part in The Prog Collective, don’t look for a new full-length album under his own name anytime soon. The legendary engineer/producer (Abbey Road, Dark Side of the Moon) and leader of the Alan Parsons Project says the occasional EP is all the market will allow these days, anyway. The Alan Parsons Project put out 11 [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Highway Patrolman” (1982)

Published on 2012-08-27 09:56:22

Unlike the “tough choices” that politicians claim to have to make (you know, the choices that don’t actually affect them in any direct way?), there are folks whose daily loves are shadowed by the forces that they can’t control, and the decisions that they have to make. “Highway Patrolman” has always reminded me of that fact. Here we have a [...]

Tommy Bolin – The Ultimate Teaser (2012)

Published on 2012-08-27 09:18:44

Arriving between stints with the James Gang, Billy Cobham and then Deep Purple, Teaser stands as the first, best testament to the roving genius that was doomed guitarist Tommy Bolin. Set for reissue as The Ultimate Teaser on September 4, 2012, via Samson-429 Records, the original 1975 album — an unpredictable gem that blends heavy rock, sizzling fusion, Latin rhythms, [...]

Bob Pressner – King of Nothing (2012)

Published on 2012-08-27 08:07:43

Bob Pressner sings with a timeless, almost mythological passion — sorting through the promise and the disappointments of life with a knowing eye. He’s seen them both, amid the rubble of the first World Trade Center bombing in the 1990s. Working then as a commodities trader, he made his way through a smoke-filled staircase to the WTC’s garage, only to [...]

New Music Monday: Alvin Lee, Art Garfunkel, Gillan & Iommi, Jeremy Spencer, Robert Cray

Published on 2012-08-27 07:10:42

Make way for red-hot new stuff from the likes of Ten Years After’s Alvin Lee; Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi; Fleetwood Mac’s Jeremy Spencer; Joey DeFrancesco with Larry Coryell and Jimmy Cobb; and Robert Cray. Out with key reissues and live documents this week are Art Garfunkel, Art Pepper, Queen and the Jackson 5. New Music Monday also includes new [...]

Art Pepper – Unreleased Vol. VII: Sankei Hall-Osaka Japan, November 18, 1980 (2012)

Published on 2012-08-27 06:39:28

In November of 1980, things were going pretty well for Art Pepper. His newly published autobiography co-written with wife Laurie Straight Life had been receiving positive reviews and he had recently completed a “with strings” record, Winter Moon which would go on to rave reviews, too. He also got his favored pianist, George Cables, back in time for this tour [...]

‘I try to be myself’: John Oates enjoys living and working in Nashville, but he’s not going country

Published on 2012-08-26 17:55:59

Though John Oates has been a Nashville resident for some time now, you shouldn’t look for him in a ten-gallon hat on the cover of his next all-original solo release. That as-yet-untitled project follows a pair of blues-focused efforts, 2011′s Mississippi Mile and the 2012 live set The Bluesville Sessions. No word on how much the Delta will figure into [...]

‘Tom Petty kind of feel’: Former Genesis frontman Ray Wilson at work on new solo album

Published on 2012-08-26 17:01:58

Former Genesis frontman Ray Wilson is in the studio, putting the finishing touches on as many as a dozen tracks co-written by Peter Hoff, a producer and collaborator with Wilson’s band Stiltskin. The forthcoming solo album’s tentative title is reportedly Chasing Rainbows, according to GenesisNews.com. Wilson says he is also considering the inclusion of a duet with Ali Ferguson, who [...]

‘Almost by accident’: Inside the happenstance behind Jefferson Starship’s cool 1970s album covers

Published on 2012-08-26 16:28:23

Jefferson Starship, starting with 1973′s Dragonfly, issued a trio of well-received albums — each of them with an interlocking cover-image theme — first air, then water, then fire and then earth. Cool, right? Longtime leader Paul Kantner says it was essentially just a happy accident. Dragonfly was the gold-selling debut of Jefferson Starship, a group that had evolved out of [...]

‘It had a good effect on us’: Seeing Jon Davison with Yes might spur Glass Hammer to tour more

Published on 2012-08-26 15:58:01

Members of Glass Hammer say their enthusiasm over bandmate Jon Davison’s performance with Yes late last month in Georgia could result in additional live dates. The band, which recorded two albums with Davison before he was tapped for a tandem gig fronting one of prog rock’s longest running amalgams, has rarely mounted wide-scale tours in the past. Glass Hammer, based [...]

Steely Dan Sunday, “Walk Between Raindrops” (1982)

Published on 2012-08-26 07:39:55

“Ruby Baby” is the only cover on The Nightfly but when I first heard the buoyant, innocent love song “Walk Between Raindrops,” I thought it was a soul-jazz take on some pop ditty from the late 50s/early 60s, too. And with lyrics like “We fought/Now I can’t remember why/After all the words were said and tears were gone/We Vowed we’d [...]

Stephen Kalinich and Jon Tiven – Symptomology/ Shortcuts to Infinity (2012)

Published on 2012-08-26 07:21:31

Symptomology and Shortcuts to Infinity sound nothing like the Beach Boys — and that’s saying something, considering lyricist Steve Kalinich’s long history with the band. Instead, Kalinich and producer/multi-instrumentalist Jon Tiven (Big Star, the Rolling Stones, the Alabama Shakes) offer a two-disc frenzy of blistering psychedelia and rollicking roots rock, a smattering of goofball humor (check out Zappa-esque titles like [...]

On Second Thought: Yes – The Yes Album (1971)

Published on 2012-08-26 06:47:45

Because I was a huge fan of progressive rock back in the 1970s, I believed I was among music’s most enlightened devotees. My love of prog grew from being a fan of Yes, the sub-genre’s most popular and successful band. It all started with a song that, to this day, remains the biggest prog hit single of all time — [...]

Movies: The Beatles – Their Golden Age (2012)

Published on 2012-08-26 06:15:30

Every day, DVDs surface purporting to contain “rare” Beatles footage and exclusive interviews. The latest entry in the parade, The Beatles: Their Golden Age, claims to be a “superb documentary” that “truly captures the magic as well as the pandemonium of ‘Beatlemania,’ from their delirious fans and madcap movies to interviews with each of the Fab Four.” Its over-reliance on [...]

‘The right mix of old and new’: Wolfgang Van Halen on building fresh songs from previous sounds

Published on 2012-08-25 17:10:04

In the current edition of Guitar World magazine, Wolfgang Van Halen takes fans into the early sessions for what would become the band’s well-received 2012 comeback A Different Kind of Truth, detailing his reasons for pulling out some of Van Halen’s previously unheard demos for inspiration. The album raced to No. 6 among top-selling rock projects on Billboard magazine’s mid-year [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: The Jackson 5, “If The Shoe Don’t Fit” (2012)

Published on 2012-08-25 15:52:29

A new 32-track, two-disc set focusing on the earliest days of the Jackson 5, to be released the day before Michael Jackson’s 54th birthday, will include the never-before-heard “If The Shoe Don’t Fit.” Check it out here! Come and Get It: The Rare Pearls, arriving on August 28, 2012, also features the combustible youngster leading his four brothers through versions [...]

No new Styx album on horizon, but Lawrence Gowan is prepping long-awaited solo effort

Published on 2012-08-25 10:37:10

It’s not Styx, but it’s as close as fans will get for now: Lead singer Lawrence Gowan is at work on his own long-awaited return to recording. Gowan joined guitarists Tommy Shaw and James “JY” Young in Styx 14 years ago, having released his most recent solo effort three years before. Since, Gowan has overseen a 25th anniversary remaster of [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Black Country Communion – Afterglow (2012)

Published on 2012-08-25 09:53:41

The star-stuffed Black Country Communion is set to release its third album, called Afterglow, On October 30, 2012. Meanwhile, they’ve offered behind-the-scenes access into the sessions. The band includes Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath), keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater), guitarist Joe Bonamassa and drummer Jason Bonham (The Who). Together, “there’s just a jet engine when the pieces fit in [...]

Alvin Lee – Still on the Road to Freedom (2012)

Published on 2012-08-25 08:02:52

Titled as if its a sequel to Alvin Lee’s all-star 1973 debut album On the Road to Freedom with Mylon LeFevre, this new album from the Ten Years After frontman actually works as a more direct, personal statement. Instead of flashy guest musicians like George Harrison, Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Mick Fleetwood and Ron Wood, Lee lets his own roving [...]

Lianne La Havas – Is Your Love Big Enough? (2012)

Published on 2012-08-25 07:35:29

Lianne La Havas’ debut asks the right question and never lets up on the throttle, as though waylaying a dull-witted admirer in the crook of a studio apartment while he holds a cup of coffee as impotent defence. From South London, La Havas is the exact sort of singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist that should be cornering poor lovers. She has the aggrieved poetry [...]

Satoko Fujii and Natsuki Tamura Two-fer!: Muku and Forever (2012)

Published on 2012-08-25 07:14:08

Easily the most talented husband-wife team in avant-garde jazz since Carla and Paul Bley, Natsuki Tamura and Satoko Fujii are also among the few who are extremely productive without sacrificing anything artistically. In fact, every time I’m reviewing a Fujii/Tamura project, I’m reviewing several at a time: last July, we examined three of them and the year before, five new [...]

Mister Link – Do It in the Name of Love (2012)

Published on 2012-08-25 06:46:18

Though his baritone has been consistently compared to that of Jim Morrison, Mister Link’s music connects with more modern sounds on Do It in the Name of Love, from the Cars and R.E.M. to the Smiths and the White Stripes. And, more particularly, Link moves well beyond the stereotypically assured sexuality of the Doors’ doomed lead singer. Consider Link’s approach [...]

‘Additional touches being added’: John Fogerty pushes back release date for new album

Published on 2012-08-24 12:41:56

John Fogerty, a legendary perfectionist, is going to take a little more time crafting his upcoming covers project — and it looks like that work will include some additional new songs. Fogerty has pushed back to release date for the already-announced Wrote a Song for Everyone from October into early 2013, according to a new posting on his web site. [...]

‘No more beer, no more wine’: Arnel Pineda discusses preparing for Journey’s marathon concerts

Published on 2012-08-24 08:46:10

Over his last few years with Journey, Arnel Pineda gets a lot of credit with fans for having recaptured the high-flying vocal pyrotechnics of the band’s platinum era with former vocalist Steve Perry. But it doesn’t come easy. Pineda, a Filipino-born singer-songwriter, has been Journey’s frontman since 2007 — but, more recently, he’s seen the band graduate back to marathon [...]

Debunking the myth that ‘You Really Got Me’ featured a solo by Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page

Published on 2012-08-24 08:01:55

For years now, the legend has gone that Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, a favored sideman for Kinks producer Shel Talmy, actually played the titanic solo on “You Really Got Me” — one of the signature moments in 1960s rock. Talmy, in a new interview, is ready to set the record straight. The Ray Davies song, built around a power chord [...]

Joey DeFrancesco, with Larry Coryell and Jimmy Cobb – Wonderful! Wonderful! (2012)

Published on 2012-08-24 07:44:55

Everything old is not quite new again on Joey DeFrancesco’s forthcoming Wonderful! Wonderful!, though I found myself disarmed nevertheless by this album’s old-school charms. It’s no small thrill, for instance, to hear the title tune (a moony old Johnny Mathis ballad) transformed into this episodic, organ-jazz burner. At the same time, though, you’ll also immediately hear echoes of everything that [...]

Forgotten series: The Movin’ Morfomen – Flashbacks! (1997)

Published on 2012-08-24 07:16:41

Formed in 1965, the Movin’ Morfomen staged quite an impact throughout their home state of New Mexico. Based in Espanola, situated just north of Santa Fe, the band issued five singles before the decade drew to a close. Such efforts amassed an ample amount of local airplay and are now coveted by fans of regional garage rock. Attuned to the [...]

Jerome Sabbagh – Plugged In (2012)

Published on 2012-08-24 06:21:38

For his fifth album, the French tenor saxman Jerome Sabbagh went “electric” and not only amplified the sounds but also succeeded in amplifying his musical message. Plugged In, as this record is so accurately titled, represents a fresh approach by Sabbagh, not just in the leading of an electric band, but a truly international band of all new participants. American [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Patti Smith Group – Easter (1978)

Published on 2012-08-24 06:08:10

I’m beginning to wonder if anybody has passion about anything anymore. And why would I think this? An impromptu study in contrasts. A few days ago, somebody tossed me a link to this terrific essay about the late rock critic Lester Bangs. Titled “How Lester Bangs Taught Me To Read,” writer Maria Bustillos notes the many literary and cultural references [...]

‘They revitalized us’: Kiss’ Paul Stanley on the impact of Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer

Published on 2012-08-23 22:12:15

In the run up to releasing the new Kiss album Monster, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons oversaw the release of a massive retrospective book covering the band’s lengthy history — a process that led to some conversations about former members. The duo was originally paired, of course, with drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley — finding their widest fame [...]

Fans push Stick Men well past fundraising goal, deluxe new album Deep due in October

Published on 2012-08-23 15:48:44

Over the last few years, Tony Levin’s Stick Men have often stopped touring long enough to crank out a quick EP, before hitting the road again to bring the new music to their fans. This time, Levin says they’re doing it the right way. The Stick Men — which also includes Pat Mastelotto and Markus Reuter — took a rare [...]

‘Coming together to celebrate his life and his music’: Star-studded concert will honor Levon Helm

Published on 2012-08-23 15:04:38

A star-studded benefit concert to be held October 3, 2012, at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J., will celebrate Levon Helm, while supporting family efforts to keep his Midnight Ramble concerts going. Guest artists at the Love for Levon show will include Joe Walsh, My Morning Jacket, Bruce Hornsby, John Haitt, Warren Haynes, Lucinda Williams, Ray LaMontagne, Patty Griffin, [...]

Long-bootlegged 1970s concert from the Who digitally remastered for new release

Published on 2012-08-23 14:32:03

A new DVD focuses on the Who in all of their mid-1970s glory, capturing the iconic band on stage in Houston, Texas, at the start of a massive U.S. tour to promote The Who By Numbers, their seventh album. The Who Live in Texas ’75, a 117-minute, 25-song set, arrives courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment on October 9, 2012. Long [...]

Deep Beatles: “The Word” (1965)

Published on 2012-08-23 09:11:30

1965 proved to be a busy year for the Beatles. Beatlemania continued to take over the globe, the group maintained a whirlwind touring schedule, they shot the film Help!, and they recorded two albums. In the midst of the chaos, the four showed subtle but definite signs that they were maturing artistically. Cracks in the moptop image first surfaced on [...]

Win the Day – Win the Day (2012)

Published on 2012-08-23 08:35:54

Charlie Gathe wrote and recorded all of these songs, all by himself. In this way, the stirring desire for connection found on Win the Day makes sense. But the album doesn’t play like a conversation held all alone, and it’s got a remarkable musicality to boot. Gathe, who works as Win the Day out of Lafayette, Louisiana, opens this self-titled [...]

Jeremy Spencer – Bend in the Road (2012)

Published on 2012-08-23 08:02:14

Jeremy Spencer, the Fleetwood Mac alum, has found inspiration in working with new voices, old masters and his own muse, creating an album of intimate, handmade joys that moves confidently from blues to Americana to rootsy pop. Bend in the Road, seeing worldwide release on August 28, 2012, recalls in many ways the Elmore James-focused contributions he made to Fleetwood [...]

Tim Kuhl – St. Helena (2012)

Published on 2012-08-23 07:15:38

When first writing about composer, bandleader and drummer Tim Kuhl two and a half years ago, I took note of his diversity within complex, abstract and challenging styles. Since then, he’s made more records that wipe the slate clean from what he’s made before and starts again with a whole new approach. A real musical chameleon, the common theme in [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Garth Hudson – Chest Fever: A Canadian Tribute to the Band (2012)

Published on 2012-08-22 13:18:10

Preview four new songs from the forthcoming project Chest Fever: A Canadian Tribute to the Band, featuring Garth Hudson along with famous musicians from the Great White North like Neil Young, the Cowboy Junkies and Bruce Cockburn, among others. Reinterpretations of “This Wheel’s On Fire” (originally found on the Band’s 1968 debut Music from Big Pink), “King Harvest” (the finale [...]

‘Big announcement coming soon’: Are the Rolling Stones finally set to unveil 50th anniversary tour plans?

Published on 2012-08-22 12:20:22

Seems the Rolling Stones are finally set to unveil their 50th anniversary tour plans. Or maybe something else. Either way, there’s a big buzz about a new image posted to the band’s Facebook page. An attached message there says: “The Rolling Stones have a big announcement coming soon! Get involved by downloading the uView app and pointing your device at [...]

‘You can never deny the immense talent’: Steve Vai on first David Lee Roth band vs. Van Halen

Published on 2012-08-22 11:48:15

When David Lee Roth left Van Halen the first time, he assembled a new set of sidemen who were arguably the musical equal of his former group. Just don’t ask guitarist Steve Vai to compare the two. Vai, of course, was joined by bassist Billy Sheehan and drummer Gregg Bissonette in a band that would record two consecutive Top 10 [...]

One Track Mind: Art Garfunkel with Paul Simon, “My Little Town” (1975; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-08-22 08:23:43

Art Garfunkel’s forthcoming anthology The Singer includes key moments from 10 of his solo efforts, and a number of collaborative projects with Paul Simon — none perhaps more interesting than this one. Anthematic and so unsettling as to stand apart from anything he ever did as part of Simon and Garfunkel, “My Little Town” had always held such resonance for [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Peter Blegvad and Andy Partridge, “Sacred Objects” (2012)

Published on 2012-08-22 08:01:45

Hot on the heels of his collaboration (as songwriter) with guitarist/vocalist Mike Keneally, Andy Partridge has a second project due out soon with songwriter Peter Blegvad. Gonwards is due in October from Partridge’s Ape House label, but there’s little other to go on than the just-released first song, “Sacred Objects.” Compared to the enjoyable, but odd experimental poetry album that [...]

Mitch Seidman – For One Who Waits (2012)

Published on 2012-08-22 07:28:07

For One Who Waits, the followup to guitarist Mitch Seidman’s Triangulation, begins with a series of undulating fills from drummer Claire Arenius – an early indication of the collaborative nature of the album. Seidman then adds a spritely riff, with bassist Jamie MacDonald slipping in like a late-arriving old pal, and their fizzy, familial jazz recording is underway. “Movin’ On” [...]

One Track Mind: Alex Chilton, “Sugar, Sugar/ I Got The Feeling” (1970; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-08-22 06:49:51

When they finally released at the beginning of this year all of Alex Chilton’s lost 1970 sessions from his abortive attempt to make his first post-Box Tops solo record, I got curious about what this mad genious was cooking up in his first recordings as a independent artist, before he changed his mind and went and started Big Star. The [...]

Desert Island Discs: 1990s Rock and Pop Edition

Published on 2012-08-21 09:16:00

Though the 1990s are generally associated with the shooting-star grunge movement, our desert island is apparently going to have precious few albums from the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains. MORE DESERT ISLAND FUN! > Instead, voters in the latest Desert Island Disc polling — which focused on rock and popular sounds from the ’90s — were [...]

Robert Cray – Nothin But Love (2012)

Published on 2012-08-21 08:15:21

I don’t remember the last time, outside of a live performance, when Robert Cray’s guitar sounded so present. Nothin But Love, produced by Kevin Shirley and due August 27 in the UK and August 28 in North America from Provogue Records, puts Cray’s instrument front and center — then builds some of his most interesting collaborative moments around that signature [...]

Gary Burton/ Chick Corea – Crystal Silence, The ECM Recordings 1972-79 (2009 reissue)

Published on 2012-08-21 07:35:07

On September 4, pianist Chick Corea and vibraphonist Gary Burton will release their sixth duo album together, Hot House (Concord), on which a review is forthcoming sometime next week. Before addressing that new album, however, here’s a good time to re-examine their first three — two studio albums and one live document — all from ECM Records and all from [...]

Jeremy – From the Dust to the Stars (2012)

Published on 2012-08-21 06:58:45

Here on the latest album from the immensely prolific Jeremy Morris, we find the Michigan-based singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and owner of JAM Recordings, combining the holy trinity of psychedelic music, progressive rock and power pop into one spellbinding swirl of shapes and shades. A declaration of hope, faith and love, From The Dust To The Stars (MALS Ltd.) sings the [...]

New Music Monday: Kelly Joe Phelps, Kiss, Los Lobos, Ry Cooder, Scrapomatic

Published on 2012-08-20 07:01:31

This week’s roundup of New Music Monday items is topped by Kelly Joe Phelps, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ry Cooder and Scrapomatic. There are interesting reissues and live dates to discuss, too — including Armored Saint, Dweezil Zappa, James Ingram, Kiss, Los Lobos, Taj Mahal and Twisted Sister. Also stampeding out with new stuff this week: Natalie Cressman and Secret Garden, among [...]

Florian Weber – Biosphere (2012)

Published on 2012-08-20 06:39:07

Typically if you want to find the truly forward-thinking jazz pianist these days, you have to go out to whack jazz, where you’ll find visionaries like Matthew Shipp. But there are exceptions, and Vijay Iyer is a notable one. Now add Florian Weber to that short list with the impending release of his second album,Biosphere. Like Iyer, the German virtuoso [...]

Kiss – Destroyer: Resurrected (1976; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-08-20 06:14:17

The promise, both fulfilled and completely missed, on Kiss’s 1976 release Dynasty can be heard inside the Gene Simmons vehicle “God of Thunder.” Simmons sounds like a gaping maw, so dangerous and primordial, with a creaking groove to match — as if he’s transformed into something rising up in the night. But here, as elsewhere on Dynasty, first-time Kiss producer [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Johnny 99″ (1982)

Published on 2012-08-20 05:30:11

When I first heard “Johnny 99,” it was the driving, almost rockabilly bent to Bruce’s guitar that drew me in. But it was the combination of such upbeat music with a truly nasty story (unemloyment, murder, imprisonment…basically, a life unhinged) that made me pick up the needle and drop it back for another listen. Was it my first experience with [...]

‘That might happen’: Gregg Rolie confirms talks for a reunion with Carlos Santana

Published on 2012-08-19 14:13:54

Gregg Rolie had become so estranged from Carlos Santana by the time they were set to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that he almost didn’t attend. They’re apparently inching closer to reconciliation now. Interviewed while part of the recently completed tour of Ringo Starr’s latest All-Starr Band, Rolie didn’t rule out a reunion with Santana, [...]

‘It got a little shallow’: Nancy Wilson discusses how Heart’s music changed in the 1980s

Published on 2012-08-19 12:25:13

One of the essential elements of Heart’s music that was lost as the band turned toward sleek hitmaking in the 1980s was the signature acoustic guitar work of Nancy Wilson. Classic rock staples like “Crazy On You” — which, after going Top 40 in the summer of 1976, became the band’s first hit — were defined by that sound. But [...]

Steely Dan Sunday, “The Goodbye Look” (1982)

Published on 2012-08-19 07:08:33

> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** Fagen’s dry wit comes to the fore on this song about an American couple on holiday at a Caribbean resort when an revolution happens upon them. That revolution is based on, naturally, the actual Cuban Revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power at the beginning of 1959, which neatly fits within the timeline [...]

Peter Novelli – Louisiana Roots and Blues (2012)

Published on 2012-08-19 06:44:41

Peter Novelli’s Louisiana Roots and Blues works like a one-album tour through much of the tangy musical milieu that makes that part of the world such an intriguing aural experience, from slinky zydeco two-steps to stinging blues rock, from winking swamp-boogie to angular Crescent City grooves. It’s like Little Feat, except more rooted in the French Quarter’s slanted streets. Novelli, [...]

Forgotten series: The Sons of Champlin – Fat City (1999)

Published on 2012-08-19 06:16:23

Hailing from Mill Valley, located north of San Francisco right across the Golden Gate Bridge, the Sons of Champlin became one of the region’s most visible and inspiring bands. Known for their stimulating improvisational skills, the group actually began life as a different animal. Here on a compilation called Fat City (Big Beat Records), we’re introduced to the goods this [...]

Everest – On Approach (2010)

Published on 2012-08-19 05:50:02

Over that past few decades, the consolidation of radio and record label ownership has had an “interesting” effect on record releases: They have become quite a bit more homogeneous, much like the companies that help to produce them. Labels picked up bands whose music was easy to categorize, and easy to market to their target audiences. It’s a sad thing, [...]

‘You have to get over it’: Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson on the death of the album

Published on 2012-08-18 10:10:17

As sad as classic album-rockers like Rush are to see long-form recordings lose momentum in the marketplace, the new single-song market has its advantages, guitarist Alex Lifeson says: It keeps fans engaged. The band’s ambitious story-cycle Clockwork Angels, Rush’s first new studio project since 2007′s Snakes and Arrows, is in many ways a throwback to the 1970s’ staple of concept [...]

Jeff Lynne reunites with former Electric Light Orchestra bandmate Richard Tandy

Published on 2012-08-18 09:43:06

Even as Jeff Lynne is set to issue new solo versions of his greatest hits with the Electric Light Orchestra, he has reunited with former ELO member Richard Tandy. Videos of the pair performing “Showdown” and “Evil Woman” have been posted to elo.biz. “Showdown” was originally a No. 12 hit single in the UK in 1973, while “Evil Woman” was [...]

Ry Cooder – Election Special (2012)

Published on 2012-08-18 07:36:40

Ry Cooder has a way with words, a way with song. He can catch a nasty groove, and toss off a ripped-from-the-headlines insult like nobody this side of Bob Dylan. Who can forget the way he cuffed around unscrupulous bankers last year? Disappointingly, though, too often Cooder goes for low-road topics on his forthcoming Election Special, due August 21, 2012 [...]

On Second Thought: Hall and Oates – Abandoned Luncheonette (1973)

Published on 2012-08-18 07:01:41

Hall and Oates have always been an enigma. To this day, they remain an immensely talented duo capable of some of the greatest white R&B vocal harmonies ever put down on vinyl. Yet, during their heyday of the 1980s, when they surpassed the Everly Brothers as the biggest selling duo in history, they succumbed, just like everyone else, to the [...]

Kelly McCarty 3 – Roux Steady (2012)

Published on 2012-08-18 06:40:12

The eight-string Novax guitar has long the instrument of choice for Charlie Hunter, and the two are as inseparable as was Dizzy Gillespie and his trumpet with the bent-up bell. But Hunter isn’t Novax’s only customer and Kelly McCarty makes his living from that axe, too. These Novak hybrid guitars have been around for some twenty years and it’s still [...]

Los Lobos – Kiko (1992; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-08-18 06:18:46

It is still, by any measure, their most unusual, yet satisfying album — that moment when the power and mystery of Los Lobos music found its fullest flowering in the off-the-wall pop atmospheres created by Mitchell Froom. They’d put out tougher albums, albums that connected more directly with their Mexican-American heritage, even albums like 1990′s The Neighborhood that similarly attempted [...]

Gimme Five: Songs where Supertramp, well, sucked

Published on 2012-08-17 07:21:35

Supertramp’s golden era is generally understood to have been between 1974-79, spanning Crime of the Century through Breakfast in America. Perhaps predictably, none of our selections come from that period. Before then, Supertramp was still trying to find their way, attempting with varying degrees of success to nail down the winning formula that would give Roger Hodgson, Rick Davies and [...]

Marquis Hill – Sounds Of The City (2012)

Published on 2012-08-17 06:49:42

Last year Marquis Hill introduced himself on his debut album New Gospel as a trumpeter, composer and bandleader who can weave in all sorts of modern grooves that give no ground in defending the proud traditions of jazz. You could call it “head and feet” jazz, the kind that’s circumspect enough to satisfy the head and soulful enough to make [...]

From panels to live jams, splendid time had by all at the 2012 Fest for Beatles Fans

Published on 2012-08-17 06:13:24

To discuss “every sound there is,” Beatles enthusiasts converged on Rosemont, Illinois for the 36th annual Fest for Beatles Fans. From August 10-12, 2012, Beatles experts, musicians, and enthusiasts gathered at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare to celebrate the Fab Four through panels, “Battle of the Bands” contests, and much more. Highlights included an interesting panel of special guests: Freda Kelly, [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Tom Waits – Blood Money (2002)

Published on 2012-08-17 05:35:57

Had he not died in 1994, Charles Bukowski would have just celebrated (yesterday) his 92nd birthday. Yeah, old Hank living to the ripe old age of 92, “ripe” being the key word here as his special blend of alcohol-fueled lechery and misogyny was legendary. Still, Buke had a good heart. I’ve always been amazed at the perceptive tenderness he was [...]

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: A Classic for Fenway Night #2 (2012)

Published on 2012-08-16 08:51:05

The Boston Globe headline for their review of Bruce’s opening night at Fenway Park read “High-energy Bruce Springsteen concert is an instant Fenway classic.” Sure enough, from the entrance with “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” in the background into “The Promised Land,” to surprises like a searing “Boom Boom,” and the classy tribute to Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky, [...]

‘Always looking for cool sounds’: George Bunnell on Strawberry Alarm Clock’s return

Published on 2012-08-16 08:23:54

Though they’re best known for “Incense And Peppermints,” a No. 1 hit from the fall of 1967, Strawberry Alarm Clock hasn’t gone the way of most oldies acts: In fact, they have vital new music out, with more on the way, according to longtime member George Bunnell. Of course, a career this lengthy has seen a lot of change, particularly [...]

Download: Tim Finn, “People Like Us” (2012)

Published on 2012-08-16 07:10:23

Inspirational without feeling like a too-easy bromide, Tim Finn’s free download “People Like Us” urges us, gently but insistently, toward contentment with what’s left in our lives. It’s a big message, but compressed into a magisterial, piano-driven storyline, rather than ballooned into your average 21st century anthem-rocker. The temptation on “People Like Us” — available at Finn’s Web site ahead [...]

Scrapomatic – I’m A Stranger And I Love The Night (2012)

Published on 2012-08-16 06:49:14

When Derek Trucks and wife Susan Tedeschi effectively combined their bands into the Tedeschi-Trucks Band, it was a musical marriage made in heaven. There was, however, one casualty of this merger: the Derek Trucks Band got mothballed, regulating its lead singer, Mike Mattison, into a backup vocalist role within the TTB. I’ve got nothing at all against hearing Susan sing [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Bob Dylan, “Early Roman Kings” (2012)

Published on 2012-08-15 18:11:15

“Early Roman Kings,” our first taste of the forthcoming Bob Dylan album Tempest, shambles in with a low guttural rumble like a yard dog about to snap. It’s a blues, Dylan’s way — with a sawing “Mannish Boy” riff, a snorting harp, and a series of brilliantly mixed metaphors: Early Roman kings, in his mind’s eye, wear shark-skin suits, but [...]

‘A meeting, rather than a concert’: Greg Lake brings his informal shows to the UK

Published on 2012-08-15 15:22:05

Already a smash hit in America, Greg Lake’s “Songs of a Lifetime” tour is headed to the UK for a series of 11 November dates. The co-founding member of both King Crimson and Emerson Lake and Palmer is also selling the audio version of his new autobiography, appropriately titled Lucky Man, at these shows. There’s plenty to tell: With Crimson, [...]

Instead of slowing down after huge summer tour, Styx is just getting started

Published on 2012-08-15 14:24:33

The ever-touring Styx, which is just coming off a massive summer jauntwith Ted Nugent and REO Speedwagon called the Midwest Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, isn’t slowing down. In fact, quite the contrary. Fans west of the Mississippi will finally get a chance to see the in-concert performances of 1977′s The Grand Illusion and 1978′s Pieces of Eight in their entirety, [...]

‘Next year, so far’: Stevie Nicks confirms (sort of) a reunion for Fleetwood Mac in 2013

Published on 2012-08-15 14:00:46

Stevie Nicks this morning confirmed — well, almost — that Fleetwood Mac will reunite next year. Details about whether that could mean a new studio album, or simply a tour, remain unclear. Longtime drummer Mick Fleetwood has chalked up the band’s inactivity lately to solo ventures by both Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. Nicks issued In Your Dreams) in 2011, and [...]

Lucio Rubino – Lucio Rubino (2012)

Published on 2012-08-15 09:00:03

Lucio Rubino has already matured through a few musical lives: Touring keyboardist with Flock of Seagulls. Hot young modern rocker signed to EMI. Top Christian act. The one he seems more interested in now? Husband and father. Rubino’s new self-titled solo release leaves aside many of the elements that have defined his sound so far. Whereas he’s been known for [...]

One Track Mind: Natalie Cressman and Secret Garden, “Honeysuckle Rose” (2012)

Published on 2012-08-15 07:16:53

Whether she’s the female answer to Trombone Shorty or the trombone version of Esperanza Spalding is something I’ll leave other to decide, but there seems little question that twenty year old Natalie Cressman is destined to enter into a lot of conversations about jazz’s most exciting newest members of the scene. Her pedigree alone suggests talent: daughter of Brazilian jazz [...]

‘Changed my world’: Songs of the Century producer Billy Sherwood on Supertramp

Published on 2012-08-15 06:39:56

Producer Billy Sherwood takes us inside Songs of the Century: An All-Star Tribute to Supertramp, offering new insights into this guest-packed release devoted to one of the 1970s’ most underrated hitmakers. Find out Sherwood’s connection with Supertramp, which goes back to his earliest days of performing. Go inside the sessions for key moments with XTC’s Colin Moulding, Toto’s Steve Porcaro [...]

Forgotten series: Jay Geils – Toe Tappin’ Jazz (2009)

Published on 2012-08-15 06:02:55

The ugly lawsuit between John “J” Geils and four members of the remaining group that bears his name had us thinking about happier times, specifically a standout jazz recording that Geils issued a few years ago. To recap: The J. Geils Band — featuring fellow co-founding members Peter Wolf, Magic Dick Salwitz, Danny Klein and Seth Justman — are still [...]

Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen to release fourth solo project, Sunken Condos; preorder it here!

Published on 2012-08-14 16:05:20

Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen has completed eight new originals which, coupled with a new version of Isaac Hayes’ “Out of the Ghetto,” will comprise a forthcoming solo album. Sunken Condos, produced by Fagen and Michael Leonhart, is due on October 16, 2012. Preorder it here, through the Amazon link below. A series of regular contributors appear on the new project, [...]

Steve Wilson, Mikael Akerfeldt to guest on Steve Hackett’s new Genesis-themed double album

Published on 2012-08-14 15:09:25

Steve Hackett will return to his celebrated era with 1970s-era Genesis, the first time he’s done so in the studio since Watcher Of The Skies: Genesis Revisited was issued in 1996. Hackett tells Guitarist magazine that the double album of re-recorded tracks will include guest appearances by Steve Wilson of Porcupine Tree and Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth. The new project [...]

King’s X set to retake the road with recovered co-founding drummer Jerry Gaskill

Published on 2012-08-14 14:34:38

King’s X will return to North America for the first time since drummer Jerry Gaskill’s heart attack earlier this year, with dates beginning in New York this September. The band, which is appearing in support of Kansas, has just released Live Love In London, a concert CD/DVD that followed their studio effort XV. Complete announced tour dates so far are [...]

Paul Stanley works to recapture early Kiss music’s glorious ‘lack of restriction’

Published on 2012-08-14 13:44:04

Paul Stanley has learned, over the years, much about the craft of songwriting. And he’s tried to forget most of it, in service of making better records for his fun-loving band Kiss. Stanley and Co. are set to release the new album Monster next month. It’s is the group’s initial release since Sonic Boom three years ago, and will again [...]

Desert Island Discs: 1970s R&B, Soul and Funk Edition

Published on 2012-08-14 07:35:30

In the same way that the Beatles were the undisputed kings among 1960s classic rock Desert Island Discs, Stevie Wonder owned R&B in the subsequent decade. Though the votes were spread out over four albums, Wonder received a commanding seven nods across eight different lists. Marvin Gaye (whose What’s Going On? earned four mentions, including two for first place), the [...]

Dennis Haklar, with Larry Coryell and Jon Anderson – Lizard’s Tale (2012)

Published on 2012-08-14 07:11:38

You come in expecting modern-day melding of fusion and prog that recalls the 1970s glories of Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return To Forever and Eleventh House. After all, guitarist Dennis Haklar’s Lizard’s Tale includes guitarist Larry Coryell on all but two tracks — and even makes room for a new take on Coryell’s “Low-Tee-Tah,” originally heard on 1974′s Introducing the Eleventh House.. [...]

Bonney and Buzz – Play Rough (2012)

Published on 2012-08-14 06:41:47

They’re back! Legendary British guitarists Bill Bonney and Pete “Buzz” Miller, who achieved fame back in the 1960s with the Fentones and Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers respectively, have indeed returned to the fore with another package of piping hot instrumentals. Dialing in as the dynamic duo’s third collaboration, Play Rough (Double Crown Records) maintains and sustains the same unstoppable [...]

Blue Eternity (Jeff Oster, Michael Manring, Carl Weingarten) – Live In Philadelphia EP (2012)

Published on 2012-08-14 06:03:46

Ambient music can often be fascinating for a variety of reasons, but there’s an extra layer of intrigue when it’s performed live. That might be because there’s less contemplated beforehand than in a sterile, studio setting, thus the music just flows out in a more natural manner. That’s part of the appeal of such a record we have with Live [...]

‘An opportunity to suck’: Ex-Journey singer Steve Perry jokes about tentative comeback

Published on 2012-08-13 17:36:29

There’s still no new solo album from former Journey lead singer Steve Perry, though he confirms in a newly posted nationally syndicated radio interview that he’s slowly sorting through some 50 demo songs. “About two years ago, I bought a laptop and loaded it up with Pro Tools; I decided I would give myself the opportunity to suck,” Perry says, [...]

U2 announces new two-disc live set from smash 360° tour, but there’s a catch

Published on 2012-08-13 15:16:21

U2 is releasing a lavish, two-disc set of songs from its record-smashing U2 360° tour — but to get access, you must be a member of U2.com, where there’s an annual subscription cost of $50. The U2 360° tour, which lasted from 2009 through 2011, was comprised of three legs and some 110 shows. Originally launched in support of 2009′s [...]

Sweeping anniversary reissues planned for King Crimson’s Larks’ Tongues In Aspic

Published on 2012-08-13 12:47:08

DGMLive has announced details for the forthcoming 40th anniversary reissue of King Crimson’s Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, the only album to feature the quintet of Bill Bruford, David Cross, Robert Fripp, Jamie Muir and John Wetton. The reissue, which DGMLive says is due October 15, 2012, will be released as a CD/DVD package, in a two-CD package, and in a [...]

Colin Moulding, Rick Wakeman and Billy Sherwood, “Check Point Karma” (2012)

Published on 2012-08-13 07:10:14

For all of the intrigue surrounding Billy Sherwood’s recombining with members of Yes on a pair of new Cleopatra projects, his collaborations with XTC’s Colin Moulding have emerged as perhaps the most interesting moments. That includes their take on “It’s Raining Again” from Songs of the Century: An All-Star Tribute to Supertramp, as well as “Check Point Karma,” the closing [...]

New Music Monday: Blackberry Smoke, and tributes to Fleetwood Mac and Supertramp

Published on 2012-08-13 06:38:50

New Music Monday is highlighted this time by new platters that matter from Blackberry Smoke, the Dust Busters with John Cohen, the Prog Collective, and intriguing tributes to Fleetwood Mac and Supertramp. Reissues and live dates arriving this week include Chaka Khan, while we’re also talking up fresh stuff from Fozzy, Hot Club of Detroit, Jasmine Lovell-Smith’s Towering Poppies, Renaissance, [...]

Jasmine Lovell-Smith’s Towering Poppies – Fortune Songs (2012)

Published on 2012-08-13 06:19:41

Christchurch, New Zealand’s Jasmine Lovell-Smith at first followed her opera singer mother’s footsteps, until she fell in love with jazz in high school, and the saxophone has been her primary instrument ever since. Acquiring a Bachelor of Music degree in jazz saxophone performance and composition in 2006 and invited to participate at the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Mansion On The Hill” (1982)

Published on 2012-08-13 05:40:02

A few months before my dad passed away, we were driving through some city streets on the way back from his cardiologist appointment at the hospital. At one point when we were stuck at a light, Dad looked to his left and said, “Hey Mark, look at that bright blue house. When you were a little boy, you always said [...]

Steely Dan Sunday, “The Nightfly” (1982)

Published on 2012-08-12 07:17:41

> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** The Nightfly came out during the time I attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA. I recall strolling through LSU’s Quadrangle late one night and as I glanced over to see the library, I noticed that someone had spray painted on the concrete wall fronting the building, in large capital letters, “I’M [...]

On Second Thought: The Fixx – Beautiful Friction (2012)

Published on 2012-08-12 06:49:53

I’ve found that the Fixx’s Beautiful Friction becomes a richer experience the longer it plays — and the longer it stays. Alas, there isn’t enough of the hooky stickiness of familiars like “One Thing Leads to Another” or “Saved by Zero” to be found from the twin openers of “Anyone Else” and “Just Before Dawn,” both of which have already [...]

Blackberry Smoke – The Whippoorwill (2012)

Published on 2012-08-12 06:23:44

I apologize in advance if this review becomes very personal, but there are just some times that you listen to a record and know that it’s going to be a big part of your life for a long, long time. It hasn’t happened to me in quite a while, but the feeling was instant on my first run through the [...]

Michael Lynch – Five Assorted Flavors (2012)

Published on 2012-08-12 05:55:21

So many different artists and bands have been labeled bubblegum acts over the years that the term has strayed awfully far from its initial classification. Everyone from the Monkees to Tommy James and the Shondells to the Sweet to Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods to New Edition to the Spice Girls have had the banner hurled at them at one [...]

Billy Sherwood, Chris Squire, John Wetton, others – Songs of the Century (2012)

Published on 2012-08-11 07:28:08

With names like these, with pedigrees like these, you might be expecting this Supertramp tribute project to become a somewhat academic affair. Instead, these guys sound like they’re having a blast — and it’s contagious. Producer Billy Sherwood (a writer, producer and member of the 1990s-era edition of Yes) has collected an amazing collection of fellow musicians for the aptly [...]

Ten Years After – A Space In Time (1971, 2011 Audio Fidelity Remaster)

Published on 2012-08-11 07:01:39

After 1968′s Undead made them stars in their native UK, Woodstock got them noticed in the USA and Cricklewood Green (1970) gave them a hit with “Love Like A Man,” Ten Years After looked around and saw their fellow British blues-rock brethren the big breakthrough success that’s eluded them so far. The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and earlier, Cream, became [...]

Hot Club of Detroit – Junction (2012)

Published on 2012-08-11 06:39:54

Jon Irabagon adds a series of new twists, turns and new ideas to the fourth album from Hot Club of Detroit. His arrival, however, signals a period significant change for the Django-inspired gypsy jazz group. Both original saxophonist Carl Cafagna and bassist Andrew Kratzat were both missing from the sessions for Junction, due August 14, 2012, from Mack Avenue Records. [...]

Michael Lynch – Five Assorted Flavors (2012)

Published on 2012-08-11 06:16:21

So many different artists and bands have been labeled bubblegum acts over the years that the term has strayed awfully far from its initial classification. Everyone from the Monkees to Tommy James and the Shondells to the Sweet to Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods to New Edition to the Spice Girls have had the banner hurled at them at one [...]

Books: Keith Richards – Life (2010)

Published on 2012-08-11 06:15:19

I’ve never been a big fan of the Rolling Stones. I like them but don’t love them. My favorite Stones songs are “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Gimme Shelter,” and “Mother’s Little Helper.” I also like “Tumbling Dice” but most of Exile on Main Street is too muddy and too raw for my tastes. Despite my ambivalence toward the band, however, Life [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Rickie Lee Jones, “Sympathy for the Devil” (2012)

Published on 2012-08-10 07:54:54

Rickie Lee Jones’ brilliant new take on “Sympathy for the Devil,” featured on a forthcoming album of cover songs for Concord Records, neatly sidesteps expectations. No, Jones doesn’t approach this with the nervy cocksuredness that we’ve all come to associate with Mick Jagger’s original reading for the Rolling Stones. Neither, however, did she apply the winking coo of her seminal [...]

Gimme Five: Songs where Chicago, well, sucked

Published on 2012-08-10 07:30:29

It would be easy enough to fill this list with songs from Chicago’s turn-of-the-1990s slickster years. And just as easy to heap scorn on their post-Terry Kath slump in the late 1970s. Instead, we did both. Presenting the times when Chicago simply didn’t make us smile … the times when their music made us feel sicker every day … the [...]

One Track Mind: Pixel, “Call Me” (2012)

Published on 2012-08-10 06:48:31

Ornette Coleman used it, and so did Gerry Mulligan. And now, a quartet of Norwegians in their mid-20s is doing it, too. However Pixel, as this Nordic combo is called, isn’t making Harmolodics out of the non-chordal trumpet/sax/standup bass/drums configuration. Instead, they fire their weapons with the vigor of indie rock and improvisational freedom of modern jazz. That hybrid isn’t [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: David Lynch, Alan Splet – Eraserhead (2012)

Published on 2012-08-10 06:17:42

Everyone has played the “If you had to live without one of your senses…” thought experiment. I can never make up my mind. The link to the external world via our senses is precious, and while it’s easy to inventory the repercussions related to the loss of a particular sense, it’s nearly impossible to get at what it might actually [...]

Settle with Sony? Former Journey producer Roy Thomas Baker isn’t feeling that way

Published on 2012-08-09 17:02:10

Former Journey producer Roy Thomas Baker is not only refusing to settle as part of an on-going class-action lawsuit over royalties with Sony, he’s filed a separate suit — to the tune of $1 million. Baker produced Journey’s first three albums with Steve Perry, from 1978′s Infinity through 1979′s Evolution and 1980′s Departure — a period that saw the band [...]

Vinyl reissues on tap for Buddy Guy’s Stone Crazy, Professor Longhair’s Crawfish Fiesta

Published on 2012-08-09 16:26:31

Buddy Guy’s Stone Crazy and Professor Longhair’s Crawfish Fiesta, both out of print for decades, will be remastered for 180-gram vinyl reissues. Stone Crazy, originally issued on the Isabel imprint in 1981, has been hailed by Rolling Stone for its ferocious guitar playing: The magazine said the project finds “the artist at his frantic and frenzied best,” with “savage guitar [...]

Rare cuts from Black Sabbath, Deep Purple round out upcoming 2-disc WhoCares set

Published on 2012-08-09 15:30:04

A special two-disc set of rarities has been built around last year’s two-song charity project by Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan. The WhoCares set will be released on August 28, 2012 in North America through Eagle Rock. 2011′s “Out of Mind”/”Holy Water” single represented Iommi and Gillan’s first recorded work together since Black Sabbath’s 1983 album [...]

Rejuvenated Curtis Salgado hits concert trail, radio airwaves after latest cancer scare

Published on 2012-08-09 15:07:37

Curtis Salgado is ready to get back to work. The soul singer, recovering from cancer surgery in July, is set to kick off a 30-date tour and make a national radio appearance this month. Salgado, a key inspiration for “The Blues Brothers” movie, is scheduled to appear on August 25-26 on the nationally syndicated radio program “Elwood’s Bluesmobile.” The former [...]

Reissues explore early Steve Miller collaborations with Boz Scaggs, Paul McCartney, Nicky Hopkins

Published on 2012-08-09 14:53:10

Steve Miller’s seminal first five recordings will be reissued by Edsel Records, spanning a period from 1968-1970 and featuring appearances by Boz Scaggs, Nicky Hopkins and Paul McCartney, among others. Legendary producer Glyn Johns also served as an early producer of Miller’s recordings. 1968′s Children of the Future and Sailor; 1969′s Brave New World and Your Saving Grace; and 1970′s [...]

ZZ Top – La Futura (2012)

Published on 2012-08-09 08:04:59

Remember how ZZ Top — a lip-smacking amalgam of blues, hard rock and Texas-born don’t-give-a-damn — sounded before they cloaked themselves in an MTV-approved sheen of synthesizers? It’s like that again. From the white-trash groove of “Heartache in Blue” to pedal-mashing boogie of “Lose Lose You,” from the slow-motion heavy-metal menace of “It’s Too Easy” to the riff and roar [...]

One Track Mind: Geoff Downes on Asia, Yes and “Video Killed the Radio Star”

Published on 2012-08-09 07:30:13

Geoff Downes, who’ll finish the year touring with both Asia and Yes, joins us for a special edition of One Track Mind to talk about key moments with both bands — including songs from Asia’s just-released XXX, featuring the rest of the original lineup of Steve Howe, Carl Palmer and John Wetton. Downes also delves into tracks from the two [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Kelly Joe Phelps, “Talkin’ To Jehova” (2012)

Published on 2012-08-09 06:47:53

There’s a time for conversion and a time for preaching. In Kelly Joe Phelps’ case, it’s time for both. This isn’t necessarily a spiritual conversion we’re speaking of, but a switch from his signature lap steel to a bottleneck slide. There’s also a move from secular topics to that good ol’ time religion. “Talkin’ To Jehova,” the lead track from [...]

Forgotten series: The Babys – Anthology (2000)

Published on 2012-08-09 06:12:40

Backed by pounds of promotion, the Babys were primed for world domination. Formed in 1975, the London, England-based band really did have a lot going for them. Aside from boasting hot chops and the material to match, they struck a charismatic pose and presence. During their livelihood, which expired in 1981, the Babys released five fine albums and gleaned hit [...]

Something Else! Interview: Geoff Downes, of Asia, the Buggles and Yes

Published on 2012-08-08 07:21:50

Keyboardist Geoff Downes has never been busier, working by turns with each of the three bands he’s been associated with off and on since the turn of the 1980s — Yes, the Buggles and Asia. Just a few months after helping craft a terrific comeback recording with Yes (for whom he earlier played keyboards during the Drama era), and in [...]

Deep Beatles: “I Want to Tell You” (1966)

Published on 2012-08-08 06:44:27

As the Beatles’ career progressed, George Harrison gradually developed into a first-class songwriter on a par with the formidable John Lennon/Paul McCartney partnership. One of Harrison’s more unusual compositions, “I Want to Tell You,” fits in perfectly with Revolver’s experimental vibe. The pounding piano, pervasive dissonance, and a subtle reference to Harrison’s increasing interest in Indian music and culture add [...]

One Track Mind: Benedictum, “Bang” (2011)

Published on 2012-08-08 06:17:58

Sometimes what you need is a good us-against-the-world song. The past few months — and the past few weeks, in particular — have been the shittiest of my nearly 40 years. Sorry, but there’s not a pretty way to say it. Music has always been a coping mechanism for me, and I’ve filled the hours recently with a lot of [...]

Sean Noonan – A Gambler’s Hand (2012)

Published on 2012-08-08 05:49:16

Experimental drummer Sean Noonan describes his latest record A Gambler’s Hand this way: “New chamber music project for String Quartet and Drums.” What? You think this might be boring? C’mon man, relax, this is Sean Noonan. Percussion maestro, composer and bandleader Noonan truly does dance to the beat of his own drummer self. His Sean Noonan Brewed By Noon band [...]

Desert Island Discs: 1960s Classic Rock Edition

Published on 2012-08-07 07:01:24

Our voters for 1960s-era classic rock Desert Island Discs were of two minds: The band of the decade was clearly the Beatles, while the album vote went to the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. The Fabs received 12 total votes from 11 voters — yep, DeRiso had two Beatles albums on his list — but with those nods spread out between [...]

One Track Mind: Bob Mould, “The Descent” (2012)

Published on 2012-08-07 06:41:28

The recent reissue of Bob Mould’s underrated early-1990s work with Sugar was but prologue for this new single — a burst of guitar-pop blitzkrieg that recalls his Husker Du-era work on Flip Your Wig. That 1985 album, played fast but with a lighter tone than their earlier efforts, shares a kind of dangerous brightness with “The Descent.” It’s pop music [...]

Claudio Scolari Project with Daniele Cavalca and Simone Scolari – Synthesis (2012)

Published on 2012-08-07 06:22:10

When Italian drummer Claudio Scolari decided to record his fifth album Colors of Red Island, he was taking a risk by having Daniele Cavalca perform on this album, not because there was any question about Cavalca’s musicianship, but because, well, Cavalca is a drummer, too. Records with two drummers on them aren’t so uncommon — all the Allman Brothers and [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Billy Sherwood, “Drone Deciphers” (2012)

Published on 2012-08-07 05:56:41

“Drone Deciphers,” the lead single from Billy Sherwood’s forthcoming solo album The Art of Survival, is a tweeked-out piece of space-age alienation that has more to do with Peter Gabriel than Sherwood’s time in Yes — a very good thing. See, there’s always been a lot more to Sherwood, even if he’s continued to reference his tenure with the legendary [...]

‘Miles really affected me’: Marcus Miller talks about Davis’ towering influence

Published on 2012-08-06 16:42:15

Bassist Marcus Miller’s newest release, Renaissance, directly references his time as a member of the Miles Davis band in the 1980s — even as the 52-year-old continues to fuse jazz, R&B and rock after nearly three decades of work as a producer, sideman, composer and band leader. Along the way, Miller has had Grammy-winning successes working with Luther Vandross (claiming [...]

‘A big event in my life’: Doobie Brothers’ Tom Johnston recalls titanic James Brown show

Published on 2012-08-06 16:08:20

Tom Johnston, longtime frontman of the Doobie Brothers, traces his inspirations past other 1970s rock titans — all the way back to Little Richard, blues legends like Albert, Freddie and B.B. King and, especially, James Brown. Johnston and Co. are toward the end of a summer tour with Chicago, a series of shows that kicked off in July at Tuscon, [...]

Don’t do me like that: Duped groom ends up getting Tom Petty for reception, anyway

Published on 2012-08-06 15:18:25

Brian Valentine — perfect name, right? — had a deeply romantic idea for his wedding reception: Book Tom Petty. He’d been engaged, after all, at one of Petty’s concerts in 2010. Valentine, a senior vice president at Amazon, found a booking agency called Lund Live which claimed to work on behalf of Petty, along with acts like Ludacris, Kansas and [...]

Janel and Anthony – Where Is Home (2012)

Published on 2012-08-06 06:43:49

When it comes to boy/girl musical acts, there’s nothing typical at all about Washington, D.C.-based duo Janel & Anthony. They don’t sing, they don’t play jazz, they sure as hell don’t play pop — though given their extensive collective background in music from all over the world — it wouldn’t be hard for them to adapt to any of the [...]

New Music Monday: Balsam Range, Branford Marsalis, Keith Jarrett, Johnny Cash

Published on 2012-08-06 06:18:00

Another Monday, another chance to dive into fresh musical delights from the likes of Balsam Range, Branford Marsalis, Keith Jarrett, Marcus Miller and the Trishas, among others. We also draw a bead on key reissues and live sets from Cannonball Adderley, Johnny Cash (the subject of multiple projects this week, including a concert called “We Walk the Line” held in [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Atlantic City” (1982)

Published on 2012-08-06 05:30:05

Like so many of Bruce’s songs, a relatively simple story ends up going a lot deeper. So what appears to be a gangland tale presented with cinematic detail, ends up reflecting shadows back onto the listener. I hear that in the lines “But I got debts that no honest man can pay,” and “And everything dies baby that’s a fact/But [...]

Johnnie Bassett (1935-2012): An Appreciation

Published on 2012-08-06 00:18:41

Detroit bluesman Johnnie Bassett, a Florida native who only late in life began releasing well-received albums as a leader, has died at 76 after a battle with cancer. Refined, yet deliciously groovy, Bassett’s I Can Make That Happen came out just a few months ago, one of two recent albums for Sly Dog, the blues subsidiary of Mack Avenue Records. [...]

Steely Dan Sunday, “New Frontier” (1982)

Published on 2012-08-05 07:16:00

> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** The basic plot is evident: a young man in a budding courtship with a young lady who has “a touch of Tuesday Weld,” against a Cold War backdrop. Another unabashedly, un-ironic song of romance from The Nightfly, and it becomes more and more clear that what Walter Becker brought to the songwriting partnership [...]

One Track Mind: The Dust Busters with John Cohen, “Black Jack Daisy” (2012)

Published on 2012-08-05 06:47:51

There may not be a more unlikely well-spring of hootenanny folk, jug-band blues and heart-bursting country balladry than any group of 20-somethings — but the Dust Busters have always been anything but typical. So, here they are, doing a rip-snorting, fiddle-sawing take on “Black Jack Daisy.” And they’re just getting started: This track is, in fact, one in a series [...]

Something Else! sneek peek: Neal Schon – The Calling (2012)

Published on 2012-08-05 06:22:02

The presumed street date for Neal Schon’s forthcoming reunion album alongside former Journey bandmate Steve Smith is still some time away, with The Calling set for release on Oct. 23, 2012 from Frontiers Records. Extended track samples, however, have already appeared on iTunes — giving us an early taste of what’s to come, beyond the already-examined title song. Head straight [...]

The JAC – Faux Pas (2012)

Published on 2012-08-05 05:56:20

For the past couple of decades, Joe Algeri has kept mighty busy in the independent music community. Bands such as the Stonemasons, Jack and the Beanstalk, and the Britannicas pad his resume, all which have received thumbs up from both fans and critics. The Australian-based singer, songwriter and man of a multitude of instrumentals, also enjoys a successful solo career. [...]

Branford Marsalis Quartet – Four MFs Playin’ Tunes (2012)

Published on 2012-08-04 07:19:20

If you’ve often felt that saxophonist Branford Marsalis’ studio recordings failed to capture the intensity and humor of his live appearances, this MF is for you. Four MFs Playin’ Tunes, due on August 7, 2012 from Marsalis Music, telegraphs its almost offhanded sense of straight-ahead propulsion right in its very title — a humorous suggestion from the eldest of the [...]

On Second Thought: Billy Joel – Streetlife Serenade (1974)

Published on 2012-08-04 06:49:17

Billy Joel’s second Columbia album, and third overall, is among his least-remembered records. It was inevitable that Streetlife Serenade, the followup to Piano Man, wouldn’t have the same impact as his major label debut — because the earlier platter was such a huge success. While Streetlife will never make any list of Joel’s masterworks, it definitely doesn’t deserve its fate [...]

Daren Burns, with Wadada Leo Smith – Fear is not the Natural State of Civilized People (2012)

Published on 2012-08-04 06:23:01

Daren Burns teaches bass, piano, music theory and composition at Verde Valley School out of Sedona, Arizona. Though Burns might even consider himself a music educator first — he’s been doing this for fifteen years, now — he’s also remains a true student of the art, studying the music cultures of Western Classical, American (Jazz, Rock, and Blues), West African, [...]

Baroness – Yellow and Green (2012)

Published on 2012-08-04 05:55:27

Ambitious and sprawling, Baroness’ double album Yellow and Green is never pompous or packed. The record is one of their best, demonstrating an audacious step forward into the domain of creativity and damn good songwriting. There could be some argument about whether this is a double album or two separate albums effective as one release, but the genius that is [...]

‘Too debilitating’: King Crimson’s Robert Fripp on the music industry, and his lengthy silence

Published on 2012-08-03 16:05:40

A new interview with the Financial Times of London — his first sitdown with a print journalist in seven years — finds Robert Fripp railing against the music industry. On-going disputes over royalties seem to be at the root of the latest hiatus for his long-running prog-rock band King Crimson, now dormant since 2009. Fripp also delves more deeply into [...]

‘The other voice of Genesis’: Ex-frontman Ray Wilson shines new light on classic songs

Published on 2012-08-03 08:51:01

Ray Wilson, who fronted a Phil Collins-less edition of Genesis in the late 1990s, says his favorite era of the band was, in fact, the early Collins years. Wilson is on tour these days performing as Genesis Classic, reinterpreting tracks from 1997′s Calling All Stations, his lone studio project with the prog rock legends, as well as select cuts from [...]

Devin Gray – Dirigo Rataplan (2012)

Published on 2012-08-03 06:50:00

Some artists begin their recording career as a leader rather tepidly, playing it safe with stable, derivative styles and often performing other people’s songs before stretching out, taking chances and establishing their own identities on later records. On the other end of this spectrum is the debut album by twenty-eight year old drummer, composer and now, leader, Devin Gray. Devin [...]

Forgotten series: The Rubinoos – Basement Tapes (1993)

Published on 2012-08-03 06:17:22

Rewind the clock to Berkeley, California 1970 and encounter a landscape flush with political unrest, acid-infested blues jams and alternative lifestyles. But the Rubinoos, who hailed from the city and formed that year, harbored no desire to participate in the scene. Smitten with the sounds of doo-wop, the British Invasion, the Beach Boys and bubblegum music, the band marched to [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Greg Brown – Down In There (1990)

Published on 2012-08-03 05:30:04

It’s like the tides, only slower. There’s this nursery I used to drive by on the way to work, with the majority of the plants layed out on a very long piece of black gardener’s cloth. In the winter, when there’s no snow, that dark rectangle is totally exposed, stretching from one end of the building to the edge of [...]

Something Else! Featured Artist: Jeff Lynne and Electric Light Orchestra

Published on 2012-08-02 07:52:42

News that Jeff Lynne is making a long-awaited return with both a studio album and a fresh examination of ELO’s greatest hits had us recalling some old favorites. Lynne will release both albums, titled Long Wave and Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra respectively, on October 9, 2012 through Frontiers Records. Long Wave promises to be [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Robert Cray, “(Won’t Be) Coming Home” (2012)

Published on 2012-08-02 07:17:42

Robert Cray’s forthcoming album, called Nothin But Love, was crafted with “dirt under the fingernails,” according to legendary producer Kevin Shirley. Stream the lead single here! A classic breakup song, “(Won’t Be) Coming Home” arrives as the first taste of a highly anticipated new effort recorded live over two-weeks with Shirley (Joe Bonamassa, Aerosmith, The Black Crowes) at Los Angeles’s [...]

Keith Jarrett/ Jan Garbarek/ Palle Danielsson/ Jon Christensen – Sleeper (2012)

Published on 2012-08-02 06:54:55

With such a focus here on Keith Jarrett’s sublime Standards trio that has been going on for thirty years, now, along with some monumental solo piano records of the 1970s, it can almost be forgiven if we had overlooked Jarrett’s American Quartet of the same time frame. Or, more so, the concurrently running European Quartet. The latter quartet had gotten [...]

One Track Mind: Steve Lukather on Toto’s “Hold the Line,” “Pamela,” “Hydra,” others

Published on 2012-08-02 06:18:06

As Steve Lukather and Toto return for a series of concert dates, the celebrated guitarist stops by to explore a number of tracks from his time in the band — including “Hold the Line,” “Hydra” and “Pamela” — as well as a memorable moment as a sideman with Eric Clapton. Upcoming shows in Europe and America are included below … [...]

Something Else! Interview: George Bunnell, of the Strawberry Alarm Clock

Published on 2012-08-01 07:30:53

Boasting one of the most hilarious monikers in rock ‘n’ roll history, the Strawberry Alarm Clock has returned with Wake Up Where You Are — their first new album in more than 40 years. Based on Santa Monica, California, they chalked up a No. 1 winner with “Incense and Peppermints” during the waning months of 1967. Governed by the piercing [...]

Marcus Miller – Renaissance (2012)

Published on 2012-08-01 06:51:12

A couple of years ago when bassist/composer/bandleader Marcus Miller revisited Miles Davis’ Tutu, a late-period Miles album that was essentially a Marcus Miller album with Miles as the primary lead voice, Miller was revisiting himself, too. Back as a young, hotshot bass player, he found himself playing for guys he grew up idolizing, like Miles, Grover Washington, Jr., and George [...]

Best of July 2012: Reader picks include John Frusciante, Mike Keneally, the Beach Boys and Beatles

Published on 2012-08-01 06:17:17

Offbeat new music from John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Pepper’s fame and a new collaboration between Frank Zappa alum Mike Keneally and XTC’s Andy Partridge ranked among the month’s big draws. We also got into a spirited debate over the relative worth of the Beach Boys’ deep cut “Busy Doin’ Nothin.’” Meanwhile, sterling reissues from Bob Mould’s Sugar and [...]

Olivier Manchon – Orchestre de Chambre Miniature, Vol. 1 (2010)

Published on 2012-08-01 05:54:48

3-D is the big thing in movies right now. Tons of special effects. Tons of computer-generated stuff. The Luddite in me hesitates to refer to any of this as ‘film’ anymore. This isn’t to say that it’s all intrinsically bad material. It’s just not for me. I prefer entertainment that gets my brain-parts going just enough to kick off extensions [...]

One Track Mind: Marco Cappelli’s Italian Surf Academy, “Deep, Deep Down” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-31 12:00:38

Italian guitarist Marco Cappelli might be ensconced in the downtown New York improvised music scene, but he can’t help but to continue to view American culture from the distance of the Atlantic Ocean. Raised on spaghetti westerns championed by the great filmmaker Ennio Morricone, Cappelli turns his nostalgia into a fun, sometimes zany record celebrating Italy’s past fascination with Yankee [...]

Gimme Five: Songs where Genesis, well, sucked

Published on 2012-07-31 07:30:33

There was the Peter Gabriel era, the Phil Collins-led edition, and then that Ray Wilson album. We’re not getting into which one was better — only when Genesis didn’t quite live up to our expectations. Or, more particularly, when they didn’t even get close. Certain things within their established band narrative also went by the wayside: We didn’t ding the [...]

Melvin Taylor – Beyond The Burning Guitar (2010, 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-07-31 06:57:31

About a dozen or so years ago when I first came across the impossibly great blues guitarist Melvin Taylor, I noticed how much his guitar playing owes to jazz and particularly George Benson as it does to blues guitar icons like Albert King, Freddie King and Otis Rush. Especially early on in his discography, you could even find a few [...]

Desert Island Discs: Live Album Edition

Published on 2012-07-31 06:22:32

Only perhaps on this site could we query folks for Desert Island Live Discs, and find a six-way tie among the responses between the Who, Bill Evans, Little Feat, Kiss, Warren Zevon and the Talking Heads. MORE DESERT ISLAND FUN! > The Who and Evans, officially, edged into a shared top spot — since both received two first-place votes a [...]

Fred’s Country Fried Rock: Fifth on the Floor, “Distant Memory Lane” (2010)

Published on 2012-07-31 05:51:48

One of the very first installments of Country Fried Rock that I wrote was on Fifth on the Floor’s “The Fall.” The Southern soul tune remains my favorite by the band, but this ballad is a very, very close second. If you’re looking for an illustration of what’s wrong with the music industry right now, look no farther than “Distant [...]

Avi Granite’s Verse – Snow Umbrellas (2012)

Published on 2012-07-30 07:25:07

Born in Toronto, living in Brooklyn (where, it seems, all the good musicians aspire to call home), jazz guitar specialist Avi Granite has recently put forth Snow Umbrellas. It’s his third CD as a leader, and the first with his new quartet Verse, comprised of Ralph Alessi (trumpet), Avi Granite (guitar), Jerry DeVore (acoustic bass) and Owen Howard (drum). A [...]

New Music Monday: Bruce Hornsby, Crowbar, King Crimson, Terje Rypdal, thenewno2

Published on 2012-07-30 06:44:53

New Music Monday brings another teetering stack of fresh musical offerings from the likes of Bruce Hornsby, Crowbar, Jon Herington of Steely Dan, King Crimson, Pat Travers, Terje Rypdal, Testament and thenewno2, among others. Upcoming reissues and live sets include David Sanborn and Weather Report. Also out this week is new stuff from Charm City Devils, Crucified Barbara, Doro, Jackyl [...]

Pat Travers – Blues on Fire (2012)

Published on 2012-07-30 06:19:56

You wonder if Blind Lemon Jefferson saw anything like this coming: A set of double-barrelled, perfectly titled blues-rock (emphasis on the “rock”) reworkings of classic 1920s blues with brawny sense of modern menace. Jefferson’s “Easy Rider Blues” — dominated by a good-time Travers riff straight out of early Van Halen, then his grunting, sexualized vocal — is but one of [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Jungleland in Gothenburg” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-30 05:30:08

Yes, “Atlantic City” was next, but E Street Nation had a special moment in Gothenburg, Sweden the night before last and I just couldn’t let that moment pass. When this series first encoutered “Jungleland,” I was pretty sure we’d be seeing the song again. The announcement hadn’t been made as to the next configuration of the E Street Band. I [...]

Steely Dan Sunday, “Maxine” (1982)

Published on 2012-07-29 07:01:31

> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** We all like to think that Steely Dan’s music is distinguished by sly lyrics, complex harmonies, elite musicianship and sharp production. While those attributes might be found in nearly every Steely Dan song, the most instantly recognizable feature is not any of those things. It’s Donald Fagen’s voice. Fagen didn’t set out to [...]

Tony Savarino – Guitaresque (2012)

Published on 2012-07-29 06:37:48

This is music made for summer, for never-ending afternoon dreamscapes followed by brilliant bursts of color as the sun dives behind the dunes. Guitaresque, produced by Barry Marshall (Peter Wolf, Aimee Mann) for Isabelle Records, marks do-anything guitarist Tony Savarino’s long-awaited follow up to similarly named Guitaring — a record that earned the guitarist a spot on the Something Else! [...]

Something Else! Playlists: The Rock Anthem

Published on 2012-07-29 06:09:45

So I was sitting at the kitchen table this morning, attempting to wipe the dust of sleep out of my droopy eyes while waiting for the five-minute coffee timer to go off. I’d just switched on the satellite radio a few minutes before, but my ears hadn’t really started paying attention yet. Just as I pour my cuppa and sit [...]

The Strawberry Alarm Clock – Wake Up Where You Are (2012)

Published on 2012-07-29 05:44:05

Most people tend to associate the Strawberry Alarm Clock with just one song, but what an amazing song it is. And that’s “Incense And Peppermints,” which sprinted straight to the No. 1 spot on the national charts in the fall of 1967. On the other hand, those who have delved deeper into the Southern California band’s catalog not only found [...]

One Track Mind: Jon Anderson, “Race to the End” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-28 21:39:15

Jon Anderson has gotten into the spirit of the just-started Olympics, releasing a new song that combines the anthematic echoes of “Chariots of Fire” with his patented hope-streaked lyrics. Singing amidst the games’ iconic unity image of interlocking rings, Anderson connects the determination and passion of these athletes with the will to overcome that resides in each of us. He [...]

Jan Garbarek – Dansere (Box Set) (2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-07-28 07:30:27

With the possible exception of his one-time employer Keith Jarrett, there’s no other musician who epitomizes ECM Records more than the saxophonist from Norway, Jan Garbarek. Recording exclusively for the fabled jazz label since his second long player Afric Pepperbird in 1970. Garbarek has also participated in countless other ECM projects, most conspicuously, as a key player in Jarrett’s so-called [...]

Bruce Hornsby – Red Hook Summer (2012)

Published on 2012-07-28 06:47:24

The criminally underappreciated Bruce Hornsby, shackled forever in the public consciousness by his lone drum-tracked No. 1 hit from 1986, returns with a nuanced, assured soundtrack effort for the forthcoming Spike Lee film. Of course, those who’ve thrilled to his varied work with Ricky Skaggs or Pat Metheny, inside his own jazz trio, or amid the rollicking thunder of the [...]

Various Artists – Chasing the Sun: The Greatest Songs of Summer (2007)

Published on 2012-07-28 06:14:14

A friend of mine has informed me that the technical, WeatherChannel description for the kind of weather we’re having right now is “ball-sweating hot.” Funny, I’ve never heard that phrase used during one of those “On The 8′s” broadcasts. Must be a professional thing. So, here’s the question: Do you associate particular songs/genres with summer? Honestly, I don’t think I [...]

Swamp Cabbage – Drum Roll Please (2012)

Published on 2012-07-27 07:24:48

Diving headlong into some of the 1970s’ most iconic songs, Swamp Cabbage decided to use vintage techniques and vintage instruments. The results?: A kudzu-covered blast of trailer-park funk. Of course, going in, there was no denying the passion of guitarist Walter Parks, bassist Jim DeVito and drummer Jagoda. These guys were committed, all the way down to their rare Guild [...]

Terje Rypdal – Odyssey: In Studio and In Concert (1975, 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-07-27 06:47:35

Apart from his trademark whammy bar-induced vibrato, Norwegian guitarist, keyboardist, saxophonist, composer and bandleader Terje Rypdal has been one of the hardest to define figures of progressive jazz, and one of the more complex musical figures of the ECM stable, a label that’s been chock full of the complex types. The impending release of a box set covering perhaps the [...]

Something Else sneak peek: Down, “Witchtripper” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-27 06:19:45

It’s been a long time coming, but on Thursday fans finally got a listen to some new studio work from Down. The former supergroup featuring members of Pantera, Corrosion of Conformity and Crowbar, has now become the main musical outlet for vocalist Phil Anselmo and guitarist Pepper Keenan, but music still hasn’t arrived any faster. Their first release NOLA, with [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: The Dø – Both Ways Open Jaws (2011)

Published on 2012-07-27 05:30:40

My listening habits in the car have become kind of psychotic of late. I’ll often sync things to my phone via Spotify, and then listen to a CD. Or sometimes, I’ll grab a couple of reviews CDs that I want to soak in, and then end up listening to the radio. And every so often, when nothing is working for [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Don Felder, “Fall from the Grace of Love” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-26 14:58:16

Don Felder, best known for writing the music for “Hotel California” and his hit title track for the 1981 film “Heavy Metal,” hasn’t exactly been prolific away from the Eagles. In fact, the forthcoming Road to Forever is just his second solo release ever. So, interest is likely high among Eagles fans when it comes to this new 12-song cycle [...]

‘Who the f*ck is Rick Rubin?’: Has the legendary producer lost his touch?

Published on 2012-07-26 14:00:34

With a proposed album of covers with Crosby Stills and Nash now scuttled, never-ending delays with ZZ Top’s new project, and similar mishaps with Slipnot and Muse, the question becomes: Has Rick Rubin, once a sure-fire producer, lost his touch? After co-founding Def Jam Records — where he helped popularize hip hop with acts like the Beastie Boys, LL Cool [...]

Deep Beatles: “All I’ve Got to Do” (1963)

Published on 2012-07-26 07:39:22

As any Beatles student knows, the four made no secret of their love for R&B. Before they conquered the world, they cut their teeth on tracks by Little Richard, Arthur Alexander, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Larry Williams, and numerous Motown acts. Throughout their careers, The Beatles (as a group and as solo artists) interpreted soul and blues in a [...]

One Track Mind: Mike Keneally explores the riddle of Miles Davis, the influence of Metallica

Published on 2012-07-26 07:17:25

On this special edition of Something Else! Reviews’ One Track Mind, Mike Keneally talks about working with — and working without — XTC’s Andy Partridge on the terrific new album Wing Beat Fantastic. He also takes us back to his earliest experiences with Miles Davis, a journey that ultimately led to his participation in the Yo Miles project with Henry [...]

fo/mo/deep – A Beautiful Bang (2012)

Published on 2012-07-26 06:34:49

Columbus, Ohio’s fo/mo/deep calls themselves an “Eclectic Groove Oriented – Funky Jazz Collective,” and it’s truth in advertising. Comprised of Ron “FatKat” Holmes (electric bass), Kevin Jones (keys), André Scott (drums), Keith Newton (saxes, flute) and Kenneth “Pounce” Pouncey (percussion), fo/mo/deep hits a sweet spot where the funk is not too hard or too smooth, it works for whatever kind [...]

Adam Gilbert – A Generation of Forgotten Kings (2012)

Published on 2012-07-26 06:09:45

Nervy in its ambitions, thrilling in its sense of influence-smashing alchemy, and memorable for its raw emotional honesty, Adam Gilbert’s A Generation of Forgotten Kings is an exciting find. The title track opens A Generation of Forgotten Kings on an billowing, very Coldplay-ish note — as Gilbert makes a stirring call for generational unity toward change: As he calls “let’s [...]

Jon Herington – Time On My Hands (2012)

Published on 2012-07-25 07:29:16

One of the recurring themes in my long-running series “Steely Dan Sunday” is that if a guitar player is good enough for Steely Dan, they’re probably good enough for anybody. Well, Jon Herington has been good enough to record and tour with Steely Dan for the last thirteen years…more than four times longer than Jeff Baxter’s stint with the band. [...]

‘It was great fun’: Mike Keneally on XTC, Frank Zappa and the enduring magic of Tarkus

Published on 2012-07-25 06:41:36

By turns angular, poetic, experimental and gorgeously intelligent, Mike Keneally’s new collaboration with Andy Partridge more fully explores the lesser-known impact of XTC in his sound. But even here, in the song-focused environment of Wing Beat Fantastic, Keneally’s memorable stint as a sideman with Frank Zappa looms large. Keneally, in this latest SER Sitdown, talks frankly about both influences, chuckles [...]

Forgotten series: Deep Purple, the Hollies, Steve Howe, Jeff Lynne – Psychedelica (2000)

Published on 2012-07-25 06:06:21

By the late 1960s, pop music’s vocabulary had expanded to such a mercurial degree that anything and everything not designed of conventional procedures was seemingly placed under the banner labeled psychedelic. Providing a nice glimpse of what some of our British cousins were peddling during this wildly fertile and creative period in rock and roll, Psychedelica involves a thoughtful presentation [...]

Peter Green Splinter Group – Blues Don’t Change (2012)

Published on 2012-07-24 13:52:28

After years of ups and many more downs, Peter Green — the deposed co-founding member of Fleetwood Mac, one-time British guitar hero, and former member of John Mayall’s Bluebreakers — has rediscovered the curative powers of the blues. And it is here, playing very old tunes (scalding in their honesty, ageless in their sense of community, brutal and beautiful in [...]

‘Much less of a victim now’: Roger Waters talks about life on both sides of The Wall

Published on 2012-07-24 13:13:28

Over the 30 years since its release, Pink Floyd’s The Wall has taken many forms — and it’s continued to evolve for principal author Roger Waters, as well. Headlining now in a sweepingly ambitious touring production of the album, which began in September of 2010, Waters has also overseen the original album production with co-producer Bob Ezrin, a subsequent tour [...]

King Crimson – Live In Argentina 1994 (2012)

Published on 2012-07-24 07:44:18

When King Crimson reconvened in 1994, the band was made up of the four-piece unit that recorded in the 1980s (guitarists Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew, bassist/Stickist Tony Levin, and drummer Bill Bruford) and a new pair of instrumentalists: Stick player Trey Gunn and drummer Pat Mastelotto, both having worked with Fripp in the Sylvian/Fripp live band. That’s right: two [...]

Fred’s Country Fried Rock: Eric Strickland, “18 Wheels of Hell on the Highway” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-24 07:13:17

There are deeper and more serious songs on Eric Strickland and the B Sides’ new album Honky Tonk ‘Til I Die, but there’s not one that’s more fun. “18 Wheels of Hell on the Highway” is an absolute blast to listen to. The song is very much rooted in the 1970s, and it will certainly at least bring to mind [...]

Soft Machine, with Allan Holdsworth – Floating World Live (2006, 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-07-24 06:41:21

Allan Holdsworth’s career is perhaps nearly as well known for his brief stays in well-regarded prog and fusion bands as it is for his guitar wizardry. Tony Williams’ Lifetime, UK and even Level 42 all have Holdsworth “one-and-done” studio albums. (OK, Lifetime had two Holdsworth albums but we pretend that Million Dollar Legs never existed). Holdsworth’s first significant stopover was [...]

Desert Island Discs: Prog and Art Rock Edition

Published on 2012-07-24 06:08:08

King Crimson was the top vote-getter in Something Else! Reviews’ new prog rock-themed Desert Island Discs feature, with Yes just one vote behind. That includes votes for band members Adrian Belew and Rick Wakeman. Crimson’s Red tied Yes’ Close to the Edge for total votes — though the 1972 release from Chris Squire and Co. earned one more first-place vote [...]

New Allman Brothers book explores acrimonious departure of Dickey Betts

Published on 2012-07-23 15:37:08

Alan Paul’s new digital Ebook on the All Brothers Band called One Way Out provides the most in-depth information yet on the angry split in 2000 with founding guitarist Dickey Betts — even as it describes in stirring detail the fiery interplay between Betts and Duane Allman that helped define this group. Paul, a senior writer at Guitar World magazine, [...]

‘Like a time warp’: Journey, Loverboy come full circle 30 years after huge tour together

Published on 2012-07-23 14:34:22

It will be like old times when Loverboy takes the stage with Journey for a series of summer shows this year, beginning Tuesday, July 24, 2012, in Paso Robles, California. Old, very good times. Thirty years ago, the two bands toured together when both were riding monster albums, and hit singles. Journey has just released Escape, which went nine-times platinum [...]

Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers – Helen Burns EP (2012)

Published on 2012-07-23 07:24:28

You’re expecting something with an itchy sense of funk, just as hyperactive as it is hilarious. It’s Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, right? Not exactly. In fact, usually not at all. Still, his new EP Helen Burns ends up being just as much fun, though in a more cerebral way. “333,” the opener, begins with a ruminative series [...]

Liars – WIXIW (2012)

Published on 2012-07-23 06:59:52

While Sisterworld was about creating internal dimensions to deal with the rigors of the outside world, Liars’ sixth full length is about using the process to deal with what lies within. The Los Angeles-formed band has never trafficked in the easygoing and has never been content to repeat methods, so it stands to reason that WIXIW represents yet another oblique, [...]

New Music Monday: Mike Keneally, Peter Green, Sugar, Pantera, Booker T. and the MGs

Published on 2012-07-23 06:40:54

The latest edition of New Music Monday is highlighted by Mike Keneally’s fascinating new collaboration with Andy Partridge of XTC fame, some rare new blues sides from Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green and a complete discography from Bob Mould’s early-1990s band Sugar. Among those with key reissues and in-concert recordings arriving this week are Booker T. and the MGs and [...]

The Odd Trio – Birth Of The Minotaur (2012)

Published on 2012-07-23 06:07:46

Out of the same Athens, GA college town that gave the world R.E.M. The B-52′s and The Drive-By Truckers, comes The Odd Trio. But The Odd Trio isn’t college rock or Southern rock; this is a jazz fusion band, and one with no set approach on how to play it: you’re more likely to find similarities between them and the [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Nebraska” (1982)

Published on 2012-07-23 05:32:53

When Nebraska came out, it took me by complete surprise. Long before the Internet told us everything we needed to know about our favorite artists, we had to rely on publications like Hit Parader, Creem, and Rolling Stone. So if there was a hint of this album in any of those magazines, I completely missed it. I’d walked down the [...]

Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh lights up Midnight Ramble, Levon Helm fundraiser taking off

Published on 2012-07-22 16:50:03

Phil Lesh, the legendary bassist with the Grateful Dead, opened an emotional Saturday night performance at the late Levon Helm’s studio with “Cumberland Blues.” That kicked off a 14-song set which also included “Up on Cripple Creek” — one of the signature songs from Helm’s tenure in the Band — and reportedly concluded with a rousing encore of the Dead’s [...]

Ex-Yes frontman Jon Anderson plans sequel to epic “Open,” with new album this summer

Published on 2012-07-22 16:22:04

Jon Anderson, having just completed a lengthy American solo tour and with more shows to come in South America, is creating a similarly brisk pace — four years after he split with Yes, the legendary prog rock band he co-founded in the late 1960s with bassist Chris Squire. He’s also planning a sequel to last October’s opus “Open” — called [...]

‘We wanted to Police-ify it’: Stewart Copeland on “Every Little Thing,” “Murder by Numbers” and “Message in a Bottle”

Published on 2012-07-22 15:42:31

Stewart Copeland takes readers inside the studio for a trio of key Police cuts, revealing the struggles the band had to get its sound right, and the overdubs that made one song all but impossible to replicate. In the second of a probing two-part interview with MusicRadar.com, Copeland breaks down his role a trio of tunes: “Message in a Bottle” [...]

Steely Dan Sunday, “Ruby Baby” (1982)

Published on 2012-07-22 07:55:44

> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** For only the second — and last — time in this series, we’re discussing a cover song. (Click here for an account of the first cover.) When Fagen decided to theme an album on “certain fantasies that might have been entertained by a young man growing up in the remote suburbs of a [...]

Bill Cantrall – Live at the Kitano (2012)

Published on 2012-07-22 07:23:28

Trombonist Bill Cantrall’s new concert recording gets going fast, with a hard-blowing track called “BBM” that will have you recalling those primary-colored Blue Note sides by Art Blakey and Horace Silver. Cantrall, joined again by many of the figures from his terrific 2007 debut, ends up taking five scalding choruses — in an old-school showing of blowing-session prowess. He ducks [...]

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles – Going to a Go-Go/ Away We a Go-Go (1965-66)

Published on 2012-07-22 06:44:44

No wonder they’re called the Miracles. Toting tunes capable of moving mountains, stopping wars, healing the sick, raising the dead and turning water to wine, the Detroit, Michigan group chalked up a couple of dozen Top 40 hit singles during the 1960s. Even when Smokey departed the aggregation at the end of the decade, they kept right on depositing the [...]

Mostly Other People Do The Killing – Forty Fort (2010)

Published on 2012-07-22 06:12:22

Frank Zappa brought the question up — “does humor belong in music?” — after many years of providing the answer every time he took out his black dot-writing pen or stepped onto the stage. Of course, it does. Zappa also said, during the Roxy performance of “Bebop Tango (Of The Old Jazzmen’s Church), that jazz wasn’t dead, it just smelled [...]

Hafez Modirzadeh – Post-Chromodal Out! (2012)

Published on 2012-07-21 07:31:21

Microtonal music theory teaches us, among other things, that being “out of tune” is a relative concept. What might sound off key to someone accustomed to strictly Western culture won’t sound that way at all to someone attuned to the music of other cultures. Alto and tenor saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh has thought a lot about the interval between tones, perhaps [...]

Booker T. and the MGs – Green Onions (1962; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-07-21 07:14:37

A sizzling outburst of lean pre-funk soul-rock, Green Onions introduced the world to the genre-jumping delights of Booker T, and the MGs. They were a little bit funky, a little bit rock and roll, even a little bit country at times — and completely, as this new Concord Music Group reissue makes clear, a thing unto themselves. Unfortunately, after the [...]

Download: Paul Thorn – NoiseTrade Sampler (2012)

Published on 2012-07-21 06:40:21

A new NoiseTrade compilation, available to download now, gives the uninitiated an opportunity to sample songs from three Paul Thorn albums — for free. Who’s Paul Thorn, you say? Discovered by Miles Copeland, brother of Police drummer Stewart Copeland, in the tiny upstate Mississippi town of Tupelo, he’s a guy with a personal narrative more convoluted than his own storytelling [...]

On Second Thought: R.E.M. – In Time: The Best of R.E.M (2003)

Published on 2012-07-21 06:06:59

When I originally picked up R.E.M.’s best of In Time: 1988-2003, a good overview of the group’s middle years of output, I was actually glad to see it for some of the soundtrack and “various artists” collection songs pulled together into this set. That made it worthwhile for all but the most die-hard of fans, those people who would have [...]

Gimme Five: Songs where the Beach Boys, well, sucked

Published on 2012-07-20 07:21:03

The Beach Boys have been showered with accolades since belatedly reuniting again with Brian Wilson, the results of which became their first original full-length album in decades. Still, there were plenty of reasons to believe that the resulting 2012 project, the very charming That’s Why God Made The Radio, might disappoint — rather than become their highest charting effort since [...]

Forgotten series: The Royal Guardsmen – Anthology (1995)

Published on 2012-07-20 06:43:28

Due to their hit singles concerning the antics of Snoopy, the wise beagle in the “Peanuts” comic strip, the Royal Guardsmen were branded a novelty act. Although there’s no denying these tunes were fun and frisky, the Ocala, Florida based band actually took their craft quite seriously, and Anthology (One Way Records) reveals an array of attributes. Snagging a deal [...]

Half Notes: The Impossible Gentlemen – The Impossible Gentlemen (2012)

Published on 2012-07-20 06:28:57

UK guitarist Mike Walker got this capital idea to put together a quartet with Americans Steve Swallow (el. bass) and Adam Nussbaum (drums), and enlisted young piano talent and fellow Englishman Gwilym Simcock to round out the group. Coming on the heels of a successful mini-tour in the spring, their self-titled debut album is every bit the display of individuality, [...]

OUiZZZ – Hello Goodbye (2012)

Published on 2012-07-20 06:13:30

There is a real sense, as OUiZZZ’s galvanizing, sometimes deeply experimental Hello Goodbye unfolds, of joint discovery. Though formed a decade ago in Lausanne, Switzerland, this band still plays like a lively conversation amongst new friends – friends with a deep affection for the primal sound favored by the likes of the Bad Plus, but also the twin stylistic jazz [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: John Lurie – Fishing With John (1998)

Published on 2012-07-20 05:30:21

It’s the height of summer and it’s been nut-sweatin’ hot outside. That means it’s time to pack up my tackle boxes and go on my yearly backwoods fishing expedition. I’m always amazed at the sheer amount of fishing stuff I’ve amassed over the years: fly-tying material, exotic European glues, special lures, hooks, leaders. I’d really wanted to buy a new [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Patterson Hood, “Come Back Little Star” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-19 13:48:05

Drive-By Truckers frontman Patterson Hood will issue his third solo album on September 11. It’s called Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance and it will include appearances from all his DBT cohorts, a couple of guys from alt-country group Centro-matic and Patterson’s dad David Hood, a Muscle Shoals bass legend. An album in first person narrative about Hood’s life today [...]

A legend’s wish granted: Midnight Rambles return to the late Levon Helm’s barn

Published on 2012-07-19 10:08:53

Levon Helm, even as he was losing his lengthy struggle with cancer earlier this year, had one final wish: That the rollicking hootenannys he’d been hosting at his barn — called the Midnight Rambles — would go on. Three months after the three-time Grammy winning voice of Band passed at 71, that wish comes true, as the Helm barn comes [...]

Canadian prog-rockers Saga reunite with Michael Sadler, set release date for new album

Published on 2012-07-19 09:33:42

Saga is on the loose again. The Canadian prog rockers have reunited with original lead singer Michael Sadler, and will release their 20th studio album on August 28, 2012 through Eagle Rock/ear Music. The forthcoming album’s title, 20/20, is both a tip of the hat to the band’s recording history as well as a good luck wish to keyboardist/vocalist Jim [...]

‘Yes should certainly be in there’: Squackett project underscores Rock and Rock Hall of Fame snub

Published on 2012-07-19 09:11:20

The well-received recent Squackett collaboration between Yes co-founder Chris Squire and Genesis alum Steve Hackett brought together two of prog rock’s most recognizable musical figures. The pair, though they’d only started working together in the late 2000s, had much in common — from helping shape the genre’s early parameters, to Top 40 success with a more pop-oriented formula in the [...]

‘Couldn’t be happier’: Julian Lennon on new collaborations with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler

Published on 2012-07-19 08:30:40

Julian Lennon will not only be featured on the new Aerosmith album singing background vocals, he has also concluded a full-song collaboration with Steven Tyler. The tune, called “Someday,” is set to be included as a bonus track on the special international release of Lennon’s most recent solo project, the well-received Everything Changes. (We called it “the most assured release [...]

Mike Keneally – Wing Beat Fantastic (2012)

Published on 2012-07-19 07:51:33

Mike Keneally seems poised to make the transition from guitar god to art-pop icon. Maybe “pop” is too hasty, as it’s hard to imagine anything from the gifted guitarist being quite so intentionally simple and fun as pop music. But look at XTC, a band that defined how good art could be made from seemingly simple pop songs. It’s fitting [...]

Darius Lux – Time Is Now (2012)

Published on 2012-07-19 07:24:08

Inspirational but not Pollyanna, musically complex but approachable, Darius Lux’s new EP Time is Now finds a way to encourage without stumbling into comfy bromides, to challenge without becoming radio-unfriendly. “No Problem” opens the six-song cycle with a shambling roadhouse rhythm, as Lux growls his way through the verse — only to soar into the uppermost reaches of his vocal [...]

Bruce Kaphan Quartet – Bruce Kaphan Quartet (2012)

Published on 2012-07-19 06:46:48

One thing became readily apparent to me from listening to Bruce Kaphan’s new album and that is, Kaphan and I are in strong agreement that there really isn’t any reason why the pedal steel guitar doesn’t belong in jazz or any other styles of music. Kaphan, however, goes well beyond thought and has recently supplemented a career as a producer, [...]

One Track Mind: Motley Crue, “Sex” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-19 06:19:19

According to Nikki Sixx, Motley Crue’s new single “Sex” sounds like the band’s debut album Too Fast for Love. Maybe Nikki has been around those loud amps too long and damaged his hearing beyond repair. “Sex” is not a bad song, but it’s nothing like the raw, sleazy rock ‘n’ roll of the band’s debut. Sleazy? Sure. I mean, the [...]

‘Anxious to work together before we drop dead’: Pete Townshend on latest Who reunion

Published on 2012-07-18 13:20:39

Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend are set to reunite for a 36-date North American tour as the Who, presenting a concert called “Quadrophenia and More.” The dates, included below, will feature that legendary 1973 release in its entirety, plus a few other Who favorites. The second Who rock opera, Quadrophenia peaked at No. 2 in America and the UK. The [...]

‘He just owns that role’: Chris Squire on Yes’ new singer Jon Davison, and what’s next

Published on 2012-07-18 07:33:34

As Chris Squire and Yes retake to the road for another round of North American tour dates, the co-founding bass-playing leader of the band reflects on a season of change. Since the release of 2011′s well-received Fly From Here, the legendary prog rock band’s first album in a decade, Yes has transitioned to another frontman. Benoit David had joined in [...]

Mandingo Ambassadors – Tougna (2012)

Published on 2012-07-18 07:14:36

Since around the 13th century, the Kouyaté family has upheld a proud tradition as oral historians and folk virtuosic musicians, or griots, serving ancient kings who once ruled over West Africa. Guinean guitarist Mamady Kouyaté followed in his family’s tradition when his country’s first president Sékou Touré encouraged the development of a homegrown contemporary music within Guinea. Kouyaté heeded the [...]

Forgotten series: Brain Police – Brain Police (1968)

Published on 2012-07-18 06:58:33

So much great music gets banished to the vaults, and that includes Brain Police’s demo album. Recorded in 1968, the disc should have fallen into the mitts of a major label, but apparently the stars were simply not aligned the moment the project materialized. The album, which though reissued in 2000 by Shadoks Music is now duly deemed a real [...]

Sugar – Copper Blue (1992; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-07-18 06:41:59

Time was, if you were a real fan, a band’s albums weren’t enough. After burning through the album a million times, you needed more. You turned to singles and EPs, which, at least for good bands, would be populated with something different to listen to – live tracks or, if you were really lucky, brand new songs that didn’t make [...]

Departed Yes frontman Benoit David set for return with former band Mystery

Published on 2012-07-17 16:06:22

Wondering what’s happened to former Yes singer Benoit David? He’s rejoined his old band Mystery, which has now been bolstered by the addition of former Spock’s Beard drummer Nick D’Virgilio. Mystery, which is rounded out by longtime band leader guitarist/keyboardist Michel St-Pere and bassist Antoine Fafard, is now set to issue its first album since in two years. This is [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Marillion, “Power” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-17 15:10:48

Even as Marillion puts the finishing touches on their forthcoming 2012 studio album, the prog rockers have released a new song — called “Power.” It’s the lead track from Sounds That Can’t Be Made, a full-length project to be issued through the band’s Racket label in September. Sounds, some of which was tracked at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, will [...]

‘I don’t see how he does it’: Bob Dylan set to release The Tempest after 50 years of song

Published on 2012-07-17 08:37:28

We now have a name and release date for Bob Dylan’s 35th studio release: The Tempest is set to arrive via Columbia Records on September 11, 2012. Preorder it here! Dylan hasn’t issued an album of new material since 2009′s Together Through Life. This new self-produced, 10-song project arrives just more than 50 years after his self-titled debut — and [...]

Desert Island Discs: Debut Album Edition

Published on 2012-07-17 07:13:27

Occasionally, somebody gets it completely right on the very first try. This focuses on those times. But hold on, Gilligan: With no rules about era or genre, our 12-member list of desert island debut discs runs an amazing gamut — from Living Colour to Herbie Hancock, from Aerosmith to John Prine, from Pat Metheny to Bob Mould’s post-Husker Du band [...]

Singin’ (and dancin’) in the rain: Hope for my generation at the Traction Music Festival

Published on 2012-07-17 06:39:36

Where this past weekend would you find live music that spanned the styles of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, soul, reggae, and electronic; to see an audience of people young and old, of any and all nationalities, so deeply into the music that even a torrential downpour wouldn’t stop them, and in fact, fuel them to push up the energy to [...]

Chelle Rose – Ghost of Browder Holler (2012)

Published on 2012-07-17 06:07:36

I’ve never been a big fan of female country singers. It’s something about the twang in the voice that just doesn’t appeal to me most of the time. The new crop of women in the underground country movement may just be changing my tune, though. First, there was Rachel Brooke with her Patsy Cline-meets-sultry chanteuse vocals. Now, there’s Chelle Rose, [...]

Neal Morse makes bold return to prog rock with second release of 2012

Published on 2012-07-16 14:03:37

Neal Morse returns once again to mainstream progressive rock with the September 11 release Momentum, to be followed by a North American tour. The former Spock’s Beard frontman, who left to focus on faith music a decade ago, is coming off the critically acclaimed Testimony 2 in 2011 — but more recently completed an album of cover tunes across a [...]

‘Internet has changed everything’: Eddie Van Halen addresses outcry over reworking old demos

Published on 2012-07-16 13:35:11

Something of a firestorm broke out among some when David Lee Roth offhandedly confirmed that Van Halen had reworked some old songs for its then-still pending reunion project, A Different Kind of Truth. Thing is, Van Halen had been doing that from the beginning — something confirmed by Eddie Van Halen in a new interview. By our count, for instance, [...]

Cancer claims co-founding Deep Purple keyboard legend Jon Lord

Published on 2012-07-16 12:56:19

Keyboardist Jon Lord, a key element of the Deep Purple sound and co-writer of their signature track “Smoke on the Water,” has died at 71. He had battled pancreatic cancer since a diagnosis last August. Lord recently announced a new album and a return to the stage set for early this month, but was forced to postpone the scheduled show. [...]

‘A classic album with a young, hip edge’: Paul McCartney reportedly working with Mark Ronson

Published on 2012-07-16 12:16:08

From getting the plug pulled, to reportedly plugging in with celebrated producer Mark Ronson, it’s been a busy week for Paul McCartney. Ronson, of course, is best known as the Grammy-winning producer for Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black. He’s also worked with Kaiser Chiefs, Duran Duran and, most recently, with Rufus Wainwright. McCartney, meanwhile, is coming off his 15th solo [...]

Brad Hammonds Group – Greene Street (2012)

Published on 2012-07-16 07:34:26

I’m not sure if it’s the composing pen of someone who’s soaked in Ani DeFranco, Tool, Metallica and Shakti, or the insertion of an electric bass among all those acoutsic string instruments or the creative rhythms or the inclusion of Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber players, but there’s definitely something a little different about acoustic guitarist Brad Hammonds’ music. For [...]

New Music Monday: John Frusciante, Susanna Hoffs, Soul Asylum, Billy Joe Shaver

Published on 2012-07-16 07:09:04

Get ready to tear into new releases from John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers fame, Jimbo Mathus of Squirrel Nut Zippers fame, Susanna Hoffs of Bangles fame, and Soul Asylum — of one-hit wonder fame. There are also intriguing reissues and live sets arriving from the likes of Bachman Turner (don’t you just want to say “Overdrive” next, every [...]

Fred’s Country Fried Rock: Whiskey Myers, “Ballad of a Southern Man” (2011)

Published on 2012-07-16 06:36:26

It’s not the words you string together, but how you put them together that counts. At first blush, Whiskey Myers’ “Ballad of a Southern Man” has the makings of a country checklist song. You’ve got the rifle handed down from a grandfather, you’ve got moonshine, you’ve got fishing, you’ve got a few patriotic and religious statements, you’ve got a name [...]

Half Notes: Soul Asylum – Delayed Reaction (2012)

Published on 2012-07-16 06:11:47

Soul Asylum is back following a six-year gap between projects, the last of which was completed by Dave Pirner and Co. as bassist Karl Mueller succumbed to cancer. Tommy Stinson (who, while with the Replacements, was a labelmate of Soul Asylum’s at Twin Tone) filled in on some of the bass parts for 2006′s The Silver Lining, and he remains [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Wreck On The Highway” (1980)

Published on 2012-07-16 05:30:00

Mortality and the very, very thin line between life and death, those ideas quietly rumble just beneath the surface on most of The River‘s more serious tracks. “Wreck On The Highway” brings that all into focus, with a man realizing just how fragile life can be. Looking back, this song feels like a bridge over to Nebraska. Of course, back [...]

Shows I’ll Never Forget: Donald Fagen/ Michael McDonald/ Boz Scaggs, July 14, 2012

Published on 2012-07-15 16:00:53

While Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band is traversing America with his stable of olden goldie hitmakers, Steely Dan frontman Donald Fagen and his soulful rock comrades-in-arms Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs are giving middle-aged and empty-nesters another good reason to get out of the house and see a rock concert this summer. The Dukes of September, as this super troupe calls [...]

The Ripe – Into Your Ears (2012)

Published on 2012-07-15 07:35:36

Meet the Ripe, a Texas band, whose debut album Into Your Ears affirms they are a serious force to be reckoned with. The band’s music reminds me of a stew pot. Everything simmers together, subtly changing the flavor of the morsels around it without destroying the unique qualities of each ingredient. Sounding like a wonderfully obscure British psychedelic rock experiment [...]

Steely Dan Sunday, “Green Flower Street” (1982)

Published on 2012-07-15 07:14:02

“Green Flower Street” always reminds me of the similarly titled “Green Dolphin Street,” a song from the 1947 Lana Turner movie of the same name that Miles Davis turned in into a jazz standard when he first recorded it in the late 50s. Fagen must have been thinking about this song too when writing material for The Nightfly, since the [...]

Half Notes: Jimbo Mathus – Blue Light (2012)

Published on 2012-07-15 06:51:30

Perhaps best known as the leader of the now-defunct band Squirrel Nut Zippers, Jimbo Mathus is returns with a raw, ambitious six-song EP. Moving from stomping Southern rock (“Blue Light”) to dirt-road garage rock (“Haunted John”) to Stones-y white blues (“Fucked Up World”), then back again to a gospel-soaked country ballad (“Burn the Honky Tonk”), Mathus couldn’t be moving any [...]

Fallon Cush – April (2012)

Published on 2012-07-15 06:39:32

Fallon Cush takes a darker, more contemplative turn with April, after the fizzy power pop of its self-titled 2011 debut. That difference in tone is readily apparent from the first, as the opener “It’s a Line” jangles out with a classically Lennon-ish whine – and a similarly insouciant attitude. Singer-songwriter and guitarist Steve Smith again handles the main vocals, with [...]

Dave Douglas and the Tiny Bell Trio – Live in Europe (2007)

Published on 2012-07-15 06:20:39

One of the characteristics shared by most of my favorite jazz musicians is versatility. They have “big ears” in their musical interests as well as in their playing environments. If you look at the list of guitarist Brad Shepik’s recording credits, you’ll see everything from nearly straight ahead jazz to music heavily influenced by Middle Eastern and European folk music. [...]

Gimme Five: All-time favorite posthumously released albums

Published on 2012-07-14 07:46:28

The news that there could be as many as two more albums from Amy Winehouse, a year after her passing, got us to thinking about posthumous releases. As cash-grabbingly ghoulish as they no doubt can be, they are also, in the best of times, an opportunity to recapture one final, fleeting glimpse of what made these artists great in the [...]

Devendra Banhart – What Will We Be (2009)

Published on 2012-07-14 07:11:14

Have you ever listened to a record and then sat there thinking, “OK …. so what the hell was that?!” I’m not talking about individual songs that might stick out, but the whole thing. Though there are no official rules here, the phenomenon usually occurs with artists who are new to the ears. Let’s face it, Frank Zappa’s Thing Fish [...]

One Track Mind: Matt Garrison, “The Madness Within” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-14 06:50:18

Saxophone sage Matt Garrison (not to be confused with bassist Matthew Garrison) recently made his second album, Blood Songs, and for truly talented musicians on an upward trajectory, that sophomore effort is often where the big growth occurs. Already accomplished at tenor, baritone and soprano saxes, we’re more likely to find any progression from Garrison as a composer and bandleader, [...]

One Track Mind: Sepultura, “Bullet the Blue Sky” (2003)

Published on 2012-07-14 06:24:58

There are a couple of reasons I shouldn’t like this song. First, it’s a cover of my favorite U2 number, and while I’m not a huge U2 fan, covers of my favorite songs by other bands generally don’t work for me – with a few notable exceptions, this being one. Second, I’m not a big fan of the more hardcore-oriented [...]

On Second Thought: The Beastie Boys

Published on 2012-07-13 07:28:54

They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and that seemed to be the case when I first heard the Beastie Boys: Michael “Mike D” Diamond, Adam “MCA” Yauch, and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz. It was 1986, and the rap trio had just released their first full-length album Licensed to Ill. The frat boy humor-filled “(You [...]

One Track Mind: Grant Geissman, “Good Morning, Mr. Phelps” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-13 06:54:29

The name “Grant Geissman” comes up and my mind’s radio instantly tunes to Chuck Mangione’s 1978 hit “Feels So Good,” the highlight of which is Geissman’s flashy guitar solo, which was anything but formulaic. But the story doesn’t end there for Mr. Geissman. Not hardly. Geissman, who these days write scores for TV shows like Two And A Half Men [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Joe Jackson – The Duke (2012)

Published on 2012-07-13 06:15:38

There are only two kinds of music. Good music and the other kind. There are several slight variations of this quote, attributed to Richard Strauss, Charles Mingus, Louis Armstrong, and others. I guess I don’t really care who first said it, because the idea is complete bullshit. Yes, I know, we “critics” are supposed to have some magical powers of [...]

Salvatore Cirillo – Looking for Listeners (2012)

Published on 2012-07-13 05:32:46

Pianist Salvatore Cirillo, appearing in both trio and vocalist-fronted quartet formats here, shows off a stirring range – moving from crinkly bop, to fiery blues then back to a deeply involving impressionism. The results, which he self-produced for VISION: editorial S.r.l., are revealed as a tour-de-force achievement for Cirillo, who’s following up his first album as a leader, 2009’s Unpretentious. [...]

Rory Block – I Belong To The Band: A Tribute To Rev. Gary Davis (2012)

Published on 2012-07-12 07:39:03

Six years ago, Rory Block undertook an ambitious project she dubbed the Mentor Series that was instigated with the release of The Lady And Mr. Johnson, a Robert Johnson tribute record that more than any in recent memory, captured the true spirit of its subject. That’s because Block did her research, and truth be told, she prepared for it with [...]

Rainy Day Saints – All These Strange Ghosts (2011)

Published on 2012-07-12 07:07:31

Nabbing my vote as one of the finest contemporary bands to be had, Rainy Day Saints came barreling out of the gates with yet another electrifying disc. Logging in as the Cleveland, Ohio band’s fourth full-length album, All These Strange Ghosts basically picks up where their previous efforts left off — which is a good thing, of course. But this [...]

One Track Mind: Greg Kihn on “The Break Up Song,” “Rendezvous” and “Jeopardy”

Published on 2012-07-12 06:54:04

Greg Kihn takes over our One Track Mind feature at Something Else! Reviews, providing new insights into some of his most memorable career highlights. Find out just how the Greg Kihn Band ended up with an outtake from Bruce Springsteen’s seminal recording Born to Run, and why the invention of the portable Casio keyboard sparked the group’s first-ever dance hit. [...]

Half Notes: Squarepusher – Just a Souvenir (2008)

Published on 2012-07-12 06:35:37

Squarepusher (OK, it’s really just a guy with a boatload of electronic blurpy noisemaker thingies. Oh, his name is Tom Jenkinson) takes electronic music and infuses it with as much humanity as possible. In this case, the human element is jazz. Now, I sure haven’t heard every electronica recording out there, but my ears tell me that Squarepusher has to [...]

Hank Williams Jr. – Old School, New Rules (2012)

Published on 2012-07-12 06:03:18

Sadly, the latest from Hank Jr. is pretty much everything that I hoped it wouldn’t be. There’s a lot of grousing about the government, a lot of trying to convince us he’s just a good ole boy like us, and at least three songs that reference his being fired from Monday Night Football over comments about the president. In the [...]

Ravi Coltrane – Spirit Fiction (2012)

Published on 2012-07-11 08:15:13

Spirit Fiction, Ravi Coltrane’s debut album for Blue Note, showcases his elusive yet humble nature on the saxophone — with his freely flowing stream of consciousness leading the way. As the picture on the cover suggests, Ravi’s improvisations throughout the album are like an evasive shadow moving in various directions. We are constantly chasing him — weaving through an unknown [...]

‘It was magic’: Greg Kihn on his indie start, subliminal messages in the ‘Jeopardy’ video

Published on 2012-07-11 07:29:27

In many ways, it’s like getting your life back for Greg Kihn — best known for early-1980s hits like “The Break Up Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em Like That)” and “Jeopardy.” After years of legal wrangling, and a career turn into radio, Kihn finally secured the rights to his own music again and, with the recent release of Greg Kihn [...]

One Track Mind: The Joel Harrison 7, “Whipping Post” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-11 07:01:21

Here’s a guitarist with a version of the Allman Brothers’ “Whipping Post.” Think you know how this is gonna go, right? If you do, you didn’t consider that Joel Harrison isn’t into predictable music. Last spring, this fusion/modern creative/post-bop/etc. guitarist released an album whereby he leads a septet that includes sax player Donny McCaslin and pianist Gary Versace. Harrison is [...]

Deep Beatles: “Anytime At All” (1964)

Published on 2012-07-11 06:35:11

BOOM!: Ringo Starr’s forceful drumbeat provides an abrupt, attention-grabbing introduction for “Any Time at All,” a Hard Day’s Night track that was never released as a single, but stands as an extraordinary example of the Beatles’ gift for creating sophisticated yet catchy songs. “Any Time at All” originates from June 2, 1964, when principal writer John Lennon brought the rough [...]

Art Decade – Western Sunrise (2012)

Published on 2012-07-11 06:12:04

A boisterous combining of towering classical swooshes, guitar roars, tempo shifts and post-pop dreamscapes, Art Decade somehow manages to be both super catchy and mind-blowingly clever. Sure, there are times when you can trace your way back to these songs’ ancestral roots. “It’s a Lie” and “The Impossible” build upon experiments with strings and psychedelic things dating back to the [...]

Suit dismissed against Journey, Neal Schon; former bandmate Gregg Rolie announces solo dates

Published on 2012-07-10 14:29:26

A circuit court judge in Warren County, Virginia, has dismissed a $50 million suit against Journey and its founding guitarist Neal Schon, after Tareq Salahi charged both with scheming to break up his marriage to fellow White House gatecrasher Michaele Salihi and then cash in on the split. Salahi’s complaint was initially dismissed back in April for failure to state [...]

Renaissance returns with new live album, concert dates and planned studio effort

Published on 2012-07-10 13:56:14

Prog-rock vets Renaissance — led by vocalist/lyricist Annie Haslam and guitarist/composer Michael Dunford — have returned with a new live album, a series of fall concert dates and a planned studio project. Turn of the Cards, and Scheherazade and Other Stories: Live 2011, the concert release, was recorded in Glenside, Pennsylvania. Live 2011 finds Renaissance performing two of their most [...]

New Freddie Mercury documentary to include rare footage, unreleased demo tracks

Published on 2012-07-10 13:32:25

A new documentary focusing on the late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury will include a snippet of the unreleased Michael Jackson collaboration “There Must be More to Life Than This” and a demo with Rod Stewart singing the previously unreleased “Take Another Piece of My Heart,” along with a never-before-seen appearance with the Royal Ballet in 1979. The Great Pretender, due [...]

Tony Monaco – Celebration (2012)

Published on 2012-07-10 07:11:03

The way I see it, there are two figures in the good ‘n’ greasy kind of organ soul-jazz today who tower above all others: Joey DeFrancesco and Tony Monaco. There’s been plenty of chatter about Joey here but too little about the other boss of the B3, Tony. With the recent release of a two-disc set celebrating his past and [...]

Desert Island Discs: Double-Album Edition

Published on 2012-07-10 06:37:54

Travel back with us now to a time when rock stars, given a chance to make one good album, would often double down. Did “more” necessarily equal “better”? Well, no, actually. But that’s an argument for a different day. For the purpose of this particular Desert Island Disc query, we’re going to talk about the ones that worked out. The [...]

Download: thenewno2, “Make It Home” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-10 06:02:17

“Make It Home,” the electronica-drenched lead track from thenewno2′s forthcoming full-length thefearofmissingout, finds George Harrison’s son doing things both expected and completely, very-neatly unexpected. Of course, Dhani Harrison possesses a voice with all of the longing and peaceable bliss of his father, but his vision for this music moves well beyond the Beatle-y stoicism of old. Dig past the lyrics [...]

‘Be still my pigskin heart’: David Lee Roth addresses Van Halen’s Super Bowl rumors

Published on 2012-07-09 15:29:29

Rumors to the contrary, lead singer David Lee Roth says Van Halen is not in negotiations with the NFL to play at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans — though, he says, they’d welcome the opportunity. All of this started a few weeks back when Eddie Van Halen, in a talk with USA Today, made reference to [...]

One Track Mind: Mark Rivera, “Turn Me Loose” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-09 07:46:00

That broiling sax on the rollicking roadhouse blues “Turn Me Loose” sounds instantly familiar — and it should. After all, Mark Rivera has performed for decades with Billy Joel and Ringo Starr. That’s him on Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer,” too. “Turn Me Loose,” however, drops any of the sleek pop sophistication that might have been associated with those sides — opting [...]

Monday Michiru – Soulception (2012)

Published on 2012-07-09 07:07:37

In some ways, Monday Michiru is the Norah Jones of Japan: one of the few jazz-oriented female vocalists who are currently a true star, born to a famous musical father from another land. Michiru is the daughter of famed jazz saxophonist Charlie Mariano, and a Japanese mother who is a jazz legend herself, pianist and arranger Toshiko Akiyoshi. Michiru has [...]

New Music Monday: Michael Des Barres, Muddy Waters, Robert Plant, Yes

Published on 2012-07-09 06:34:42

From cool jazz to spooky medieval metal, from honky tonk heroes to some ass-whipping white blues, there something for almost everyone in this exciting edition of Something Else! Reviews’ New Music Monday. Among the notables on our teetering pile of sizzling hot musical freshness are Arturo O’Farrill, Blackmore’s Night, Hank Williams Jr., Michael Des Barres and Serj Tankian. We’re also [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Drive All Night” (1980)

Published on 2012-07-09 06:11:55

There are many, many songs in the rock & pop canon that employ yearning as the source material. Or maybe it’s the glue that holds things together. My baby left me and I want her back. It’s an old story that somehow never manages to get old. Maybe that’s because, if you’ve ever been in that particular situation, it feels [...]

Steely Dan Sunday, “I.G.Y.” (1982)

Published on 2012-07-08 07:18:27

The Nightfly Overview: Donald Fagen’s first solo album is what I like to call his “George Harrison” moment: that unexpected flash of brilliance coming right after leaving a successful rock band. The Nightfly isn’t nearly the same as All Things Must Pass but there was this undeniable focus, a wellspring of superb material perhaps inspired by being freed from the [...]

Half Notes: Arturo O’Farrill – The Noguchi Sessions (2012)

Published on 2012-07-08 06:55:46

The Grammy-award winning Arturo O’Farrill, in preparing for his first-ever solo piano performance in concert at the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, New York, worked out the initial parameters during a Wednesday night residency at Puppet’s Jazz Bar in Brooklyn. Then, he simply set up a piano in the one of the museum’s galleries after closing time and played [...]

The Nervebreakers – Hijack The Radio! (2012)

Published on 2012-07-08 06:29:20

Now here’s a nice and nasty blast from the past! I admit I had forgotten all about the Nervebreakers until “My Girlfriend Is A Rock” refreshed my memory. The song received quite a bit of airplay on Bay Area stations at the hour of its release, in late 1978, and I loved it to bits. But silly me, as I [...]

Half Notes: PJ Harvey – White Chalk (2007)

Published on 2012-07-08 06:12:07

Harvey’s material has never been particularly sunny, but this album is seriously dark. AllMusic uses the word “eerie” in their review and I have to agree – this is haunting, chilling music, all stripped down to bare bones: piano, a few other instruments, and the atmosphere churned up by her voice. This is not easy listening, but it is intriguing [...]

John Frusciante – Letur-Lefr (2012)

Published on 2012-07-08 05:50:39

If you think the name of erstwhile guitar god John Frusciante’s forthcoming EP is weird, check this out: It precedes a full-length project called PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone. So, we’ll stick with the music … because it’s plenty weird too — a millennial amalgam of aerated, early 1980s-inspired electronics, soaring R&B vocals and gritty hip hop realism. You were expecting, [...]

JD Allen Trio – The Matador and the Bull (2012)

Published on 2012-07-07 07:27:52

Every so often, we are lucky enough to come across a record that flips previous musical conventions on its head — a record that is fresh, original and that forces us to think differently about our conception of music. JD Allen’s latest release, The Matador and the Bull, featuring Gregg August (bass) and Rudy Royston (drums), is such an album. [...]

Michael Des Barres – Carnaby Street (2012)

Published on 2012-07-07 07:01:25

Michael Des Barres has seen a lot of rock ‘n’ roll highway pass by. But he’s still itching to explore new sideroads. A veteran of bands that included Tony Kaye of Yes, Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, Nigel Harrison of Blondie and Tony Sales of Todd Rundgren and Tin Machine fame, Des Barres’s narrative goes back some four decades. [...]

Half Notes: Steve Davis – Gettin’ It Done (2012)

Published on 2012-07-07 06:35:26

Former Jazz Messenger Steve Davis might not have the name recognition of his Blakey forbear Curtis Fuller, but he’s no less a talented trombone player. We last examined his handiwork on Images: The Hartford Suite from a couple of years ago and now he’s set to release his second album since then, Gettin’ It Done. It’s another set of suave [...]

Forgotten series: Earl Greyhound – Soft Targets (2006)

Published on 2012-07-07 06:12:41

I would like to discuss St. Cilium-Mortua, the little known (but much beloved) patron saint of hearing loss. Primarily the favored saint for cathedral bell-ringers, St. Cilium-Mortua became much more busy in the 1960s and ’70s with the advent of the high-powered stereo amplifier and Koss headphones. Like most children of the ’70s, many late nights were spent flopped down [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Kiss, “Hell or Hallelujah” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-06 07:51:22

I won’t say that “Hell or Hallelujah” had the same impact on me as hearing “Unholy” from Kiss’ Revenge record, but it’s a very similar situation. In 1992, Kiss was coming off a pair of weak, heavily commercial records when they unleashed Revenge, and “Unholy” took me from completely uninterested to “gotta have it” in one listen. Fast forward 20 [...]

One Track Mind: The English Beat, “Save It For Later” (1982; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-07-06 07:16:12

Their name focused on rhythm, but short-changing the shooting-star early-1980s post-punkers English Beat as a ska band is to ignore their essential, still deeply interesting complexities. The Complete Beat, a comprehensive forthcoming box set due July 10, 2012 from Shout! Factory, definitively explores their heady mixing of ska and punk with calypso, reggae, 2-tone toasting, Motown, 1960s garage rock, samba, [...]

Harris Eisenstadt – Canada Day III and Canada Day Octet (2012)

Published on 2012-07-06 06:40:51

Toronto born, New York based drummer Harris Eisenstadt has taken the master route for learning the ins and outs of modern creative jazz music, having studied under or worked with Sam Rivers, Wadada Leo Smith, Barry Altschul, Yusef Lateef, Vinny Golia, Elton Dean, Tony Malaby, Bennie Maupin, and Nels Cline. These days, Eisenstadt is part of a small but very [...]

Download: J.D. Souther – NoiseTrade Sampler EP (2012)

Published on 2012-07-06 06:07:06

If you know J.D. Souther, one of the 1970s’ unjustly overlooked country-rock svengalis, it’s likely as a collaborator with the Eagles. That was him, working as cowriter on “Heartache Tonight,” “Best of My Love,” “New Kid in Town” and “Victim of Love.” It’s easy, then, to enter into NoiseTrade Sampler — a new EP available for download now — with [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: The Police – Ghost In The Machine (1981)

Published on 2012-07-06 05:30:06

While packing up a house in the effort to get it ready for sale, there comes a time when the oddest sensation arrives — when you feel like the house just isn’t yours anymore…and that you no longer belong there. Our house has been scrubbed, repairs have been made, miscellanea has been tossed in the trash, and walls have been [...]

Grateful Dead’s first live greatest-hits anthology to be reissued on vinyl by Audio Fidelity

Published on 2012-07-05 14:34:24

Audio Fidelity will reissue History of the Grateful Dead Vol. 1 (Bear’s Choice), the first-ever live “best-of” anthology delivered by the Grateful Dead when they left Warner Bros. to form their own label in 1973, after six years and eight albums. The reissue, set for July 10, 2012 on 180-gram virgin vinyl, documents the Dead’s February 13-14, 1970 stand at [...]

‘We had three tracks in the can’: New book details lost Freddie Mercury collaboration with Michael Jackson

Published on 2012-07-05 14:30:29

Lesley-Ann Jones’s new biography Mercury: An Intimate Biography Of Freddie Mercury arrived on July 3, 2012, with a number of interesting musical revelations about the late former Queen frontman — including new details on his lost 1983 collaborations with Michael Jackson. At one point, Mercury and Jackson (then living in a pre-Neverland mock-Tudor manse in Encino, California) actually had a [...]

Jon Anderson, Peter Gabriel, Rick Wakeman, Roger Waters newly nominated as ‘Prog Gods’

Published on 2012-07-05 13:44:33

Ian Anderson, Jon Anderson, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hillage, Rick Wakeman and Roger Waters will vie for the title of ‘Prog God’ in the first annual Progressive Music Awards, to be held this September in London. Sponsored by Prog Magazine, the ceremony will also include lifetime achievement recognition for a list of nominees that includes Emerson Lake and Palmer, [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Melissa Etheridge, “Falling Up” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-05 07:36:57

In this uncertain era, we need people to frame the issues as much as we need life-affirming voices to lift us from the doldrums. Enter Melissa Etheridge, with a new song that finds hope, and humor, in the hard times. Opening with a blue-ridge beat and a ringing guitar, the track quickly settles into this reflective, but unbent verse — [...]

One Track Mind: Kevin Coelho, “Cantaloupe Island” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-05 07:07:37

Some kids are fast learners. Kevin Coelho first took piano lessons at age six. Five years later, he fell in love with the jazz organ after hearing Booker T. and the MG’s “Green Onions.” Five years after that, he has his first album at sixteen years old, a broiling set of Jimmy McGriff-styled numbers called Funkengruven: The Joy Of Driving [...]

Gimme Five: Great thrash albums not by Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer or Anthrax

Published on 2012-07-05 06:53:03

As I’ve been blasting the new song from Testament for the last few days, I’ve been thinking about a few of the other thrash acts that never quite grabbed the glory of those guys that you know. Pretty much everyone, metal fan or not, is familiar with the “Big Four” of 1980s thrash — Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax. They’ve [...]

Download: Susanna Hoffs – Some Summer Days EP (2012)

Published on 2012-07-05 06:24:05

If the last time you thought about Susanna Hoffs was when she was still walking like an glammed-up 1980s-era Egyptian, her charming new EP will provide a new window into the deeper pop and folk talents she possesses. This five-song set, available for download now through NoiseTrade, precedes Hoffs’ forthcoming solo project Someday — the longtime Bangles frontwoman’s first since [...]

Joe Morris/ William Parker/ Gerald Cleaver – Altitude (2012)

Published on 2012-07-04 07:36:24

Not long after Joe Morris and William Parker signed up with the then-fledging AUM Fidelity record label specializing in improvised music, AUM founder Steven Joerg and Morris talked about making a trio record involving both Morris and Parker, along with drummer Gerald Cleaver. Like many good ideas, this one fell by the wayside to make room for other projects. However, [...]

We’re Half Way There: The Official™ Something Else! Mid-Year Top 10 for 2012

Published on 2012-07-04 07:07:01

After two goes at an annual Official™ Something Else! Top 10 list, we’ve decided to introduce a mid-year edition — for those who simply can’t wait for the Christmas sales to start gathering the very best new music. As always, to make this list, an album must have appeared on one of our individual polls and been agreed upon by [...]

Forgotten series: Every Mother’s Son – The Very Best: Come On Down To My Boat (1997)

Published on 2012-07-04 06:44:59

Rock and roll history is littered with one hit wonders, and that includes Every Mother’s Son. Hooking up with the MGM label, the New York City band proved to be an overnight sensation, with their debut single, “Come On Down To My Boat,” reaching an impressive No. 6 on the national charts in the late spring of 1967. Originally recorded [...]

Gimme Five: When the National Anthem, like, sucked

Published on 2012-07-04 06:13:56

In its best moments, the National Anthem is a heady combination of patriotism and emotional resonance, conveyed by force of dizzying talent. Think Whitney Houston’s career-defining 1991 take; Jimi Hendrix’s mind-blowing version at Woodstock in 1969; or Marvin Gaye soulful rethinking in 1983. Then, there are the other times. At its worst, the complex compositional nature of “The Star-Spangled Banner” [...]

After postponing long-awaited new album, Aerosmith is now pushing back its show, too

Published on 2012-07-03 14:57:34

Patience is certainly a virtue for fans of classic rockers Aerosmith. First, their forthcoming new studio release was pushed back. Now, a concert scheduled for tonight, July 3, 2012, in Bristow, Va., has been moved to August 12. The long-awaited new album, called Music from Another Dimension, was originally scheduled for release on Aug. 28, 2012, but the street date [...]

Unboxing Music: Marco Cappelli’s Italian Surf Academy – The American Dream (2012)

Published on 2012-07-03 11:42:27

Alright! A new set of Morricone covers? Let’s check it out. Marco Cappelli’s Italian Surf Academy Marco Cappelli – electric guitar Luca Lo Biano – electric bass Francesco Cusa – drums Gaia Matteuzzi – guest vocals Release Date: July 31, 2012 I had to cheat a little, as the name Marco Cappelli was on the tip of my tongue. A [...]

Vinny Golia Sextet – Abstractions and Retrocausalities (2011)

Published on 2012-07-03 07:21:15

It used to be, “West Coast jazz” meant Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Shelly Manne and Chet Baker. When thinking of West Coast jazz today, my thoughts tend toward Scott Amendola, Alex Cline, Sarah Wilson, Will Bernard, Rich Halley, Jeff Gauthier and Ross Hammond. And right in the middle of it all is reed multi-instrumentalist Vinny Golia. Golia is a man [...]

Yes – Open Your Eyes (1997; 2012 vinyl reissue)

Published on 2012-07-03 06:56:17

In the past, introducing a new voice into the ever-changing Yes dynamic often started the band on a series of quickly realized new directions. 1997′s Open Your Eyes, it once seemed, was the exception. Contrary to Yes’ earlier additions of Steve Howe (on 1970′s The Yes Album), Patrick Moraz (1974′s Relayer), Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn (1980′s Drama) and Trevor [...]

Half Notes: The Mars Volta – De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003)

Published on 2012-07-03 06:32:12

I still remember the day I originally found this album: My drive home was full of modern prog-rock goodness — stuff the likes of which we rarely get to hear anymore, especially from the remnants of yell-rock band At The Drive-in. Long songs (one of which clocks in at over 12 minutes long), intricate structures, soaring vocals: I don’t know [...]

Desert Island Discs: 1980s Rock and Pop Edition

Published on 2012-07-03 06:15:37

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip … through our record collections. This time, just before our tiny ship was tossed, we grabbed a bunch of rock and pop sides from the 1980s. Though there are some notable differences in our latest lists of Desert Island Discs, certain sides received much (if [...]

Neneh Cherry and The Thing – The Cherry Thing (2012)

Published on 2012-07-02 13:20:52

Though there’s a long jazz tradition of puttin’ the swing on pop songs, the phenomenon is far less common in the hip-hop world. That’s not to say that there haven’t been successes — A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory, US3 and their Bluenote mashups, Erykah Badu’s channeling of Billie Holiday, and more recently with the funk-infused jams of [...]

New Music Monday: Asia, Shorty Rogers, Marillion and a gold-plated Bob Dylan

Published on 2012-07-02 07:05:15

Asia’s return-to-form release from its original superstar lineup highlights a week that also includes new live and studio stuff from Icarus Witch, Jefferson Starship, Marillion and Nile, along with other notable projects from Bob Dylan, Doro, Glen Campbell, Shorty Rogers, the New York Dolls, Rupert Holmes (if you’re not in yoga!) and the Grateful Dead. AND NOW, TIME TO SNAP, [...]

Guilty pleasures: Iron Maiden – Seventh Son of the Seventh Son (1988)

Published on 2012-07-02 06:39:42

There’s no simple way to put it: Iron Maiden is a huge part of my musical life. I found them — they found me, maybe — in that sweet spot in every heavy metal fan’s life, that period of waffling confusion that hovers around your 16th birthday. You can’t really go anywhere, you can’t really do anything – you’re just [...]

Fred’s Country Fried Rock: Earl Dibbles Jr., “The Country Boy Song” (2012)

Published on 2012-07-02 06:07:02

Unlike several of the country music bloggers that I enjoy reading regularly, I don’t consider myself a crusader against pop country. I don’t care for it, and if I mention it, it’s usually some snide comment made in passing. My philosophy in reviews has always been to try to highlight songs and artists that I do like and that I [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “The Price You Pay” (1980)

Published on 2012-07-02 05:30:07

“Why does Bruce neglect this song?” The sentiment has been expressed many, many times on various E Street messages boards over the years. And why doesn’t he play it? Who knows?! For as much as we think we might understand or “know” Springsteen through his songs and actions, his motivations remain something of a mystery. The man has entire albums [...]

Steely Dan Sunday: “True Companion” (1981)

Published on 2012-07-01 07:35:42

On June 21, 1981, Steely Dan had announced they were going on an indefinite hiatus, a culmination of the headaches and tragedies that coincided with the making of Gaucho. Walter Becker afterwards moved to the Hawaiian island of Maui to become, in the words of the official Steely Dan site, “a gentleman avocado rancher and self styled critic of the [...]

Human Spirit – Dialogue: Live at the Earshot Jazz Festival (2012)

Published on 2012-07-01 07:11:16

Human Spirit, a newly named Seattle-based jazz group with a lengthy history, offers an old-fashioned guest star-packed blowing session on Dialogue, recorded live at Tula’s Jazz Club during Earshot Jazz Festival in October of last year. The band’s core trio of trumpeter Thomas Marriott (composer of half of the album’s eight tunes), altoist Mark Taylor and drummer Matt Jorgensen are [...]

Forgotten series: Bohemian Vendetta – Enough (1998)

Published on 2012-07-01 06:43:28

Formed in 1966, this Long Island, New York band was born right on the cusp of the burgeoning psychedelic scene, and their razzle dazzle music reflects such an environment. Everything you always wanted to know about Bohemian Vendetta can be heard here. A complete collection, Enough contains acetates, singles, and the group’s solitary self-titled full-length album that came out in [...]

Half Notes: Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings – 100 Days, 100 Nights (2007)

Published on 2012-07-01 06:21:42

The Dap Kings may not be a household name, but you likely already know them: They backed the late soul diva Amy Winehouse on her tremendously successful “Rehab” from Back to Black — which, of course, was way better than just “Rehab.” Like Motown’s Funk Brothers, who backed pretty much everyone on the label in the ’60s, the Dap Kings [...]

Best of June 2012: Reader picks include Rush, Little Feat, Norah Jones, John Wetton and Asia

Published on 2012-07-01 06:05:38

How’s this for all over the map?: Our readers pushed Rush, Michael Jackson, Norah Jones and Little Feat into the monthly Top 10 for June 2012. Dude, that map is in tatters. See, there’s also this: ZZ Top, Chris Squire’s Squackett collaboration with Steve Hackett, David Byrne and S. Vincent. John Wetton — both as a member of Asia, whose [...]

One Track Mind: Metallica, “Escape” (1984)

Published on 2012-07-01 05:38:06

The decision to play 1984’s Ride the Lightning in its entirety last weekend for their inaugural Orion Music and More Festival brought a historic moment for Metallica. It intrigued me so much that I tuned in to Fuse TV’s live stream of the concert online to see it. The sixth track on the album, “Escape,” is one of only a [...]

Ryan Meagher – Tone (2012)

Published on 2012-06-30 07:15:31

Guitarist Ryan Meagher describes his music in very straightforward terms; he calls it “modern jazz for the indie rocker.” I’m no indie rocker myself, but I’m always heartened to see jazz guys trying to attract that crowd, because if you can’t make jazz appealing for younger generations, it’s doomed for extinction. And, adjusting jazz for the ears of Gen X’s [...]

Jon Sandler – Late Night Champ (2012)

Published on 2012-06-30 06:47:45

Blessedly unencumbered by a constricting sense of pop decorum, Late Night Champ has a kitchen-sink sense of discovery — as Jon Sandler thrillingly weaves in threads from across a broad musical spectrum. For instance, there’s “Stars Align,” the album’s transformative lead track: It combines a rambunctious rhythm (as if plucked out of David Byrne’s fertile imagination), a reflective piano signature, [...]

Tyshawn Sorey – Koan (2009)

Published on 2012-06-30 06:23:58

Sometimes, you dial up a particular piece of music because you know what you’re getting. You’re in a certain mood, and the Nth listen to The Ramones’ Rocket To Russia is what you need. There’s nothing wrong with that because there are an infinite number of reasons why we listen. The ear parts want what the ear parts want. What’s [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Testament, “True American Hate” (2012)

Published on 2012-06-30 05:51:03

While most of the thrash bands of the 1980s have gone through identity crises since that decade ended, few of them have come out of that period as strong as Testament. While the band did release the somewhat more accessible The Ritual in 1992, which gave them a minor hit in “Return to Serenity,” and experimented with more of a [...]

Cancer returns for celebrated soul singer Curtis Salgado; lung surgery planned

Published on 2012-06-29 15:47:39

Award-winning soul blues singer/harmonica master Curtis Salgado will undergo surgery on July 18 in Portland, Oregon, to remove a cancerous growth from his lung, according to his manager Shane Tappendorf. A partial lobectomy will be performed to remove a segment of Salgado’s left lung, where a metastasized mass was found. It is suspected to be the same type of cancerous [...]

Half Notes: The Offspring – Days Go By (2012)

Published on 2012-06-29 13:24:53

I haven’t thought about The Offspring in quite a few years, but when their latest record landed on my desk this week, I had to give it a try for old times’ sake. I still like a lot of the stuff from 1994’s Smash, and I had a fling with 1998’s Americana, too. Sadly, the snotty, brash, punk-influenced band of [...]

Pink Floyd – The Story Of ‘Wish You Were Here’ (2012)

Published on 2012-06-29 07:45:09

It is both interesting and somewhat telling that Eagle Rock’s Pink Floyd documentary The Story Of Wish You Were Here both begins and ends with footage of the band performing “Wish You Were Here” during their reunion at 2005′s massive Live 8 benefit show. The footage of Floyd’s first performance together in 24 years is interesting mainly because it mirrors [...]

Oh! My BlackBird – Dare Me (2012)

Published on 2012-06-29 07:22:46

The cello-driven folk of Dare Me delights not just because of its offbeat instrumentation, but also in the way that it plays with dichotomies, with shadows and light, both musically and lyrically. Annie Sullivan, Veronica Kohl and Nicholas Jozwiak, a New York City-based trio, open the album with a darkly ruminative passage, before swerving into the sun-filled intertwining of vocals [...]

S. Victor Aaron’s Half-Year List of Top Albums for 2012, Part 4 of 4: Fusion Jazz

Published on 2012-06-29 06:51:50

And now for the final installment of my first-ever, mid-year assessment of what are the best records we’ve covered here on SER. This time, we survey that murky hybrid world called “fusion jazz.” And whenever I think everything’s been done that’s could ever be done in fusion, an artist or record comes along to prove me wrong. There’s been plenty [...]

Ryan Truesdell and the Gil Evans Project – Centennial (2012)

Published on 2012-06-29 06:16:07

Even the most noble of tribute efforts can be sunk by a maudlin sense of care, the feeling that the great works being presented are sacrosanct — rather than living, malleable pieces of art. This album deftly avoids those mistakes. Credit Ryan Truesdell’s abiding passion for Gil Evans, who would have turned 100 on May 13, 2012, but also his [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Bruce Springsteen – Born In The USA (1984)

Published on 2012-06-29 05:30:24

Maybe it’s just me but I’m getting sort of tired of the steady stream of articles and books that attempt to apply scientific analysis to our perception of music. Do we really need to know why certain intervals elicit certain emotions. And what brain waves were induced after hearing minor chords? Or why that signature riff from Jaws was scary? [...]

‘We made a nice team’: Steve Lukather will rejoin Joe Satriani for G3 show in October

Published on 2012-06-28 15:08:03

Toto co-founder Steve Lukather will hit the stage with Joe Satriani for an October 23, 2012 concert in Mexico City, his second stint as part of the ongoing G3 shows. The date will also include Dream Theater’s John Petrucci. G3, the explosive three-part guitar-focused rock concert led by Satriani since 1996, has over the years featured Robert Fripp, Eric Johnson, [...]

‘Just taken longer than anticipated’: Cancer treatments force Jon Lord to cancel comeback show

Published on 2012-06-28 14:06:50

Jon Lord’s treatment for cancer is taking longer than expected. That’s forced the former Deep Purple keyboardist, who recently announced a new album and a return to the stage, to postpone the scheduled show. Lord had been set to present a special performance of 2008′s Durham Concerto on July 6, 2012, in Hagen, Germany. But Lord’s management has issued a [...]

Graham Gouldman leads 10cc back to America for first time in 34 years

Published on 2012-06-28 13:47:41

Graham Gouldman and 10cc will play in the U.S. for the first time since the late 1970s, with a July 13, 2012, date set for New York City’s Concert Hall. The group, famous for hits like “I’m Not in Love” and “The Things We Do For Love,” will also headline Canada’s Ottawa BluesFest. Gouldman and drummer Paul Burgess are the [...]

Can – The Lost Tapes (2012)

Published on 2012-06-28 07:39:47

The concept sounds like a bit of a nightmare: an in-depth excursion into the discarded mastertapes of a band known for lengthy, sometimes mind-boggling sound journeys. The Can formula is in full effect: vocalists Malcolm Mooney and replacement Damo Suzuki ramble oddball lyrics over dense, repetitive grooves. While krautrock was an outlier in the 1970s music scene, Can’s brand was [...]

S. Victor Aaron’s Half-Year List of Top Albums for 2012, Part 3 of 4: Whack Jazz

Published on 2012-06-28 07:01:34

If you happened to peruse the Half-Year List of Top Albums for 2012 for Modern and Mainstream Jazz before this list and you’ve been keeping up with the latest jazz releases, you might have wondered, “Where’s that new Matthew Shipp?” or “You mean you didn’t think that much of Dialect Fluorescent?” If you’re like our own Mark Saleski, you were [...]

One Track Mind: Trevor Rabin on “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” “Anerley Road,” “Changes”

Published on 2012-06-28 06:43:30

Trevor Rabin, set to be honored by ASCAP today for his work in film, takes over our One Track Mind feature, offering new insights into his solo work and key moments with Yes. The South African-born guitarist, vocalist and songwriter has gone on to compose music for dozens of films since his days as a member of Yes during its [...]

Forgotten series: Naz Nomad & the Nightmares – Give Daddy the Knife Candy (1984)

Published on 2012-06-28 06:07:17

When this album was initially released on the Ace label in 1984, a lot of people believed it was a long lost treasure by a long lost 1960s band. Considering not a soul remembered the group, nor was there a shred of information to be found anywhere on these guys, vinyl fanatics were either drooling with excitement, thinking the holy [...]

John Entwhistle (1944-2002): An Appreciation

Published on 2012-06-27 10:58:03

Who bass-god John Entwistle — aka The Ox, aka The Quiet One — died on this day 10 years ago on the eve of the Who’s summer 2002 tour. It’s unlikely the rock world will ever have a musician quite like him again. Circumstances these days just aren’t conducive to exposing the public to the kind of virtuosic talent the [...]

Something Else! Interview: Trevor Rabin, formerly of Yes

Published on 2012-06-27 07:46:06

It’s not like Trevor Rabin has disappeared since leaving Yes, not with dozens of movie scores to his name in the intervening years. Still, Rabin hadn’t released a solo project under his own name since 1989 — that is, before 2012′s well-received Jacaranda, a deeply personal instrumental project that was years in the making. Along the way, Rabin — whose [...]

Desert Island Discs: 1970s Classic Rock Edition

Published on 2012-06-27 07:15:14

You know the proposition: Marooned with only a handful of musical choices, which would you make? After all, between anguished laments (it’s was only a three-hour tour!), making the acquaintance of new volleyball friends, and the never-ending search for Penny’s Boat, you’ll need … distractions. What better way to while away the days, weeks, months, (gulp!) and maybe years than [...]

S. Victor Aaron’s Half-Year List of Top Albums for 2012, Part 2 of 4: Modern/ Mainstream Jazz

Published on 2012-06-27 06:39:11

Here we are only halfway done with 2012 and it’s already been a bangin’ year for modern and mainstream jazz, whether you prefer a celebration of the tradition or an expansion of the frontiers. The artists born in the 70s and 80s naturally tend to be the ones bringing the fresh perspectives, but as the list reveals, those born in [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: John Wetton, Tony Levin, Jerry Goodman and Billy Sherwood, “The Laws Of Nature” (2012)

Published on 2012-06-27 06:07:56

A new track from the forthcoming Prog Collective project has emerged, featuring John Wetton, Tony Levin, Jerry Goodman and Billy Sherwood. Check it out here! With “The Laws of Nature,” we’re afforded an intriguing window into this buzzy project, which finds an amazing collection of prog-rock guest stars working alongside producer Sherwood — who now leads Circa, after earlier performing [...]

New 4-CD box focuses on Jefferson Starship’s appearance at the Roswell UFO Festival

Published on 2012-06-26 14:55:02

Gonzo MultiMedia is set to release Tales from the Mothership, a special four-CD box set focusing on the reunited Jefferson Starship’s 2009 appearance at the Roswell UFO Parade and Festival. On July 3 of that year at Pearson Auditorium in Roswell, New Mexico, founder Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship (along with special guests that included original Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom [...]

‘Happy to be working with Don Was’: Van Morrison returns to Blue Note for new studio effort

Published on 2012-06-26 09:30:07

Van Morrison returns to Blue Note Records for a new studio album Born To Sing: No Plan B, to be released on October 2, 2012. Morrison previously released the Grammy-nominated What’s Wrong With This Picture? on Blue Note in 2003. Van says: “With most record companies being so corporate I am happy to be working with Don Was and the [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Blackberry Smoke, “Six Ways to Sunday” (2012)

Published on 2012-06-26 07:41:26

Pushing play on Blackberry Smoke’s “Six Ways to Sunday” is like cracking open a time capsule buried about 35 years or so ago in the neighborhood of Jacksonville , Fla., and having the music of the most popular local band come streaming out of it. And that’s a very good thing. From their forthcoming album The Whippoorwill, due in August [...]

Deep Beatles: “Eight Days A Week” (1964)

Published on 2012-06-26 07:13:09

The year was 1985; the scene, Mr. Tantillo’s eighth-grade chorus class. On Fridays, students were allowed to bring in their own music so we could “experience” diverse tastes. (As I look back, I think Mr. Tantillo just needed a break from teaching a bunch of hormone-riddled preteens five days a week.) Fully immersed in popular artists of the day — [...]

S. Victor Aaron’s Half-Year List of Top Albums for 2012, Part 1 of 4: Non-Jazz Edition

Published on 2012-06-26 06:39:43

Since 2007, I’ve had year-end lists for the albums I thought stood out over the rest, within and without jazz. If the Mayans are to be believed, there won’t be time for year-end lists for 2012, so I best get started on this year’s selections pronto and trot out a half-year list. Just in case. Before diving into all those [...]

Jim Hall – Jim Hall’s Three (1986)

Published on 2012-06-26 06:04:26

A great example of a player who’s equally comfortable in both traditional and “modern” settings. On Jim Hall’s Three, his understated tone is employed to give beautiful renderings of things like “All The Things You Are,” and “Three,” as well as more angular pieces like the opening “Hide And Seek.” If you’re not familiar with the name Jim Hall, you [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Kiss, “Hell or Hallelujah” (2012)

Published on 2012-06-25 14:33:39

Tracking down the audio clip previewing Kiss’ “Hello or Hallelujah,” set for release next week, wasn’t easy. But we’ve got one — for now. The single arrives in advance of Monster, Kiss’ 20th studio project — and first in three years. Co-founding bassist/blood-spewing wildman Gene Simmons has described it as a lean, heaving-rocking album more in keeping with their original [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Prince, “Lust U Always” (1982)

Published on 2012-06-25 13:54:37

A track called “Lust U Always” from Prince’s 1999 album-era vaults has emerged online. Check it out here! It’s pure, old-school nasty-ass Prince, circa 1982, with lyrics like these: “My body reeks with lust, I will rape you if i must.” The previously unreleased tune was apparently offered to Robert Palmer, but — perhaps unsurprisingly — the late singer turned [...]

New Music Monday: Blues Traveler, Jerry Douglas, Joe Jackson, Little Feat, Pink Floyd

Published on 2012-06-25 07:09:11

Saddle up for another ride through the latest musical musings from the likes of Ben Tyree, Blues Traveler, Cassandra Wilson, Jerry Douglas, Joe Jackson, Left Lane Cruiser and James Leg and Little Feat, along with freshly minted reissues from Anthrax, Limp Bizkit and Pink Floyd. Also new this week: Animetal USA, Cory Wong and Jacam Mandricks, among many others. SO [...]

Cassandra Wilson – Another Country (2012)

Published on 2012-06-25 06:41:45

Cassandra Wilson’s forthcoming release Another Country might well have been called “Another Voice,” so prominent is the work of collaborator Fabrizio Sotti, her guitarist and producer. His presence, on an album that more often than not feels like a series of duets, provides both a foundation assist and a smart foil. Wilson’s 18th long-player, due June 26, 2012 from eOne [...]

Rich Halley 4 – Back From Beyond (2012)

Published on 2012-06-25 06:32:41

The name changed a little bit, but not the lineup: the Rich Halley 4 is the same Rich Halley Quartet who last year gave us the stunning Requiem For A Pit Viper, one of the very best out-jazz releases of last year. Saxophonist and flautist Rich Halley once again leads his group into a set of studio-recorded originals that tease [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Ramrod” (1980)

Published on 2012-06-25 06:16:40

Let’s roadhouse!!! “Ramrod” is The River‘s last full-on rocker and it’s one of my favorites, especially when played live. Some people have complained that the pace of the concert version has been too slow in the post-reunion era. I guess it’s a matter of taste, as the song is most often called into service these days toward the end of [...]

Steely Dan Sunday: A compilation of all the entries (so far) …

Published on 2012-06-24 07:30:35

Hard to believe that more than fifteen months ago I embarked on a long-term project reviewing Steely Dan, track-by-track, in the same order within the albums, and chronological order amongst the albums. That rule was already broken when I started with “Reelin’ In The Years” instead of “Do It Again,” intentionally done so because the title of the song encapsulates [...]

Joe Jackson – The Duke (2012)

Published on 2012-06-24 07:07:09

Ever since he asked that existential question “Is She Really Going Out with Him?” Joe Jackson has defied categorization, moving from the initial “new wave” label into other genres such as jazz and Latin music. On The Duke, due June 26, 2012, from Ear Music, he returns to the jazz realm by paying tribute to the legendary Duke Ellington. While [...]

The Beatles – Yellow Submarine (1968; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-06-24 06:42:33

If you were looking for the Beatles, or some terrific new music, or even something other than flatly featureless cartoon caricatures of the Fab Four, then 1968′s Yellow Submarine was a crashing disappointment. The storyline itself, a modern-day musical fairy tale painted over with a Summer of Love theme, is tissue thin — really just an excuse to get from [...]

Shawn Colvin – All Fall Down (2012)

Published on 2012-06-24 06:16:32

Singer/songwriter Shawn Colvin’s eighth studio album is a deeply personal, deeply sustaining experience. All Fall Down was produced by her long-time pal Buddy Miller and features the input of such luminaries as Alison Krauss, Jakob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Bill Frisell, and Mary Chapin Carpenter. The album was released June 5, the same day as her Diamonds in the Rough memoir. [...]

Jerry Douglas – Traveler (2012)

Published on 2012-06-23 07:23:41

Dobro ace Jerry Douglas might have been expected to do some picking and grinning on the forthcoming Traveler. Happily, in keeping with the name, the album moves far afield of such easy assumptions. Credit Douglas for pushing his craft, even after playing on more than 1,500 records and collecting more than a dozen Grammys. Recording in Nashville, New Orleans, New [...]

Joel Frahm Quartet – Live at Smalls (2011)

Published on 2012-06-23 06:48:33

Tenor saxophonist Joel Frahm’s latest release Live at Smalls places the listener at the center of jazz innovation in New York City. You feel as if you were there at the legendary basement club of Smalls, sitting in one of their old and rickety wooden chairs with their infamous cat strolling leisurely by. The album, which features Joe Martin (bass), [...]

Nick DeRiso’s Half-Year List of Top Albums for 2012, Live and Reissue Edition

Published on 2012-06-23 06:14:13

For the musical Indiana Joneses amongst us, 2012 has already yielded a number of artifacts for the ages — and we’re but half way done. There were rare live recordings unearthed from the likes of jazz giant Bill Evans, and the hitmaking Philadelphia International Records stable of the O’Jays, MFSB, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes and Billy Paul — [...]

One Track Mind: Mother’s Finest, “Like a Negro” (1992)

Published on 2012-06-23 05:50:20

I hadn’t thought about this song in years, but as I was writing another piece, I stumbled across a 2010 cover of it by Jackyl and Darryl McDaniels of Run-D.M.C. I thought it was pretty good. Then I looked up the original, which I probably haven’t heard in about 15 years. There was no comparison. This song flat out rocks. [...]

Asia – XXX (2012)

Published on 2012-06-22 08:05:29

The original superstar lineup of Asia continues a far more productive reunion era with its third album since 2006, one more than they achieved back in their hitmaking days. Musically, XXX — due June 29, 2012 in Europe, and July 3 in North America from Frontiers Records — builds on the arena-pop successes of the platinum 1982 debut by bassist/vocalist [...]

Del Shannon – 1961-1990: A Complete Career Anthology (1998)

Published on 2012-06-22 07:34:16

Contrary to collective belief, there was a lot of good music to be had prior to the worldwide invasion of the Beatles in 1964. So many folks insist rock and roll expired in the late ’50s, when Elvis joined the Army, Chuck Berry was sent to jail, Little Richard turned to religion, Jerry Lee Lewis created a scandal when marrying [...]

Cory Wong – Quartet/Quintet (2012)

Published on 2012-06-22 06:35:45

Nearly every fusion jazz artist has a straight jazz side inside of them, and although not as often, the reverse is often true, too. Minneapolis/St. Paul-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Cory Wong is definitely one of the ones who thrives on both sides of jazz, but instead of making a tight, straight ahead record and following it up with a looser [...]

Nick DeRiso’s Half-Year List of Top Albums for 2012, Blues and Jazz Edition

Published on 2012-06-22 06:06:17

Already, we’ve seen the blues and jazz genres enlivened by a series of out-of-nowhere surprises that included Little Feat, Wes Montgomery (yes, Wes Montgomery!) and Bonnie Raitt — even as a new supergroup of fusion-heroes formed. Spectrum Road muscled its way onto this list thanks to virtuoso performances by the likes of Cream’s Jack Bruce, Living Colour’s Vernon Reid, Medeski [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Tegan and Sara – This Business Of Art (2000)

Published on 2012-06-22 05:50:01

Do you know anybody who makes art? Can you place a value on their work? Do you? I’ve thought about this a lot, usually in the context of media transformation — movies going from film to digital, with people preferring the “home theater” over the real thing; physical books (and their stores) disappearing; physical CDs (and their stores!) disappearing — [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, “Oh Well” (2012)

Published on 2012-06-21 15:10:03

An advance track featuring ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons has emerged from the forthcoming tribute compilation Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac. Gibbons is joined by Blake Mills and Matt Sweeney for a blistering take on the Peter Green-era 1969 track “Oh Well,” ramping it up from this distorted, shivering portent into a raw, dangerous [...]

Folk duo Indigo Girls shake things up with first-ever symphony tour

Published on 2012-06-21 14:20:17

In a career first, the Indigo Girls have announced a symphony tour, set to kick off in Chattanooga, Tennessee on July 18 and continue into 2013. The Grammy-winning folk duo have also announced a second leg to their summer tour with the Shadowboxers. Amy Ray and Emily Saliers brought in musical arrangers Sean O’Loughlin (Chris Isaak, Feist, The Decemberists, Josh [...]

Heart announces new 10-song studio release Fanatic; check out the title track

Published on 2012-06-21 14:07:13

Heart says Fanatic, its 14th studio album and second full-length studio project for Legacy, will arrive October 2. Included are 10 new songs from sisters Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson, the first since 2010′s Red Velvet Car had its Top 10 debut in 2010. Heart will also be touring throughout the summer and fall, beginning on June 29 and continuing [...]

Something Else! Interview: Bob Cowsill, of the Cowsills

Published on 2012-06-21 07:44:26

Formed while siblings Bill (guitar), Bob (guitar and organ), Barry (bass) and John (drums) were still in school, the Cowsills went on to become one of the most popular bands of the late 1960s. The quartet, which hailed from Newport, Rhode Island, first shook up the airwaves in the waning summer days of 1967 with “The Rain, the Park and [...]

Jacám Manricks – Cloud Nine (2012)

Published on 2012-06-21 07:16:31

Trigonometry, the third album by alto saxophone rising star Jacám Manricks, was a stellar post-bop set. It was just the kind of record you’d expect with a guy of his experience, education and raw talent, accompanied by such leading lights as Gary Versace, Joe Martin and Alan Ferber. For his next album, Cloud Nine, Manricks trades in the sax/trumpet/trombone sextet [...]

Nick DeRiso’s Half-Year List of Top Albums for 2012, Rock and Pop Edition

Published on 2012-06-21 06:51:04

Taking stock last night, as the sun dove below the trees on the year’s longest day, it occurred to me that 2012 has already provided a harvest of good-rocking blessings. There have been tough-minded albums that helped frame a difficult age from the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Kevin Gordon, and some interesting collaborations — as Dr. John rocked out [...]

Pat Metheny – Unity Band (2012)

Published on 2012-06-21 06:35:02

Pat Metheny introduces a new twist or turn with each album, and he’s taken so many turns, he’s bound to end up in a spot he’s been in before. His latest project the Unity Band at first blush may be taking his Day Trip band, keeping drummer Antonio Sanchez, swapping Christian McBride for Ben Williams (Marcus Strickland, Jacky Terrasson, Stefon [...]

Guilty pleasures: Jackyl – Jackyl (1992)

Published on 2012-06-21 06:12:08

When Jackyl’s self-titled debut came out, I absolutely hated it. I was in the waning days of my “more notes=better music” listening phase. The simple three-chord tunes here and singer Jesse James Dupree’s definite vocal resemblance to Brian Johnson of AC/DC – a band I also didn’t like at the time – were an instant turn-off. Then, something happened. I’m [...]

Yoko Ono reunites Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore for new benefit track

Published on 2012-06-20 15:29:35

Yoko Ono has released “Early in the Morning,” a 14-minute collaboration with Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, as a benefit single. For those who think of her only as John Lennon’s widow — or, more darkly, the lady who broke up the Beatles — it’s another opportunity to find out more about her unique artistic vision. She remains [...]

Revisiting the mythical 1981 appearance by Muddy Waters with the Rolling Stones

Published on 2012-06-20 10:22:33

Muddy Waters AND the Rolling Stones? It happened, at Waters’ Chicago nightclub in 1981. Relive this mythical meeting of the minds as Eagle Rock releases a multi-format commemorative set — including a DVD, a special two-disc DVD/CD and a special DVD/2LP vinyl set. On November 22, 1981, the Stones were criss-crossing America on one of their mammoth tours when they [...]

Metallica’s Kirk Hammett explores collection of horror memorabilia in first book

Published on 2012-06-20 09:59:53

Metallica’s Kirk Hammett will publish his first book, Too Much Horror Business: The Kirk Hammett Collection, documenting his love of all things horror, and the legendary collection of horror memorabilia he has amassed over the years. TMHB, available this October via Abrams Image, is a 228-page, hardback, large format coffee table book featuring well over 300 full color images from [...]

‘It would be ridiculous’: Def Leppard is rerecording its old hits, but not its old videos

Published on 2012-06-20 08:13:00

Def Leppard has become the latest act to re-record its biggest hits — and their aim, according to singer Joe Elliot, is a series of “100 percent forgeries.” Hear a sample of the 2012 version of “Rock of Ages” here! Unlike previous remake projects by the likes of Styx and Journey, however, Def Leppard hasn’t been forced back into the [...]

Left Lane Cruiser and James Leg – Painkillers (2012)

Published on 2012-06-20 07:41:07

Left Lane Cruiser and John Wesley Myers (aka James Leg) are both coming off ass-whoopin’ records from last year, and both were sized up here at the same time. Little did I know then that they would soon afterwards join forces and make a record together, and that record will be coming out next week. Containing nothing but covers of [...]

One Track Mind: David Byrne and St. Vincent, “Who” (2012)

Published on 2012-06-20 07:05:33

It’s like a keening angel drops in on this crinkly Talking Heads song, as David Byrne unleashes a series of classic tangled rhythms — only to be one upped by Annie Clark‘s cumulus vocal interludes. From there, the track is regularly thrown off balance by these thrillingly parenthetical bursts of guitar and horns. Taken together, “Who” represents a deeply interesting [...]

Forgotten series: Pat Metheny – Bright Size Life (1976)

Published on 2012-06-20 06:36:21

I’ve always been amazed that Bright Size Life was Metheny’s debut recording. With Bob Moses on drums and Jaco Pastorius on bass, Metheny produced an album that was both unique and instantly timeless. It’s one of those “stars in alignment” sort of things. And now, thirty-something years later, the music is still fresh. The title track gives you almost all [...]

Little Feat – Rooster Rag (2012)

Published on 2012-06-20 06:12:26

1973′s Dixie Chicken set a template for Southern-fried funkiness that Little Feat (despite a number of lineup changes over the decades) has never felt the need to redraw — right through to the forthcoming Rooster Rag, the band’s first album in four years. The difference here is a welcome new focus on songwriting, versus the rangy but sometimes ultimately unsatisfying [...]

Genesis’ Steve Hackett, Spock’s Beard and Flower Kings headline two-day prog-rock festival

Published on 2012-06-19 10:07:36

Spock’s Beard, Saga, Flower Kings and Steve Hackett will close out the seventh annual Night of the Prog festival, to be held over two days this summer in Germany. Spock’s, which was co-founded by guitarist Alan Morse and bassist Dave Meros in 1992, added Enchant vocalist Ted Leonard and former touring drummer Jimmy Keegan back in November. (Former members also [...]

Ben Tyree – Thoughtform Variations (2012)

Published on 2012-06-19 07:14:41

Ben Tyree describes himself not as a guitarist but rather a “sonic architect,” which sends the message that he sees his station in life at a higher plane; the guitar is simply a means to a grander end. A couple of years back he deployed his acumen at the electric guitar for the greater good of fusion, making an auspicious [...]

Forgotten series: Ted Munda – The Enfields / Friends Of The Family (1993)

Published on 2012-06-19 06:50:40

Both these bands hailed from Wilmington, Delaware and featured the enterprising handiwork of singer, songwriter and guitarist Ted Munda. Founded late in 1964, the Enfields enjoyed a good deal of regional acclaim until their demise in 1967. Shortly after the band splintered, Ted formed Friends Of The Family. An 18-track package, “The Enfields/Friends Of The Family” (Get Hip Recordings) contains [...]

Peter Frampton gets the credit, but Joe Walsh played the talk box first

Published on 2012-06-19 06:29:17

Did Joe Walsh, as he says during a new interview, reinvent the talk box? Those old enough to remember his 1973 Top 10 hit “Rocky Mountain Way” would quickly agree. Walsh, in a talk with Jeb Wright of Classic Rock Revisited, actually credits Nashville steel guitarist Bill West — an electrical engineer and first husband of country legend Dottie West [...]

Fred’s Country Fried Rock: Chris Knight, “Down the River” (2001)

Published on 2012-06-19 06:02:51

You might have heard a Chris Knight song, even if you don’t recognize his name. They’ve been recorded by plenty of names you would recognize – Randy Travis, John Anderson, Montgomery Gentry and Blake Shelton among them. But the songs you probably haven’t heard are much better than the ones you might have caught on the radio. Knight is absolutely [...]

Between legs of Yes tour, Jon Davison’s at work on new Glass Hammer album

Published on 2012-06-18 18:44:30

When Yes added Jon Davison of Glass Hammer as its new lead singer, that didn’t mean the end of his prog band. In fact, Glass Hammer is at work on a new album between legs of the on-going Yes tour in support of 2011′s Fly From Here — with Davison again on vocals. Yes has even allowed Glass Hammer albums [...]

At 71, still-spritely Bob Dylan is gearing up for sprawling new tour, and 35th album

Published on 2012-06-18 15:28:20

Bob Dylan just turned 71, but he’s not even close to slowing down. There’s both a new tour and album on the way. Dylan will return to the concert trail later this summer, beginning in Europe then returning to North America. The just-announced tour dates are below. His as-yet-untitled new recording project would be Dylan’s 35th, and his first since [...]

‘We’ll do most of it’: Neal Peart discusses how Clockwork Angels fits into new concerts

Published on 2012-06-18 15:01:26

For a band like Rush, with both a well-received new album and 40-plus years of material in tow, making a set list can be a daunting task. Lyricist and drummer Neil Peart admits that “it’s very difficult,” in a new talk with Rolling Stone. Should they play their Clockwork Angels in its entirety? After all, they just presented Moving Pictures [...]

Still not clear when the Rolling Stones will tour – but they’re not breaking up

Published on 2012-06-18 14:29:05

It’s unclear when, or maybe if, the Rolling Stones will tour again. But one thing is certain: Contrary to a weekend report in the UK’s Sunday Mirror, they are not calling it quits. That article hinted that the Stones would play a handful of final shows in U.S. and Great Britain next year, with a farewell show to take place [...]

One Track Mind: Peter Buck, “10 Million B.C.” (2012)

Published on 2012-06-18 07:19:11

It’s not like Peter Buck hasn’t been busy. In fact, he’s kinda been everywhere since R.E.M. split, participating in a number of side projects including the Minus 5 and the Baseball Project. What we haven’t heard is new music under Buck’s own name — until now. “10 Million B.C.” caroms out with a grimy, swamp-soaked riff, and a vocal that [...]

New Music Monday: Curtis Fuller, Raconteurs, Return to Forever, Mike Stern

Published on 2012-06-18 06:50:07

Sit back as we sort through a stack of tasty new music goodness, including items from Chris Smither, Curtis Fuller, Lita Ford, Mike Stern and Return to Forever, along with intriguing reissues and concert documents from Anthrax, Black Sabbath, Charlie Daniels, John Lee Hooker, Motorhead, Staind and the Raconteurs. Also out with new stuff this week are Firehouse, Johnnie Bassett, [...]

Half Notes: Surface To Air – Surface To Air (2012)

Published on 2012-06-18 06:29:16

The most obvious branding of the acoustic trio Surface To Air’s music is “world fusion” but it’s not really a “-jazz” kind of fusion, but rather a mélange of the East Indian/new age/folk variety. Think of a more elemental variation of the seminal band of this arena in music, Oregon. Acoustic guitarist Jonathan Goldberger (Todd Sickfoose’ Tiny Transistors), upright bass [...]

Steve Poltz – Noineen Noiny Noin (2012)

Published on 2012-06-18 06:02:54

What does singer-songwriter Steve Poltz and Prince have in common? Well, not much unless you’re from Australia, which in that case you might say that both have albums named after the last year of the last century. Noineen Noiny Noin is the answer Poltz got from an Australian promoter when asked when was the last time Poltz toured that country. [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Stolen Car” (1980)

Published on 2012-06-18 05:39:59

There are tons of love songs out there. Maybe even more tunes about breakups and their aftermath. The best of them, like a great poem, can take a long-view snapshot of a person’s timeline and distill it down to its essence. Here we have a couple looking back at what was and how it all came apart. But more than [...]

Half Notes: Seth Walker – Time Can Change (2012)

Published on 2012-06-18 05:14:10

Nashville-based Seth Walker hits a sweet spot of soulful folk-blues where Keb Mo, Eric Lindell and Eric Bibb intersect, and like those three, he has little trouble communicating the intended feel of his lyrics. His vocal style has been compared to Ray Charles and Delbert McClinton, but there’s a smooth Harry Connick croon lurking within his weary voice, too. Walker’s [...]

Steely Dan Sunday: “Third World Man” (1980)

Published on 2012-06-17 07:47:39

The last song of the “classic” Steely Dan period ends Gaucho on a solemn note. “Third World Man” is a lounge ballad at heart that’s made more substantial than what that characterization might suggest by sophisticated arrangements and lyrics — most likely about war veterans dealing with post traumatic stress disorder — that are too direct and serious to ever [...]

Ralph Peterson – The Duality Perspective (2012)

Published on 2012-06-17 07:28:02

Edward LaRose’s painting on the cover, itself so full of ying-and-yang dualities, sets an expectant tone for Ralph Peterson’s layered and challenging new recording — and the drummer delivers. The Duality Perspective, due June 19, 2012, from Onyx, begins with a series of cuts from Peterson’s youthful fo-tet, highlighted by the opening song’s appropriately involving sweet-and-sour sound. (Peterson aptly describes [...]

Forgotten series: Sounds of the City: New York Area Doo Wop 1956-66 (2007)

Published on 2012-06-17 06:39:28

Let’s get one thing out of the way right now: doo wop music was not created to be used as fodder for public television fund-raisers. In fact, no music should be thought of as commerce lubrication, not even the dreaded disco. There, I feel better now. Because of the ghettoization of music on the radio (satellite is guilty too) genres [...]

Tessa Souter – Beyond the Blue (2012)

Published on 2012-06-17 06:00:18

With Beyond the Blue, jazz vocalist Tessa Souter expertly blends European classical tropes with the jazz spirit. This, her fourth record, is a unique work that benefits greatly from the London-born, New York-based performer. The idea for the album came from Tetsuo Hara, the album’s co-producer, but the notion of blending genres and toying with classical themes isn’t new to [...]

Curtis Fuller – Down Home (2012)

Published on 2012-06-16 07:30:50

Sounding something like the classic Blue Note recordings of trombonist Curtis Fuller’s youth, Down Home has an in-the-pocket joy that’s contagious. Fuller, who soared early on as a 22-year-old sideman during John Coltrane’s Blue Train in 1957, is again joined by tenor man Keith Oxman and a regular group of collaborators who’ve been together since 2005. That lengthy association has [...]

One Track Mind: Jorn, “Ride Like the Wind” (2012)

Published on 2012-06-16 07:01:30

Who could have guessed that a Christopher Cross song would have so much traction in the metal world? This is at least the third heavy cover of the song that I’m aware of. British metal icons Saxon recorded it in 1988, and the extra-vowel-loving thrash act Speeed, featuring members of Annihilator and Seven Witches, remade it in 1999. Of the [...]

The Rascals – The Ultimate Rascals (1986)

Published on 2012-06-16 06:39:16

From 1965 to 1969, the Young Rascals, who eventually slimmed their name down to simply the Rascals, racked up an impressive total of 13 top 40 hit singles. Comprised of Felix Cavaliere on vocals and keyboards, Gene Cornish on vocals and guitar, Eddie Brigati on vocals and percussion, and Dino Danelli on drums, the New York band not only cut [...]

The Endangered – The Endangered (EP) (2012)

Published on 2012-06-16 06:11:23

Guitarist Nick Block, bassist Frank Abraham, drummer Gene Coye and vocalist Maiya Sykes originally pooled their talents together not as a performing band, but with the idea of working as a music-production house, writing songs for others. The vibe among them felt so right, though, that soon they knew they were destined for more and in 2008, The Endangered was [...]

‘Neil Young FAQ’ Diaries: On the Beach, Now and Then and the Kershaw Connection

Published on 2012-06-15 07:40:49

Although On The Beach is one of my very favorite Neil Young albums, I didn’t become fully aware of “Cajun Wildman” Rusty Kershaw’s unique connection to this masterpiece from Neil’s infamous “Ditch Trilogy,” until I was fairly deep into the process of researching material for the Neil Young FAQ book. I did of course know the name, largely by virtue [...]

Johnny DeBlase Quartet – Composites (2012)

Published on 2012-06-15 07:17:50

Johnny DeBlase plays bass for a couple of thrash-jazz bands, including one of my personal favorites, Many Arms. One of main reasons Many Arms is because high on my list is alongside a virtuosic guitarist in Nick Millevoi is his counterpart on electric bass. When digging inside the ruckus of their recent self-titled album for Tzadik, I found DeBlase to [...]

On Second Thought: ZZ Top – Texicali (2012)

Published on 2012-06-15 06:55:38

Now this is more like it. When we got our first taste of new ZZ Top music a few months back with “Flying High,” I was seriously disappointed. I didn’t like it. It wasn’t even close to what I was hoping for from the pairing of Top and Rick Rubin. Then came the Jeremiah Weed spot featuring “Gotsta Get Paid,” [...]

Johnnie Bassett – I Can Make That Happen (2012)

Published on 2012-06-15 06:29:10

Self-taught Johnnie Bassett never thought much of the barriers between styles, and I Can Make That Happen is better for it. It’s not just that he combines jump blues and Delta stylings, something that’s interesting but not unexpected. Returning with the same group that made 2009′s The Gentleman Is Back such a crackling success, Bassett mixes soul, R&B and jazz [...]

Randy Crawford and Joe Sample – Live With Steve Gadd (2012)

Published on 2012-06-15 06:07:32

Sometimes an artist’s lack of success in America remains a puzzle. No better example exists than Randy Crawford, the rare R&B vocalist who can handle jazz with equal aplomb. Crawford’s best-known U.S. hit, 1979′s “Street Life,” resulted from a collaboration with the Jazz Crusaders, who boasted jazz pianist Joe Sample among its distinguished members. Since then, Crawford has experienced much [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Desmond Dekker – Israelites: Anthology 1963-1999 (2001)

Published on 2012-06-15 05:30:55

A funny thing happened to TheWife™ on the way home from work the other day: a six-hour road closure. I’ve complained about my commute before, but not even my worst winter horror story can compare to this. Apparently, a bus pulled out in front of a pickup truck, which hit the bus broadside, causing a propane line to rupture. Fire [...]

‘A no-fly zone over the amphitheaters’: Paul Stanley previews upcoming Kiss tour

Published on 2012-06-14 18:32:32

Paul Stanley knows just what fans expect from a Kiss concert, after decades of explosions and ear-splitting rock. That’s why they’ll be upping the ante on an upcoming tour with Motley Crue. “We’re not known for the subtlety — and this time we are pulling out all of the stops,” Stanley said today. “I say it’ll probably be a no-fly [...]

‘Really good love in there’: Beach Boys discuss their unique vocal harmonies

Published on 2012-06-14 14:17:47

Even as the Beach Boys’ long-awaited reunion project That’s Why God Made the Radio bows at No. 3 on the Billboard charts — the Hall of Fame band’s highest debut ever — a sense of mystery surrounds their unique musical bond. Brian Wilson and the group, in a new video called “A Signature Harmony,” seem at times taken aback by [...]

Paul McCartney plans reissue of Wings Over America, and a new album in 2013

Published on 2012-06-14 12:01:56

Paul McCartney’s ongoing reissue series has already produced sparkling new archival takes on McCartney, Ram, Band on the Run and McCartney II. Up next: His sprawling triple-album Wings Over America, a 1976 concert recording that documented McCartney’s first U.S. visit since the Beatles concluded their final tour a decade earlier. Wings Over America was a smash for McCartney, racing to [...]

Return to Forever – The Mothership Returns (2012)

Published on 2012-06-14 07:33:04

Return to Forever, as Lenny White proudly told me, was a “jazz quartet on steroids” — with all of the muscular virtuosity and boisterous flourishes implied. Enter violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, however, and the Mach IV version of this legendary group begins to take on subtler shadings. Ponty, a contemporary force in fusion who worked with Frank Zappa, the Mahavishnu Orchestra [...]

Forgotten series: The Cryan’ Shames – Sugar and Spice (1992)

Published on 2012-06-14 07:12:15

Hailing from Hinsdale, Illinois, the Cryan’ Shames not only attained monumental local success, but were a mere hair away from making it on a national level. Citing the Beach Boys, the Beatles and the Byrds as core inspirations, the band was particularly praised for their sterling harmony skills. As an additional asset, lead guitarist Jim Fairs had a talent for [...]

One Track Mind: Peter Holsapple on the dB’s, Mitch Easter and R.E.M.

Published on 2012-06-14 06:45:20

Peter Holsapple, long-time leader of the newly reunited dB’s, takes over our regular One Track Mind feature to discuss the band’s rocky early years, working with Mitch Easter and R.E.M., and how he and Chris Stamey eventually reunited the original lineup to produce the triumphal new release Falling Off the Sky … “AMPLIFIER,” with THE dB’s (REPERCUSSION, 1982): A rockabilly [...]

Chris Smither – Hundred Dollar Valentine (2012)

Published on 2012-06-14 06:22:36

It used to be, a new Chris Smither album was a rare event. Thankfully, they’re not so much anymore, but Chris Smither remains a rare quality. A tireless troubadour for more than four decades, Smither’s pipes has over the years settled into a leathered warble that only reinforces the depth and maturity of his reflective, forthright prose. That’s not the [...]

‘You can’t please everyone’: Paul McCartney surveys a life still devoted to silly love songs

Published on 2012-06-13 15:17:52

Though more recent fare has been well received, there was once little Paul McCartney could do to quell the tide of vitriol from rock critics when it came to his solo work. In fact, McCartney has issued a string of acclaimed releases beginning with 1997′s Flaming Pie, including 1999′s Run Devil Run, 2005′s Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, and [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: An unreleased track from late Boston singer Brad Delp!

Published on 2012-06-13 13:49:18

An album is in the works that features previously unreleased songs by the late Boston lead singer Brad Delp, who would have been 61 on June 12, 2012. Delp rose to fame as the voice behind such familiar Boston hits “More Than a Feeling,” “Foreplay/Long Time,” “Don’t Look Back” and “Amanda,” but apparently was in the midst of a crippling [...]

Is Van Halen set for an appearance at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show?

Published on 2012-06-13 11:59:19

When Eddie Van Halen, discussing the reunited Van Halen’s return to the road, mentioning possibly doing “something special” as part of the tour — without specifying just what — well, the rumor mill began to whir. One hot topic: The Super Bowl. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk gave the idea some legs with a piece this morning, saying the [...]

Something Else! Interview: Peter Holsapple, of the dB’s

Published on 2012-06-13 07:22:20

When Peter Holsapple decided to reunite with the rest of the original dB’s, they vowed to take their time. Having spent nearly three decades apart, with all of life’s attendant joys and heartbreaks in between, there was certainly a lot to say. But there was also, Holsapple tells us in the latest SER Sitdown, a dedication to upholding the legacy [...]

Mike Stern – All Over The Place (2012)

Published on 2012-06-13 06:40:39

There might not be a more accurate title for a Mike Stern album than the one coming out next week. All Over The Place highlights the musical personality of one of jazz’s most original guitarists of the last thirty years. Deservedly belonging in any sentence that includes Scofield, Frisell and Metheny, Stern took advanced courses in improvisation and phrasing from [...]

Charlie Daniels Band – Live at Rockpalast (2012)

Published on 2012-06-13 06:16:55

When you’re used to the ultra-conservative Charlie Daniels of today, it’s easy to forget that he was once a Southern-rock wild man. That’s where Live at Rockpalast comes in. Much like the ZZ Top Rockpalast performance that was featured on their Double Down DVD, this captures Charlie Daniels in the prime of his power on the German television show. Though [...]

‘We’re always gonna be together’: Joe Perry on his complex relationship with Steven Tyler

Published on 2012-06-12 17:11:03

Joe Perry and Steven Tyler have had their ups and downs over a lengthy tenure in Aerosmith, including a series of dramatic breakups, emotional dust-ups and very lucrative reunions. In fact, from 1979-84, Perry left the band altogether as Aerosmith issued a pair of albums, Night in the Ruts and Rock in a Hard Place. He was replaced by Richard [...]

Get back, honky cat!: Five classic 1970s Elton John albums to be reissued as box set

Published on 2012-06-12 13:25:06

A new box set of Elton John’s classic 1970s albums has been announced, even as he readies for a new tour. Dubbed The Classic Album Selection, the set will include Elton John, Tumbleweed Connection, Madman Across The Water, Honky Château and Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player — released consecutively to broad acclaim from 1970-73. [SOMETHING ELSE! REWIND: [...]

Aaron Neville working with Keith Richards, Don Was on upcoming album of doo-wop classics

Published on 2012-06-12 09:20:40

The ever-eclectic Aaron Neville’s newest project, co-produced by Keith Richards and Don Was, will focus on classic songs from the doo-wop era. During Neville’s five decade recording career, he has displayed a chameleon-like ability to perform, collaborate and contribute to a wide range of genres. From the funky soul and R&B cuts with the Neville Brothers to a triple platinum, [...]

Ailing Jon Lord returns with newest take on his signature ‘Concerto for Group and Orchestra’

Published on 2012-06-12 08:48:23

Deep Purple fans will remember keyboardist Jon Lord’s “Concerto for Group and Orchestra” from the classic rock band’s 2000-01 world tour. It’s become something of a touchstone piece for Lord, who began work on the classically inspired piece in 1969 and has performed it on some 100 different occasions since. The latest iteration arrives in September, courtesy of Edel in [...]

InterStatic – InterStatic (2012)

Published on 2012-06-12 07:44:04

The British expat residing in Oslo Roy Powell is a Hammond B-3 specialist who prefers not to get stuck in tradition. “I love all the organ players who have refined the instrument and kept it relevant to successive generations,” he relates, listing Sam Yahel and Larry Goldings as examples. We heard Powell puts his words into action recently on a [...]

Something Else! Featured Artist: ZZ Top

Published on 2012-06-12 07:02:56

After sampling ZZ Top’s return-to-form new 2012 EP Texicali — a four-song outburst of scalding Texas blues rocking and lip-smacking double entendre — we couldn’t help but scurry back to some old favorites. And not just from the classic run of Fandango, Tejas and Degüello between 1975-79, either. We also dug back into more recent tracks from Afterburner and Recycler, [...]

Fifty Sides sheds new light on songs that made the Beach Boys’ legend

Published on 2012-06-12 06:31:05

Though Carl and Dennis Wilson are much missed, the harmonious and largely gratifying new album by the surviving and reunited Beach Boys comprises the first new studio material in over two decades from “America’s Band,” both celebrating and exemplifying “push button heaven, capturing memories from afar.” Coinciding with this rewarding recording from founding or former bandmates Brian Wilson, Mike Love, [...]

On Second Thought: Paul Simon – Graceland (1986)

Published on 2012-06-12 06:14:07

Even now, these are songs — to paraphrase Paul Simon from the Creole-stomping opening track on Graceland — of miracle and wonder. There’s still more here, in the listening, 25 years later — a sense of discovery writ large by a sprawling new 2012 four-disc anniversary box set from Legacy Recordings. Justly credited as a masterpiece in its time, Graceland [...]

See set list and video from Black Sabbath’s reunion concert at the Download Festival

Published on 2012-06-11 08:13:16

Three of the four original members of Black Sabbath reformed to close out the Download Festival on Sunday, June 10, 2012. See the set list, and fan video of the encore of “Paranoid” here! Singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler appeared without Bill Ward — after the original drummer bowed out over a contract dispute. The [...]

New Music Monday: Drivin N Cryin, Orrin Evans, Rush, the dB’s and ZZ Top

Published on 2012-06-11 06:48:23

Buckle up for a wild and woolly New Music Monday, highlighted by fresh sounds from Drivin N Cryin, Henry Threadgill, Orrin Evans, Rush, the dB’s and ZZ Top, along with reissues and live documents from the likes of ABBA, Bill Evans, Earth Wind and Fire, Judas Priest, Megadeth, Motley Crue and Stanley Clarke. How’s that for diversity? You could pull [...]

Half Notes: The Cookers – Believe (2012)

Published on 2012-06-11 06:30:07

Jazz supergroups come and go but with a new album looming for the third year in a row, The Cookers have signalled they are serious as a long term cooperative. They could be egged on by the acclaim heaped on their second effort, last years’ Cast The First Stone, but guys like Cecil McBee, Billy Harper, Eddie Henderson, Billy Hart [...]

Forgotten series: Paul Revere, the McCoys, others – Whole Lotta Lava (1993)

Published on 2012-06-11 06:16:11

Found in the bargain bins at the now-defunct Borders Books some years ago, this Risky Business disc bears the subtitle “Make Out Music From The Psychedelic Era,” which is partially appropriate. Although the songs were indeed fathered during the hazy, crazy days of flower power, and a number of them do whisper and purr sweet nothings, a few of the [...]

ZZ Top – Texicali EP (2012)

Published on 2012-06-11 05:52:51

Texicali restates the original ZZ Top legend (not so much arena rock as arena blues) even as it takes a few Texas-sized steps away from it. The EP, seeing wide release on June 12, 2012, samples four songs from the band’s forthcoming collaboration with Rick Rubin — ZZ Top’s first new music in nine years. And in some ways, it’s [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Fade Away” (1980)

Published on 2012-06-11 05:32:49

Everybody’s been there. The relationship is gone … but we wish it were otherwise. And maybe, just maybe, she’s thinking that too. In “Fade Away,” Bruce beautifully sums up the emotion soup that can result from this situation. For me, this one line says it all: Now rooms that once were so bright are filled with the coming night, darlin’ [...]

Steely Dan Sunday: “My Rival” (1980)

Published on 2012-06-10 07:30:02

No movie where Steely Dan was commissioned to contribute a song for that movie’s soundtrack ever did well, not You’ve Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You’ll Lose That Beat, not FM, and not even a movie directed by the great John Huston, Phobia. I never watched Phobia but I understand it’s the only horror film he [...]

The dB’s – Falling Off the Sky (2012)

Published on 2012-06-10 06:44:04

The reunited dB’s come storming out on Falling Off the Sky, quickly dispensing with the expected sheen of comfy nostalgia from the opening track. Check out Peter Holsapple, filled with the pissed-off brio of classic Neil Young, squalling: “You better wake up, wake up, wake up!: That time is gone.” Chris Stamey follows with “Before We Were Born,” a resonant [...]

Don Cherry – Organic Music Society (1972; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-06-10 06:21:10

Don Cherry was making world music before the genre had its own spot at the record stores, and that focus on new sounds always gives his albums a fizzy atmosphere of discovery — even pieced-together affairs like this one. The layered, poly-stylistic feel of Organic Music Society, recorded between 1971-72, probably owes as much to its varied settings as it [...]

The Grip Weeds – Speed Of Live / Live Vibes (2012)

Published on 2012-06-10 05:49:04

Formed in 1988, the Grip Weeds made a huge impact right from the start. Pinching their name from John Lennon’s character, Private Grip Weed from the 1967 movie, “How I Won The War,” the Highland Park, New Jersey band struck all the proper chords when it came to playing psychedelic-tinged power pop music. 1992 was the year the Grip Weeds [...]

Rush – Clockwork Angels (2012)

Published on 2012-06-09 07:55:30

Early in their career, Rush shrugged off the image of “prog rock band,” and all that ensues with such a title — epic song lengths, complicated, possibly esoteric storylines, etc. — and spent the better part of their career proving that it was possible to craft hook-laden pop-rock around astounding musicianship. Now, however, with Clockwork Angels, they’ve embraced that staple [...]

Metallic Taste Of Blood – Metallic Taste Of Blood (2012)

Published on 2012-06-09 07:14:55

When guitarist and sonic sculptor Eraldo Bernocchi (Harold Budd, Bill Laswell, Nils Petter Molvaer, Obake) got together with Porcupine Tree bassist Colin Edwin to form a band, or perhaps I should say, project, they did away with constraints from the very beginning: “There’s really no specific idea or concept at work here,” said Bernocchi in describing the product of their [...]

Fred’s Country Fried Rock: Jackson Taylor and the Sinners, “Country Song” (2009)

Published on 2012-06-09 06:44:37

My son and I went bowling on a recent afternoon, and while at the alley, I was assaulted by an hour and a half of current Nashville songs. At least five of those had to do with a truck and were likely written by songwriters who have never owned a truck, or at least never taken it off the paved [...]

Paul Simon – Graceland: 25th Anniversary Edition (2012)

Published on 2012-06-09 06:07:37

In 1984, Paul Simon faced a creative crossroads. His last album, 1983′s Hearts and Bones, was a commercial disappointment, although it received some favorable reviews from publications like Rolling Stone. In search of inspiration, Simon began listening to South African music, spurred on by a cassette called Gumboots: Accordion Jive Hits, Volume II. After immersing himself in more African music, [...]

The Rockologist: The Raconteurs – Live At Montreux (2012)

Published on 2012-06-08 22:11:27

Although I don’t “feel it” exactly the same way that a lot of people do when it comes to Jack White, I do “get it.” As the guy who seems to have been singularly tasked with the unenviable mission of saving what is left of rock and roll, Jack White seems to be just about the most obvious choice out [...]

Yes’ 1997 project Open Your Eyes set for reissue on heavy-weight vinyl

Published on 2012-06-08 13:18:07

Yes’ Open Your Eyes, the legendary prog-rock band’s penultimate project with Jon Anderson, will be reissued on 180-gram heavy-weight vinyl. The 1997 album, Yes’ 17th studio project, was also the first to feature Billy Sherwood — a former touring sideman, songwriter and producer with the group — as an official member. Open Your Eyes actually began as an outside collaboration [...]

Lost 1972 broadcasts from Captain Beefheart to be released for first time on DVD

Published on 2012-06-08 12:48:55

Rare live performances from more than 40 years ago by the late idiosyncratic artist Don Van Vliet, better known as Captain Beefheart, will be featured in a forthcoming 2012 DVD called Capt. Beefheart and his Magic Band: The Lost Broadcasts. The project, issued by the UK label Gonzo MultiMedia, will focus on performances from April 12, 1972 at the Beat [...]

Henry Threadgill – Tomorrow Sunny/The Revelry, Spp (2012)

Published on 2012-06-08 07:05:07

Henry Threadgill is an improviser of the highest order, not because he can improvise on his saxophone or flute, but because he also impovises well with the structure of the song. That creates a unique kind disruption in his music, one that goes in unpredictable — but never random-sounding — directons. Notoriously unpredictable in that he’s had of career of [...]

Rick Wakeman – In the Nick of Time (2012)

Published on 2012-06-08 06:37:07

If there is a central image of prog rock’s excesses, it is likely the cape-sporting Yes man Rick Wakeman surrounded by a semi-circle of towering keyboards. But strip away at the pomp, the pageantry and, yeah, the cape, and there remains just as much musical brilliance, something you’re reminded of all over again with this never-before-released live date from 2003 [...]

Half Notes: Drivin N Cryin – Songs from the Laundromat (2012)

Published on 2012-06-08 06:09:22

Kevn Kinney, longtime leader of Drivin N Cryin, cops to the fact that his group has always had a broad palette of influences — something that can give their albums a weird schizophrenia at times. He compares it, quite appropriately, to “The Kinks meet the Who meet the Ramones and the Count Five at a little bar owned by Bob [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska (1982)

Published on 2012-06-08 05:32:55

So we’ve been in the process of getting our ancient house ready for sale. What this means is that there’s been a ton of cleaning, sorting, sneezing, donating, tossing out, and packing. Oh, did I mention the sneezing? What law of physics allows dust to get in a closed box that’s been sitting beneath two other boxes in a closet [...]

Bob Welch (1945-2012): An Appreciation

Published on 2012-06-07 19:39:21

Fleetwood Mac have been through a lot of ups and downs in their forty-five year history, but have hit a streak of bad luck lately: original bassist Bob Brunning paased away last October and early 70s lineup guitarist Bob Weston died at the beginning of this year. Today brings us news of its most notable loss yet: former guitarist, singer [...]

Bob Welch (1945-2012): An Appreciation

Published on 2012-06-07 19:39:21

Fleetwood Mac have been through a lot of ups and downs in their forty-five year history, but have hit a streak of bad luck lately: original bassist Bob Brunning paased away last October and early 70s lineup guitarist Bob Weston died at the beginning of this year. Today brings us news of its most notable loss yet: former guitarist, singer [...]

Bill Evans – Live At Art D’Lugoff’s Top Of The Gate (2012)

Published on 2012-06-07 07:34:51

As much as I enjoy piano trio jazz, such a trio playing the predictable fare of standards in their traditional arrangements does not get me very fired up. This here record is one of those affairs, a live engagement that contains unmistakable renditions of “Autumn Leaves,” “Gone With The Wind,” “Here’s That Rainy Day,” and “My Funny Valentine.” “Yesterdays” and [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Hank Williams Jr., “That Ain’t Good” (2012)

Published on 2012-06-07 06:55:04

Hank Williams Jr. has a long way to go to regain his crown as the king of rowdy country. While he ruled the 1980s, somewhere around the end of that decade or the beginning of the 1990s, he dropped off the country music map. For a while there, he was more of a caricature of some of the songs that [...]

On Second Thought: Michael Jackson – This Is It (2009)

Published on 2012-06-07 06:23:04

In the genre of concert films, This Is It is an anomaly. Most others document a particular live performance or composite performances from a tour. Michael Jackson doesn’t sing or dance or do anything in this film in front of a live audience. Yet to watch him rehearse for what was to have been a scheduled 50-night residency at London’s [...]

Béla Fleck and the Marcus Roberts Trio – Across The Imaginary Divide (2012)

Published on 2012-06-07 05:42:47

Sometimes music is about hearing two masters of their craft jam together, amazing listeners with their sheer artistry. That summarizes Across The Imaginary Divide, a collaboration with banjo maestro Béla Fleck and the Marcus Roberts Trio. Also featuring bassist Rodney Jordan and drummer Jason Marsalis (youngest of the Marsalis jazz dynasty), the album dazzles with Fleck and Roberts’ lightning-fast playing. [...]

Flower Power, Spontaneous Combustion, others – Beyond The Calico Wall (1993)

Published on 2012-06-07 05:14:17

Here’s an invitation to journey beyond the calico wall, where the skies are paved with marshmallow love, yellow orange hangs on a string and the concept of hate and war melt like popsicles! Originally released on clear blue vinyl in 1990, the digital reissue of this heralded collection, which salutes obscure psychedelic cuisine from the 60s, tosses eight bonus tracks [...]

Orrin Evans – Flip The Script (2012)

Published on 2012-06-06 07:15:40

With a new album release imminent, the productive, peaking pianist Orrin Evans again demands our attention with another bread-and-butter trio event, named Flip The Script. Supported this time Ben Wolfe (bass) and Donald Edwards (drums), Evans produces a no-nonsense program of mostly originals with a few choice covers in another solid outing for this product of Philly. Flip The Script [...]

‘One chance to pull it off’: Adrian Belew on his thunderous Metropole experiment

Published on 2012-06-06 06:42:45

Adrian Belew, coming off a fascinating collaborative effort with the Metropole Orkest, is set to revisit his celebrated tenure with King Crimson on an upcoming summer tour. But not before stopping by for the latest SER Sitdown. He tells us that an undertaking like ‘e’ for orchestra, as rewarding as it no doubt was, was not without its dizzying challenges: [...]

Marti Mendenhall – An Evening of Live Jazz (2012)

Published on 2012-06-06 06:22:52

Most performers are wary of live discs, this typically unforgiving setting that can reveal as much of the bad as it does the good. Fewer still are brave enough to choose a concert date as their recorded debut. Marti Mendenhall, the Oregon-based jazz soprano, is not most performers. And her new release, straight forwardly called An Evening of Live Jazz, [...]

Half Notes: Various artists – Flower Power (2007)

Published on 2012-06-06 06:10:25

This massive 10-CD box set is perfect for somebody looking to load up on music from a variety of 1970s genres: folk, folk rock, pop, rock, psychedelic rock … it’s all there. The broad categories presented are: “Groovin,’” “Born To Be Wild,” “Time of the Season,” “Age of Aquarius,” and “The Hits of 1967.” The set reminds me of those [...]

Twisted Sister – Club Daze Vol. II: Live in the Bars/ Live at Hammersmith (2012 remasters)

Published on 2012-06-06 05:38:30

It’s been a good few weeks for Twisted Sister fans. First, Dee Snider’s Dee Does Broadway hit the shelves, now the Armoury Records Remaster Series delivers a double-dose of live music for the band’s SMFs. First up is Club Daze Volume II: Live in the Bars, remastered by bassist Mark Mendoza. Originally released in 2001, the album starts with a [...]

Billy Martin & Wil Blades Duo – Shimmy (2012)

Published on 2012-06-05 07:25:57

Medeski, Martin & Wood has cast such a long shadow over the whole acid jazz movement for so long that the MMW can no longer be considered merely a band, it’s a franchise. The group often splinters off into side projects and it’s now become easy to view a proper MMW album as just one facet of the collective talents [...]

The Chocolate Watch Band – The Inner Mystique (1968, 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-06-05 07:16:13

Originally released on the Tower label in early 1968, The Inner Mystique marked the second album from the Chocolate Watch Band. Basically an excursion in exploitation, the majority of cuts on the disc were performed by session musicians, with absolutely zero input from any of the group members. As expected, bad blood oozed, but even prior to the making of [...]

Heart – Strange Euphoria (2012)

Published on 2012-06-05 06:46:22

Heart, like many legacy bands in the 1980s, struggled to marry its original sound with the synthesized style of the day. Strange Euphoria, a sweeping new compilation due June 5, 2012 from Epic-Legacy, charts that journey, as Heart transforms itself from hippie-chick singer-songwriters, to feminist heavy rockers, to glossy MTV stars, and back again. Amongst this 3-CD, 1-DVD collection’s impressive [...]

Something Else! Interview: Joel Larson, co-founder of the Grass Roots

Published on 2012-06-05 06:19:38

Drummer Joel Larson, a founding member of the Grass Roots, isn’t part of the group’s current line up — but he was on board for their most memorable accomplishments, starting with their debut single in the autumn of 1965, a moving rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Jones (Ballad of a Thin Man).” The Grass Roots’ subsequent disc, “Where Were You [...]

On Second Thought: U2 – How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (2004)

Published on 2012-06-05 05:57:26

When returning to this U2 record, I thought it’d be kinda fun to just type in my impressions as the tune goes by — listening while at lunch: tuna on a sesame bagel, small cup of broccoli soup. We all know its history by now — as How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb ended up winning nine Grammy awards, selling [...]

One Track Mind: Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, “Your Precious Love” (1967)

Published on 2012-06-05 05:22:04

They told me he might not cry. Same with her. Both times, in the moments before our son Jack and then our daughter Ella came into this world, I was down the hall while they prepped my wife Leisha for the C-section she’d have to have. They had me signing forms. I agreed, memorably, that I understood that they might [...]

Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Americana (2012)

Published on 2012-06-04 07:45:33

The first thing to know about Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s new album — their first together since 2003′s Greendale — is that everything is not as it seems here. At least not on the surface. The second thing you need to know before going in blind comes in the form of some simple advice: throw out any preconceived notions [...]

Lettuce – Fly (2012)

Published on 2012-06-04 07:16:41

Lettuce is funk powerhouse of a supergroup, a rare supergroup where the group was formed before many of its members became “super” from other projects. This instrumental RnB outfit is made up of two-thirds of Soulive (Eric Krasno, guitar; Neal Evans, keys), drummer Adam Deitch (Average White Band, John Scofield), Erick Coomes (Britney Spears, The Game), saxophonist Ryan Zoidis (Rustic [...]

New Music Monday: Beach Boys, Joe Walsh, Heart, Lettuce, Neil Young, Spectrum Road

Published on 2012-06-04 06:51:35

OK, so the Beach Boys have a new album out, and we love it. Love. It. But that’s just the tip of the proverbial New Music Monday, as we’re also thrilling to fresh stuff from Joe Walsh, Neil Young and Crazy Horse and Spectrum Road. Key reissues and live dates include a sweeping new multi-label anthology devoted to Heart, along [...]

Half Notes: Fantomas – Suspended Animation (2005)

Published on 2012-06-04 06:40:23

Each of their most recent three albums had some sort of gimmick involved, and jazz-metal-avant weirdos Fantomas’ Suspended Animation didn’t deviate from that successful formula. The album mirrors Fantomas’ self-titled album a bit in that it’s essentially just a bunch of short tracks named consecutively. Where their first album was presenting an aural soundtrack to the graphic novels that inspired [...]

Lil’ Ed and the Blue Imperials – Jump Start (2012)

Published on 2012-06-04 06:24:02

Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials serve as both a direct link back to the legacy of the old blues master J.B. Hutto and also the living template for Alligator Records’ house-rocking style of electrified roots music. So, sure, their forthcoming release Jump Start, due on June 5, 2012, includes a cover of Hutto’s “If You Change Your Mind,” but [...]

Fred’s Country Fried Rock: Blackberry Smoke, “Son of the Bourbon” (2008)

Published on 2012-06-04 05:56:38

Since being signed to Zac Brown’s record label and touring with Brown last year, Atlanta-based Blackberry Smoke is probably a lot better known than they were just a couple of years ago when they released their most recent album Little Piece of Dixie. That record, like much of their music, was in a harder edged Southern-rock style. A year earlier [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “I’m A Rocker” (1980)

Published on 2012-06-04 05:30:56

“I’m A Rocker” definitely lands on the light-hearted and fun side of The River. Nothin’ fancy here. It’s just Bruce hammering out the Rocker-As-Superhero story to his lady friend, while a wall of guitar, organ, and sax set up an enormous clatter. I wanted to show a video from the River tour, because the organ sound tended to amp up [...]

Steely Dan Sunday, “Time Out Of Mind” (1980)

Published on 2012-06-03 07:17:23

Becker and Fagen dug “Sultans Of Swing” like the rest of us did when this first Dire Straits hit was making hay on the radio in 1979. It was beginning with this song where Mark Knopfler brought made fancy fingerpicking — by way of Chet Atkins — cool again in rock music. But while songs like this might have convinced [...]

The Chocolate Watch Band – No Way Out (1967, 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-06-03 07:16:34

For a spell there, the Chocolate Watch Band was remembered more for their loony name than their music. Although they were a popular live act in and around their stomping grounds of San Jose, California, their records stiffed, naturally limiting their profile. By the time the 70’s arrived, the Chocolate Watch Band were all but a dim memory until a [...]

Half Notes: Floratone – Floratone (2007)

Published on 2012-06-03 06:43:23

A collaboration between jazz guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Matt Chamberlain, it must have seemed pretty straight-forward upon first inspection: Frisell doing his Americana-tinged jazz guitar thing and Chamberlain laying down grooves behind him. But look at the names listed with them on the cover and you quickly began to realize there was a lot more going on here: Both [...]

Peter J. Martin – Waltz for the Wicked (2012)

Published on 2012-06-03 06:19:03

Australian guitarist Peter J. Martin is a player of enormous technical capability but also much lyrical strength, twin talents that make Waltz for the Wicked a deeply listenable adventure. That sense of knowing when to push, but also when to let the music’s innate beauty unfold, likely traces back to Martin’s early years as a rock and pop sessions musician. [...]

Greg Brown – Honey in the Lion’s Head (2004)

Published on 2012-06-03 05:50:04

I’ve never met Greg Brown (though I did once see my mom, all five feet and seventy-something years of her, run up to him to shake his hand after a show) … but if by chance he was to invite me over to his place for some whiskey and music, I’d imagine it’d be something like Honey in the Lion’s [...]

Norah Jones – Little Broken Hearts (2012)

Published on 2012-06-02 11:01:19

So it was a big deal, this news of Danger Mouse working with Norah Jones. Danger Mouse. We’re talking about The Grey Album, and MF Doom…and Gnarls Barkley, and Broken Bells. Hip-hop culture and remixing, electronica and blurpy effects — these are things that were to be allowed to come into contact with that most pure of instruments — the [...]

Sebastian Noelle – Koan (2011)

Published on 2012-06-02 07:15:11

Jazz plectrist Sebastian Noelle arrived in New York ten years ago and has found his place within the more advanced modern jazz corner of the scene. A member of Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Jeff Fairbanks’ Project Hansori, the Aaron Irwin Quintet, a rock band called Rabbits Against Music, and a host of other ensembles across the spectrum, he’s honed [...]

Dee Snider – Dee Does Broadway (2012)

Published on 2012-06-02 06:44:48

You can thank a couple of warped senses of humor for this gem: The idea for Dee Does Broadway was born out of voicemails that the Twisted Sister frontman and Alice Cooper exchanged, each singing show tunes to the other. Snider decided to take it a step further and record rock versions of some of the biggest songs from Broadway. [...]

Half Notes: The Flaming Lips – Flight Test EP (2003)

Published on 2012-06-02 06:20:54

The Flaming Lips are an odd band. A pretty unique blend of art rock and nearly bubblegum pop. When I first heard The Soft Bulletin it made me stop to wonder: just what is this stuff? What struck me immediately was the nearly John Bohnam-like drumming … odd in this context. In any event, this little EP is a gem. [...]

Shows I’ll Never Forget: Pink Floyd, April 28, 1994

Published on 2012-06-02 06:04:13

At Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas: Call this one Rain Like Hell. On a stormy April night, the grandest effect of all was provided courtesy of God — actual creator, you are reminded, of the moon and its dark side. As the dry-ice machines clouded our sight, and the lasers streaked by on a brilliant path to the roof of the [...]

Forgotten series: Jesu – Jesu (2005)

Published on 2012-06-02 05:38:58

Godflesh was gone, but one of the men behind it, Justin Broadrick, resurrected the sound and infused it into a new band, Jesu. Where Godflesh pummelled the listener with chunky, deep-gouging riffs, Jesu takes on the task by intensifying every riff by simplifying and extending it. An incredible, dense bank of sound intimidates the listener at first, but upon closer [...]

Alice Cooper – The Strange Case of Alice Cooper (1979; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-06-01 06:58:33

Though certainly not the wildest of Alice Cooper’s live shows, the performance captured on The Strange Case of Alice Cooper is definitely one of his most interesting. Originally released on VHS in 1979 and out of print for decades, the show has recently been re-issued on DVD by Shout Factory. It was recorded shortly after his famous stay in a [...]

Forgotten series: Pilot – Magic: A Golden Classics Edition (1997)

Published on 2012-06-01 06:39:08

The first time I heard “Magic,” I thought it was the latest single by the Hollies. Blooming blissfully with bigger than life harmonies uncannily similar to those exercised by Allan Clarke, Graham Nash and Tony Hicks, the spellbinding song reached the No. 5 spot on the American charts in the spring of 1975, leading Pilot to be one of the [...]

Best of May 2012: Reader picks include King Crimson, Squackett, Styx – but no Beatles

Published on 2012-06-01 06:12:01

Progressive music simply dominated the Top 10 for May 2012, as readers celebrated new music (and interviews!) from Squackett, UK, Asia and Spectrum Road. Items featuring Chris Squire, Steve Hackett, John Wetton and Spectrum Road’s Vernon Reid took up an amazing six spots. Wetton’s return to UK and Asia, the two bands he participated in after a celebrated four-album tenure [...]

On Second Thought: Front Line Assembly – Civilization (2004)

Published on 2012-06-01 05:50:06

First there was Skinny Puppy, then there was Front 242, and then came Front Line Assembly. FLA always seemed kind of like a thinned-out Skinny Puppy, which would make sense since main-man Bill Leeb left Skinny Puppy early on (under the pseudonym “Wilhelm Schroeder.”) Skinny Puppy’s brand of cacophonous, abstracted electronic industrial music forms the basis around which Front Line [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Gus Gus – Attention (2002)

Published on 2012-06-01 05:30:28

A couple of nights back, I saw this cool documentary titled Press Pause Play. It’s about how the digital revolution has changed the entire game for human creativity, removing many barriers to entry and in some respects redefining creativity itself. Books. Film. Music. It’s all different now. This isn’t exactly a new topic for me, though I’ll admit that I [...]

Patti Smith – Banga (2012)

Published on 2012-05-31 21:42:34

Remember when Patti Smith used to be considered dangerous? It’s a little hard to reconcile the one-time high priestess of punk rock — the same one responsible for such edgy slices of punk poetry, and the subject of Gilda Radner’s dead-on Saturday Night Live character Candi Slice in the seventies — with the modern day Patti Smith. Today, Patti Smith [...]

Neil Young And Crazy Horse – Americana (2012)

Published on 2012-05-31 07:15:26

Chances are pretty good that you already know the basic lowdown on this album: 1) It’s the first Neil Young/Crazy Horse record since 2003′s Greendale 2) The songs are all covers and 3) The covers are so damned old that most are in the public domain. Young himself describes them as songs you’ve “learned in kindergarten.” And if there’s one [...]

One Track Mind: Chris Squire on “Fly From Here,” “Life Within a Day,” “Tempus Fugit,” others

Published on 2012-05-31 06:45:03

Yes co-founder Chris Squire, featured in a new duo recording with former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, takes over our One Track Mind feature this week. Find out what sparked Yes to return to the long-form compositional style of its glory years on 2011′s Fly From Here, and how a failed early 1980s project with Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page ultimately led [...]

Half Notes: Leo Kottke – Ice Water (1974)

Published on 2012-05-31 06:22:27

Kottke’s a funny guy and a beyond great guitar player. While I’m generally a bigger fan of his solo guitar records, there’s always something of interest lurking on the rest of Kottke’s albums. Highly recommended: Ice Water has his version of Tom T. Hall’s classic “Pamela Brown.” Also, check out Chewing Pine from the next year, which has “Regards From [...]

Mort Weiss: Joey DeFrancesco projects showed the difference between music, and the music ‘business’

Published on 2012-05-31 06:04:53

This is the story of two collaborations with Joey DeFrancesco that you almost never saw — or the difference between music … and the music “business.” The first unreleased album I recorded with Joey DeFrancesco is now known as the Mort Weiss Quartet CD featuring Joey, Ron Eschete’ and Ramon Banda, followed by 2006′s The B3 and Me. Both of [...]

Fred’s Country Fried Rock: David Allan Coe, “Longhaired Redneck” (1976)

Published on 2012-05-31 05:49:42

So usually I try to focus this feature on the new kids on the block, but sometimes you’ve just got to dip back into the classics. Waylon Jennings may be the king of the outlaws, but without David Allan Coe, the Bob Wayne’s and Hank III’s of the world wouldn’t have the template. Waylon was considered an outlaw because of [...]

Doc Watson (1923-2012): An Appreciation

Published on 2012-05-30 07:52:50

It’s funny how certain bits of music can get under your skin. Several years ago, I was having a visit with my old buddy Gene out in upstate New York. We were sitting in his living room, sliding doors open wide to the cool and fragrant summer air, while listening to a short stack of LPs. Gene put on an [...]

Manuel Valera – New Cuban Express (2012)

Published on 2012-05-30 07:15:45

Like another Cuban product Aruán Ortiz, Manuel Valera is a gifted piano player who is able to reconcile the rhythmically based Afro-Cuban jazz of his homeland with the harmonically complex modern jazz of New York. Valera is likewise an experienced composer and bandleader, with five albums under his belt since 2004. On those dates, he’s enjoyed the support of such [...]

‘An incredible honor for me’: Steve Lukather set to tour with Beatles hero Ringo Starr

Published on 2012-05-30 06:47:32

Steve Lukather, tirelessly active even after 35 years in the business, is rehearsing for upcoming 2012 tours with Ringo Starr and Toto, even as he works on a new studio recording. The forthcoming solo album, tentatively titled Once Again, promises to be a brisk, nine-song cycle, with release date to be set for early 2013. Between then and now, there [...]

Dan Kibler – Dan Kibler (2012)

Published on 2012-05-30 06:28:47

The country rock field is a crowded one these days, but it takes a special talent to synthesize the genres in an accessible manner. And I’m pleased to announce that Dan Kibler possesses such a skill. Striking a perfect balance between the two styles, he slaps a refreshing spin on his well written songs. Bold and bright instrumentation, teeming with [...]

Half Notes: Queensryche – Sign of the Times (2007)

Published on 2012-05-30 06:06:34

A best-of is really nothing to get excited about; they already have one of those, and this one even looks very similar in design. Basically, this sums up the band’s career from first album The Warning through Hear in the Now Frontier along with one track from Mindcrime II. There was a “deluxe edition,” of course, to tempt fans into [...]

Marley’s Ghost – Jubilee (2012)

Published on 2012-05-30 05:47:34

If there is a group, in the era after the sad passing of Levon Helm, who can push forward the ageless Americana blueprint of the Band, it might just by Marley’s Ghost. If you haven’t stumbled across this wildly eclectic amalgam featuring multi-instrumentalists Jerry Fletcher, Ed Littlefield Jr. and Mike Phelan, Dan Wheetman and Jon Wilcox, a new guest-filled opportunity [...]

Spectrum Road – Spectrum Road (2012)

Published on 2012-05-29 07:20:08

At the same time that Miles Davis was pioneering a spacious, hypnotic type of jazz-rock fusion, his recently departed drummer Tony Williams was inventing a more explosive, intense variety of fusion borne of hard-nosed jamming originally with guitarist John McLaughlin and organist Larry Young. Williams’ seminal Lifetime band isn’t mentioned in a conversation about game-changing fusion as much as Miles, [...]

The Beach Boys – That’s Why God Made the Radio (2012)

Published on 2012-05-29 06:52:21

Did we dare dream that the Beach Boys could cobble together something so brilliantly resonant, something that so perfectly mirrors their own dashed aspirations? Probably not. That’s what makes That’s Why God Made the Radio — due June 5, 2012, from EMI-Capitol Records — such a stirring surprise, and such a consistently enjoyable listen. And right from the first. “Think [...]

Half Notes: Fred Frith – To Sail, To Sail (2008)

Published on 2012-05-29 06:37:11

It must be the time of year. It must be the heat. Or the humidity. Whatever the reason, I have a big hankering for some off-kilter music. Now that I think about it, I always have a hankering for that stuff. It’s just that sometimes the feeling goes from a vague sense of desire to a raging need. If logic [...]

‘We made good noise’: Chris Squire talks about collaborating with Steve Hackett

Published on 2012-05-29 06:13:52

Chris Squire took his time in collaborating with Genesis alum Steve Hackett, working in between other projects for years before finally finishing their long-awaited duo debut A Life Within A Day. The results, Squire says, were worth the wait. Of course, the new Squackett album arrives in a typically busy time for Squire, the only member of Yes to have [...]

On Second Thought: Paul and Linda McCartney – Ram (1971; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-05-29 05:49:12

Four words can best sum up Paul and Linda McCartney’s 1971 album Ram: “Heart of the Country.” This homespun effort in the spirit of Paul’s solo debut McCartney chronicles a man basking in domesticity, fatherhood, and nature, and serves as an audial snapshot of the ex-Beatle’s life in Scotland. Upon its release, critics were underwhelmed with the folksy effort. Rolling [...]

October Tree – The Fairy’s Wing (2012)

Published on 2012-05-28 07:16:07

Guitarist and songwriter Greg Lounsberry knew that his wife Tammy was a good enough singer to merit an album of prog rock built around her voice, but he needed a worthy vehicle to do this right. Tammy wanted the album to be about fairies and Greg obliged, writing a short tale about fairies he titled The Fairy’s Wing, along with [...]

Something Else! Interview: Neal Doughty, of REO Speedwagon

Published on 2012-05-28 06:45:19

REO Speedwagon is gearing up for a new round of dates as part of the ongoing Midwest Rock ‘N’ Roll Express tour, and founding keyboardist Neal Doughty couldn’t be happier. “The shows have been great,” he says. “The audiences have been great.” Also great? The band is a bastion of hits — “Ridin’ The Storm Out,” “Take It On The [...]

One Track Mind: Eric Burdon, “Memorial Day” (2012)

Published on 2012-05-28 06:18:11

Eric Burdon, still kicking complete ass at 70, offers a scalding indictment of the way we forget the sacrifices of others on “Memorial Day” — his specially issued advance tune from what promises to be a frank and personal forthcoming release ‘Til Your River Runs Dry. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, cornerstone of the legendary [...]

New Music Monday: Squackett, Steve Smith, Robert Lamm, Gonzalo Rubalcaba

Published on 2012-05-28 05:56:10

New Music Monday arrives chock full of of new music-y goodness, with highly anticipated sides from Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Ralph Bowen, Squackett, Steve Smith and Vital Information, and one-time Iron Maiden frontman Blaze Bayley, among others. Amongst the new concert documents and reissues are Bachman Turner, Foreigner, Jerry Reed, Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac, Robert Lamm of Chicago, and Twisted Sister. [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Cadillac Ranch” (1980)

Published on 2012-05-28 05:30:29

The lighter side of The River‘s light/heavy axis contains more fun than a person should be allowed to have on any given day. There’s no way I could pick a favorite, but “Cadillac Ranch” is certainly a strong contender. With a guitar hook that won’t quit, this ode to the American road warrior icon (I’ve always loved that line “Tearing [...]

Steely Dan Sunday, “Gaucho” (1980) [Reader poll included!]

Published on 2012-05-27 07:18:41

They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and Becker and Fagen discovered just how true that was when their little hat tip to jazz pianist Keith Jarrett turned nasty and expensive. You see, Becker and Fagen had lifted the gospel vamp that forms the basis for “Long As You Know You’re Living Yours” (from Belonging, [...]

Nick Africano – The Butterfly Bull (2012)

Published on 2012-05-27 06:39:50

Like its title, Nick Africano’s The Butterfly Bull succeeds in these brilliantly contradictory ways. There are, over the course of its 12 songs, both shadows and light, familiar reference points and completely new amalgams, love and heart-rending hurt, crashing soul and crushing quiet. And sometimes, all at once: “Big Sky,” for instance, fades in like a dream, as Africano opens [...]

Edward Ratliff – Those Moments Before (2009)

Published on 2012-05-27 06:19:22

It’s said that music has its own language and syntax. I’m not talking about the technical stuff like notes, measures, and key centers, but the more subtle areas of melodic development, harmonic structure (a gray area), and dynamics. While music can be adequately described using formal rules, the language/storytelling part is much harder to bring into focus. I’ve just finished [...]

Bachman and Turner – Live at the Roseland Ballroom, NYC (2012)

Published on 2012-05-27 05:50:36

If the standard for a reunion is that it measure up to the sound and feel of the original music, then Bachman and Turner — the heart and soul of platinum-selling 1970s hitmakers Bachman-Turner Overdrive — have delivered. If the hope is that these type of projects also add a new element to the legend, then this live document (set [...]

David Daniell and Douglas McCombs – Versions (2012)

Published on 2012-05-26 06:50:35

Seven hours. Versions, the new recording from David Daniell and Douglas McCombs, is all about seven hours. The pair’s previous release, Sycamore, sprang out of seven hours of improvisation, looping and fiddling. Versions is culled from the same seven hours, but this time the selecting comes from former Tortoise member Ken Brown. Sycamore was a 2009 release from the two [...]

Mick Fleetwood’s Zoo – I’m Not Me (1983; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-05-26 06:23:59

This home-recorded Mick Fleetwood project, never before issued on compact disc, is neither a solo effort nor a Fleetwood Mac knockoff — though, admittedly, there are moments when I’m Not Me can sound like his main group. Instead, more often than not, this short-lived quartet has its very own feel — well, a bunch of them, really. Of course, Fleetwood [...]

Half Notes: Richard Bona – Bona Makes You Sweat (2008)

Published on 2012-05-26 06:07:55

In the Pat Metheny Group, there is always one musician who plays the role of “utility man.” The basic instrumentation is guitar, piano/keys, acoustic and electric bass, drums, trumpet, and (sometimes) harmonica. The extra player is responsible for filling in on any number of instruments including vibes, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals, and percussion. In the history of the group, [...]

Darryl Gregory – Big Texas Sky (2012)

Published on 2012-05-26 05:46:52

Boasting a Americana twang but also a rough moral sensibility and a cutting way with an image, Darryl Gregory’s Big Texas Sky is probably too edgy for country radio. It’s a shame. Tracks like “Anywhere But Here,” “How Do I Tell Her” and “Working Man” pair swooning country laments with these hard-eyed measurements of damaged lives, tough choices and a [...]

Steve Smith and Vital Information – Live! One Great Night (2012)

Published on 2012-05-25 07:44:39

Steve Smith, like Paul McCartney, has a solo career that’s way more extensive than the higher profile rock band he belonged to for a relatively short period of time, but he’ll always be known as that Journey drummer (or, to a Jean-Luc Ponty fan like me, that guy who drummed on Enigmatic Ocean). Thirty years ago while still a member [...]

Foreigner – Alive and Rockin’ (2012)

Published on 2012-05-25 07:01:33

Foreigner’s new live album is neither all that bad, nor all that good — probably worth the ticket price at the original concert venue, if you don’t pay too much attention, but instantly forgettable as a home listening experience. Alive and Rockin’ — due May, 29, 2012 from Eagle Rock — attempts to rock a little harder at times than [...]

Gonzalo Rubalcaba – XXI Century (2012)

Published on 2012-05-25 06:39:46

A gutsy blend of contemplative Evans/Tristano-informed piano excursions and these grease-popping Cuban jams, pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba’s XXI Century takes us on a journey across time and cultures. Along the way, Rubalcaba breaks down barrier after barrier — the ones standing between our concepts of what fits, and what doesn’t and the ones that keep our worlds separate. XXI Century, due [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Bee Gees – Here At Last Bee Gees…Live (1977)

Published on 2012-05-25 05:30:08

So I’ve been spending some time recently filtering through “stuff.” That is, combing through piles, boxes, and closets full of belongings in the attempt to get our house ready for sale. One thing that’ll wreck our chance of a sale, even more so than walls painted in disturbing (read: not beige) colors, is the presence of the evil clutter. So [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Aerosmith, “Legendary Child” (2012)

Published on 2012-05-24 15:16:09

We waited eight years for this? A retread of a throw-away track from the Get a Grip album, which for the most part should have been a throw-away itself? A friend of mine, knowing my deep and abiding love for most things Aerosmith, forwarded me a clip of the band’s performance of the song from “American Idol” this week. It [...]

Joe Walsh – Analog Man (2012)

Published on 2012-05-24 08:05:07

We all know the Joe Walsh from 1978′s “Life’s Been Good,” his biggest-ever solo hit. The guy with the mansion he’s never seen. The guy at parties sometimes until four, with gold records on the wall. Leave a message, right? Maybe he’ll call. Lodged inside that No. 12 hit was plenty of humor, a series of keen observations, but also [...]

The Rockologist: On hippie chicks, and sweet Joni Mitchell’s jazz period

Published on 2012-05-24 07:39:40

I’ve been listening to a lot of Joni Mitchell lately, and I’m not sure exactly why. Perhaps it’s because of my still fresh memories of researching Joni’s connections to Neil Young for my just-published book, Neil Young FAQ — a story rife with both romantic scandal, and the more innocent story of how Neil first came to meet “Sweet Joni.” [...]

Giacomo Merega, Noah Kaplan, Marco Cappelli – Watch the Walls Instead (2012)

Published on 2012-05-24 07:17:29

Italian electric bassist Giacomo Merega once again gets together with saxophonist Noah Kaplan and guitarist Marco Cappelli for a set of rhythm-less free form improvisations Watch the Walls Instead. A follow up to the light and other things (2008), this trio is only actually a trio for five of the twelve tracks; Anthony Coleman joins them on piano for seven [...]

Half Notes: The Who – Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who (2007)

Published on 2012-05-24 06:58:08

It might be easy to look at the title of this and dismiss it as yet another of those “unauthorized biographies” that seem to show up every once in a while — the kind of thing that only completists will snap up. And looking at the cover doesn’t help: nearly generic, with that RAF logo that the band was known [...]

One Track Mind: Rush, “Caravan” (2012)

Published on 2012-05-24 06:39:35

In a way, Rush got lucky. Things were looking bleak after Fly By Night, and there was record label pressure for something more commercial. The guys decided to be true to themselves and follow their own instincts. Instead of an album with a three and a half minute, radio-ready single, they came out with 2112. The “luck” I speak of [...]

Forgotten series: The Squires – Going All The Way With The Squires! (1986)

Published on 2012-05-24 06:21:27

Considering how adored the Squires are by garage rock aficionados, it’s surprising this sole collection of the Bristol, Connecticut band’s work is only available on vinyl. And what’s even more frustrating is Going All The Way With The Squires! (Crypt Records) is long out of print. But that shouldn’t stop you from tracking down a copy of the album! A [...]

Slash – Apocalyptic Love (2012)

Published on 2012-05-23 07:44:00

After being less than impressed with Slash’s last solo album and its parade of guest stars, and being only a marginal fan of Velvet Revolver or Slash’s Snakepit, I didn’t go into Apocalyptic Love with my hopes too high. Sure, I figured there would be a few good songs among a lot of uninspiring filler, but I was completely unprepared [...]

Half Notes: Tim Carey – Room 114 (2012)

Published on 2012-05-23 07:27:20

Seattle-based Tim Carey is a multi-instrumentalist, music educator, composer and member of the zany sextet Reptet, a delightful outlaw jazz troupe I stumbled upon a few years back (he is also a member of the fusion outfit Hardcoretet). For the first album under his own name, Room 114, Carey sticks to the electric bass exclusively in the service of contemporary [...]

Chad Wackerman on the legacy of Frank Zappa, and a stirring new jazz-rock project

Published on 2012-05-23 07:04:55

May 2012 marks the 30th anniversary of the release of drummer Chad Wackerman’s studio debut with Frank Zappa on Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch. Wackerman would eventually appear on some two dozen Zappa recordings in a tenure that lasted from 1981-88. But Ship Arriving Too Late was special for another reason, in that it was also [...]

Half Notes: Ralph Bowen – Total Eclipse (2012)

Published on 2012-05-23 06:34:01

The cover for Ralph Bowen’s newest release Total Eclipse is a picture of a “ring of fire” solar exclipse, much like the one that provided a spectacular show for residents of the U.S. Southwest on Monday. Putting on a saxophone show is what Ralph is about, though, and for the forth time in three years, he’s putting for a new [...]

Robert Lamm – The JVE Remixes (2012)

Published on 2012-05-23 06:19:00

Really, this isn’t a remix album at all. More like a complete rebuild, using scraps of timber, radically rearranged bricks and a few familiar pieces of furniture. In John Van Eps’ hands, age-old Chicago songs like “25 or 6 to 4,” “Beginnings,” “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is” and “Saturday in the Park” aren’t just transformed with a [...]

Something Else! Interview: Gene Clark, co-founder of the Byrds

Published on 2012-05-22 07:22:53

May 24, 2012 marks the 21st anniversary of the passing of Byrds cofounder Gene Clark, whose early death couldn’t overshadow a remarkable stint as the band’s principal songwriter in the mid-1960s. By the time he departed for a solo career, the Byrds had issued two firmament-shaking albums — and of those 23 songs, six were written by Bob Dylan while [...]

Aruán Ortiz – Orbiting (2012)

Published on 2012-05-22 06:59:58

The brilliant pianist from Cuba Aruán Ortiz made a strong positive impression to anyone who paid attention to his 2010 release Alameda, a sophisticated outing of modern jazz that eludes adequate comparisons. That album showcased a talent both deep and broad, and the accolades followed, garnering a spot on our Best Modern and Mainstream Jazz records list of 2010. It [...]

Squackett, with Chris Squire and Steve Hackett – A Life Within A Day (2012)

Published on 2012-05-22 06:48:09

I can’t remember the last time I heard Chris Squire approach the bass with this much unadulterated passion, with this much joy. Take a spin through A Life Within A Day, his forthcoming collaboration with Genesis alum Steve Hackett, and their collaborative band name — kind of goofy, almost like a lark — suddenly starts making perfect sense. Squackett, quite [...]

Half Notes: Neu – Neu! 75 (1975)

Published on 2012-05-22 06:31:20

What to call this kinda music? Do a little research and you’ll see stuff like: Krautrock, cosmic punk, ambient, moody, art rock, minimalist, etc. Heck, when I originally popped this disc into my cdrom drive the CDMax selection dialog came up with three entries with musical genres of “misc”, “new age”, and “rock”. I guess there’s people out there as [...]

Something Else! Featured Artist: Old school hip hop edition!

Published on 2012-05-22 06:04:21

Though hip hop had been around for a few years, it started to become a national phenomenon 30 years ago — a period that still resonates because of the way the music connected on several different levels. Hip hop’s earliest breakout recordings had come with 1979′s “King Tim III” by Fatback Band and, in particular, the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight.” [...]

The Harris Group – Choices (2012)

Published on 2012-05-21 07:47:57

Ric Harris put his career as a jazz guitarist on hold to raise his kids and deal with a life long seizure disorder, so he can be excused to taken so long to make his first album, but he made the most of that long-delayed moment. Coming back to this passion of his and gaining an even deeper understanding of [...]

New Music Monday: Joe Bonamassa, Paul McCartney, Slash, Sonny Landreth, Tedeschi Trucks

Published on 2012-05-21 07:03:08

New Music Monday brings a dizzying array of fresh items from the likes of Bob Wayne, Garbage, Great White, Joe Bonamassa, Kill Devil Hill, Slash and Sonny Landreth, as well as new reissues and concert souvenirs from Albert King, Flotsam and Jetsam, Paul and Linda McCartney, Simply Red and the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Also out with new releases this week: [...]

Pantera – Vulgar Display of Power (1992; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-05-21 06:41:57

It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since this snarling beast first roared out of my speakers. I was kind of taken by surprise when the announcement of the recent 20th anniversary special edition was made. I was in my second year of college when this record came out, and it made me feel pretty old. There’s nothing that [...]

P.J. Pacifico – The Live EP (2012)

Published on 2012-05-21 06:17:00

P.J. Pacifico’s voice, like a honeysuckle breeze, is inviting, deeply pastoral, almost hypnotizing. Not for nothing, it seems, do two of the first three songs here focus so completely on “home.” But listen more closely, and it becomes clear that The Live EP isn’t filled with songs of hearth and reunion, so much as wary consideration: For every moment of [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Point Blank” (1980)

Published on 2012-05-21 05:36:25

I don’t often use the word “haunting” but dammit, I think I feel it coming on. Here we have a tale, like many on The River, of a troubled life, one that may not even have had much promise to start with. With darkly-lit piano tones and reverb-laden guitar echoes encircling the unfolding story, you’re just certain that the conclusion [...]

Shows I’ll Never Forget: Lindsey Buckingham, May 19, 2012

Published on 2012-05-20 21:21:57

At Neptune Theatre, Seattle, Washington: “The small machine appears to have just gotten a little smaller,” was how singer-songwriter, and Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham described it during the Seattle stop of his current solo tour this past Saturday night at the Neptune Theatre. Buckingham returned to this topic again and again during the show. Comparing what he does with [...]

Steely Dan Sunday: “Glamour Profession” (1980)

Published on 2012-05-20 07:22:24

Two things that became apparent to me when first hearing “Glamour Profession” at the time when Gaucho first appeared: 1) it was about drug dealing to well-heeled clients in Southern California 2) it was Steely Dan’s most explicit excursion into disco, at the moment when disco when in its dying throes. Does having a disco beat make a song bad? [...]

Garbage – Not Your Kind of People (2012)

Published on 2012-05-20 06:58:08

Garbage shows it can still swirl alt-rock, post-pop and electro-dance beats in a highball glass of lip-busting attitude on this, their first album in seven years. The difference here is the band’s newfound sense of angsty consequence. Everything feels turned down a little, with the guitars a little less scalding, the singing a little more measured, the rhythms a little [...]

Half Notes: Amanda Palmer – Who Killed Amanda Palmer (2008)

Published on 2012-05-20 06:36:59

Amanda Palmer? Yummy. Though, part of me wanted to run screaming in the other direction when I found out this solo record was a collaboration with Ben Folds. There is only one Folds song that I can remember (“Army”) that doesn’t make me want to shove an ice pick into my ear. On the other hand, I loved Palmer’s Dresden [...]

Jens Wendelboe Big Band – Fresh Heat (2012)

Published on 2012-05-20 06:12:28

Jens Wendelboe is putting together some terrific stuff with his big band and Fresh Heat is the latest in what should be a regular occurrence on the jazz release calendar. This is a record brimming with delight and joy, elements that are sadly all too rare through much of modern jazz. Wendelboe’s sound is bracingly contemporary and energetic. It refuses [...]

Maria Neckam – Unison (2012)

Published on 2012-05-19 10:30:18

At times, jazz vocalist Maria Neckam’s music sounds like Joni Mitchell during her mid-70s jazz excursion but with a Annette Peacock stream-of-conscienceness flow and Bjork-like modern sensibility, delivered with pipes as pure as Suzanne Vega. Yet, she always stays rooted in jazz but branching out to wherever the mood of the song takes her. Neckam, in her third upcoming release [...]

Paul and Linda McCartney – Ram (1971; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-05-19 07:59:12

An overlooked precursor to the current handmade-pop phenomenon, Ram was initially criticized for everything that makes it sound unexpectedly bold, fascinatingly unedited and utterly misjudged today. The album, set for deluxe reissue on May 22, 2012 by Concord as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection, moves with a guileless joy from the country-blues parody of “3 Legs” to the [...]

Homer – Homer (1972; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-05-19 07:31:58

Under different circumstances, there is no doubt Homer would have been major players in the hard-rock league. The San Antonio, Texas band’s lead guitarist, Galen Niles, informs us in the liner notes to this comprehensive collection of works that limited distribution of their discs was the prime reason they were unable to move beyond their locale. Established in 1967, Homer [...]

Half Notes: Killing Joke – Killer Joke, What’s This For …!, Ha: Live, Revelations (2005)

Published on 2012-05-19 07:11:22

Remasters for the seminal post-punk godfathers of what would become “industrial.” (Not really industrial, but it inspired bands like Ministry and Nine Inch Nails, who somehow got wrongly lumped in with bands like Einsturzende Neubauten and Skinny Puppy, who really are industrial.) Unique here is the first-time-ever-on-CD Ha! Killing Joke Live, which documents the Revelations era of the band. All [...]

Allan Harris and Takana Miyamoto – Convergence (2012)

Published on 2012-05-19 06:50:23

While many a pianist/vocalist duo has surely been influenced by the twin mid-1970s collaborations of Bill Evans and Tony Bennett, it’s another thing entirely to take those albums head on. But Takana Miyamoto, who’s previously appeared in an Evans tribute trio, and singer Allan Harris do just that on the forthcoming Convergence — set for release May 22, 2012, by [...]

Bob Wayne – Till the Wheels Fall Off (2012)

Published on 2012-05-19 06:16:10

There could be no better way to open Bob Wayne’s upcoming album than with the title track, “Till the Wheels Fall Off.” If you don’t know anything about Wayne going into this song, you’ll know everything you need to know about him once it’s over. It pretty much sums up how the former guitar tech for Hank III approaches music [...]

The Meldavians – Farewell Arigemon (2012)

Published on 2012-05-18 07:53:28

The Meldavians represent the coming together of three major talents all out of North Carolina: vocalist and acoustic guitarist Melissa Reaves, guitarist Scott Sawyer and keyboardist Dave Fox. All of them have already made their mark as leaders, and have toured and recorded with major acts. Fox and Sawyer are also area music educators, and Reaves and Fox can compose. [...]

Forgotten series: Message To Love: The Isle Of Wight Festival – The Movie (1995)

Published on 2012-05-18 07:24:52

It hasn’t received anywhere near the same notoriety as the much better known rock festival documentaries Woodstock and Gimmie Shelter, but Murray Lerner’s largely forgotten Message To Love: The Isle of Wight Festival deserves to be seen both by fans, and especially by students of late-1960s rock history. This remarkable film, in many ways, serves as a perfect bookend to [...]

Simply Red – Live at Montreux (2012)

Published on 2012-05-18 06:16:28

Simply Red, from its late-1960s sense of pop-soul style to its keening, R&B-soaked countertenor, sounded old from the start. It was little surprise, then, that they eventually had a No. 1 hit with a remake of “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” — and even did an album with legendary Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier. Calling Simply Red the MTV [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Donna Summer – Love To Love You Baby (1975)

Published on 2012-05-18 05:39:35

I’ve said many times that I was something of a liar back in the days of disco. While I wasn’t a huge fan of most of the music, there were a few artists (and sometimes particular songs) who I really liked despite my supposed membership in the “Disco Sucks” club. Donna Summer was an unavoidable force of musical nature back [...]

Van Halen on the rocks again?: There was only so much Wolfie could do

Published on 2012-05-17 18:59:29

You wondered how long it would last with this reconstituted version of the always-fighting Van Halen. Answer, apparently: June 26. The group, which recently reunited in the studio with David Lee Roth for the first time since 1984, have deleted all of its remaining summer tour dates after the June 26, 2012 appearance in New Orleans — without explanation. The [...]

2012 Hangout Music Festival: Sorting through the good, the great – and the dearly departed

Published on 2012-05-17 12:52:10

Event organizers have been feverishly working for nearly an entire year to secure a lineup worthy enough to follow the 2011’s Hangout Music Festival. Time and again, HMF pumped up a release to eager festival goers in the early months of this year, only to delay it repeatedly and keep music lovers in a mad frenzy, tormented by anticipation of [...]

‘Stuff happens and you learn from it’: John Wetton talks King Crimson – then and now

Published on 2012-05-17 08:01:33

Before he transitioned back into the role of frontman of Asia with this week’s new single “Face on the Bridge,” John Wetton took some time to talk about his earlier association with King Crimson. Asia has announced a new studio album (the forthcoming XXX, on Frontiers Records) and worldwide 2012 tour in celebration of its 30th anniversary. XXX will be [...]

Wadada Leo Smith – Ten Freedom Summers (2012)

Published on 2012-05-17 07:31:58

We tend to think of musicians who have been able to keep coming forth with creative, fresh ideas with nearly every attempt in the past tense. Mozart, Ellington, Miles, The Beatles are a few who can fit into that category but they are of long past eras. Very few if any will ever be mentioning avant jazz trumpeter, composer and [...]

The Skeptics – The Complete Early Years, 1965-69 (2012)

Published on 2012-05-17 07:11:51

Bartlesville, Oklahoma was where the Skeptics came from. Although the band failed to pierce the national charts, they ruled the regional circuit, and in light of The Complete Early Years, 1965-69 (Gear Fab Records), it’s not difficult to hear why. Featuring all five of the group’s singles, along with a few previously unreleased tracks, the anthology bleeds with exciting expressions, [...]

Trixter – New Audio Machine (2012)

Published on 2012-05-17 06:44:41

If there’s one thing I should have learned by now in all my years of commenting on music as an amateur and professional, it’s this: Be sure you’re right before you make a smartass comment or you may end up eating it. Can someone pass me the salt and pepper? When I saw a new Trixter release on my list [...]

Unboxing Music: Black Music Disaster – S/T (2012)

Published on 2012-05-17 06:23:38

The Internet is chock full of “Unboxing” videos, the so-called “new geek porn.” I don’t find them particularly interesting but that’s because I’m fairly certain I’m not part of their target audience. Don’t take it personally guys. Tech products just aren’t my thing. On the other hand, I do like the idea of a “live review,” which is the direction [...]

Tedeschi Trucks Band – Everybody’s Talkin’ (Live, 2012)

Published on 2012-05-16 11:13:08

The most inspired husband-wife team in roots music since Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks joined forces to form the Tedeschi Trucks Band and made a Grammy Best Blues Album winning record last year (Revelator) in their backyard studio in the Northeast Florida swamp. The next was to take this eleven-piece dream band on the road, and [...]

‘Always discovering new directions’: Steve Smith celebrates 30 years of Vital Information

Published on 2012-05-16 07:31:40

Even while he was still a member of the platinum-era edition of Journey, Steve Smith began making his way back to jazz. Now, 30 years later, Smith’s ready to celebrate that bold return to his childhood musical passion with the band Vital Information. He will release a trio of commemorative Vital Information recordings, beginning with this week’s Live! One Great [...]

Ronnie James Dio (1942-2010): An Appreciation

Published on 2012-05-16 07:09:39

Today marks the second anniversary of Ronnie James Dio’s passing — and I must say, at the time, Dio’s death came as a huge surprise to me. I didn’t even know he had been ill. The weird thing is that just a few days before his passing, I stumbled onto an interesting fact. Obviously, I knew about Black Sabbath, Rainbow, [...]

‘Leave it to me’: Rick Wakeman’s genius first-take contribution to Bowie’s “Space Oddity”

Published on 2012-05-16 06:43:30

Dan Wooding, author of 45 books, was the first journalist to ever write a story about the young Rick Wakeman. That gives him a unique perspective on the legendary keyboardist’s work with prog-rock pioneers Yes, but also his interesting solo work and sideman projects over the years. Wooding’s new 2012 authorized biography on Wakeman, called Caped Crusader takes us inside [...]

Sonny Landreth – Elemental Journey (2012)

Published on 2012-05-16 06:12:39

Over 11 previous albums, slide virtuoso Sonny Landreth has resisted doing the one thing that was expected: The guitar record. When he finally did, you knew there would be some care put into it — and there is. Elemental Journey, an all-original instrumental album due May 22, 2012, from his own Landfall Records, is a showcase for the facility and [...]

‘It was a crazy time for us’: Journey’s Neal Schon on his whirlwind romance with Michaele Salahi

Published on 2012-05-15 16:35:17

Over a career with stops in legendary rock bands Santana and Journey, Neal Schon has seen his share of press. But nothing like last year’s avalanche of attention when he began a relationship with Michaele Salahi, famous as a White House gatecrasher and reality star on “The Real Housewives of D.C.” It’s something he compares to a perfect storm in [...]

‘A failure to agree’: Drummer Bill Ward confirms that he won’t be joining Black Sabbath reunion

Published on 2012-05-15 14:58:12

After months of wrangling, drummer Bill Ward confirms that he will not be joining the other original members of Black Sabbath in their long-awaited reunion this summer. The troubled project, which was set to feature Ward, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi in their first studio project since 1978, has been slowed time and again by devastating news — [...]

Carole King explores her long career in song with Natural Woman: A Memoir

Published on 2012-05-15 11:46:51

Oh, Carole. “I’d rather be number five, or even number ten, and stick around longer,” a once-reluctant Carole King says in remembrance of a time when she was urged to get in gear for a solo career. “I was hoping for career longevity…” Mission more than accomplished, it turns out. Having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard [...]

‘Clearly, we’re too young and good looking’: Rush’s Geddy Lee dismisses Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snub

Published on 2012-05-15 08:08:23

As Rush prepares for the June 12, 2012, release of its long-awaited studio project Clockwork Angels, questions about the band’s continuing absence in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were bound to come up. Frontman Geddy Lee had a classic comeback in his recent talk with the UK’s Real Radio XS. “Clearly, we’re too young and good looking to [...]

Joe Bonamassa – Driving Towards The Daylight (2012)

Published on 2012-05-15 07:20:21

It’s become a late winter/spring ritual here to survey a new Joe Bonamassa release, and the additional involvement of a fully recording, touring band (Black Country Communion) and various one-off side projects (such as last fall’s really good collaboration with soul belter Beth Hart) have barely slowed down Joe’s pace of producing new material for his own still hot solo [...]

Take 6 – One (2012)

Published on 2012-05-15 06:44:52

It’s hard to believe that 25 years have passed since gospel/jazz sextet Take 6 released their self-titled debut album. Since then they have established themselves as the premier acapella group, having performed with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Quincy Jones to Don Henley. For their latest release, One, they have returned to two of their primary strengths: performing gospel, and [...]

One Track Mind: Steve Hackett, “‘Til These Eyes/ Enter the Night” (2012)

Published on 2012-05-15 06:12:18

Guitarist Steve Hackett is issuing a double-sided benefit single, “Til These Eyes/Enter The Night,” on May 21, 2012, to coincide with a one-night event where he will celebrate his stint as a member of Genesis. “‘Til These Eyes,” an achingly gorgeous ballad with the lightest splashes of acoustic picking, finds Hackett’s downshifting into this husky, contemplative vocal. A sweep of [...]

‘It was a great success’: Van Dyke Parks remains proud of Beach Boys’ troubled SMiLE project

Published on 2012-05-14 15:13:41

Van Dyke Parks has collaborated, over the years, with the likes of Randy Newman, Ringo Starr, the Byrds, Harry Nilsson, Ry Cooder, and others. More recently, he has been issuing a series of seven-inch vinyl singles, the most recent of which was “Sassafrass”/”The All Golden.” Yet, for more music fans, he will always be associated with Brian Wilson’s troubled late-1960s [...]

Upcoming 5-CD, 156-track set explores rare Frank Zappa recordings from pre-Mothers era

Published on 2012-05-14 14:24:56

A new 5-CD set will focus on Frank Zappa’s pre-Mothers of Invention era, with many tracks making their debut on compact disc. Paul Buff Presents Highlights From The Pal And Original Sound Studio Archives is due on May 28, 2012 from Crossfire Publications. This 156-track collection features 58 early masters by the late Frank Zappa, recorded at Pal and Original [...]

One Track Mind: American Anthem, “Jessie’s Girl” (2012)

Published on 2012-05-14 09:13:55

American Anthem plays it straight to start, deftly recreating both the lithe riff and trembling sense of uncool desire for your best friend’s girl that’s long been associated with the original Rick Springfield track. But when it comes time to ramp up into chorus (when Rick, remember, finally lets loose his real feelings on the subject: “She loving with that [...]

Steven Emerson – Song of Love (2012)

Published on 2012-05-14 08:58:35

With Song of Love, Berkeley-based singer-songwriter Steven Emerson’s long-awaited second solo release, you hear the somber quietude of Nick Drake, the acoustic alchemy of Iron and Wine, the soulful accumen of Van Morrison and just a touch of the goofball humor of Andrew Bird. Best known for his work in the 1980s with the post-punk band True West (they opened [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “The River” (1980)

Published on 2012-05-14 07:33:49

Like a great poem, a great song can take a series of connected ideas, perhaps as complex as a life, and distill it to its essence. In “The River,” we have lives that were full of dreams, interrupted by the realities of life. The turning point occurs early on with “Then I got Mary Pregnant/and man that was all she [...]

Tenacious D – Rize of the Fenix (2012)

Published on 2012-05-14 07:01:40

With album art that gives new meaning to the term “cock rock,” Tenacious D rises again from the ashes. With Rize of the Fenix, they’re destined to rule the rock world like the cocks of the walk. They release their inhibitions and rock out with their … OK, enough bad jokes about the cover. It is, however, a near-perfect summation [...]

New Music Monday: Santana, Ryan Shaw, Pantera, Willie Nelson, Dizzy and Bird

Published on 2012-05-14 06:54:29

Looks like somebody’s got a case of the Mondays. Time to dig into some new music, then! There’s a fine list of just-released stuff from the likes of Tenacious D, Ryan Shaw, Godsmack, Meiko, Santana and Willie Nelson. Some of our favorite reissues and live dates for the week come from the Bill Evans Trio, Diana Ross, Pantera and The [...]

Forgotten series: Jet – Nothing To Do With Us: A Golden Treasury Of Jet (2000)

Published on 2012-05-14 06:42:44

Not at all associated with the contemporary Australian band of the same name, these fellows came from London, England and got together in 1974. Toting impressive pedigrees, the group included lead singer Andy Ellison and drummer Chris Townson, who both played with John’s Children, which also featured Marc Bolan. The other members of Jet were lead guitarist David O’List, late [...]

Choban Elektrik – Choban Elektrik (2012)

Published on 2012-05-14 06:14:52

Imagine if in the mountainous region of Albania or southern Yugoslavia during the Communist ruled days of the 1970s, the sons of sheep herders clandestinely tuned in to rock radio from the other side of the Iron Curtain, becoming transfixed by the heavy, ambitious trio sounds of Third-era The Soft Machine and early Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Inspired by these [...]

Steely Dan Sunday: “Hey Nineteen” (1980)

Published on 2012-05-13 07:21:32

Steely Dan isn’t the band people look to for documenting watershed moments in cultural history, but I think that intentionally or not, they did so with their top ten hit “Hey Nineteen.” I remember the first time hearing this tale of a man being frustrated by a girl he’s wooing not knowing about “‘Retha Franklin.” Along with that, there’s these [...]

Meiko – The Bright Side (2012)

Published on 2012-05-13 06:58:58

The Bright Side, due May 15, 2012 on Fantasy Records/Concord, certainly lives up to its name with Meiko’s fizzy, almost hallucinogenically blissful opener “Stuck On You.” We find Meiko, as her second solo release gets underway, falling so effortlessly, so completely ass over teakettle, end over end over end over end, that it’s almost impossible not to feel the wind [...]

Half Notes: Peter Brötzmann – The Brain of the Dog in Section (2008)

Published on 2012-05-13 06:30:08

This is saxophonist Peter Brötzmann with cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, though it in no way sounded like Kenny G with Yo-Yo Ma. It was recorded in an “industrial urban warehouse district.” It’s on the Atavistic label (read: not easy listening). Brötzmann scares me. He claims to be playing a saxophone but half the time it comes out sounding like a flame [...]

Barenaked Ladies – Stop Us If You’ve Heard This One Before! (2012)

Published on 2012-05-13 06:04:37

With Stop Us If You’ve Heard This One Before!, the Barenaked Ladies have cranked open their vault of rarities, demos, B-sides, and live tracks. There’s also a “remix.” The songs are culled from the period between 1992 and 2003, with material found on the flipsides of records from Gordon to Everything to Everyone making appearances. The Ladies have gone through [...]

One Track Mind: Ryan Shaw, “Karina” (2012)

Published on 2012-05-12 07:40:05

Is there a place for, you know, an American in a world of soul shouters dominated by a certain big-voiced Brit superstar? Cut to two-time Grammy-nominated R&B singer Ryan Shaw, who returns on May 15, 2012, with Real Love on Dynotone Records — an sizzling album that perhaps finds its emotional peak with “Karina.” Shaw thrillingly melds R&B sounds both [...]

The Quintet – Jazz at Massey Hall (1953; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-05-12 07:12:41

To Canadians, as the new 2012 liner notes to this historic meeting of the jazz minds so rightly notes, Massey Hall is a building. To fans of this music worldwide, it’s something else — not a place, nearly 3,000 seats large, that has played host to literally thousands of concerts over a stirring 118-year history. No, it’s a thing that [...]

On Second Thought: Fleetwood Mac – Say You Will (2003)

Published on 2012-05-12 06:37:00

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is one of the truly iconic records of the 1970s. Like Led Zeppelin’s IV, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon and the Eagles’ Hotel California, Rumours spent a lot of time spinning on turntables everywhere … including those of FM radio. I don’t think I ever owned a copy of it back in the day … [...]

Fred’s Country Fried Rock: Bob Wayne, “Blood to Dust” (2011)

Published on 2012-05-12 06:01:47

Much of Bob Wayne’s 2011 Century Media debut Outlaw Carnie was spent raising hell and firing off rowdy, braggadocio-filled country rockers culled from his previous self-released albums. But then, in the middle of the record, there’s this song. Like much of Outlaw Carnie, fans of Wayne were already well familiar with “Blood to Dust,” but it’s one of only a [...]

First Tupac, now this: Brian May says he’ll use optical illusion to bring back Freddie Mercury

Published on 2012-05-11 16:50:20

That whirring sound you hear just may be Freddie Mercury spinning in his grave. It’s not just that Queen has gone on without him, something once thought impossible. Or that Sacha Baron Cohen — yes, Borat — has been mentioned as a possible star in a proposed Mercury biopic. Now, there’s this: The remaining members of Queen will use a [...]

Paul McCartney may be approached about collaborating on unfinished George Harrison song

Published on 2012-05-11 16:24:55

We’ve already seen the remaining members of the Beatles convene to complete two of the late John Lennon songs, as part of their mid-1990s anthology series. Now, Paul McCartney could be approached to do it again with one of George Harrison’s unfinished works. Harrison, who died at age 58 in 2001, has been in the news this week as the [...]

Mole – What Is The Meaning? (2012)

Published on 2012-05-11 09:00:11

The keyboardist is a Mexican expatriate living in Prague, the drummer is an Argentinian expatriate living in Mexico, the acoustic bassist is a Mexican still in Mexico and the guitarist is a guy from New York. Together, this quartet makes progressive jazz that is about as diversely influenced as the countries of origin and residence might suggest. Mole (pronounced Mo-lay), [...]

Tab Benoit, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Curtis Salgado, Ruthie Foster among big winners at 2012 Blues Music Awards

Published on 2012-05-11 08:37:11

Louisiana bluesman Tab Benoit earned the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year award at the 33rd annual Blues Music Awards, held May 10, 2012 at the Memphis Cook Convention Center. Benoit also claimed contemporary blues artist of the year and contemporary blues album of the year for Medicine, his recent Telarc release. Tedeschi Trucks Band, the celebrated new husband-wife group, [...]

‘Neil Young FAQ’ Diaries: A journey through the past with Neil Young’s videos

Published on 2012-05-11 08:07:10

After a two-year journey of blood, sweat, tears, and more all-nighters writing furiously until the sun came up than I care to remember, my first full-length book as a music journalist was finally released this week. Neil Young FAQ is part of Backbeat Books’ “FAQ Series” artist guides, designed to enlighten the reader on “everything left to know” about the [...]

The Gilligans – As Seen On TV (2012)

Published on 2012-05-11 07:46:43

A soothing instrumental opens the door to As Seen On TV, but what a tease that is. Such mellow sounds suddenly launch into a torrent of crunchy guitars and churning hooks, which pretty much sets the pace for the remainder of the tracks here on the latest and greatest album from the Gilligans. Comprised of lead singer Dan McKenzie, lead [...]

In a new book, Robert Rodriguez makes the case for Revolver as the Beatles’ masterwork

Published on 2012-05-11 07:29:35

Author Robert Rodriguez, in a fascinating new book, makes the case for Revolver — not its successor, the lavishly praised Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band — as the Beatles’ game-changing signature work. Recorded over an astonishing 300 hours (taking far longer, it’s said, than any rock record before it), the Beatles’ seventh long-player shot to No. 1 on both [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Beastie Boys – Ill Communication (1994)

Published on 2012-05-11 05:30:07

You know, I just get so damned tired of people trippin’ all over themselves to pay tribute to these guys when they die. Besides, it’s just friggin’ rap “music.” That’s right, “music.” Don’t give me that garbage about how it was a part of a culture and how they used record players in new ways or whatever. It’s just a [...]

Brandon Wright – Journeyman (2012)

Published on 2012-05-10 07:20:14

Journeyman is sax specialist Brandon Wright’s second time out as a leader and for this go around he brought some of his cohorts in the Mingus Big Band in the studio with him: David Kikoski on piano, Boris Kozlov on bass and Donald Edwards on drums. What these guys might lack in the big name draw of Wright’s first album [...]

One Track Mind: Vernon Reid on Spectrum Road, Living Colour and James ‘Blood’ Ulmer

Published on 2012-05-10 07:10:24

Vernon Reid has a busy 2012 on tap, with a new jazz-rock collaboration as a part of Spectrum Road to be issued next month and then the latest project with the metal-funk band Living Colour. He took a quick break to discuss a few favorite songs on this special edition of Something Else Reviews’ One Track Mind — including Living [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Lita Ford, “Branded” (2012)

Published on 2012-05-10 06:46:00

Lita Ford has a lot to prove with her upcoming album Living like a Runaway, due out June 19, 2012. After taking 15 years away from the music biz and moving to the islands to raise a family, Ford made a less than memorable return in 2009. Wicked Wonderland, created with now ex-husband Jim Gillette of the band Nitro, was [...]

Mort Weiss: There were big stars at this LA party, but I didn’t shine so brightly

Published on 2012-05-10 06:19:39

Let’s set the scene: Actress Polly Bergen’s Malibu Beach house, 1965. The cast of participants includes Jack Lemmon and his wife Felicia Farr, Kirk Douglas, Jackie Gleason, Steve Allen and his wife Jayne Meadows, Sandra Dee, Cary Grant, William Powell, a bevy of young starlets and many more show folks. And the bands! A Guy Lombardo mini combo had been [...]

Billy Boy Arnold, Matt ‘Guitar’ Murphy, Doc Pomus and Allen Toussaint to be inducted into Blues Hall of Fame tonight

Published on 2012-05-09 15:40:19

Billy Boy Arnold, Mike Bloomfield, Matt “Guitar” Murphy, Doc Pomus and Allen Toussaint lead the 2012 class of the Blues Hall of Fame, to be inducted tonight (May 9, 2012) at the Memphis Marriott Downtown in Memphis, Tennessee, ahead of Thursday’s 33rd annual Blues Music Awards ceremonies. The 2012 class is rounded out by brother-sister act Buddy and Ella Johnson; [...]

‘The whole record just clicked’: Producer Nick Raskulinecz on the sessions for Rush’s Clockwork Angels

Published on 2012-05-09 14:59:12

Producer Nick Raskulinecz describes the sessions for Rush’s forthcoming 2012 release Clockwork Angels as jam-based affairs that then grew into finished songs — capped by a lightning strike moment when the theme came together. Work began Rush’s first album in five years 2008, then took a hiatus two years later to undertake the “Time Machine” tour — which included 81 [...]

Something Else! Interview: Vernon Reid, of Spectrum Road and Living Colour

Published on 2012-05-09 07:44:30

Founding Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid is playing a different tune these days – a hard-driving jazz-rock tune alongside an all-star cast of Jack Bruce, John Medeski and Cindy Blackman-Santana. Together now as Spectrum Road, the quartet has taken the idea of paying tribute to Tony Williams Lifetime to its zenith on their forthcoming self-titled debut. Rather than following the [...]

David Fiuczynski – Planet Microjam (2012)

Published on 2012-05-09 07:20:38

One surefire way to know if your ears are trained to listen to European-derived music forms is to listen to microtonal music for even just a few seconds. If it strikes you as exotic and weird, then you are most attuned to Western style music, where microtones are so out of place it’s anathema, out of tune, just plain f’ed [...]

Half Notes: Bill Carrothers – Joy Spring (2010)

Published on 2012-05-09 07:01:27

Pianist Carrothers revisits the music of trumpeter Clifford Brown. With bassist Drew Gress and the great Bill Stewart at the kit, they interpret Brown (and Brown-related) classics like “Daahoud,” “Gerkin For Perkin,” and of course, that iconic title track. “Joy Spring” is definitely the not-so-secret ingredient of this recording, and it’s such a fine interpretation. Carrothers stretches out the composition, [...]

Forgotten series: J.D. Blackfoot – The Ultimate Prophecy (1970)

Published on 2012-05-09 06:54:48

Born Benjamin Franklin Van Dervort, J.D. Blackfoot had been around the block quite a few miles by the time The Ultimate Prophecy materialized in 1970. Prior to investing his energy into music, the Ohio native worked as a driver, pest controller and insurance salesman. He eventually joined a local band, the Ebb Tides, followed by a solo career, which resulted [...]

Debbie Miller – Measures + Waits EP (2012)

Published on 2012-05-09 06:26:29

An offbeat rumination on love, Debbie Miller’s new EP Measures + Waits finds a way to pull no punches, even as it pulls a few jokes — no easy task. Credit Miller who, across this sophomore release’s five songs — one of them recorded live — walks the fine line between letting you in and putting you on with grace [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: ZZ Top, “I’ve Got to Get Paid” (2012)

Published on 2012-05-08 15:27:51

We don’t know when ZZ Top’s new Rick Rubin-produced album will appear. Heck, we don’t even know the name of it. But we are finally getting a taste of what’s in store, with this preview of a song from the proposed 2012 project. “I’ve Got To Get Paid” — with a finger-licking groove, a vocal that sounds like these guys [...]

‘He’ll do justice to Ronnie’: Vivian Campbell discusses decision to reform Dio with new singer

Published on 2012-05-08 15:01:12

Guitarist Vivian Campbell is organizing a 2012 reunion tour with the rest of the original Dio band, inserting new singer Andy Freeman in place of the late Ronnie James Dio. Campbell, who went on to play with Def Leppard after appearing on Dio’s first three albums, says he has been holding jam sessions with drummer Vinny Appice, bassist Jimmy Bain [...]

Something Else! Interview: James “JY” Young, co-founder of Styx

Published on 2012-05-08 08:08:27

“I’ll be darn,” guitarist James “JY” Young says with a chuckle when told that Styx garnered praise recently from Rolling Stone, which cited the band’s current Midwest Rock ‘N’ Roll Express tour with REO Speedwagon and Ted Nugent as among “The Ten Hottest Summer Package Tours of 2012.” “That’s a turnaround for Rolling Stone in relation to us, but who [...]

Jazz Punks – Smashups (2012)

Published on 2012-05-08 07:47:17

The L.A.-based quintet Jazz Punks’ thing is to create jarring music by mashing up classic songs of straight ahead jazz with diametrically opposed classic songs of rock. Practitioners of jazz-rock fusion toss both forms of music into a blender and puree them together, but the Jazz Punks’ rough blend leaves whole chunks of each style intact and that’s just how [...]

Something Else! Featured Artist: More Eric Clapton!

Published on 2012-05-08 07:29:38

The only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a solo artist, and as a member of the Yardbirds and Cream), Eric Clapton stands in 2012 as one of the most influential guitarists of his or any other generation. (No matter what Spin magazine says: lolwhut?) Still, it can be hard to gain a handle on [...]

Tim Coffman – Cruisin’ Pacific Coast Highways: Island Breezes Collection (2012)

Published on 2012-05-08 07:04:06

What happens when California meets Hawaii? They have a beautiful baby called The Island Breezes Collection, that’s what happens! Hot on the heels of The Longboard Collection, which marked the first installment of Tim Coffman’s instrumental “Cruisin’ Pacific Coast Highways” series comes this stunning set of spirited sounds that impressively implements standard surf rock procedures with a groovy Aloha state [...]

Phil Collins – But Seriously … (1989; 2012 Audio Fidelity Remaster)

Published on 2012-05-08 06:31:46

When Phil Collins released his final 1980s album, But Seriously…, it was billed as his most socially conscious work. While the project contains songs addressing social issues such as “Another Day in Paradise,” “That’s Just the Way It Is,” “Colours,” and “Heat on the Street,” it still reflects Collins’ gift for writing memorable uptempo tracks and ballads. In other words, [...]

Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan at work on a full-length album project

Published on 2012-05-07 14:21:09

Following the well-received release last year of a two-song benefit single as WhoCares, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan have announced a pending 2012 full-length album filled with rarities, b-sides and studio jams. The WhoCares single “Out of My Mind,” a Sabbath reunion of sorts since Gillan fronted Iommi’s band briefly after Ronnie James Dio left, benefited [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Joe Jackson, “I’m Beginning to See the Light” (2012)

Published on 2012-05-07 11:51:33

Joe Jackson has announced new concert dates in advance of his forthcoming Duke Ellington tribute album The Duke, due June 26, 2012 from Razor and Tie. We’re also streaming an advance song, “I’m Beginning to See the Light” — CLICK HERE! In Jackson’s hands, the tune expands to include elements of two other Ellington classics, as well: “Take the A [...]

Bo-Keys’ Skip Pitts, guitarist on ‘It’s Your Thing’ and ‘Shaft,’ passes away at 65

Published on 2012-05-07 11:35:51

Charles “Skip” Pitts, one of the architects of soul, R&B, and funk guitar and a member of the Bo-Keys, has passed away at the age of 65. Pitts is best known for creating two of the signature guitar riffs of all time: The Isley Brothers’ “It’s Your Thing” and the wah-wah on Isaac Hayes’ “Theme From Shaft.” Getting tips from [...]

Kait Dunton – Mountain Suite (2012)

Published on 2012-05-07 07:29:30

About three years ago I received a CD called Real And Imagined by jazz pianist and composer Kait Dunton, which came out of nowhere and just blew me away. The disc has found a permanent place in my car and I still pop it into the CD player a few times a year. Since we last caught up with Ms. [...]

New Music Monday: Dee Snider, Glenn Frey, Mary Halvorson, Paul Di’Anno, Trevor Rabin

Published on 2012-05-07 07:11:14

New Music Monday focuses this week on fresh stuff from the likes of Arturo Sandoval, Dee Snider, Glenn Frey, Mary Halvorson, Iron Maiden’s Paul Di’Anno, Paul Thorn and Trevor Rabin, along with just-in reissues and live dates by the Allman Brothers Band, Muddy Waters and the Small Faces. Also hitting store shelves this week is Angelus Apatrida, Arjen Lucassen, Cowboys [...]

Arturo Sandoval – Dear Diz: Every Day I Think of You (2012)

Published on 2012-05-07 06:42:55

Dear Diz doesn’t aim for the relentlessly daring intellect of Dizzy Gillespie’s small-band bebop sides, so much as the boisterous amiability associated with his globetrotting latter-day period — fitting since that’s when he made Arturo Sandoval’s acquaintance. In keeping, the results don’t break any new ground for those familiar with Gillespie’s more celebrated mid-century sides — disappointing, perhaps, considering the [...]

Half Notes: Queens of the Stone Age – Era Vulgaris (2007)

Published on 2012-05-07 06:28:02

Josh Homme’s band thankfully picked up where 2002′s exquisitely fun Songs For The Deaf left off, ignoring the dreadfully boring Lullabies To Paralyze that emerged in between the two. Just count that one as growing pains from Homme kicking bassist Nick Oliveri out of the band following Songs. Vulgaris, happily, indulges in the same goofy time-traveling sound that the band [...]

Paul Rishell – Talking Guitar (2012)

Published on 2012-05-07 06:01:15

That this is W.C. Handy Award-winning bluesman Paul Rishell’s first acoustic recording will come as something of a surprise, so deep is his grasp, so complete is his commitment. That it’s his first solo effort in nearly two decades is more confusing still. A singer and guitarist who has played with and learned from legends like Son House, Johnny Shines, [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “I Wanna Marry You” (1980)

Published on 2012-05-07 05:34:47

For all of the fun that skips its way through The River, there’s an equal amount of pathos and the very real weight of adult responsibilities. This little ballad, with our protagonist yearning to become a part of a certain lady’s future, is anything but little on the scale of heavyweight, real-life issues. There’s a certain romantic quality to this, [...]

Steely Dan Sunday: “Babylon Sisters” (1980)

Published on 2012-05-06 07:44:57

Steely Dan albums always start strong, but “Babylon Sisters” might be their strongest intro track of all time. Four and half years ago, as the fires raging in Southern California at the time consumed the news, I was reminded of this song of which I wore out the grooves on my Gaucho vinyl long player for two years until The [...]

Gordon Lightfoot – Massey Hall Moments: All Live (2012)

Published on 2012-05-06 07:22:45

In May 2011, Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot marked his 150th concert at Toronto’s Massey Hall over the last 40 years. With his new Massey Hall Moments – All Live, the performer who counted Robbie Robertson and Bob Dylan among his fans presents some of his finer musical moments from the historical site. The songs were selected from performances between 1998 [...]

John Matthias and Nick Ryan – Cortical Songs (2010)

Published on 2012-05-06 06:43:47

I have decided that’s it’s never not fun to talk about what is and isn’t music. The discussions can be thought-provoking, plus there’s always the chance that somebody will lose it and tell the rest of the crowd that they’re ignorant and don’t know what they’re talking about. Yeah, the possibility of that sort of free entertainment keeps me coming [...]

Brian Eno – Panic Of Looking EP (2011)

Published on 2012-05-06 06:02:04

Considering the relative geekiness of some of his music, and you have to admit some of it really is geeky (hello, The Drop), Brian Eno has maintained an aura of cool that is undeniable. It’s the fact that he just lets his music be what it needs to be — wispy ambience, glitchy noise, or just pure geekery — that [...]

Trevor Rabin – Jacaranda (2012)

Published on 2012-05-05 07:31:30

It would be tempting to call this jazz fusion, or jazz rock. Or jazz something. But there’s so very much more going on, as Yes alum Trevor Rabin hurtles through Jacaranda, due May 8, 2012 from Varese Vintage Records. First, there are no small amount of prog-like compositional twists and turns here — which might come as something of shocker, [...]

Half Notes: Cassandra Wilson – Glamoured (2003)

Published on 2012-05-05 07:16:49

Ooooh baby … just one listen to Wilson’s gorgeous and sultry voice intertwined with Willie Nelson’s classic melody from “Crazy” is enough to make me think things I just shouldn’t be thinkin’! Glamoured doesn’t stray far from Wilson’s past styles … with some originals and some covers, all done with that sparse and full of air combination of bass, acoustic [...]

Paul Thorn – What the Hell is Goin’ On? (2012)

Published on 2012-05-05 06:48:16

There is a sense, throughout the covers-filled What the Hell is Goin’ On?, of broken-in familiarity. Paul Thorn and his longtime backing band aren’t simply pulling out these songs to try to move records. They have loved, and they have lived, every one of these tales. That authenticity meshes perfectly with the Tupelo, Mississippi-native’s back catalog, not to mention his [...]

Appreciations: Beastie Boys – Licensed to Ill (1986)

Published on 2012-05-05 06:12:24

I’m not going to tell you, in the wake of Adam “MCA” Yauch’s death on Friday, that I was a huge Beastie Boys fan. The truth is, I haven’t thought about them in years. But for people of a certain age, and I happen to be of that age, the act’s 1986 breakthrough album Licensed to Ill is certainly a [...]

Something Else! sneek peek: Preview video, photos and audio streams from Paul McCartney’s Ram reissue

Published on 2012-05-04 13:58:50

Paul McCartney’s deluxe edition box set of 1971′s Ram is set for release on May 22, 2012, and to celebrate we’ve got two brand new track streams and photos to share! Check out the re-mastered cuts of “Uncle Albert/ Admiral Halsey” and “Too Many People” below. We’re also able to reveal photographs from the extensive re-issue collection — a pair [...]

‘We relit the fire’: Billy Sherwood reunites with ex-Yes bandmate Chris Squire for prog project

Published on 2012-05-04 07:43:25

As Billy Sherwood assembled an all-star cast for the forthcoming 2012 Cleopatra Records release The Prog Collective, he thought of an old friend: Former Yes bandmate Chris Squire. “I asked him,” Sherwood tells us, “if he wanted to sing with me – you know, come over and have some fun?” The track, called “The Technical Divide,” also features Alan Parsons [...]

Anders Osbourne – Black Eye Galaxy (2012)

Published on 2012-05-04 07:21:11

Coming off the career high water mark of American Patchwork, the rugged New Orleans based singer-songwriter Anders Osborne delivers another set of harrowing tales of addiction amongst hymns of hope and redemption. Black Eye Galaxy follows much of the same script as Patchwork in other ways, too: Galactic drummer Stanton Moore is again in charge of production alongside Osborne and [...]

Fred’s Country Fried Rock: Monty Russell, “Peter Filed Chapter 13” (2005)

Published on 2012-05-04 06:43:35

Sometimes real country music isn’t about deep and meaningful emotions, but just about something that the listener can identify with and relate to — something that hits home and lightens the load. That’s where a song like “Peter Filed Chapter 13” from Ruston, Louisiana-based singer Monty Russell’s 2005 album The Fool comes in. There’s not a person in the world, [...]

Half Notes: Suzanne Vega – Beauty And Crime (2007)

Published on 2012-05-04 06:19:09

Most people seemed to tune out of Vega’s music after “Luka” and/or the various remixes of “Tom’s Diner” had their way with the airwaves, relegating her to that sad status as fluke hit-maker. Luckily for discerning listeners she paid them no attention and carried on creating strong albums that provoked and questioned what women in pop/folk could and should do. [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Bruce Springsteen, “The Weight” (2012)

Published on 2012-05-04 05:30:53

So the first U.S. leg of Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball tour has come to an end, with Bruce and the band playing a killer set in New Orleans at Jazzfest, followed by a show for the ages in Newark, New Jersey. It’s been a wild ride that feels like it’s just getting started. What was the moment that put the Newark [...]

Smithsonian Folkways to release Woody at 100 box set; hear a previously unreleased Woody Guthrie song!

Published on 2012-05-03 14:38:33

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is preparing a new box set in honor of the Woody Guthrie Centennial. Called simply Woody at 100, it’s set for release on July 10, 2012, four days before the treasured musician would have turned 100 years old. The label has already set up a pre-sale site featuring an instant album download, and a chance to hear [...]

‘Just guitar and drums; nothing else’: Gene Simmons previews Kiss new album Monster

Published on 2012-05-03 14:26:57

Co-founder Gene Simmons says Kiss’ 20th studio album will be a lean, heavy-rocking affair, much in keeping with their earliest sides. Monster, due in July 2012, is the group’s initial release since Sonic Boom three years ago, and will again be produced by fellow co-founder Paul Stanley. Of course, this being Kiss, there will be plenty of product tie ins [...]

Something Else! sneek peek: “Toast to Freedom,” featuring the late Levon Helm

Published on 2012-05-03 12:51:57

Turns out Levon Helm had one more inspiring moment to give. The former singer and drummer of the Band helped facilitate a new all-star recording commemorating 50 years of Amnesty International in the time before cancer took his life. Nearly 50 artists contributed to this project, including Kris Kristofferson, Warren Haynes, Rosanne Cash, Donald Fagen, Shawn Mullins, Taj Mahal and [...]

John Fogerty says his upcoming studio project is more than halfway completed

Published on 2012-05-03 11:22:02

Work on John Fogerty’s new studio album Wrote a Song for Everyone is continuing, as sessions continue this week in Nashville with My Morning Jacket and Alan Jackson. The album, which is set to feature remakes of classic Fogerty songs as well as a selection of new cuts, will also include appearances by the Keith Urban, Foo Fighters, Brad Paisley, [...]

Ringo Starr is working with Dave Stewart again — but this time on a movie

Published on 2012-05-03 11:04:42

Ringo Starr and Dave Stewart, collaborators on the former Beatles drummer’s last few studio releases, have a new project on tap: An original motion picture, called “Hole in the Fence.” Stewart was brought in to finish work on 2008′s Liverpool 8, after Starr split with longtime producer Mark Huduson — who had helmed his previous five releases. Stewart, one half [...]

New tribute project from Morse/ Portnoy/ George to include King Crimson, Steely Dan, the Police, Elvis Costello

Published on 2012-05-03 10:11:02

Cover 2 Cover, the latest tribute album from Morse/Portnoy/George, will include songs from prog legends King Crimson, Jethro Tull and Styx. No surprise there, considering the band lineage of those involved. After all, the album (due May 22 via Radiant Records) features Neal Morse (Spock’s Beard), Mike Portnoy (Adrenaline Mob, Dream Theater) and Randy George. But that’s just the beginning [...]

‘Celestial supersonic textures’: Carlos Santana says there are things he still hasn’t done on guitar

Published on 2012-05-03 09:48:00

An upcoming instrumental album from Carlos Santana certainly begs the question: Is there anything he can’t do on guitar? After all, Santana built his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame resume on sizzling solos, selling 90 million records and earning 10 Grammys along the way — nine of them for 1999′s Supernatural, a record-tying mark for a single album. He [...]

Randy Hoexter Group – Fromage (2012)

Published on 2012-05-03 07:39:23

When John Stetch led a piano trio through interpretations of television theme songs on a CD released a few years ago, I was intrigued, and ultimately, charmed, by this originative collection of covers. TV Trio, as this record is called, even wound up on my year-end “best of 2009″ list for mainstream and modern jazz, because he brought fresh arrangements [...]

One Track Mind: Allen Toussaint on Dr. John, the Meters, Ernie K-Doe, the Band, Lee Dorsey

Published on 2012-05-03 07:13:28

On this special edition of Something Else Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to Allen Toussaint, who will be inducted on May 9, 2012 into the Blues Hall of Fame. He takes us inside his collaborative relationship with happy-go-lucky hitmaker Lee Dorsey, talks about his Grammy-nominated jazz-themed project with Joe Henry, and frames Dr. John’s legacy as [...]

Travis Shredd and the Good Ol’ Homeboys – 668: The Neighbor of the Beast (1996)

Published on 2012-05-03 06:46:57

OK. So, by this point in the review, you should know that these guys weren’t serious. Yeah, I know it just started, but come on, look at that album title — and that’s not to even mention the guy with the mullet in the cowboy hat with the Malcolm X on it. Travis Shredd and the Good Ol’ Homeboys were [...]

Something Else! Interview: Allen Toussaint, Hall of Fame singer-songwriter and producer

Published on 2012-05-02 07:41:26

Allen Toussaint, fonky-fonky pianist, writer and producer of untold hit songs, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and first-chair favorite son, makes his annual appearance this week at the 2012 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival – a tradition, he says, “which I dearly, dearly love.” Then, he plans to resume a completely revitalized solo recording career alongside Joe Henry, [...]

One Track Mind: Santana, “Angelica Faith” (2012)

Published on 2012-05-02 07:20:14

May 15, 2012 will be a day of celebration for Santana fans, and not just the ones who celebrate any new Santana release. After all, his last album Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time is only a year and a half old. But Shape Shifter, as this latest one is called, will boast a lot of “first [...]

Forgotten series: The Raves – Past Perfect Tense (1992)

Published on 2012-05-02 06:59:01

Judging from the photo gracing the front cover sleeve of “Past Perfect Tense,” one would understandably be inclined to believe the Raves are a Beatles tribute act. Not only does the Atlanta, Georgia band dress the part (we’re talking 1964-1965 here), but the physical resemblances to the lads from Liverpool are uncannily similar as well. Although the Raves do dwell [...]

Father John Misty – Fear Fun (2012)

Published on 2012-05-02 06:27:20

Simple one-sentence review: if you love Fleet Foxes, you’ll love Father John Misty’s Fear Fun. It’s pretty much as easy as that because Father John Misty is former Foxes drummer J. Tillman’s new project (and, apparently, persona) and there’s no getting around the fact that the two sound, for the most part, very similar. Misty, however, offers a more stripped [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Neil Young and Crazy Horse, “Oh Susannah” (2012)

Published on 2012-05-01 09:09:17

The initial song from Americana, Neil Young’s upcoming collaboration with Crazy Horse, has emerged: A scalding, feedback-laden take on the traditional track “Oh Susannah.” Check it out here! “Susannah” serves as the opening cut on Americana, due June 5, 2012, kicking off a set that features a slew of songs familiar from the American folk songbook, childhood music classes and [...]

Mary Halvorson Quintet – Bending Bridges (2012)

Published on 2012-05-01 07:31:33

“Bending Bridges,” reveals Mary Halvorson, “is a title I came up with in a semi-conscious state”, the same as how most of the titles in her songs come about. Her music on the other hand is of the sub-conscious kind, starting from a firm point of reference but chasing intuitive notions down to their illogical but more interesting destinations. “Bending [...]

Something Else! Featured Artist: The Spinners

Published on 2012-05-01 07:12:01

The Spinners, though finalists for the 2012 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, came up short. It was one of the only times something like that’s happened for the greatest soul group of the early 1970s. After all, the Spinners once posted a staggering four No. 1 R&B hits in less than 18 months: “I’ll Be Around,” [...]

Best of April 2012: Reader picks include Rush, John Wetton, Levon Helm, Journey, Squackett, Beatles

Published on 2012-05-01 06:41:35

A frank first-take conversation on a new song from Rush topped our April 2012 reader’s poll, followed by a heartfelt goodbye to Levon Helm, co-founder and voice of the Band. Interest also ran high in a pair of forthcoming collaborations between signature figures in rock — one from former Journey bandmates Neal Schon and Steve Smith, as well as another [...]

Phillip Michael Vasiliades – Crashed Dreamed Boomed (2012)

Published on 2012-05-01 06:03:22

Australian Phillip Michael Vasiliades shows a stirring command of the power and joy of 1970s pop and rock on Crashed Dreamed Boomed, and he does it without ever sounding derivative. He begins with the riff-filled, grinding “Alluvial Plain,” adding sweeping strings and then a barking vocal. Guitarist Ric Wong is the early star here, playing with a feel that is [...]

Lee Loughnane says Chicago is prepping new downloadable concert, still writing new songs

Published on 2012-04-30 16:55:27

Lee Loughnane says Chicago is preparing to release a downloadable new concert DVD, focusing on the last year’s performances, even as work continues on its first new music in decades. Loughnane, a cofounding trumpeter, flugelhorn player, vocalist, and songwriter with Chicago, says the forthcoming DVD will be available for premium access members of the band’s Web site. Fans with membership [...]

Final Dio studio album Master of the Moon to be reissued as deluxe picture disc

Published on 2012-04-30 16:25:36

The last studio release from Dio is set for a deluxe picture-disc reissue on June 5, courtesy of Niji Entertainment Group. This is the first time that 2004′s Master of the Moon, which included Ronnie James Dio favorite “The Eyes,” has ever been issued as a picture disc in North America. Niji previously released of a deluxe picture disc of [...]

Neal Schon open to Journey reunion with Steve Perry — but only if Arnel Pineda stays, too

Published on 2012-04-30 15:13:45

Journey had been through a string of lead singers since Steve Perry’s mid-1990s departure before finally finding chart success again with Arnel Pineda, a Filipino singer whom founding guitarist Neal Schon discovered on YouTube. 2011′s Eclipse, Journey’s second album with Pineda, became its second straight Top 20 album, debuting last year at No. 13 on the Billboard 200. Eclipse, which [...]

‘It would have left him speechless’: Ronnie Montrose’s widow thanks everyone for moving tribute

Published on 2012-04-30 14:44:50

Leighsa Montrose has posted a heart-felt thank you message for everyone involved with last weekend’s concert tribute to her late husband, the guitar virtuoso Ronnie Montrose. A group of all-stars, including the surviving members of his seminal heavy-rock band Montrose, gathered Friday at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, Calif., to perform and pay respects to Montrose, who committed suicide [...]

One Track Mind: The Thirteenth Assembly, “Nosedive” (2011)

Published on 2012-04-30 07:39:36

Anyone who has heard Mary Halvorson perform even just once has likely caught her trademark move: the sudden burst of notes quavering, akin to hitting the whammy bar but with a little more nuance. It’s a phenomenon that if described by just one word, “nosedive” would be it. It’s a term that’s been applied to her guitar playing before; heck, [...]

New Music Monday: Norah Jones, Rufus Wainwright, Steve Kuhn and George Harrison

Published on 2012-04-30 07:15:05

The last week of April 2012 brings us yet another stack of platters that matter — this time from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Eddie Gomez, Norah Jones and Rufus Wainwright. Amongst the more interesting reissues and live offerings are some interesting acoustic sides from George Harrison, and a double-live set from Phil Collins. Other key new releases include Marilyn [...]

Phil Collins – Live at Montreux (2012)

Published on 2012-04-30 06:41:45

If somebody told me, before a 1996 concert, that Phil Collins was going to be performing “Los Endos” — the closing track from 1976′s A Trick of the Tail, Genesis’ first project after Peter Gabriel’s departure — I would have been thrilled. That there were also a smattering of additional solo and band hits of note, including “In the Air [...]

Eddie Gomez – Per Sempre (2012)

Published on 2012-04-30 06:03:54

Always an impressive technician, Gomez has an identifiably soulful sound — sometimes from the very first plucking of his bass. That has carried him through an impressive array of settings, from traditional trios and fusion-infused amalgams all the way over into the delicate lyricisms of chamber jazz. The forthcoming Per Sempre fits squarely into the latter category, as Gomez settles [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)” (1980)

Published on 2012-04-30 05:33:56

“You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)” is yet another blast of driving, River-style garage rock. The lyrics morph quickly from store-based objects of desire to what’s really important: the girl. Oh, the pain. The last verse of this song has our protagonist at lover’s lane with none other than Dirty Annie. Things seem to be getting on when…there’s [...]

Steely Dan Sunday: “The Second Arrangement” (1979, unreleased)

Published on 2012-04-29 07:37:15

“Just when I say: ‘Boy we can’t miss, you are golden’ … Then you do this.” Steely Dan rolled into 1979 with a big head of steam, having established themselves as consistent hitmakers as well as pulling in the critical kudos. That earned them enough swag already to clinch them immortality in the Rock ‘n’Roll Hall Of Fame, in which [...]

Norah Jones – … Little Broken Hearts (2012)

Published on 2012-04-29 07:14:25

At first blush, this Danger Mouse-produced effort sounds like post-modern mood music, with Jones’ reliably languid cries of loneliness surrounded by gurgling synths, fuzzy guitars and swooning strings. But there’s something else going on here: Jones is moving out of her cozy cocktail jazz-pop environs on Little Broken Hearts — due May 1, 2012, from Blue Note — and not [...]

Mort Weiss: Getting ready for showtime – when you’re the show

Published on 2012-04-29 06:53:48

This time out, I’d like to delineate how it is for me when I go somewhere to appear as a guest artist. Specifically, I’m thinking about the time I headlined the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival in Portland, Oregon. The phone rings, and it’s Joe Beeler, the artistic director and producer of said festival. We had talked before about my appearing [...]

Forgotten series: Saigon Kick – Saigon Kick (1991)

Published on 2012-04-29 06:06:55

So, these days, when most people think about the hard-rock scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s, they think of a swirling mass of cookie-cutter bands that were much more about style and image than music. Even as a child of that era, I have to admit that it’s not an entirely unfair statement. That rush to sign and [...]

One Track Mind: Ergo with Mary Halvorson, “The Widening Gyre” (2012)

Published on 2012-04-28 11:00:34

For their third album, the offbeat experimental jazz-rock trio Ergo brought in a few guest performers to shake things up a bit. If you’re going to introduce any musicians who can be disruptive and still find a place within the strange sounds of avant modern music, you could hardly come up with a better choice than the forward thinking guitarist [...]

Half Notes: Eden Brent – Mississippi Number One (2008)

Published on 2012-04-28 07:01:07

Spring has sprung and it’s time for some blues! Sure, true believers know that it’s always time for some blues. Well, this record from Yellow Dog artist Eden Brent is the kind of thing that just might create a few true believers. Brent has a beautifully soulful voice (with just enough rasp) and wide-ranging piano technique that brings to mind [...]

Alex “Apolo” Ayala – Onwards (2012)

Published on 2012-04-28 06:38:52

Alex “Apolo” Ayala marries modern jazz ideas with Latin-inspired rhythms, connecting the ideas with a blend of spry originals and brilliantly reworked classics. Not that it seemed that way at first. The Puerto Rico-born Ayala, who played bass, produced and composed four of the eight tracks on Onwards, actually begins the opener “Princesa Wayuu” with a trundling bass figure – [...]

Forgotten series: The Ides of March – Vehicle (1970)

Published on 2012-04-28 06:17:46

Now here’s a band that paid some serious dues! Founded in late 1964, the Ides of March were barely teenagers when they started gigging and cutting discs. Hailing from Berwyn (a Chicago suburb), the band, not surprisingly considering the hour of their birth, was wildly in love with the racket resonating across the miles. Prior to staging a major breakthrough [...]

Shows I’ll Never Forget: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, April 26, 2012

Published on 2012-04-27 18:10:03

At the Los Angeles Sports Arena: For those fans who engage in the armchair sport of setlist watching, there had up until recently been some concern that Bruce Springsteen’s current Wrecking Ball tour seemed to be following a very set pattern in terms of the song selection. As the tour has progressed, such silliness has proven to be groundless of [...]

First multi-label Heart boxed set announced; see complete tracklisting and artwork here

Published on 2012-04-27 15:13:27

The first definitive career-spanning, multi-label boxed set retrospective chronicling the work of Heart will be issued this summer by Epic Records and Legacy Recordings. Personally curated by Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson, the Strange Euphoria anthology will include biggest hits and best-loved songs featured alongside deep catalog treasures, rarities, demos and live performances. This set of three compact discs and [...]

‘Nothing but a party’: Robert Bell of Kool and the Gang on opening for Van Halen

Published on 2012-04-27 13:14:12

Robert Earl “Kool” Bell and his fun R&B band Kool and the Gang are nearly midway through their gig as an opening act for the reconstituted Van Halen — and, in many ways, things are going just as expected: “It’s nothing but a party,” Bell tells Charity Apple of The Times-News. Kool and the Gang’s lineup includes Kool on bass [...]

Former Toto lead singers Bobby Kimball, Fergie Frederikson planning summer tour

Published on 2012-04-27 07:33:51

Original Toto lead singer Bobby Kimball has a busy summer on tap, beginning with a series of 2012 shows with fellow band alum Fergie Frederikson. Kimball was part of the first four studio albums by Toto, through 1984′s Isolation — a period highlighted by Toto IV, which earned six Grammy awards including record of the year for “Rosanna,” and album [...]

Steve Kuhn Trio – Wisteria (2012)

Published on 2012-04-27 07:24:29

Just as Steve Kuhn recently looked back to his very brief but impressionable stint in an early edition of the John Coltrane Quartet, the prolific jazz pianist is reminiscing again. This time, it‘s from a few years later during his time with Art Farmer’s ensemble of the early 60s. Again using touch points from his personal past as the inspiration [...]

‘Older, hopefully wiser, more mature’: Bela Fleck talks about his band’s emotional reunion

Published on 2012-04-27 06:56:38

Bela Fleck initial band reunited last year for Rocket Science, its first studio release in nearly two decades — and quickly claimed a Grammy award for the track “Life in Eleven.” That’s the fifth Fleck has won with the Flecktones, part of more than dozen total. But it might be the most meaningful on yet, being as it arrived after [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Porcupine Tree – The Incident (2009)

Published on 2012-04-27 06:09:51

I don’t usually spend a lot of time dumping on music that I don’t like. This is pretty much an ironclad rule when it comes to reviews. It’s the most pointless kind of writing, rarely rising above the level of drunken frat-boy snark. But sometimes it’s interesting to dig into the why’s and why not’s of dislike. So this morning, [...]

‘I’m just having more fun’: Ex-Wings drummer Denny Seiwell on leaving rock for jazz

Published on 2012-04-26 18:55:36

The upcoming reissue of Paul McCartney’s second solo effort Ram had us thinking about drummer Denny Seiwell, who joined McCartney’s band for that project then became a cornerstone of the original lineup of Wings. Seiwell, you might recall, was serving as the house drummer at the legendary Half Note jazz club in New York City when McCartney called to audition [...]

‘The name doesn’t matter’: Examining Steven Wilson’s growing focus on solo projects

Published on 2012-04-26 08:42:10

Is Porcupine Tree the next Steven Wilson project to go by the wayside? Not long after announcing his departure from Blackfield, Wilson is now reportedly saying he will focus exclusively on solo efforts. In an interview with Planet Rock Radio quoted by DPRP.net, Wilson says: “In essence, Porcupine Tree has probably run its course. I believe the band have reached [...]

Rufus Wainwright – Out of the Game (2012)

Published on 2012-04-26 07:34:42

When listening to Rufus Wainwright, I can’t help now but attempt to imagine how jazz trumpeter Dave Douglas might approach his songs. So successful was his take on “Poses” that it’s hard not to consider that the definitive version of the tune – even above Wainwright’s own. That’s the power of Rufus Wainwright, however. He is gifted with a sense [...]

Omer Avital – Suite Of The East (2012)

Published on 2012-04-26 06:58:05

Rockin’ the Jeff Lynne look especially with aviator sunglasses, Omer Avital might not be ready to lead ELO, but a half dozen years ago he led a stellar band through a set of seven original compositions conceived during a three year stint in Israel. Recorded quickly in one day in a Manhattan upper West side studio, Avital let Suite Of [...]

33 Days in the Hole: What happens when a metalhead listens to all Chicago, all the time

Published on 2012-04-25 14:22:06

Rock journalist Rob Kern, an avowed metalhead, chronicles his journey across a blistering sunscape of Chicago music in 33 Days in the Hole, now available in eBook format. Seems Kern, who’s written for Classic Rock Magazine and Rock Hard among others, listened to nothing by Chicago for more than a month, one album per day from their 1960s debut through [...]

Astra – The Black Chord (2012)

Published on 2012-04-25 12:39:53

Broad and spacious as all hell, Astra’s The Black Chord is retro in excess. The San Diego outfit employs all manner of guitar and analog synths to get the job done, never resisting an occasion to jam the hell out at great length. This can get a tad repetitive, but there’s something altogether remarkable about the lengths Astra goes to [...]

‘Ronnie’s sound was huge’: Steve Smith preps for Friday’s all-star tribute concert to Montrose

Published on 2012-04-25 07:40:05

Former Journey drummer Steve Smith joins his old bandmate Neal Schon as part of this week’s all-star tribute concert honoring Ronnie Montrose on Friday, April 27, 2012, on a bill that also includes the remaining members of the band Montrose and stars from Styx, Kiss and Chickenfoot. “We are all looking forward to playing together for Ronnie’s memory and helping [...]

Half Notes: Hot Hot Heat, “Talk To Me, Dance With Me” (2003)

Published on 2012-04-25 07:19:07

The next step beyond the ‘new’ garage rock movement? Successors to The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Hives, etc? Man, this tune really reminds me of the New Wave era. Maybe it’s the Robert Smith-like vocals. The snarky Gang Of Four-ish guitar line doesn’t hurt either. And geez, is that a synth I hear? The rhythm section is fun too. [...]

One Track Mind: Sweet, “New York Groove” (2012)

Published on 2012-04-25 06:57:32

Sweet answers the question once and for all: What would happen if some combined the glam of T. Rex, the metal of Slade and the modernity of Jay Z? What’s that? You said you never asked that particular question? Well, Sweet answers it anyway, with an effervescent take on “New York Groove” to open their forthcoming album of mashed-up cover [...]

Half Notes: Aaron Novik – Secrets Of Secrets (2012)

Published on 2012-04-25 06:31:32

Clarinetists don’t typically have a reputation of being adventurous (our own Mort Weiss notwithstanding), but it isn’t for the lack of such practitioners as Ben Goldberg and Chris Speed working hard to punch holes into those perceptions. Add Aaron Novik to that list of clarinet insurgents. Novik, who once studied under Greenberg, has likewise reached back to ancient Hebrew music [...]

‘Lordy! Lordy!’: Little Richard reacts to recently discovered jam with Joe Walsh

Published on 2012-04-24 09:43:02

While digging around for tasty extras to include in the deluxe edition of the forthcoming 2012 release Analog Man, Joe Walsh came across an amazing find: A tape of his former band the James Gang jamming with Little Richard. Co-produced by Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra fame, Analog Man also features brother-in-law Ringo Starr, just a few months after [...]

New two-CD live release cements BTO co-founder Fred Turner’s return to form

Published on 2012-04-24 08:57:57

Fred Turner has described his reunion with fellow BTO alum Randy Bachman as being “almost like a rebirth.” A signature moment in that emotional return from early retirement is forthcoming as Eagle Rock releases Live at the Roseland Ballroom, NYC on May 29, 2012, a two-CD set recorded while on tour in support of Bachman Turner. Bachman and Turner, the [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Beach Boys, “That’s Why God Made The Radio” (2012)

Published on 2012-04-24 08:30:05

The Beach Boys’ first single with Brian Wilson in ages is a celebration not just of the joys of their combined vocals, but also the glowing desktop contraption that long-ago beamed their biggest songs into our homes. “That’s Why God Made The Radio,” set for release on Friday, April 27, 2012, is the lead single from the Beach Boys improbable [...]

ZZ Top is standing by eccentric Rick Rubin, even as long-awaited album project stalls

Published on 2012-04-24 08:00:35

ZZ Top is putting its faith in eccentric producer/fellow longbeard Rick Rubin, even as we continue waiting — and waiting — for the band’s long-awaited new album. Rubin has been putting the finishing touches on this new project, ZZ Top’s first new studio album since 2003, for some time. The closest we’ve gotten to a release date was news a [...]

Something Else! Featured Artist: Eric Clapton

Published on 2012-04-24 07:38:02

As Eric Clapton puts the finishing touches on a scheduled 2012 release — again produced by frequent sideman Doyle Bramhall II, who also helmed the well-received Clapton a couple of years ago — we reached back for a few old favorites. Of course, 2012 has already seen the gala reissue of Layla win a Grammy, and the 20th anniversary of [...]

Fred’s Country Fried Rock: Joe Buck Yourself, “Devil Is On His Way” (2008)

Published on 2012-04-24 07:19:36

What was that I was saying about one-man bands often being corny? Yeah, here’s another one, but the rule doesn’t apply to Joe Buck, either. Buck, not to be confused with the sportscaster, first came to the attention of the musical world as a guitarist for Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers. He was next found mauling the upright bass behind Hank [...]

Harmonica Hinds – If Speed Was Just a Thought (2012)

Published on 2012-04-24 06:54:43

Mervyn “Harmonica” Hinds, a regular on the Chicago blues scene of decades, was once one of the best sidemen that nobody knew. That’s changed more recently, as Hinds has begun issuing albums under his own name in regular intervals. The latest – 2012′s If Speed Was Just a Thought, which follows Finally and Anything If I Could over the last [...]

Forgotten series: Andwellas Dream – Love and Poetry (1968)

Published on 2012-04-24 06:31:58

Sitting tight as one of the finest psychedelic statements of the era, Love and Poetry marked the introduction of this talented trio based in Northern Ireland. Originally pressed on the CBS label in 1968, the album bombed in terms of sales, but those fortunate enough to hear it readily recognize its artistic greatness. A whistling flute, clicking finger cymbals and [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: George Harrison, “My Sweet Lord” (2012)

Published on 2012-04-23 17:56:53

You could argue that Phil Spector’s billowing vision of Orchestra As Rock Band saw its fullest flowering on George Harrison’s stunning 1970 debut All Things Must Pass. You could also argue that he almost ruined it with a wet-sock Wall of Sound that all but obscures some tracks. If this lithe early take on the album’s blockbuster No. 1 hit [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Asia, “Face on the Bridge” (2012)

Published on 2012-04-23 09:56:51

The original lineup of Asia will celebrate what has become perhaps the band’s most productive period with a new album, a reissue of their career-making debut on its 30th anniversary and a massive world tour. XXX will be released on Monday, July 2, 2012, through Frontiers Records. The advance single, called “Face on the Bridge” is set for release digitally [...]

New Music Monday: Anathema, Deep Purple, Jack White, Peter Gabriel, Volbeat

Published on 2012-04-23 07:30:27

Now that you’ve devoured all of the weekend’s Record Store Day goodies, time to refocus on the next round of tasty musical newness headed your way — including 2012 releases from Anathema, Jack White and the Maccabees, as well as lip-smacking reissues and live sets from from the likes of Carole King, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel and Volbeat. Also arriving [...]

Many Arms – Many Arms (2012)

Published on 2012-04-23 06:54:25

Music that’s noisy and unconstrained aren’t all the same, and the best hardcore experimental bands understand that merely creating chaos is not enough; the chaos is best created in an orderly way. Many Arms — Nick Millevoi guitar John DeBlase, bass and Ricardo Lagomasino drums — is a thrash metal-jazz trio from Philly who I could sense a method to [...]

The Maccabees – Given to the Wild (2012)

Published on 2012-04-23 06:26:33

The Maccabees have said that their new album represents what the band really sounded like all along. Apparently, if the forthcoming Given to the Wild is to be believed, what they sounded like was Coldplay. The resemblance to Chris Martin and Co. on this April 24, 2012 U.S. release is nearly uncanny on “Feel to Follow,” a complex and then [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Crush On You” (1980)

Published on 2012-04-23 05:39:00

There are a lot of Springsteen fans who think that The River would have been improved if this song had been left off the recording. Bruce himself has said that he thinks this is the worst song they’ve ever put on an album. I guess I’ve always been a big fan of Springsteen’s goofier side, which is why the garage [...]

Steely Dan Sunday: “FM (No Static At All)” (1978)

Published on 2012-04-22 07:44:26

Back in 1971 when they were struggling to make it as songwriters for hire and before they formed Steely Dan, Becker and Fagen landed some work scoring a soundtrack for a movie that starred Richard Pryor. The low budget flick You’ve Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You’ll Lose That Beat went nowhere and so did the [...]

Peter Gabriel – Live Blood (2012)

Published on 2012-04-22 07:18:38

Since appearing onstage dressed in a flower costume while with Genesis, Peter Gabriel continues to take fans on musical and visual twists and turns. His ability to write love songs that avoid easy cliches, and gift for writing powerful political statements that deeply move listeners, still amaze. Finally, his deeply expressive voice can softly croon one moment, then ascend to [...]

Shows I’ll Never Forget: Alice in Chains, Dec. 3, 1991

Published on 2012-04-22 06:55:27

At Hirsch Memorial Coliseum, Shreveport, Louisiana: It was five days before my 19th birthday, and I’d received a ticket to see Van Halen as a gift. It was the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge tour, which would probably be my favorite record of the Sammy Hagar era, if I had one. I’m not and never was a big fan of Van [...]

Big Boy Pete – Cold Turkey (2012)

Published on 2012-04-22 06:29:21

From 1961-65, Big Boy Pete (aka Pete Miller) was the lead guitarist and singer for Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers. Upon departing the well known British band, he launched a prolific solo career. To this day, Pete remains highly active in music. He continues to write songs and record discs out of his home studio in San Francisco, California. Aside [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Squackett, “Sea of Smiles”/”Perfect Love Song” (2012)

Published on 2012-04-21 16:38:40

Issued today as a special single to commemorate Record Store Day 2012, these two songs give us an early glimpse into one of the more interesting collaborations in memory between legacy prog-rockers. Guitarist Steve Hackett, a member of Genesis from 1970-77, and Yes’ bass-playing cofounder Chris Squire first worked together three years ago, and the idea for the forthcoming A [...]

Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi!: This Tupac Shakur hologram is freaking me out

Published on 2012-04-21 08:31:33

The stage darkens, and a hush falls over the crowd. Suddenly a figure rises from the stage floor, a shirtless man with sagging jeans, bathed in an eerie white light. He casually surveys the crowd, saunters to the front of the stage, microphone in hand. After profanely greeting the audience, he launches into two of his most well-known songs, and [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Willie Nelson, “Roll Me Up” (2012)

Published on 2012-04-21 07:44:37

Willie Nelson’s official site is currently streaming the “world premiere” of “Roll Me Up,” the first song from his upcoming Heroes album and a tune that he’s been playing live since late last year. On my first listen to the studio version of the song, I couldn’t help but think of a good article I read on Saving Country Music [...]

Tomas Fujiwara and the Hook Up – The Air Is Different (2012)

Published on 2012-04-21 07:23:57

The music of Tomas Fujiwara and his Hook Up band is some of the most deceptively clever jazz out there, which makes it very difficult to describe his music. To attack his aberrant compositions, Fujiwara deploys a pretty pedestrian instrumentation of acoustic bass, guitar, trumpet, tenor sax and his drums, and everyone is playing their instruments with craftsmanship, but not [...]

One Track Mind: Allyson Lupovich, “Theme from ‘Caillou’” (1998)

Published on 2012-04-21 06:49:33

What fresh hell is this? Take one day off from work to recover from one of the nastiest, most insidious little colds to come along in ages, and something sicker happens: I get the theme song from children’s show Caillou lodged firmly in my head. And it’s not like we had it on all day, serving up its special brand [...]

Anathema – Weather Systems (2012)

Published on 2012-04-20 20:22:59

For those already familiar with the band, the evolution of Anathema has been a fascinating one to watch — particularly since coming back from a prolonged absence a few years back. Looking over the entire course of their career, Anathema has basically moved away from their humble beginnings as metallic merchants of doom and gloom, to their present-day status as [...]

‘Celestial amnesia’: Carlos Santana talks about remaining grounded after all these years

Published on 2012-04-20 18:20:48

Carlos Santana has had his share of accolades, fame and fortune. Since his explosive debut more than four decades ago, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has sold some 90 million records and earned 10 Grammys — including a record-tying nine for a single album, 1999′s album of the year Supernatural. Up next is Shapeshifter, Santana’s 36th record. An [...]

Dave Stewart played a key role – from afar – in the Traveling Wilburys’ formative days

Published on 2012-04-20 17:02:36

Dave Stewart, of Eurythmics fame, played a key role in the formative days of the Traveling Wilburys, that 1980s supergroup featuring Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison. The Grammy-winning musician and producer talked about that period as work continues on his second album in as many years, after 2011′s The Blackbird Diaries. He’s also helmed [...]

For Yes’ Chris Squire and Genesis alum Steve Hackett, forthcoming collaboration grew organically

Published on 2012-04-20 12:48:28

An official street date, tracklisting and album title have been released for Squackett, the forthcoming collaboration between Yes’ Chris Squire and Genesis alum Steve Hackett. But first, the duo will release a limited-edition seven-inch vinyl single to tie in with Saturday’s Record Store Day. It will include a single edit of “Sea of Smiles” backed with “Perfect Love Song” — [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Rufus Wainwright, “Out of the Game” (2012)

Published on 2012-04-20 07:50:01

Rufus Wainwright returns with a song that sounds as old as polyester and, in fact, boasts a few venomous rebukes of dead-end dalliances that you’d expect to hear from the old men who once wore it. The title track to Wainwright’s seventh studio album, set for release on May 1, 2012 through Decca/Universal, was produced by Mark Ronson — perhaps [...]

Guilty pleasures: De La Soul, “A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturdays” (1991)

Published on 2012-04-20 07:23:15

I’ve never understood why so many people — even in the present-day environment of mainstream acceptance for the modern, much more watered-down, commercially acceptable version of hip-hop — still see rap music as a threat. Well OK, maybe I do understand this. At least, sort of. In the post NWA world of gangsta’ rap, there is the rather obvious matter [...]

Half Notes: Paul McCartney – In Red Square: A Concert Film (2005)

Published on 2012-04-20 06:55:31

Filmed in 2003, McCartney was “Back in the (former) USSR” (c’mon, you know I had to do it) for the first time since the Beatles were banned from the country in the 1960s. You know what a dangerous thing those Beatles were. Featuring a Beatles-heavy setlist (thankfully), this isn’t quite a concert: They don’t use the term “film” in the [...]

Deep Purple – Total Abandon: Australia ’99 (2012)

Published on 2012-04-20 06:21:38

Here’s where the Steve Morse edition of Deep Purple staked its claim to the band’s stirring history — and, in many ways, began to refashion it for a new age. Gigging in support of the harder-rocking, yet comfortably prog-informed 1998 release Abandon, a jaunt that long-time singer Ian Gillan punningly dubbed “A Band on Tour, Deep Purple arrived in Australia [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: The Band – The Last Waltz (1978)

Published on 2012-04-20 05:44:09

Yesterday, I received a message from an old high school friend. We shared a lot of great times, but one of the greatest was the afternoon we spent at Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville, Maine, watching Martin Scorsese’s concert film The Last Waltz. While it’s pretty much impossible to overstate the importance of the stars who made appearances at the [...]

‘Don Henley is intimidated’: Frank Ocean fires back over sample of Eagles’ ‘Hotel California’

Published on 2012-04-19 14:49:04

Frank Ocean, the R&B singer who tangled with the Eagles’ Don Henley last month over a sample of the Eagles’ “Hotel California,” isn’t finished talking about the situation. And it keeps getting funnier. Writing on his Tumblr page, Ocean now reportedly says the Eagles are jealous of his work, intimating that a threatened lawsuit over copyright infringement is personal — [...]

As Styx prepares for summer tour, James “J.Y.” Young hints at new studio project

Published on 2012-04-19 14:32:11

Styx is considering a full-length covers project, according to founding guitarist James “J.Y.” Young — and why not? After all, Styx’s 2003 rendition of the Beatles “I Am The Walrus” “was our biggest airplay item of newly recorded music in the new millennium.” This year marks both the 40th anniversary of Styx’s self-titled debut album, and 35 years since the [...]

New Red Hot Chili Peppers EP salutes fellow Hall of Fame inductees, including Ramones, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, others

Published on 2012-04-19 13:12:02

If you always wondered what the Red Hot Chili Peppers would sound like covering their fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees — both the expected (the Ramones, Iggy Pop) and the decidedly less so (Dion, the Beach Boys) — here’s your chance. The Chili Peppers have prepared a special download-only EP release, to be available May 1 via [...]

Joe Walsh talks about the digital-age theme of Analog Man, and working with Jeff Lynne

Published on 2012-04-19 10:40:54

Joe Walsh goes in depth on his long-awaited new 2012 solo recording Analog Man, exploring its digital-age theme and what it was like to work with producer Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra fame. “The digital thing is just kind of theme that I touch on,” Walsh says in the video, attached below. “There’s two worlds now, and one is [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Rush, “Headlong Flight” (2012)

Published on 2012-04-19 08:52:07

Building off a hard-charging instrumental, the initial single from Rush’s forthcoming Clockwork Angels finds the trio referencing its storied musical past — in more ways than one. “Really good. The only thing I don’t care for,” our Tom Johnson says in a new watercooler conversation about “Headlong Flight, “are the blatant homages to past songs, like “Bastille Day” — why? [...]

Hank Williams III – Long Gone Daddy (2012)

Published on 2012-04-19 08:16:58

After years of battling with Curb Records to have his albums released, Hank III finally broke free from his contract a little over a year ago. Now, it seems Curb has no problem releasing his records. This is the second they’ve put out since he left, following up last year’s Hillbilly Joker, a rock album they refused to release when [...]

On Second Thought: Jack White – Blunderbuss (2012)

Published on 2012-04-19 07:34:23

In our initial review on Jack White’s forthcoming 2012 solo debut, we breathlessly likened Blunderbuss to “a ready-made greatest-hits package.” But there’s more to be said. Most particularly when it comes to the first-take item’s central question on long-awaited Blunderbuss — which we said was “so full of musical ambition and quirky twists and thrilling chance-taking turns and startling successes, [...]

Half Notes: Ro Sham Beaux – Ro Sham Beaux (2012)

Published on 2012-04-19 07:22:43

Sprung from classmates at the well-regarded New England Conservatory of Music, Ro Sham Beaux, est. 2009, is a Boston based band that, in a rarity for a fusion jazz ensemble, takes the “band” word seriously: they operate as a true cooperative. This quartet made up of Zac Shaiman (sax, effects), Luke Marantz (keys), Oliver Watkinson (bass) and Jacob Cole (drums, [...]

Forgotten series: The Choir – Choir Practice (1994)

Published on 2012-04-19 06:58:22

Armed with an arsenal of great songs, sharp chops and a cool look, the Choir were Cleveland, Ohio’s answer to the best of the British Invasion. Formed in late 1964 and initially called the Mods, the band gathered much local success right up until their break up in 1970. During those years, they recorded a whole bunch of material, but [...]

One Track Mind: John Wetton on Asia, King Crimson and standout solo songs

Published on 2012-04-19 06:31:28

On this special edition of Something Else Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to prog legend John Wetton, who discusses signature moments from his tenures in Asia, King Crimson and as a solo artist. As he prepares for 2012 projects with UK and then with Asia, we went inside the creative process on a decades-old album that, [...]

One Track Mind: Barry Manilow, “Bandstand Boogie” (1975)

Published on 2012-04-18 20:59:00

When I went back to the SER watercooler with my cohorts following the news today of Dick Clark’s death, we were all in a somber and reflective mood. Watching American Bandstand was a late Saturday morning ritual for all of us and probably for most everyone in the USA born from the end of World War 2 until about the [...]

Complete tracklisting for massive reissue of Paul McCartney’s Ram released

Published on 2012-04-18 16:24:13

The full tracklisting has been announced for the sprawling reissue of Paul McCartney’s 1971 album Ram. The only project to be credited to both Paul and Linda McCartney, Ram was Paul’s second post-Beatles LP. It went to No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in the U.S., and featured McCartney’s first solo No. 1 single with “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey.” [...]

‘Look at that man; he never ages’: TV and music icon Dick Clark dies at 82

Published on 2012-04-18 15:49:51

Dick Clark, who shaped music tastes for generations with TV’s “American Bandstand,” delighted us in the afternoons with the well-watched $25,000 “Pyramid” game show, then gave the world a peek at Times Square craziness with his annual “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” specials, has died. In a statement, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s agent Paul Shefrin said Clark passed [...]

Paul Rodgers wonders if Adam Lambert ‘has the groundwork to see him through’ high-profile Queen tour

Published on 2012-04-18 15:26:21

Paul Rodgers, who toured with Queen for four years in the last decade, said he might not have taken the gig if it had been preceded by the media attention surrounding Adam Lambert’s similar feature spot in 2012. Of course, both men are stepping into the enormous shoes left by the late Queen singer Freddie Mercury — one of rock’s [...]

Something Else! Interview: John Wetton of Asia, King Crimson and UK

Published on 2012-04-18 07:39:53

John Wetton has an over-stuffed briefcase of appointments this year. Coming off a well-received sixth solo project, he’ll reunite with the trio-era members of UK for a tour to begin on May 2, 2012, then with his blockbuster 1980s prog-pop band Asia for an album and tour in the fall. The well-traveled Brit rose to early fame collaborating with childhood [...]

Daniel Freedman – Bamako By Bus (2012)

Published on 2012-04-18 07:01:13

This is a drummer’s record but not a record about drum solos. Musically, however, it’s about a lot of other things, like rhumba, West African, reggae, Moroccan, Afro-Cuban, funk-fusion and, finally jazz. Music that percussion master Daniel Freedman finds all in the same place only at one place in the world: New York City. Originally to be titled NY Nation, [...]

Gimme Five: Celebrating Levon Helm, co-founder and voice of the Band

Published on 2012-04-18 06:16:06

News came on Tuesday that Levon Helm’s cancer has returned, leading us to marvel all over again on his towering achievements in music. The loamy voiced, rail-jumping rhythmic center point of the Band, Helm re-emerged in the last decade after an initial diagnosis to reclaim his mantle as yearning storyteller and timeless soul singer. Three straight Grammy awards followed, starting [...]

Cancer has returned for Levon Helm, multiple solo Grammy winner and voice of the Band

Published on 2012-04-17 16:03:40

A new message from LevonHelm.com confirms what many fans feared when he suddenly postponed an April 6 concert appearance, just weeks after returning from an unexplained surgical procedure: The legendary co-founder of the Band and multiple solo Grammy winner has seen his cancer battle take a turn for the worse. Helm, 71, sang on a number of the Band’s most [...]

Paul McCartney says Ram was a chance for he and Linda to ‘find themselves’

Published on 2012-04-17 14:40:30

The forthcoming May 2012 deluxe reissue of Paul McCartney’s Ram will feature a new documentary on the making of the album, and we’ve got a new segment to share. Hear McCartney talk about the genesis of his second solo album, and how he decided to invite his first wife Linda to be in his new band. Originally released in May [...]

Eddie Van Halen reveals that he’s had two more cancer scares in the last year

Published on 2012-04-17 13:52:10

A new Esquire feature story on Eddie Van Halen reveals that his cancer battle has been much more involved that was originally thought. Initially diagnosed with cancer of the tongue in 2000, Van Halen underwent an aggressive treatment plan that included an experimental radioactive rinse and cutting out a piece of his tongue. The guitarist’s life took some twists and [...]

Something Else! Featured Artist: Lionel Richie

Published on 2012-04-17 08:55:43

Lionel Richie has made that rarest of comebacks in 2012, and not just because he’s so successfully exploring the country roots inside his own musical muse. He’s actually fashioned a third-act record-selling triumph. With Tuskegee, Richie looks to top the Billboard charts for the first time since 1986, when Dancing on the Ceiling held on to the No. 1 spot [...]

Jack White – Blunderbuss (2012)

Published on 2012-04-17 07:36:42

Blunderbuss makes you miss the White Stripes all over again, but at the same time gain a new appreciation for the itchy, adventuresome attitude that made Jack White such an important — if never, we see now, fully explored — element in their sound. Stepping out, finally, into his own, White brings along familiar sounds and textures. You hear something [...]

Ches Smith’s Congs For Brums – Psycho Predictions (2012)

Published on 2012-04-17 07:13:53

What might sound to the casual ear like goofing around in the studio is actually a drumming genius at work. Ches Smith, recording for the third time under the guise of “Congs For Brums,” is once again in an experimental mode and worked out an extended piece in front of audiences before recording it in the studio 13 times live [...]

The Grateful Dead – All The Years Combine: The DVD Collection (2012)

Published on 2012-04-17 06:40:44

There was something about a New Year’s Eve show and the Grateful Dead, as the forthcoming All The Years Combine: The DVD Collection so artfully illustrates. Three of the DVDs in this sprawling package, due today (April 17, 2012) from Shout! Factory, feature Dec. 31 performances captured in 1978, 1985 and 1987. You’ll be dissecting this one long after the [...]

About the Rolling Stones going into the studio? Ronnie Wood says: Never mind

Published on 2012-04-16 14:04:54

Ronnie Wood, in between gathering accolades for his 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction as a member of the Faces, has backtracked on whether or not the Rolling Stones are headed back to the studio. Speaking at a news conference last week for a new exhibit of his paintings called “Faces, Time and Places,” Wood was quoted by [...]

Tedeschi Trucks Band celebrates terrific first year together with new double-live set

Published on 2012-04-16 13:08:37

The cool-rocking 11-piece Tedeschi Trucks Band will release an uplifting, energy-packed double live set called Everybody’s Talkin’ on May, 22, 2012 — a capping an amazing initial year of collaborations between Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi that culminated with a Grammy win for their debut album Revelator. “I really never imagined it would have turned out quite like this, especially [...]

Space-music pioneers Tangerine Dream set for swing through North America

Published on 2012-04-16 12:51:44

Space-music pioneers Tangerine Dream are set for a seven-date tour through North America, beginning on June 30 with the Montreal Jazz Festival. Complete dates, venues and sites for the tour, called The Electric Mandarine Tour 2012, are below. The German group has gone through numerous personnel shifts since its founding in 1967, with Edgar Froese as the only constant. The [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Out In The Street” (1980)

Published on 2012-04-16 07:34:05

Part of the magic of The River was the masterful combination of emotional, spiritually meaningful songs placed right alongside the garage rockers and party anthems. But hey, this isn’t to say that there’s no emotion involved in the latter. “Out In The Street” is a celebration of the end of the week, when it’s time to shed your work clothes [...]

New Music Monday: Dar Williams, Hank III, Donovan, the Grateful Dead, Lurrie Bell

Published on 2012-04-16 07:09:20

Put up a chair; there’s piping hot newness in store from the likes of Dar Williams, Duke Robillard, Hank Williams III, Jon Cleary and Lurrie Bell, as well as sizzling reissues and concert souvenirs from Blue Oyster Cult, Cowboy Junkies, Donovan, the Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin — not to mention the Tom Moulton remixes of favorite cuts from Philadelphia [...]

Half Notes: Tom Tallitsch – Heads Or Tales (2012)

Published on 2012-04-16 06:45:06

Saxophonist, composer, musical educator, and radio show host Tom Tallitsch keeps busy wearing a variety of hats all revolving around his love of music and the love of sharing his knowledge about it to others. Every couple of years since 2005, he’s been sharing music by making a record, and this week he does so again for the forth time [...]

Fred’s Country Fried Rock: Wayne Hancock, “87 Southbound” (1997)

Published on 2012-04-16 06:23:59

Hank III often gets the credit for reviving the traditional country sound. Though he obviously doesn’t have as noticeable a country name, the true godfather of the neo-traditionalist movement might be Wayne “The Train” Hancock. III will tell you that himself as he often pays respect to Hancock when asked. “The Train” revived the Hank Sr. sound a few years [...]

Steely Dan Sunday: “(You Got) The Bear” (ca. 1977, unreleased)

Published on 2012-04-15 07:22:36

There’s really no telling how many great Steely Dan recordings fell to the cutting room floor, as Becker and Fagen were notoriously picky about what songs made it onto their albums. So, it’s not hard to imagine that for a “all killer/no filler” record like Aja there might be a pretty good song or two that got left out. We [...]

Forgotten series: Pelican – Australasia (2004)

Published on 2012-04-15 06:43:48

I was saddened at the loss of Godflesh, but long before their dissolution Godflesh had ceased to be what interested me in them in the first place. I found them in 1992, eager to seek out something newer and heavier than anything else I could find: Industrial sufficed only so much before it felt like the bands were simply making [...]

Shwa Losben – Good Times, Good Times (2010)

Published on 2012-04-15 06:17:48

You don’t have to go too far back before the concept of “community” morphs into something completely different from current ideas. Much of this can be attributed to the Internet, as both social networking engine and as digital media conduit. It has transformed much of what we used to think of as shopping, marketing, and advertising. It’s not that simple, [...]

Forgotten series: Secret Affair – Glory Boys (1979)

Published on 2012-04-15 05:50:21

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, a hot and heavy Mod revival occurred in England. Instigated by the vision of the Jam, the scene may have been fertile, but the majority of participants proved to be pale imitations of their hip forefathers of the previous decade like the Who, the Action and the Small Faces. Because a great deal [...]

It’s a Gebhard Ullmann Two-Fer!: BassX3 – Transatlantic and The Clarinet Trio – 4 (2012)

Published on 2012-04-14 10:59:08

The multi-talented reedist Gebhard Ullmann splits his time between his native Berlin and New York but more impressively, he also splits his time leading or co-leading no less than eight workings bands (including the previously discussed The Ullmann|Swell 4), has recently embarked on four more projects, and is already a member of at least a half dozen other ensembles. Add [...]

Dar Williams – In the Time of Gods (2012)

Published on 2012-04-14 07:52:03

Dar Williams might be one of the few singer-songwriters around who could take the age-old fables surrounding Zeus and Aphrodite, and smartly connect them to our current state of affairs. Her latest album, In the Time of Gods — due April 17 from Razor and Tie — ends up underscoring both the universal truths found in the mythology of our [...]

Mort Weiss: Let’s compare your average jazz cat to those with classical gas

Published on 2012-04-14 07:24:04

This question goes way back, but is still relevant in 2012: Who’s the better musician — a jazz or classical player? I remember talking to someone, about someone, and the cat asking: Is he jazz or legit? For those of you who don’t know what Mort Weiss is about, I will restate that when I use the word jazz, I’m [...]

Lurrie Bell – The Devil Ain’t Got No Music (2012)

Published on 2012-04-14 06:41:39

For many of the most familiar names in blues music, their careers began in the church: Stars like B.B. King, Etta James and James Brown debuted as youngsters performing gospel music. For Lurrie Bell, the journey went in reverse. The Chicago-born son of celebrated harmonica player Carey Bell, Lurrie’s youth was surrounded by visitors like Muddy Waters, Big Walter Horton [...]

Memo to London Olympics organizers: The Who’s Keith Moon is still dead

Published on 2012-04-13 16:56:25

Forgive 2012 Olympics organizers for wanting to get the most bang for their buck. Having already secured the services of surviving Who members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, London officials made a special request: Could Keith Moon sit in? Of course, Daltrey and Townshend still tour as the Who. But Keith Moon has been dead for 34 years, having passed [...]

Top 5 bands not in Rock and Rock Hall of Fame include Kiss, Rush, Heart, Yes and Jethro Tull

Published on 2012-04-13 14:22:42

A new list courtesy of Ranker.com argues that Kiss is the top act not already in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, followed by Rush, Heart, Yes and Jethro Tull. The rest of the Top 10 of eligible absentees includes Deep Purple, the Cure, Peter Gabriel, the Moody Blues and Chicago. The 2012 class of the rock hall will [...]

New album from glam-rock legends Sweet to feature mashed-up cover tunes

Published on 2012-04-13 13:48:28

Sweet, still led by original guitarist Andy Scott, return with a mashed-up new studio project that blends choice covers with elements of the band’s most memorable hits. Check out the new video preview below! New York Connection, due on April 27, 2012, is the band’s first studio project since 2006′s Sweetlife. Scott, who has continued maintained a rigorous touring schedule [...]

Bruce Springsteen’s successful Wrecking Ball tour makes the jump to stadiums

Published on 2012-04-13 11:52:46

Bruce Springsteen has added more dates to his on-going North American tour in support of Wrecking Ball, this time in a series of huge arenas. Tickets go on sale beginning April 20, 2012, for these additional shows, slated for the East Coast and Canada. Complete concert information, including venues and on-sale dates, is below. Wrecking Ball, Springsteen’s 17th studio album, [...]

Duke Robillard Jazz Trio – Wobble Walkin’ (2012)

Published on 2012-04-13 09:47:35

Don’t look for the lip-smacking blues licks that have become associated with Duke Robillard for so long. Instead, the former co-founder of Roomful of Blues settles into an infectiously listenable, decidedly in-the-pocket tempo for much of his forthcoming new jazz trio project Wobble Walkin’. That’s perhaps best heard on the title track, one of four originals on this April 17, [...]

Steve Morse to reunite with Bob Ezrin on forthcoming Deep Purple studio effort

Published on 2012-04-13 09:04:42

Over its most recent releases, Deep Purple has either worked with Michael Bradford or produced the project themselves. That looks to change with the group’s forthcoming 2012 release, which will apparently be helmed by the decidedly more high profile Bob Ezrin. Deep Purple’s Steve Morse had previously confirmed that recording on the album, Deep Purple’s first since 2005, was set [...]

Bunny Sigler – From Bunny With Love (2012)

Published on 2012-04-13 08:42:13

Bunny Sigler, an architect of the classic Philly sound, is back with a blast of straight-forward funk and sweet soul, following his gospel-themed 2008 release The Lord’s Prayer. From Bunny With Love — due on April 17, 2012 from Bun Z Records — is actually subtitled … And a Little Soul, and that perfectly sums things up. It’s a complete [...]

One Track Mind: Guns n’ Roses, “You’re Crazy” (1990)

Published on 2012-04-13 07:11:18

Thinking about Guns n’ Roses in the wake of Axl Rose’s snub of the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies (which given that institution’s history is perhaps well-deserved), I had an urge to write a little something on the music instead of just ranting about the state of the band. This song seemed very appropriate for some reason. [...]

One Track Mind: Curtis Salgado on Robert Cray, O.V. Wright, Cab Calloway, Albert Collins

Published on 2012-04-13 06:39:26

On this special edition of Something Else Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to Curtis Salgado, a former sideman with Robert Cray, Roomful of Blues and Santana. All along, he’s maintained a parallel and celebrated solo career, capped by the release earlier this week of his 2012 Alligator Records debut, Soul Shot. Here, he goes in depth [...]

Half Notes: The Afghan Whigs – Unbreakable: A Retrospective 1990-2006 (2007)

Published on 2012-04-13 06:21:09

As the title suggests, it’s a best-of for this critically adored soul-punk act, and probably a good place for all of us to start. Myself, I had “66″ and like it a lot, but I’d really fallen for lead Greg Dulli’s new band the Twilight Singers by the time this retrospective arrived. The Twilight Singers sounded a lot like the [...]

‘It’s not pop music, not rock’: Clive Deamer on Radiohead’s jazz-inflected sound

Published on 2012-04-12 15:46:22

Drummer Clive Deamer, who entered 2012 on tour with Radiohead, is no closer than anyone else to placing a label on their music. He says it’s not pop, but also that it’s not rock. Actually, he hears a lot of jazz in it. Deamer should know. After all, and he his band Get The Blessing claimed the BBC Jazz Award [...]

Ex-Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley: Maybe the Mayans are on to something

Published on 2012-04-12 15:18:49

Ace Frehley, the former guitarist with Kiss, has taken a close look around — and he’s not so sure the Mayans don’t have a point when it comes to their end-of-the-world predictions for 2012. Of course, that hasn’t stopped Frehley from continuing work on his first album since 2009′s Anomaly, as well as a sequel to last year’s autobiography “No [...]

Julian Lennon on Beatles-obsessed collectors: ‘The whole thing is bizarre’

Published on 2012-04-12 15:02:29

Growing up around the Beatles, young Julian Lennon saw firsthand how fame enveloped them. Still, he’s surprised at how far some people will go in 2012 as they pursue all things Fab. Lennon, the oldest son of slain Beatles leader John Lennon, issued the well-received Everything Changes last year, his first full-length project since 1998′s Photograph Smile. He actually held [...]

Warren Haynes says he still feels ‘very fortunate’ to be part of Allman Brothers Band legacy

Published on 2012-04-12 14:38:27

A lifelong fan, Warren Haynes remembers joining the Allman Brothers Band some 23 years ago as a “gradual process.” Of course, he’s stayed busy along the way, too. Haynes is coming off a 2012 Grammy nomination for best blues album, recognition for the standout solo project Man In Motion. He’s maintained another stand-alone group in Gov’t Mule, as well, and [...]

Something Else! Interview: Soul-blues shouter Curtis Salgado

Published on 2012-04-12 08:58:01

Curtis Salgado, who has kicked off 2012 with a sizzling new soul-blues debut for Alligator Records, has never been fated with an uninteresting life. From an early stint playing alongside Robert Cray from 1976-82 to playing an inspirational role for John Belushi’s character in The Blues Brothers film, from sitting in for a pair of 1980s recordings by Roomful of [...]

The Rockologist: Donovan went from Forrest Gump to Rock Hall’s sunshine superman

Published on 2012-04-12 07:44:05

With all the media attention surrounding Axl Rose thumbing his nose at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this week, it’s been a little sad to see the induction of 2012 fellow honoree Donovan Leitch become swallowed up in the hoopla. It’s too bad, because in many ways, Donovan’s influence upon several generations of rock and roll musicians has [...]

One Track Mind: Pantera, “Piss” (2012)

Published on 2012-04-12 07:20:32

So the unveiling of Pantera’s only unreleased song comes with a lot of excitement for this old metalhead, and just a little bit of disappointment after hearing it. The video for the track, the first new song from Pantera since 2000, was unveiled Wednesday night on the Revolver Golden Gods Awards, and the song was made available as a single [...]

One Track Mind: Andrew Swift, “Understanding” (2012)

Published on 2012-04-12 06:38:38

Back in 1984 I purchased my first McCoy Tyner album, Dimensions, which was his current release at the time. Though I didn’t fully realize it then, this was a little bit of an unusual line-up for him. John Blake’s violin was a little out of character for a Tyner record although Blake appeared on a couple of other of his [...]

Are they still Guns n’ Roses?: Axl Rose’s Hall of Fame diss raises an interesting question

Published on 2012-04-11 17:50:26

Frontman Axl Rose composes a surprisingly cogent — though, nevertheless, staggeringly wrongheaded — letter declining to participate in Guns n’ Roses’ upcoming 2012 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Our Fred Phillips responds … I refuse to refer to the current lineup as Guns n’ Roses. It’s Axl Rose and Four or Five Other Guys. Dizzy Reed [...]

Ben Gibbard admits some apprehension about Death Cab for Cutie’s new tour — OK, a lot

Published on 2012-04-11 16:31:14

Ben Gibbard and Death Cab for Cutie are trying something different for a 2012 tour that kicked off Tuesday in Colorado, performing with the eight members of the Magik*Magik Orchestra — six violins and two cellos. That’s the same group that appeared with Death Cab in its “Storytellers” episode on VH1, and helped add a deeper texture to last year’s [...]

First Greg Lake solo album in nearly 30 years on the way, even as new tour begins

Published on 2012-04-11 14:23:42

Greg Lake is at work on his first solo project since 1983′s Manoeuvres, with plans to set a release date of either later in 2012 or early next year. Beyond that, though, the founding member of King Crimson and Emerson Lake and Palmer is offering precious few details. Meanwhile, look for him on a 28-date solo track through North America [...]

New Rush album promises to harken back to 1980s sound, but with more aggressive style

Published on 2012-04-11 13:56:10

Rush fans are gearing up for an exciting 2012, with an official release date finally surfacing for the latest album, Clockwork Angels (that’s No. 20 if you include the Feedback EP) – mark your calendars: June 12. This follows the upcoming release of the new single, “Headlong Flight,” on April 19, which itself follows, by nearly two full years, the [...]

Shows I’ll Never Forget: Radiohead, April 9, 2012

Published on 2012-04-11 08:53:04

At Key Arena, Seattle, Washington: Besides their well-known status as perennial critics darlings, Radiohead have enjoyed a well-earned reputation through the years as one of the best live bands on the planet. Playing before a packed house this past Monday night at Seattle’s Key Arena — to kick off the West Coast “Coachella” leg of their current U.S. tour — [...]

Amanda Ruzza – This Is What Happened (2012)

Published on 2012-04-11 08:21:55

Amanda Ruzzo is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and English. She’s also extremely fluent in bass guitar. A quick learner who picked up that instrument at age 12 and played professionally at age 13, Ruzza benefited from the rich cultural confluence of growing up in Brazil to a Chilean mother and Italian father. Later arriving in America on a prestigious [...]

Guilty pleasures: Angel – An Anthology (1992)

Published on 2012-04-11 07:47:38

Garbed in fancy white threads and flowing locks, Angel did indeed strike a celestial pose. The band’s sound further carried a magical quality as their elaborately engraved songs roared and soared with pulsating power, resulting in a majestic heavy metal symphony of beauty and grace. Located in Washington D.C., Angel got their big break when Gene Simmons caught them playing [...]

One Track Mind: Blue Öyster Cult, “Burnin’ for You” (1981; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-04-11 07:11:14

Everybody remembers “Don’t Fear The Reaper” — Blue Öyster Cult’s No. 12 hit from 1976 — and I admit, I’ve always been a fan of the song’s false ending, followed by Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser’s super-sly return. But, for me, the better song remains “Burnin’ For You,” which spent three weeks stuck at No. 40 in 1981. A billowing riff, [...]

Fred’s Country Fried Rock: Scott H. Biram, “I Want My Mojo Back” (2011)

Published on 2012-04-11 06:35:23

The one-man band deal is pretty hard to pull off. I’ve heard quite a few that end up coming off as pretty corny. Biram, though, has the skills as he shows on his 2011 album Bad Ingredients. Biram’s one of the many members of the underground country movement that comes from a background in punk, rock and heavy metal, and [...]

New bronze statue of Willie Nelson going up in Austin — when else? — at 4:20 on 4/20

Published on 2012-04-10 16:24:44

Only in Austin. Wait, make that only in Austin when we’re talking about Willie Nelson. A new eight-foot, one-ton bronze statue of the country music outlaw will be unveiled — in a winking tribute to Nelson’s reputation as both a stoner and a proponent of the legalization of weed — at 4:20 p.m. on April 20, 2012. The piece, sculpted [...]

Ronnie Wood: Rolling Stones return to the studio hoping ‘to get the feel again’

Published on 2012-04-10 15:16:18

The Rolling Stones took eight years between Bridges to Babylon and 2005′s A Bigger Bang, and it’s been seven years since that studio recording. Perhaps the long wait is over. Ronnie Wood, speaking at a news conference for a new exhibit of his paintings called “Faces, Time and Places,” confirms that the Stones are set for a recording session before [...]

‘Celebrate Ronnie’s life’: Montrose family reacts to confirmation that he committed suicide

Published on 2012-04-10 14:54:50

A new report confirms that guitar hero Ronnie Montrose, who had been battling cancer for years, took his own life. The Montrose family statement, issued in the wake of his March 3, 2012, passing, actually made a veiled reference to suicide, saying: “He’d battled cancer, and staved off old age for long enough. And true to form, he chose his [...]

Queen’s Roger Taylor on that drunk guy singing “Bohemian Rhapsody”: ‘Very funny’

Published on 2012-04-10 10:53:54

One of the Web’s biggest 2012 viral sensations so far has been that video of a Canadian man, under arrest for drunken driving in the back seat of a Canadian police car, singing Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” in its entirety. Count the band’s co-founding drummer Roger Taylor as a fan. “It’s very funny,” Taylor says, “and it’s had so many hits. [...]

Jon Cleary – Occapella (2012)

Published on 2012-04-10 09:42:33

Jon Cleary is a big enough fan, and an accomplished enough musician, to mix it up on this forthcoming tribute record — which is smartly subtitled “Having Fun with the Songs of Allen Toussaint.” The English-born Cleary, a New Orleans resident now for more than three decades, does it all on Occapella, save for a few choice guest appearances by [...]

Something Else! Featured Artist: More Led Zeppelin!

Published on 2012-04-10 08:37:49

What’s the continuing attraction, in 2012, for the long-gone Led Zeppelin? From movie trailers to “American Idol,” these long-haired, often-shirtless heavy-metal rock-gods — disbanded since the turn of the 1980s, mind you — remain front of mind. Check out the promo reel for “Battlestar Galactica: Blood And Chrome,” and there’s Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song,” remixed by Trent Reznor and featured [...]

The Staves – The Motherlode EP (2012)

Published on 2012-04-10 07:30:51

The Staves arrive as the very image of a twee sibling act — and you prepare yourself for another sweetly unthreatening batch of folk tunes. But this is an aptly titled EP, full of musical (and emotional) surprises. They never fall into the von Trapp trap. Take the title track, this haunting moment of intertwined harmony that’s at once heartbreakingly [...]

Eivind Opsvik – Overseas IV (2012)

Published on 2012-04-10 06:48:07

Sometimes when it comes to listening to music, patience is a virtue… Imagine cueing up a record by a jazz bassist and being greeted with the ornate sounds of a timpani, harpsichord and bowed bass. I was all ready to dismiss this or some kind of stuffy, archaic chamber jazz, when the album took an interesting turn right around the [...]

Shows I’ll Never Forget: Radiohead at Key Arena, Seattle, WA 4/09/12

Published on 2012-04-10 02:44:04

Identikit

The Successful Failures – Here I Am! (2012)

Published on 2012-04-09 07:19:21

In the beginning, the Successful Failures played alternative country music, but gradually developed into a true blue rock band. Formed in 2006 by lead singer and guitarist Mick Chorba (who also runs the Chesterfield, New Jersey based FDR label), the group further includes guitarist John Williams, bassist Ron Bechamps and drummer Rob Martin. To date, the Successful Failures have released [...]

Flowtilla – Waves and Particles (2011)

Published on 2012-04-09 06:59:32

Since its formation as the Len Paterson Trio in 2000, Bay Area funk-jazz outfit Flowtilla has been going against the grain when it comes to funk. Whereas most outfits add slabs of horns or synthesizers (or both), this band keeps it very lean and mean with only guitarist Len Paterson and bassist Ellen Schoenwetter as permanent members, and a revolving [...]

New Music Monday: Bonnie Raitt, Curtis Salgado, Kenny Garrett and OHMphrey

Published on 2012-04-09 06:26:15

Rock, blues, crazy solo Kiss weirdness, even heavier stuff, some smoking jazz, it’s all there for you this week — topped by new music offerings from Bonnie Raitt, Curtis Salgado, Darius Jones, Jeff Loomis, Kenny Garrett and OHMphrey. As for notable reissues and smoking live dates, dig into Ace Frehley (get into the New York groove!), Alice Cooper, John Oates, [...]

Todd Rundgren’s Utopia – Live at Hammersmith Odeon ’75 (2012)

Published on 2012-04-09 06:01:55

Todd Rundgren’s once out-of-this-world vision for Utopia — prog-pop? proto-new wave rock? Whodathunkit? — was coalescing into a provocative and powerful musical conception by this point. The line up was still in flux, and there would be at least one more major move (as Kasim Sulton replaced John Siegler), but this October 9, 1975 concert finds Utopia beginning finally to [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Hungry Heart” (1980)

Published on 2012-04-09 05:39:13

Well, here’s one that didn’t get away. Bruce had written “Hungry Heart” for the Ramones but Jon Landau thought it was a keeper. Great advice there as the song was a huge hit. Now, there are some folks in the fan base who can do without this song. Maybe it’s been overplayed. Maybe it’s worn out its welcome. Nah! Here’s [...]

Steely Dan Sunday: “Josie” (1977)

Published on 2012-04-08 07:44:30

Like another one of Steely Dan’s Aja hits “Deacon Blues,” “Josie” has a specially written intro revisited later in the song that’s absolutely killer. The song’s subject is the neighborhood party girl (or whore?) who can never say no, and the boys are rejoicing her return. Take that, along with Chuck Rainey’s brooding bass and Larry Carlton’s and Dean Parks’ [...]

Curtis Salgado – Soul Shot (2012)

Published on 2012-04-08 07:16:55

Bluesman Curtis Salgado, over a career that’s included stops with Robert Cray, Roomful of Blues and Santana, has always had an abiding love for R&B, hard soul and nasty funk. Soul Shot brings all of that together, in what turns out to be his best solo effort yet. Look no further than the opener, an ass-shaking Bobby Womack composition called [...]

Everest – On Approach (2010)

Published on 2012-04-08 06:49:01

Over that past few decades, the consolidation of radio and record label ownership has had an “interesting” effect on record releases — they have become quite a bit more homogeneous, much like the companies that help to produce them. Labels picked up bands whose music was easy to categorize, and easy to market to their target audiences. It’s a sad [...]

Steve Barton – Projector (2012)

Published on 2012-04-08 06:31:51

Steve Barton, who rose to college-radio fame with the Beatles-y new wave band Translator, scuffs up what has become a reliably sunny solo power pop sound on the new Projector. The project started, at least thematically, with the death of Barton’s father Dan in 2009. Barton ended up at the home of Marvin Etzioni (formerly of Lone Justice), sorting through [...]

Darius Jones Quartet – The Book Of Mæ’bul (Another Kind Of Sunrise) (2012)

Published on 2012-04-07 07:58:26

The Book Of Mæ’bul (Another Kind Of Sunrise) is the third in a series of what saxophonist Darius Jones calls the “sonic tone poem” in his life. Whereas last year’s Big Gurl (Smell My Dream) is an expression of his experiences as an up and coming saxophonist in his native Virginia, The Book Of Mæ’bul (Another Kind Of Sunrise) is [...]

The American Breed – Bend Me, Shape Me: The Best Of The American Breed (1994)

Published on 2012-04-07 07:24:58

Having established a loyal fan club in and around their home base of Chicago, Illinois, Gary and The Knight Lights were clearly geared to raise their profile to an even higher degree. Aside from being a hot live act, they released several singles that harvested a decent amount of airplay. But things really started happening in a big way for [...]

WHO ARE THESE GUYS?: When opening acts simply don’t work out

Published on 2012-04-07 07:01:06

There are moments when it all comes together on one concert bill, when the opening act works seamlessly to get the crowd ready for the headliner. Then, there are the other times. These times. Presenting a few choice recollections from when the warm-up guys simply left us ice cold, or when they couldn’t have been any more incompatible with the [...]

Forgotten series: Alanis Morissette – Flavors of Entanglement (2008)

Published on 2012-04-07 06:39:37

One aspect of songwriting that has always drawn me in is introspection. When reviewers get on their high horse and start flinging the “navel gazer” tag around, I almost always side with the artist. I mean, here we might have a singer/songwriter who has attained a certain level of celebrity. The concert venues might even be selling out regularly. When [...]

Guitarist Sonny Landreth’s 11th outing is a long-awaited all-instrumental project

Published on 2012-04-06 10:28:19

Louisiana’s Sonny Landreth, long known for his wizardry on the slide, has never issued an all-instrumental recording — until now. Due May 22, 2012 on his own Landfall label, Elemental Journey will include guest appearances by Eric Johnson and Joe Satriani, among others. “What I’d hoped to end up creating was sonic stories without words,” Landreth says. “And because there [...]

Edgar Winter, Rick Derringer and Johnny Winter headline Rock’n'Blues Fest tour

Published on 2012-04-06 09:58:32

A new multi-artist American tour thrillingly combines rock and blues — in fact, it’s right there in the name — with appearances by Johnny Winter, Rick Derringer and Edgar Winter, among others. The Rock’n'Blues Fest has already confirmed 20 stops, beginning in July, with more to come. Complete list of announced dates, cities and venues is below. Derringer and the [...]

New reissue of Albert King’s classic I’ll Play the Blues for You uncovers four new tracks

Published on 2012-04-06 09:14:25

In 1972, Albert King joined forces with some of the leading figures in the legendary Stax soul sound to create one of his most celebrated releases: “When Albert King gave us I’ll Play the Blues for You,” music journalist and historian Bill Dahl says, “he fulfilled his promise and then some.” Now, the Concord Music Group will revisit the project [...]

OHMphrey – Posthaste (2012)

Published on 2012-04-06 07:29:25

Three years ago, members of both the Midwestern jam band Umphrey’s McGee and the California based metal fusion band OHM formed a union inspired by some club jams that merited making a record full of original material conjured up by the band. OHMphrey (2009), as both band and album is called, was, to say so directly, one hell of a [...]

Forgotten series: Erik Friedlander – Block Ice and Propane (2007)

Published on 2012-04-06 06:59:06

As a jazz cellist, you may not think you’ve heard Friedlander — but you’ve heard this dude and probably didn’t know it, I would bet. He’s been all over the music industry backing artists from Dave Douglas and John Zorn to Alanis Morissette and Joss Stone. If you’ve heard popular music, and even unpopular music, in the past 20 years [...]

Bonnie Raitt – Slipstream (2012)

Published on 2012-04-06 06:14:47

Bonnie Raitt uses her first album in seven years to move fluidly between expected slide-guitar swagger and these deeply intriguing asides featuring impressionistic asides from Bill Frisell. Maybe that should arrive as no surprise, coming as it does from someone who spent time on the road in her youth with the likes of Muddy Waters, Sippie Wallace and John Lee [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: James Taylor – Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon (1971)

Published on 2012-04-06 05:41:12

Shortly after a preview article was published on the upcoming remaster of James Taylor’s Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon, we were knocking around some ideas while sitting around the Something Else! watercooler. While I was holding forth on Taylor’s (quite underrated) skills as a guitarist, one of our cohorts said that he never liked Taylor because of his [...]

Kurt Cobain killed himself, and grunge, 18 years ago today. So what?

Published on 2012-04-05 18:07:42

Yeah, yeah, I know, today’s the 18-year anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death. We’re all supposed to be wallowing in depressing reminiscences, etc., etc., but really, I can’t register much of anything at all. I had a brief fling with Nirvana within a couple weeks of Nevermind coming out and had pretty much burned out on it when “Smells Like Teen [...]

Look for Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks to be reissued — this time, on the big screen

Published on 2012-04-05 16:17:50

From your ears to the multiplex: Bob Dylan’s 1975 divorce record Blood on the Tracks — featuring such album rock-radio staples as “Tangled Up in Blue” and “Simple Twist of Fate” — will be made into a feature-length film. This, of course, isn’t Dylan’s first time to rub elbows with Hollywood types. He appeared in the classic Western film “Pat [...]

As E Street Band deals with loss, Little Steven Van Zandt says Boss ‘continues to amaze me’

Published on 2012-04-05 15:47:49

The E Street Band is in the midst of one of its most difficult and unusual concert tours ever, interpreting for the first time a new solo release by Bruce Springsteen — and doing so without saxophonist Clarence Clemons or keyboardist Danny Federici, both of whom have passed since 2008. Little Steven Van Zandt is blunt about the twin departures: [...]

King’s X drummer Jerry Gaskill releases new video message for fans: ‘I’ll be better than ever’

Published on 2012-04-05 15:22:07

King’s X drummer Jerry Gaskill, in the midst of recovering from a heart attack, has issued an emotional new video message for his fans. “I wanted to let everybody know I’m doing good,” Gaskill says, in the video embedded below. “I’m feeling better every day, and getting stronger. It’s going to take some time. I’m still kind of weak. But [...]

Meat Loaf says he’d like to collaborate with Jim Steinman again on Bat Out of Hell IV

Published on 2012-04-05 15:05:07

Meat Loaf’s newest release Hell in a Handbasket doesn’t feature longtime cohort Jim Steinman, who helped shape the blockbuster Bat Out of Hell series. That doesn’t mean the partnership is over, though. “People don’t understand the situation with Jim and me,” Meal Loaf says. “We actually exchange emails with each other every six or seven weeks.” Meat Loaf kicks off [...]

On Second Thought: The Beatles – Abbey Road (1969)

Published on 2012-04-05 09:02:04

This album was simultaneously the Beatles at their best, and the sound of a band disintegrating. Such is the power and magic of Abbey Road. We find John Lennon in peak form — punny, free associative, cool rocking and sharp. There’s also every piece of the Paul McCartney DNA, from throat-shredding shouts to curious dancehall dittys to billowingly emotional chamber-pop. [...]

Shows I’ll Never Forget: Steven Wilson, April 4, 2012

Published on 2012-04-05 07:24:17

At The Showbox, Seattle, Washington: I had no idea I was going to be out this late. The ticket stub said 7 p.m. When I got to the venue, they said that was when the doors were opening. After standing in the line outside, we finally entered the building around 7:30 and change. Cool enough, I thought. Ample time to [...]

Fred’s Country Fried Rock: Jamey Johnson, “That Lonesome Song” (2007)

Published on 2012-04-05 06:25:34

Normally I don’t talk much about Nashville artists in this segment. In fact, I rarely have anything good to say about Nashville at all. But I do believe in giving credit where it’s due, and sometimes they manage to produce a good one. To be fair, this record started out indie anyway, as Johnson released it digitally on his own [...]

Remaining members of the Jackson 5 regroup for summer tour in honor of Michael Jackson

Published on 2012-04-04 14:36:51

Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and Tito — the Jackson 4? — will tour this summer for the first time since 1984′s Victory project, with plans to honor their late brother Michael, who died in 2009. The tour begins June 18 in Louisville, and continues through July with stops in Detroit, Cleveland, New York City, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Houston and Los Angeles, [...]

Bill Ward outlines ‘degrading stipulations’ in his still-unsigned Black Sabbath reunion contract

Published on 2012-04-04 13:16:12

For some time, co-founding drummer Bill Ward has said he’s waiting on a “signable contract” before joining the rest of Black Sabbath for its pending reunion project. Now, he’s ready to reveal the sticking points — namely a series of alleged demands made by Sharon Osbourne, wife and manager of original lead singer Ozzy Osbourne. Namely, Ward says the contract [...]

Has the cover art for Rush’s forthcoming Clockwork Angels been leaked?

Published on 2012-04-03 22:03:10

As the scheduled due date for Rush’s long-awaited Clockwork Angels nears, a pair of the band’s fan sites have posted an image purported to be the album’s cover art. See it here! Set for release May 29 from Anthem/Universal Music in Canada and Roadrunner Records in the U.S., Clockwork Angels is the first Rush studio release since 2007′s Snakes And [...]

Something Else! Interview: Eric Clapton biographer Chris Welch

Published on 2012-04-03 16:17:00

Even in his formative stages Eric Clapton was earning a rapturous, rabid following and inspiring generations of guitarists to come. “He was already a star,” says veteran music journalist and author Chris Welch. “Even then as a teenager, people were talking about Eric.” Welch was one of them. A reporter at British music weekly Melody Maker and still a teenager [...]

Joe Walsh sets concert dates in support of Analog Man, first solo project in two decades

Published on 2012-04-03 12:47:09

Glenn Frey has confirmed the Eagles won’t mount a full-length anniversary tour, but that doesn’t mean bandmate Joe Walsh is staying home. After the country rockers wrap a brief run of dates, Walsh will undertake his own solo jaunt in support of the guitarist’s first solo project in two decades. Walsh was a member of the James Gang from 1968-71, [...]

John Fogerty to reexamine Creedence Clearwater Revival classics, duet with Foo Fighters and My Morning Jacket

Published on 2012-04-03 12:23:45

John Fogerty will simultaneously look back and charge ahead on his forthcoming studio project Wrote a Song for Everyone, due this fall from Vanguard Records. The project is expected to include classic songs and deep cuts from his time with Creedence Clearwater Revival, and his solo work, alongside new songs that will feature guest turns by the likes of the [...]

Even as Neal Schon prepares solo project, Journey announces summer dates with Pat Benatar and Loverboy

Published on 2012-04-03 11:08:19

Neal Schon will be busy this summer, putting the finishing touches on a new solo release, even as Journey hits the road again for a series of summer concert dates. They’re continuing to tour behind the well-received 2011 release Eclipse, which debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard 200 chart. It was the group’s second collaboration with Filipino lead singer [...]

New documentary focuses on the making of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here

Published on 2012-04-03 10:14:28

A forthcoming DVD/Blu-ray documentary will trace the creation of Pink Floyd’s 1975 release Wish You Were Here, with new interviews from Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason, along with archival footage with the late Richard Wright. Wish You Were Here, cited by both Wright and Gilmour as their favorite Pink Floyd album, went straight to No. 1 in both [...]

Stevie Wonder – Innervisions (1973; 2012 Audio Fidelity Remaster)

Published on 2012-04-03 09:06:08

Innervisions arrived amidst an almost-unfathomable run of important recordings from Stevie Wonder, but it may well be his best — if only because it delves so deeply into the failure of the 1960s, even while constructing a path out of that crushing disappointment. The decade’s promise of peace, its promise of prosperity, its promise of racial justice must have seemed [...]

Forgotten series: Skid Row – Slave to the Grind (1991)

Published on 2012-04-03 08:33:27

Damn, this record is awesome. Even 20 years later, I consider it one of the finest hard rock records ever, and certainly among the best of its time period. So why don’t I listen to it more than I do these days? Good question. Time to remedy that. I was brought to the record by a recent string of tweets [...]

Something Else! Featured Artist: More Jeff Beck!

Published on 2012-04-03 06:31:46

As fans await a forthcoming new album from Jeff Beck, we decided to dig deeper into the stacks to uncover more of our favorite tracks. Though Beck appeared as part of the program “In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues” to celebrate blues music at the White House in February, he has since cancelled dates in New [...]

Guilty pleasures: Faith Hill – Fireflies (2005)

Published on 2012-04-03 05:54:04

I once spent a very interesting weekend down in Northern Kentucky attending a get together of “flea-powered” (1.5 to 5 watt) tube-amplifier aficionados. On a very, very early Friday morning I loaded myself into my old buddy’s Volvo wagon and we headed out from Haverhill, Massachusetts. Some fifteen hours (and only one wrong turn … thank you Triple-A maps) later [...]

The Black Keys are ready to put out a live album — but they say the venue name has to be right

Published on 2012-04-02 18:26:36

As the Black Keys continue to tour in support of their current release El Camino, drummer Patrick Carney says they’re recording every show — in the hopes of putting out a new live album. The problem? They keep playing places like the Bojangles Coliseum, and (no kidding) the 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre. That’s the nature of touring in the Age of Corporate [...]

Synth-pop pioneer Gary Numan on being recognized as a key influence: ‘Thankfully, I’m still here’

Published on 2012-04-02 17:56:50

Lately, electronic music-innovator Gary Numan has been getting notable mentions as an inspiration and influence from a broad spectrum of stars, including Trent Reznor, David Bowie, Beck, Marilyn Mason, Battles, Queens of the Stone Age and Dave Grohl. Back in 1979, he burst onto the scene with a trio of celebrated synth-pop singles, including the gold-selling “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?,” the [...]

Warren Haynes ‘put a lot of love and reverence’ into new Tommy Bolin tribute project

Published on 2012-04-02 17:16:14

Warren Haynes says that he helped construct a new tribute album to Tommy Bolin with an eye toward what the former Deep Purple and James Gang guitarist would have been interested in: “I don’t think we chose anyone who would make Tommy grimace,” Haynes says, adding: “Hopefully not!” with a laugh. Great Gypsy Soul, issued March 27 by 429 Records, [...]

James Taylor – Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon (1971; 2012 Audio Fidelity Remaster)

Published on 2012-04-02 00:30:19

Sudden success can change people, and not always for the better. James Taylor had become an overnight sensation in 1970 on the strength of his second album, Sweet Baby James, one of those exact right albums at the exact right time, going on to become an enduring classic of adult contemporary music. So, all eyes (and ears) were on Taylor [...]

Paul McCartney’s dad, on hearing the Beatles’ ‘She Loves You’: “Couldn’t you sing ‘yes, yes, yes?’”

Published on 2012-04-01 17:32:55

Paul McCartney’s father was an accomplished musician, so you can imagine the trepidation the youngster must have felt in unveiling the early Beatles hit “She Loves You” for him. Would Pop criticize the melody? The lyrics? Nope. Instead, James McCartney took his son to task for the slang included in its chorus: “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” History tells us that McCartney [...]

Steely Dan Sunday: “I Got The News” (1977)

Published on 2012-04-01 07:37:15

Shifty, start-stop rhythms, suddenly erupting musical asides and two guitar soloists (Becker and Larry Carlton), “I Got The News” has an irresistable, non-stop energy. The magical part comes on the first bridge, with chorus vocals led by Michael McDonald, quickly followed by a crisp guitar lead that I’m guessing was performed by Carlton. As the only song not discussed on [...]

Chad Wackerman – Dreams, Nightmares and Improvisations (2012)

Published on 2012-04-01 07:19:22

The title says it all here, as Chad Wackerman leads a crack group of musicians including ever-adventurous guitar virtuoso Allan Holdsworth through a complex and varied series of dynamics and tempos. Throughout, Wackerman performs with an unerring sense of restraint. Instead, he becomes just another hurtling raindrop in this developing storm of fusion-rock (“A New Day,” “Star Gazing”), funk-rock (the [...]

Half Notes: Dar Williams – Promised Land (2008)

Published on 2012-04-01 07:01:33

Folk singer Dar Williams has an entry on my “Had To Sit In The Car After Arriving At Work To Get The Scoop On That Song!” list. Back in 1993, about 30 seconds before pulling into the parking lot, “When I Was A Boy” came on WERS, Emerson College radio. I was mesmerized. So I sat there through the end [...]

Best of March 2012: Reader picks include Adrian Belew, Brad Mehldau, Adele (again)

Published on 2012-04-01 06:46:57

Adrian Belew’s reflections on touring again with a pair of King Crimson bandmates led to some interesting comments on the future of that long-standing Robert Fripp-led amalgam — and a No. 1 vote from you in our monthly poll. March 2012 also saw a swarm of reader interest in jazz recordings by Brad Mehldau and Jeff Parker; new features on [...]

The Jeff Healey Band – Live in Belgium CD/DVD (2012)

Published on 2012-04-01 06:10:50

Jeff Healey’s very sightlessness — he lost his eyes to a rare cancer of the eyes at age one — helped him settle into his own unique sound in blues music. Healey eventually taught himself to play the electric guitar on his lap, like a dobro, something that allowed him to unfurl these distinctively long lines. Yet, in many ways, [...]

New Branford Marsalis project to see vinyl-only release on Record Store Day

Published on 2012-03-31 17:56:31

Saxophonist Branford Marsalis will issue his new release Four MFs Playin’ Tunes on deluxe 180-gram high definition vinyl as part of Record Store Day, April 21, 2012. Four MFs Playin’ Tunes is the initial Marsalis studio project to feature drummer Justin Faulkner, who joined the band in 2009, and first-ever vinyl release from Marsalis Music. The group is rounded out [...]

Randy Bachman says shows with Fred Turner are as close as he’ll get to BTO reunion

Published on 2012-03-31 15:11:45

Randy Bachman is touring with fellow Bachman-Turner Overdrive member Fred Turner, having released a studio recording in 2010 as Bachman and Turner. Still, don’t look for an official reunion as BTO, the 1970s Canadian rock band known for such hits as “Takin’ Care of Business” and “You Ain’t See Nothing Yet.” Bachman, who hasn’t played with the now-defunct group in [...]

Irma Thomas honored today with bronze statue in New Orleans’ Musical Legends Park

Published on 2012-03-31 10:56:20

Blues belter Irma Thomas, who shot to fame with soulful 1960s-era renditions of “(You Can Have My Husband but) Don’t Mess with My Man,” “It’s Raining” and “Time Is On My Side,” will be honored today with a new bronze statue at Musical Legends Park in New Orleans. Thomas burst onto the national scene with “(You Can Have My Husband [...]

Tab Benoit – Legacy: The Best of Tab Benoit (2012)

Published on 2012-03-31 08:09:25

Tab Benoit plays the blues with all of the natural fury, sweet romance and dark mysteries of Louisiana — so neatly matching his home state’s essence in structure and feel that it might be easy to call him the Bayou State’s Stevie Ray Vaughan. You hear all of that here, on the April 3 Concord release Legacy: The Best of [...]

Half Notes: The Mars Volta – Noctourniquet (2012)

Published on 2012-03-31 07:36:52

I made it through the first song and a half before getting bored. Mars Volta’s last album was very strong, I thought, though it also abandoned the craziness that pretty much defined them in the past. That’s about all I can listen to now — maybe the first album and EP, once in a great while. Everything else, I just [...]

Shows I’ll Never Forget: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Oct. 2, 2007

Published on 2012-03-31 07:12:23

At Hartford, Connecticut: “And so it begins!” Those were Bruce’s excited words as the last chord of “Radio Nowhere” hung over the crazed Hartford Civic Center crowd. A count-off led into the crashing opening chords of “The Ties That Bind” and we were off. Off to the beginning of another album, tour, and era in the E Street Band’s history [...]

One Track Mind: Curtis Mayfield, “Freddie’s Dead” (1972)

Published on 2012-03-31 06:45:57

As the 1960s turned into the 1970s, soul — like rock — got tougher and edgier. In 1971 alone, Sly Stone’s There’s A Riot Goin’ On, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On and Gil Scott-Heron’s Pieces Of A Man raised the stakes in R&B that was serious, far-reaching and influential to several generations. Others like the Temptations, Donny Hathaway, Isaac Hayes, [...]

Half Notes: The Howard Roberts Quartet – H.R. Is A Dirty Guitar Player (1963)

Published on 2012-03-31 06:29:13

Back when I was taking guitar lessons, my teacher turned me on to a whole pile of players like Jim Hall (my teacher was so into Hall that he actually attended a taping of the Merv Griffin just because Hall was in Griffin’s band), Gene Bertoncini and Howard Roberts. I’ve still got the tape made from my teacher’s record, but [...]

Lez Miles – Like Being Hit With A Hammer (2012)

Published on 2012-03-31 06:01:53

Australian singer-songwriter Lez Miles, best known as a founding member and lead guitarist with the 1980s hitmakers Adelaide, has crafted a cinematic project that follows the story of a soldier named Franklin. Incorporating a range of rock and pop influences, and a writing style that is as direct as it is powerful, Miles turns Like Being Hit With A Hammer [...]

Steven Wilson talks about walking away from Aviv Geffen and Blackfield

Published on 2012-03-30 14:18:39

Steven Wilson has gone into greater detail about why he is leaving Blackfield, his art rock collaboration with Israeli artist Aviv Geffen. Of course, the last few projects have been less collaborative, with Geffen taking on a more central role in the process. Wilson, who has continued work with Porcupine Tree and No-Man all while maintaining a solo career, says [...]

Joe Perry looks back on Aerosmith’s 1980s-era records: ‘They were like product, almost’

Published on 2012-03-30 12:06:48

Every album Aerosmith issued in the 1980s rose to at least gold-selling status, with 1989′s explosively popular Pump streaking to seven-times platinum sales. But that doesn’t make the decade a golden era. 1982′s Rock in a Hard Place, described by critic Greg Prato as “the sound of Aerosmith at their most ‘out of it,’” was made without Joe Perry, and [...]

Busy Brian May of Queen admits difficulty in creating new music: ‘Time is a big problem’

Published on 2012-03-30 11:00:22

You know Brian May as the frizzy-headed guitar-playing genius in Queen. But he’s also a PhD-in-astrophysics-holding chancellor at Liverpool John Moores University, a family man, and a tireless activist for his favorite causes. In fact, May is out on the road now — but not with Queen. He’s in South Africa, hoping to raise awareness about the plight of big [...]

To get into the groove, Dr. John says he ate African food and listened to Ethiopian jazz

Published on 2012-03-30 08:11:16

Dr. John’s forthcoming collaboration with the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach has a turbulent, polyrhythmic propulsion, and that’s no accident, the legendary keyboardist says. Over 17 days of focused recording at Auerbach’s Nashville studio last fall, Dr. John says they completely immersed themselves in African culture. Auerbach even brought in musicians who specialized in African styles — like Afro-pop drummer Max [...]

Esperanza Spalding on reinvigorating jazz: ‘It just needs better publicity’

Published on 2012-03-30 07:40:13

The New York Times, in a recent piece, said celebrated young jazz bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding has “the potential to reinvigorate an entire genre.” To which, she replies: “No, it just needs better publicity.” Spalding, who famously beat out Justin Bieber for best new artist artist honors at the Grammys two years back, issued her fourth studio album Radio Music Society [...]

One Track Mind: Clara Ponty, “Sunshine” (2012)

Published on 2012-03-30 07:03:24

When I learned that Clara Ponty was coming out with a new album, I got curious, and to be completely upfront about it, I was curious because she is the daughter of famed violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. Much as Beatles fans are interested in what Julian Lennon is putting out, I wanted to see how much her musical pedigree has helped [...]

Various artists – The Quill Records Story: The Best Of Chicago Garage Bands (1997)

Published on 2012-03-30 06:28:53

Chicago, Illinois was home to Quill Records, an independent label run by Peter Wright that released a string of singles between the years 1965 and 1967. And this package, attached with liner notes, takes a good look at what the imprint entailed. Seething with teen angst, the Exterminators shriek and slash their way through the trashy, thrashing “Voo-Doo,” while the [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: The Kinks – Give The People What They Want (1981)

Published on 2012-03-30 05:30:02

Technology marches on, and this week it intersected in an interesting way with Bruce Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball tour. On the last tour, there was Twitter to keep us informed on the live set lists. Occasionally, somebody would attempt to stream the audio with their cell phone (which usually sounded like the E Street Band broadcasting from the Mariana Trench). This [...]

Who frontman Roger Daltrey noncommittal on another reunion tour: ‘It all depends’

Published on 2012-03-29 12:52:21

Frontman Roger Daltrey was noncommittal about another reunion tour for the Who, saying “it all depends on whether it feels right.” The Who’s last major concert treks were held between 2006-09, in support of the comeback album Endless Wire, as Daltrey and co-founding guitarist Pete Townshend played shows in England, Europe, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and North America. Since, the [...]

Dr. John – Locked Down (2012)

Published on 2012-03-29 08:45:33

More often than not, it’s seemed like Dr. John has relied on the dark mysteries of his voice — rather than the material — to sell his records. Of course, what a voice it is: Full of wry sweetness, weed-smoke inscrutability and spicy indignation. That only goes so far, though, when you’re redoing satiny-smooth piffles like “Makin’ Whoopie.” And so [...]

Forgotten series: Robert Wyatt – Comicopera (2007)

Published on 2012-03-29 07:18:13

“Why would you listen to this?” The question must have travelled through nearly everyone’s mind at some point upon hearing some seemingly offensive bit of music. For some, it’s some form of cacophony that sounds like cats wretching in unison, for others it’s the latest from whatever pop sensation is being batted about by trendmakers. It’s kind of funny to [...]

Half Notes: Jared Gold – Golden Child (2012)

Published on 2012-03-29 06:46:56

Coming off the magnificent All Wrapped Up, Jared Gold is back just under a year later with Golden Child. A program that alternates standards with his originals, Golden Child is another parade of Gold’s advanced B3 articulations. Whereas on Wrapped he delved more into knotty arrangements and modalisms atypical of organ jazz, he returns to the organ/guitar/drums attack used on [...]

Fred’s Country Fried Rock: Whitey Morgan and the 78s, “Where Do You Want It?” (2010)

Published on 2012-03-29 06:25:04

There are a lot of underground country connections to explore with this song. First off, it’s based on a 2007 incident in which Texas music legend Billy Joe Shaver shot a man at a bar in Lorena, Texas. Eyewitnesses to the shooting claim that after Shaver pulled his gun, he asked the man, “Where do you want it?” before shooting [...]

Ricky Skaggs – Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass (2008)

Published on 2012-03-28 18:54:26

With today’s passing of Earl Scruggs at age 88, we returned to a stirring tribute to the three-finger banjo style of this Country Music Hall of Famer by Ricky Scaggs. Scruggs was also an inaugural inductee into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1991. Fitting honors, indeed, for someone who influenced nearly every banjo player who followed, even [...]

Jerry “Boogie” McCain (1930-2012): An Appreciation

Published on 2012-03-28 18:16:49

Jerry “Boogie” McCain, the Alabama-born blues harmonica player, has died at age 81. He was best known for a double-sided 1960 hit, “She’s Tough”/”Steady” — the A-side of which was later redone by the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Tinsley Ellis, the Atlanta-based blues guitarist, posted condolences on his Facebook page — prompting a discussion of that career-making cover tune. A Jerry Boogie [...]

Hand-written David Lee Roth lyrics to Van Halen’s ‘Blood and Fire’: BOOM!

Published on 2012-03-28 14:47:46

Check out David Lee Roth’s hand-written lyrics for the song “Blood and Fire,” one of the stand-out tracks from Van Halen’s new project A Different Kind of Truth. The song seems to specifically address the long journey that Roth and Van Halen took to get to A Different Kind of Truth, after last recording together in 1984. This rough draft [...]

Roger Taylor will bring Queen Extravaganza tribute show to North America this summer

Published on 2012-03-28 12:38:54

Drummer Roger Taylor is bringing the Queen Extravaganza stateside, serving as producer and musical director for his band’s official tribute show. The Queen Extravaganza concerts feature five musicians (two guitars, bass, drums and keyboards) and four vocalists, hired after a series of Internet auditions, performing nearly 40 Queen songs over a two-hour period. Taylor says fans can expect both classic [...]

ZZ Top says new Rick Rubin-produced album may be long awaited, but it won’t be too long

Published on 2012-03-28 10:47:16

Expect ZZ Top’s forthcoming new Rick Rubin-helmed recording to have a lean, old-school feel — similar, in a way, Mescalero, but with fewer tracks, according to Billy Gibbons. That 2003 return-to-form release, ZZ Top’s most recent studio project, was stuffed with 16 tracks, while the band is thinking this as-yet-untitled new offering will be more like 10. In other words, [...]

Ellis Marsalis on the term ‘jazz’: “Music can never be changed by a name”

Published on 2012-03-28 08:40:19

Regarded as the preeminent modern jazz figure in New Orleans, Ellis Marsalis would have had a sweeping impact as a musical innovator and longtime educator even had he not parented a series of famous jazz-playing sons in Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo and Jason Marsalis. That gives Ellis Marsalis both unique insight into the music’s history, and some interesting opinions on where [...]

On Second Thought: The Rolling Stones – A Bigger Bang (2005)

Published on 2012-03-28 07:44:32

So here’s the question: just what, exactly, are aging rock musicians supposed to do as the last few calendar pages flip by? Sure, Roger Daltry sang “I hope I die before I get old.” Things are getting interesting now that mother nature has begun to call that bluff. The other day I had part of a revolving debate with a [...]

Ross Hammond – Adored (2012)

Published on 2012-03-28 07:20:44

Sacramento, CA-based experimental guitarist Ross Hammond has been making records since 1999, and his latest one Adored features his Quartet of himself, Vinny Golia on saxophones, Alex Cline on drums and Steuart Liebig on electric bass. Wayne Peet engineered and mastered the record, and added a little piano on one cut. Golia, Cline and Peet have all appeared on Nels [...]

Half Notes: Def Leppard – Hysteria (1987)

Published on 2012-03-28 06:51:02

My history with Def Leppard may have started with Pyromania, one of the greatest hard rock albums ever, but Hysteria holds a very special place in my heart. Like a couple of my other favorite albums of all time (Queensryche’s Operation: Mindcrime and Iron Maiden’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son), it came along at just the right time — [...]

Forgotten series: The Jelly Bean Bandits – The Jelly Bean Bandits (1967)

Published on 2012-03-28 06:33:36

Sporting one of the most hilarious names imaginable, the Jelly Bean Bandits were (and in fact, still are, as they reunited several years ago) actually a lot cooler than their silly handle suggests. Tight and attentive, yet raunchy enough to win the approval of “Pebbles” and “Nuggets” groupies, the New York band executes their material with just the right balance [...]

Lindsey Buckingham adds another round of intimate one-man West Coast tour dates

Published on 2012-03-27 15:43:19

Look for another round of one-man concert dates from Lindsey Buckingham, as the singer-songwriter showcases both the distinctive guitar style and unforgettable voice that launched Fleetwood Mac toward multi-platinum success. He is expected to play key tracks from his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tenure in that band, as well as songs from his solo albums — including last [...]

Carlos Santana’s announces instrumental-packed album Shape Shifter; preorder it here

Published on 2012-03-27 15:24:12

Carlos Santana’s 36th album is an almost all-instrumental project called Shapeshifter, to be issued May 15 on his new label Starfaith Records. You can preorder the album below, and also check out the artwork and complete track listing. Since Santana emerged from the Bay Area music scene in the 1960s, the group has sold more than 100 million records, eventually [...]

ZZ Top announces spring ‘Gang of Outlaws’ tour with 3 Doors Down, Gretchen Wilson

Published on 2012-03-27 14:36:36

ZZ Top will kick off its new 6-week, 24-date ‘Gang of Outlaws’ spring tour on May 25 with a stop in Manchester, N.H., then continue June with stops in Atlantic City, Scranton, Richmond, Hollywood, Orlando, Nashville, Houston and Dallas. The tour will also feature 3 Doors Down and Gretchen Wilson. ZZ Top has been working on a new album with [...]

Up next for Black Sabbath’s ailing Tony Iommi, three weeks of radiation therapy

Published on 2012-03-27 14:00:44

Done with chemotherapy, Black Sabbath co-founding guitarist Tony Iommi says a course of radiation is next, as he continues an ongoing battle against lymphoma. “Hopefully,” the 64-year-old metal legend says, “my body will start to get back to normal soon.” Iommi, the only member to have appeared in all of Black Sabbath’s many incarnations since its founding in 1969, got [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Journey’s Neal Schon with Steve Smith, “The Calling” (2012)

Published on 2012-03-27 08:12:01

This new instrumental is interesting because Steve Smith showed up just as Journey took a turn in the late 1970s from its more fusion-informed early period toward a platinum-selling arena-rock formula. Still, you always got the sense, as he subsequently moved deeper into the jazz roots of his youth, that Smith might have been a better fit for the early [...]

Brian Charette – Music for Organ Sextette (2012)

Published on 2012-03-27 07:41:24

In 2010, bassist extraordinaire William Parker quietly released an album of recordings called Uncle Joe’s Spirit House that put a different spin on organ jazz. Parker stayed put in his acoustic bass role instead of letting the organist take care of that and by doing that minor adjustment, rejiggered harmonic makeup of the music. It gave the music a somewhat [...]

Something Else! Featured Artist: Jeff Beck

Published on 2012-03-27 07:20:39

A certified funky-fusion platinum smash, the George Martin-produced Blow by Blow peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 — hurtling itself to Record You Must Own status for Jeff Beck. So enough of that. Here’s our list of other interesting offerings from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist, including both solo and Yardbirds sides — along with [...]

One Track Mind: White Wizzard, “High Speed GTO” (2008)

Published on 2012-03-27 06:49:06

It was one of those perfect spring-like Saturday afternoons. The sun was shining, the temperature was just right, and there was a freshness in the air. That’s when, as I was driving down the highway, my shuffle landed on a song that it hadn’t played in a few months. While I didn’t like White Wizzard’s High Speed GTO EP nearly [...]

Cannonball Adderley Quintet – Legends Live: Stuttgart, 1969 (2012)

Published on 2012-03-27 06:17:52

Julian “Cannonball” Adderley is the undisputed leader on this date — the big-hearted, soul-lifting center of every song. But the proper focus here might just be on keyboardist Joe Zawinul who, as recording commenced on the live date that would one day become Legends Live: Stuttgart 1969, was in between two seminal moments in jazz history. He’d just completed recordings [...]

Aerosmith’s ready to rock this way with 18-date American summer tour

Published on 2012-03-26 15:20:52

No word yet on when the new album will drop, but Aerosmith is definitely hitting the road this summer. Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and Co. have announced a 18-date American tour, to be played between June 16 and August 8. Steven Tyler, speaking on 60 Minutes, said Aerosmith is ready to reclaim its hard-rocking mantle: “This band’s better than it’s [...]

Big Head Todd, Barenaked Ladies combine for upcoming ‘Last Summer on Earth’ tour

Published on 2012-03-13 16:48:59

Big Head Todd and the Monsters are teaming up with the Barenaked Ladies for an upcoming series of concerts dubbed “The Last Summer on Earth” tour. Featured guests will include Blues Traveler and Cracker. Big Head Todd, featuring college chums Todd Mohr, Rob Squires and Brian Nevin, will help launch the new tour on July 6 at Toledo, Ohio, part [...]

Daryl Hall is joined by Cee Lo Green in latest episode of ‘Live at Daryl’s House’

Published on 2012-03-13 15:33:29

One of them had a hit album in 1980 called Voices. The other is a judge on NBC’s The Voice. Now, Daryl Hall and Cee Lo Green have joined voices. Green stopped by for filming of the latest edition of Hall’s compulsively watchable live web series “Live at Daryl’s House,” filling in for Hall’s long-time singing partner John Oates on [...]

Cancer claims original Doobie Brothers drummer Michael Hossack at 65

Published on 2012-03-13 14:56:25

Original Doobie Brothers drummer Michael Hossack, off the road fighting cancer since 2010, has succumbed to the disease. He was 65. The band said Hossack died at home on Monday. “His family was by his side,” the Doobies said in a statement on their Web site. “Our thoughts and condolences go out to his family and loved ones. We will [...]

Styx guitarist James “JY” Young on Dennis DeYoung: Musical theater was clearly his priority

Published on 2012-03-13 14:35:56

Co-founding Styx guitarist James “JY” Young, examining the departure of original vocalist Dennis DeYoung, wishes him well — though he confirms a long-held notion about what split the initial lineup apart. “He really went off in this musical theater thing and that was clearly his priority,” Young says. Fellow guitarist “Tommy (Shaw) and I play in a rock and roll [...]

Something Else! Featured Artist: Kool and the Gang

Published on 2012-03-13 08:01:58

We were reminded of Kool and the Gang’s rump-shaking joys all over again when they were invited to serve as opening act on Van Halen’s ongoing reunion tour. Of course, Those Of A Certain Age are no doubt clueless about this good-time, cross-charting group, being as they shot across the party-music landscape beginning in the early 1970s like a tongue-wagging, [...]

Avram Fefer – Eliyahu (2011)

Published on 2012-03-13 07:31:29

Before even learning that multi-reedist Avram Fefer is a Harvard grad, I could detect a lot of intelligence in his playing style. Avoiding clichés, adapting to the music and injecting just the right amount of feel, Fefer is one of the most diverse sax players around, applying his skills to avant funk, trip-hop, jungle, drum ‘n bass, improvised music, modern [...]

The Music Inside: A Collaboration Dedicated to Waylon Jennings, Volume II (2012)

Published on 2012-03-13 07:12:53

What the hell happened? The Music Inside Volume 1 offered fans a heartfelt tribute to Waylon Jennings from people who knew him or were heavily influenced by his music. It contained songs from the likes of Jamey Johnson, Kris Kristofferson, Shooter Jennings, Alabama, John Hiatt and Waylon himself. Volume 2? Well, it completely misses the point. That whirring sound that [...]

Mort Weiss: Paul Whiteman’s TV show, and spending New Year’s Eve with Ella Fitzgerald

Published on 2012-03-13 06:40:25

I was quite active in the early days of live television, most of which was shot in Hollywood, California. Sometime in the latter part of 1951, I got a call from the director and producer of many teen-oriented TV shows. His name is Al Burton, and he went on to become a mega-dude in the industry. I’ll just give one [...]

Forgotten series: Mercury Rev – The Secret Migration (2005)

Published on 2012-03-13 06:09:07

I fell in love with the lost, desolate feeling of 1998′s Deserter’s Songs, a title that seems to perfectly sum up the feeling of that album. Mercury Rev is certainly a band that tends to push themselves forward and further with their sound, but the follow up, 2001′s All is Dream felt like the band was, for once, spinning their [...]

Steve Morse confirms upcoming Deep Purple studio project, even as Flying Colors debuts

Published on 2012-03-12 15:48:41

Even as Steve Morse and Flying Colors prepare to release their self-titled debut later this month, the guitarist confirms that Deep Purple are in the early stages of a new studio project as well. “There is one coming up,” Morse says. “The way we do it is that we record some ideas without vocals and then we present the ideas [...]

Billy Sherwood keeps adding stars to his upcoming prog rock, Supertramp tribute projects

Published on 2012-03-12 11:20:38

Billy Sherwood is in the final mixing stages on a pair of new guest-packed recording projects, one an original prog rock effort and the other a tribute to Supertramp. And he’s still adding additional stars to the sessions, bolstering a terrific list that already included John Wetton (Asia, UK, King Crimson), Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, King Crimson), Jerry [...]

Eddie Van Halen’s ex-wife: Without Wolfie, there’d be no reunion with David Lee Roth

Published on 2012-03-12 10:44:56

Valerie Bertinelli, ex-wife of Eddie Van Halen, says she admired former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony as much as anyone, but without the presence of her son Wolfgang, there would have been no reunion with David Lee Roth. “You know, I loved Mike too,” Bertinelli says. “I thought he was a really nice guy. Still do. But the only way [...]

Joe Bonamassa – Beacon Theatre, Live From New York DVD (2012)

Published on 2012-03-12 07:44:32

There can’t be more than four or five months elapse without a new Joe Bonamassa CD or DVD, either by Black Country Communion or solo Bonamassa. Gotta hand it to the man, though, he keeps his fans plenty satiated, and he’s got another souvenir on tap to add to their JB collections. The latest disc coming our way is a [...]

New Music Monday: Adrenaline Mob, David Byrne, Meat Loaf, Shooter Jennings, Vijay Iyer

Published on 2012-03-12 07:17:19

All aboard the cool-rocking new release train, as cool stuff arrives from Adrenaline Mob, Ben Howard, Meat Loaf, Shooter Jennings and Vijay Iyer, along with key reissues and live dates from Humble Pie, Janis Joplin and 10,000 Maniacs. Also just-in this week: Caetano Veloso and David Byrne, Chicago Underground Duo, Dan Wilensky, Epica, Harold Budd, Soulfly, Taurey Butler, and Wino [...]

Big Brother & the Holding Company, with Janis Joplin – Live at the Carousel Ballroom (2012)

Published on 2012-03-12 06:55:52

Maybe this album, finally, will put to rest the wrong-headed notion that Janis Joplin was simply a blues-belting imitator, instead of one of rock music’s most interesting — albeit short-lived — voices. Oh, and also the idea that Big Brother was too crude to hold their own in the shadow of her shooting-star career. Live at the Carousel Ballroom, a [...]

Taurey Butler – Taurey Butler (2012)

Published on 2012-03-12 06:22:42

There’ve been a host of twists and turns for the well-traveled Butler — though, in many ways, each of these side roads ultimately were necessary for the Montreal-based pianist to get to this place. For instance, he studied Japanese culture at Dartmouth, and ended up touring throughout Southeast Asia with Eldee Young, the long-time bassist with Ramsey Lewis. The New [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Sherry Darling” (1980)

Published on 2012-03-12 05:38:10

Some fans look at The River as an album that contains several truly masterful songs, interspersed with a bunch of light-hearted throwaways. Yeah, there are some people out there who can’t take “happy Bruce.” Well, that’s not me. Well I got some beer and the highway’s free And I got you, and baby you’ve got me. Hey, hey, hey what [...]

Benefit Johnny Cash tribute concert to feature Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams, others

Published on 2012-03-11 16:31:20

A benefit Johnny Cash tribute concert, to be held April 20, 2012 in Austin, Texas, has confirmed appearances set for Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow. The “We Walk The Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash” show will also include Lucinda Williams, Shooter Jennings, Jamey Johnson, Chris Cornell, John Hiatt, Ronnie Dunn, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Kenny Chesney, Kris [...]

Steely Dan Sunday, “Deacon Blues” (1977)

Published on 2012-03-11 07:46:31

This is the song I would suppose most people would say has that classic Steely Dan sound, the epitome of the smooth, suave style they perfected on Aja and a hit song to boot (No. 19 and 8 weeks in the Top 40 during 1978). A narration in first person about a guy who lives in an alternate reality of [...]

Half Notes: Meat Loaf – Hell in a Handbasket (2012)

Published on 2012-03-11 07:30:17

Meat Loaf returns, but this time without Bat series co-creator Jim Steinman, promising a more personal collection of songs. In fact, Meat has already called this 12th studio effort his most honest ever. Well, it’s certainly one of his angriest — despite the presence of a bunch of his old pals from “Celebrity Apprentice,” including Lil Jon, Trace Adkins, John [...]

Ben Howard – Every Kingdom (2012)

Published on 2012-03-11 07:19:54

Ben Howard’s finger-picking style of guitar can be both pastoral and percussive, giving Every Kingdom a layered complexity that belies folk’s old cardboard genre box. The British singer-songwriter’s initial release, out since last fall in his homeland but just seeing U.S. release this week, was produced by bassist/drummer Chris Bond in a converted barn studio — “neatly nestled,” Howard says, [...]

Adrenaline Mob – Omerta (2012)

Published on 2012-03-11 07:05:07

The debut of the supergroup featuring former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, Symphony X singer Russell Allen, Sonic Stomp guitarist Mike Orlando and Disturbed bassist John Moyer, who was added only recently after the recording of the album, should be intriguing. I’m a big fan of Symphony X, and I like a lot of what Portnoy did in Dream Theater. [...]

Forgotten series: John Abercrombie – Class Trip (2004)

Published on 2012-03-11 06:54:47

Quite a few years back I had a discussion with a close friend about a certain ‘famous’ musician. I say ‘famous’ because the musician’s name has been dropped from both of our memories (no doubt deposited behind the “memory sofa”, where your head tosses once ‘important’ bits of information, like synaptic lost socks). That’s OK though, as the truly important [...]

Half Notes: Dan Wilensky – Back in the Mix (2012)

Published on 2012-03-11 06:24:28

Back in the mix, indeed. You might initially be drawn in by the compelling new arrangements of “Lament” by J.J. Johnson, Cole Porter’s “Falling In Love With Love” and “Tenderly” by Gross and Lawrence, but you’ll keep coming back to Dan Wilensky’s fourth album of a leader because of its six original compositions — each of them a canny showcase [...]

One Track Mind: Something Unto Nothing, “Nomad” (2012)

Published on 2012-03-11 06:21:40

I’ve often lamented the fact that good, old-fashioned straight hard rock seems to be mostly a lost art form these days. There are a lot of bands out there that have the potential to do it well, but often they’re either trying to find a sound to get radio airplay or caught up with being original. Originality is great, but [...]

Jon Anderson on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snubs: ‘They don’t feel like Yes is important’

Published on 2012-03-10 17:33:32

Ask cofounding member Jon Anderson why Yes is not yet a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and you get a blunt answer: “It’s very simple,” Anderson says. “They don’t feel like Yes is important.” Anderson, who split with his old bandmates in 2008 and has had his run-ins with them since, was a key element in [...]

Foo Fighters are streaming classic 1995 concert, recorded just months after their stage debut

Published on 2012-03-10 17:09:42

Did you miss the Foo Fighters at the 1995 Reading Festival? Us, too. Luckily, the band is streaming that set online for those who’d like to take a ride in the way-back machine. Check it out — complete with retro-cool cassette interactive feature — at Reading.foofighters.com. Dave Grohl and Co. are now up to their seventh studio album, the celebrated [...]

Bob Dylan has returned to the studio to work on first album in three years

Published on 2012-03-10 10:01:29

Legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan is at work on a new studio album, leading sessions at Jackson Browne’s Los Angeles studio with Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo, among others. “It was a great experience — and different,” said Hidalgo, who has worked with Dylan on two previous releases. “Each one has been different, all completely different approaches. It’s an amazing thing, how [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Earth Wind and Fire, “Guiding Lights” (2012)

Published on 2012-03-10 09:26:50

Check out a new song from Earth Wind and Fire in advance of the new Legacy Recordings collection Now, Then and Forever. “Guiding Lights,” to be included in the set, provides a taste of what’s to come from a promised 2012 studio album — the band’s first since 2005. Over 23 releases so far, Earth Wind and Fire has notched [...]

Download 1991 King’s X concert to help offset medical bills for ailing drummer Jerry Gaskill

Published on 2012-03-10 09:03:47

As drummer Jerry Gaskill continues his long road back from a February 26 heart attack, King’s X is selling a 1991 live Mp3 concert from Boston to help offset medical expenses. A complete track listing for Burning Down Boston: Live At The Channel (6.12.1991) is below. The concert is available for download here: http://molkenmusic.com/store/shop/details.php?id=50. Cost is $20. Gaskill has been [...]

Shows I’ll Never Forget: Trans-Siberian Orchestra, March 6, 2012

Published on 2012-03-10 08:29:53

At CenturyLink Center, Bossier City, Louisiana: I’ve seen Trans-Siberian Orchestra at least a half dozen times over the last decade, and when it comes to Savatage, well, my fanboy enthusiasm knows no bounds. Folks who talk music with me tend to avoid the subject because they know I can go on for hours about the genius of Paul O’Neill and [...]

On Second Thought: Peter Gabriel – Hit (2003)

Published on 2012-03-10 07:49:10

Best-of albums are starting to make sense to me. Is that nostalgia? Or perhaps I’m just getting old. I found myself, for instance, intrigued by a comprehensive 2-disc solo career-spanner from Robert Plant in the form of Sixty-Six To Timbuktu. He’s an artist who has released of number of great songs, but whose albums fell short of necessary to me, [...]

Caetano Veloso and David Byrne – Live at Carnegie Hall (2012)

Published on 2012-03-10 07:19:21

The only question, really, is why this concert has been sitting on a shelf since 2004. That spring, Brazilian legend Caetano Veloso invited David Byrne, leader of the Talking Heads from 1976–88, to participate in a special event at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Recorded for broadcast on NPR, the concert featured an acoustic set of each — with Veloso and [...]

Forgotten series: Various artists – The Super K Kollection, Volumes 1-2 (1994)

Published on 2012-03-10 06:55:00

The late 1960s belonged to Jeffrey Katz and Jerry Kasenetz, who twiddled the knobs on gobs of singles and albums referred to as bubblegum music. Deceptively simple and often carved of lyrics parroting nursery rhythms, bubblegum music was a hot commodity, with bands like the Music Explosion, the 1910 Fruitgum Company, the Ohio Express, the Lemon Pipers, the Archies and [...]

Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker and Yim Yames – New Multitudes (2012)

Published on 2012-03-09 08:58:40

Although New Multitudes is bound to draw some comparisons to Mermaid Avenue — the similarly Woody Guthrie themed project from Wilco and Billy Bragg from about a decade ago — the timing for a record like this couldn’t be better. With economic hard times finally beginning to inspire some creative push back from the music community — the most recent [...]

Fred’s Country Fried Rock: Hank Williams III, “Thrown Out of the Bar” (2006)

Published on 2012-03-09 08:23:46

If there’s a poster child for the underground country movement, it’s Hank III. If you want to talk about a guy that does what he feels, no matter what it is, here’s your guy. You’d think just having the name Hank Williams would ensure you a successful and lucrative country music career, and it probably would have if he’d played [...]

As Howard Jones preps for new UK tour, he offers a free live track for download

Published on 2012-03-09 07:55:39

Howard Jones has posted a free download of a live version of “Like To Get To Know You Well” — originally a No. 4 hit in 1984 on the UK Singles Chart — as he gears up for an eight-date April swing through the UK. Go here for the mp3: http://www.howardjones.com/downloads.html This live track, from a November 6, 2010 concert [...]

Guilty pleasures: The B-52s – With The Wild Crowd – Live In Athens, GA DVD/Blu-ray (2012)

Published on 2012-03-09 07:38:06

Depending on your point of view, Athens, Georgia’s B-52s are either the greatest party band of all time, or quite possibly the gayest — and I mean that in the most non-homophobic, politically correct sort of way. Either way, it’s still kind of hard to fathom that the same late-1970s Athens alternative college-music scene that produced R.E.M., could have also [...]

Half Notes: Eraldo Bernocchi, Harold Budd, Robin Guthrie – Winter Garden (2012)

Published on 2012-03-09 06:52:56

Benocchi, Budd and Guthrie isn’t so much a trio as it’s a partnership: Harold Budd taps out sparse, ethereal notes from his classical piano, Robin Guthrie surrounds it with supplemental instrumentation (mainly guitar and keyboards) and sound architect Eraldo Bernocchi plays electric paino and along with Guthrie applies the finishing coast of varnish with soothin washes of synthesized sound. If [...]

Harmsen and Garces – 52 Min & 52 Sec (2012)

Published on 2012-03-09 06:18:13

Saxophonist Rafael Garces and pianist Eric-Jan Harmsen, it seems, couldn’t be more different. In the case of their stellar new live jazz recording 52 Min & 52 Sec, that’s a good thing. Garces opens the album with an extended saxophone interlude that is, by turns, lyrical and then assertive – a scene-setting moment that signals everything that will follow. His [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Mephista – Entomological Reflections (2004)

Published on 2012-03-09 05:31:58

Is music created using electronics (samplers and other related studio wizardry) intrinsically less emotional than that created with “real” instruments? I was reading a screed about use of various new-fangled technologies on Bruce Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball in which the commenter implied that these things drain the emotional life out of the music. Another reader astutely pointed out that it seemed [...]

Steve Lukather added to G3 shows in Australia with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai

Published on 2012-03-08 15:39:09

Toto co-founder Steve Lukather is headed to Australia for a series of 10 shows with G3, the explosive three-part guitar-focused rock show featuring Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. The dates start on March 24 and continue through April 6. “Joe and Steve are very, very old dear friends of mine and when they asked me to do this show, I [...]

New benefit project to include tracks by U2, Pearl Jam, David Bowie, Paul Simon, Sting, others

Published on 2012-03-08 14:44:24

A new benefit project for model Christy Turlington Burn’s Every Mother Counts program will include tracks from a bevy of big names in rock. Among those featured are U2′s Bono and the Edge, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Paul Simon and Edie Brickell, Dave Matthews Band, Sting, David Bowie, Beck, Rufus Wainwright and Coldplay, among others. Highlights include an acoustic version [...]

Surviving original Bad Company members to regroup for rare European tour this summer

Published on 2012-03-08 14:17:09

The three surviving members of Bad Company have scheduled a series of rare European shows this summer, their first since the tour in support of 1975′s Straight Shooter. Announced dates so far include six concerts in June, beginning at Solvesborg, Sweden, and the Sweden Rock Festival. Bad Company will also make stops in Berlin, Stuttgart, Augsburg, Trier and Monchengladbach, Germany, [...]

‘He was irresponsible’: Aerosmith discusses Steven Tyler’s drug-addled stage tumble

Published on 2012-03-08 14:03:26

On this Sunday’s edition of ’60 Minutes,’ members of Aerosmith retrace the band’s long and winding road to fame — including a scary tumble by Steven Tyler off a stage a few years ago in Bogota, Columbia. Tyler has since admitted he was high on prescription drugs at the time. “To be honest, I was expecting it,” Aerosmith’s Joe Perry [...]

Chicago Underground Duo – Age Of Energy (2012)

Published on 2012-03-08 07:09:47

Anytime there’s a new release out that involves cornet player Rob Mazurek, it warrants attention because it’s certain to be interesting and unlike jazz you’d hear anywhere else. Across more than a half dozen Mazurek-helmed projects, he veers from acoustic advanced bop to electronic primal fusion to meditative pure sound. One of his earliest incarnations after he first went down [...]

One Track Mind: Roger Hodgson on “Give A Little Bit,” “The Logical Song,” others

Published on 2012-03-08 06:44:37

On this special edition of Something Else Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over Supertramp co-founder Roger Hodgson, whose first U.S. tour since 1983 is underway. Find out how a sound effect from a hand-held Mattel football game made it onto one of Supertramp’s biggest singles. Why time means nothing to Hodgson when he’s composing. And how “Give [...]

Forgotten series: The Heats – Smoke (1998)

Published on 2012-03-08 06:16:27

Ah, here’s another great band that got away! Formed in 1978 in Seattle, Washington, the Heats certainly had everything working in their favor. Buck Ormsby, bassist of the legendary 1960s band the Wailers and owner of the fabled Etiquette label, took the boys under his wing, while Howard Leese (then guitarist for Heart) produced their debut album, 1980′s Have An [...]

One Track Mind: Bruce Springsteen, “American Land” (2012)

Published on 2012-03-08 05:30:05

Bruce’s song of the immigrant underpinnings of America has become a staple of the E Street live experience. “American Land” first surfaced during the Seeger Sessions tour but since then has attached itself to the encore segment of most shows. As you might expect, this annoys a lot of people who attend multiple shows, with the usual refrains of “stale” [...]

Sammy Hagar sets dates for 2012 Birthday Bash; reunion with Ronnie Montrose was planned

Published on 2012-03-07 17:43:03

Sammy Hagar has announced the dates for his 2012 Birthday Bash, commemorating the Chickenfoot lead singer’s 65th. Festivities will again take place at the Cabo Wabo club in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, this time on Oct. 7, 9, 11 and 13. “We know that a lot of you have been waiting for confirmation on the dates for this year’s Birthday [...]

U.S. release date for Rush’s Clockwork Angels confirmed; preorder it here!

Published on 2012-03-07 16:35:28

A U.S. release date for Rush’s long-awaited new studio album Clockwork Angels has been confirmed through Amazon: It will be available on May 29 via Roadrunner Records. Previously, two separate Web sites confirmed a May 23rd release date in Japan through Warner Music. The project will be issued via Anthem/Universal Music in Canada. Among the album highlights, guitarist Alex Lifeson [...]

A Pink Floyd reunion? Co-founding member Nick Mason says ‘it would take flying pigs’

Published on 2012-03-07 15:00:36

Despite the fact that all three remaining members of Pink Floyd have appeared on stage together recently, not to mention having collaborated on a just-completed massive reissue series, founding member Nick Mason doesn’t see a full-fledged reunion happening. “I think it would take flying pigs – very hard to, to see it happening,” says Mason, the only member of the [...]

Former Wings guitarist Laurence Juber is keeping busy with nationwide tour, new studio projects

Published on 2012-03-07 14:28:02

Solo guitar virtuoso Laurence Juber, a two-time Grammy-winning former member of Paul McCartney and Wings, is not one to rest on those laurels. In fact, he’ll be crisscrossing the nation this spring, performing everywhere from California to North Carolina, from Washington to Georgia. In between, Juber is at work on a new album — something he says “is more of [...]

Check out tentative set list for Rock n Roll Allstars tour, featuring members of Kiss, Def Leppard, Guns n’ Roses, others

Published on 2012-03-07 13:33:38

The Rock n Roll AllStars — a group featuring members of Kiss, Def Leppard, Guns n’ Roses and Alice in Chains, among others — have confirmed the lineup for a series of shows across South America and Central America in April. One of its tentative set lists has also been released. The line up will feature: Gene Simmons of Kiss; [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Yes co-founder Jon Anderson and Marco Sabiu, “Limitless Lives” (2012)

Published on 2012-03-07 10:16:21

Former Yes vocalist and songwriter Jon Anderson has teamed up with Italian composer/conductor Marco Sabiu to produce the digitally released track “Limitless Lives.” Hear an excerpt here! Anderson, whose successful U.S. solo tour is ongoing, says he “was instantly connected to Marco’s music,” after mutual friend Alessandro de Rosa put the two in touch last month. Anderson immediately set about [...]

Something Else! Interview: Roger Hodgson, formerly of Supertramp

Published on 2012-03-07 07:54:35

At the turn of the 1980s, Roger Hodgson and Supertramp were coming off a blockbuster album in Breakfast in America that had just spent 15 weeks at No. 1 in the U.S. By the end of the decade, he was out of music. There had been an on-again, off-again solo career, begun just four years after that 1979 smash — [...]

Henry Cole and the Afrobeat Collective – Roots Before Branches (2012)

Published on 2012-03-07 07:03:36

When Henry Cole sought to find a singular style of music that would appeal to the diverse tastes of his local Old St. Juan music scene, his search was over when he discovered the pioneering Afrobeat sounds of Fela Kuti. “When I heard Fela, I was like, ‘Wow, this is it!’ He had tradition, he had the rock vibe, he [...]

Stephan Forte – The Shadows Compendium (2012)

Published on 2012-03-07 06:28:19

Normally I’m not a fan of instrumental shred albums or guys that have too many strings on their guitars. Every so often, though, a record comes along that I make an exception for, and Stephan Forte’s The Shadows Compendium is one of the best I’ve broken my unspoken rule for in a long time. I’ll admit that my aversion to [...]

One Track Mind: Bruce Springsteen, “Swallowed Up” (2012)

Published on 2012-03-07 05:42:59

Bruce takes the biblical story of Jonah and morphs it into a kind of blues lament for the downtrodden and the forgotten. In this version, the whale is not symbolic of god’s love and caring but is instead a place of disappointment. An end. And…an obvious metaphor for a society that can crush the unsuspecting person. Sung closely by Bruce, [...]

Neil Young makes poignant return to hometown, plays two nights at Massey Hall in new Jonathan Demme film

Published on 2012-03-06 19:01:52

Jonathan Demme’s new documentary focusing on Neil Young is set to debut at theaters beginning June 29. Demme followed Young as the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s tour made a stop in his Canadian hometown of Omemee, Ontario — where Young was set to play a pair of dates at the legendary Massey Hall, site of a classic 1971 [...]

Tour break allows Red Hot Chili Peppers to start work on their next album

Published on 2012-03-06 15:09:20

There has been at least one positive from the ongoing tour hiatus for the Red Hot Chili Peppers as frontman Anthony Kiedis recovers from foot surgery: The remaining Peppers have started work on a new release. This as-yet-unnamed project follows up a signature year for the band, as its 2011 release “I’m In You” earned a Grammy nomination and the [...]

Up next for Dennis DeYoung: A new concert film of acoustic Styx favorites

Published on 2012-03-06 13:23:26

Look for an new live concert film from Dennis DeYoung focusing on acoustic versions of his classic Styx material. The band’s former frontman, who led Styx from its inception until 2000, says: “We are working on the logistics for a concert DVD of the acoustic show which would contain all your favorites — and I mean all your favorites, unless [...]

Download a free song, as Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour celebrates his 66th birthday

Published on 2012-03-06 13:04:52

David Gilmour is celebrating his 66th birthday with a present … for Pink Floyd fans. The legendary guitarist is offering a free download today of his song “A Pocketful of Stones” from the most recent studio release On an Island. Click here to download the song from Gilmour’s Web site. Issued six years ago, Island was the third solo project [...]

Gregg Allman explores his life-threatening battle with hepatitis C in forthcoming memoir

Published on 2012-03-06 12:50:09

Gregg Allman’s new memoir, My Cross to Bear, is due May 1 — and fans can expect a frank look into his health struggles with hepatitis C, a virus that leads to liver inflammation. The 64-year-old, fresh off a critically acclaimed solo triumph with Low Country Blues, had a liver transplant a year ago. It was during that fight for [...]

Vijay Iyer Trio – Accelerando (2012)

Published on 2012-03-06 07:04:06

After a diversion into a piano alone venture Solo (2010), Vijay Iyer returns to his trio for Accelerando. While we might once again have a Iyer record with Stephan Crump (bass) and Marcus Gilmore (drums), Iyer isn’t staying put in pursuing musical strategies. Accelerando marks a progression from that excellent 2010 trio date Historicity. Like the incisive, articulate and even-tempered [...]

Something Else! Featured Artist: The Doobie Brothers

Published on 2012-03-06 06:44:39

News that the rejuvenated Doobie Brothers would be joining Chicago on a summer tour sent us scurrying back to the stacks. And not just the Tom Johnston stuff, though his reunion with the band has sparked a third-act resurgence for the Doobies — one that included a return-to-form studio project back in 2010. We also gave a tip of the [...]

Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball (2012)

Published on 2012-03-06 06:18:30

I’ve always had a hard time with the word “spiritual.” While I know that there are meanings that do not have religious connotations — “cerebral” and “metaphysical” come to mind — the general usage of the term more commonly leans to the sacred. That tendency of society (or American society, at least) to attach a diety to the word makes [...]

Wes Montgomery – Echoes of Indiana Avenue (2012)

Published on 2012-03-06 05:30:39

Dismissed late in life as a sell-out entertainer, Wes Montgomery — you’re reminded all over again, with this group of previously unreleased sides — could play with both an uncanny smoothness and a sharp improvisational wit. Executive producer Michael Cuscuna surmises the tapes featured on Echoes of Indiana Avenue were made in order to secure Montgomery’s initial record deal with [...]

Something Else! Interview: Americana singer/songwriter Kevin Gordon

Published on 2012-03-05 11:04:07

Over a roots-rocking career decades in the making, Louisiana-born Kevin Gordon has issued a series of acclaimed songs, but none more so than those on his new album Gloryland. Already given four out of four stars by USA Today and featured in the New York Times, the project is an at times brutally frank chronicle of the Southland’s dark passions, [...]

The Mind Expanders – What’s Happening?/ Psychedelic Guitars (1967-68; 2011 reissue)

Published on 2012-03-05 09:57:09

More than a few clueless shoppers, when purchasing albums like these, were fooled into thinking they were buying a brain-melting slice of sonic revelations from a new groovy group primed to rival their paisley-attired Carnaby Street cousins in England or their lysergic-lathered peers in San Francisco. Although the folks behind such exploitation projects were obviously in it for only the [...]

Mort Weiss: Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry once blew us away under LA’s Big Top

Published on 2012-03-05 08:05:28

Los Angeles/Hollywood, California, in the late 1940s through the early 1960s was a happening place for jazz and jazz musicians. There was always a place to play a jam session, or more correctly session(s) — mostly in beer bars. (I’m not counting the ones that went on all night in some one’s pad, if they were lucky enough to live [...]

New Music Monday: Bill Frisell, Andrew Bird, Bob Margolin, Bowerbirds and … BRUUUUCE!

Published on 2012-03-05 07:17:07

Amongst the things we’re stoked about this New Music Monday are Bruce Springsteen’s long-awaited Wrecking Ball, of course, but also Andrew Bird and Bill Frisell’s Floratone project, as well as key reissues from Fleetwood Mac (before everybody went their own way), Mark Lindsay and Rick Nelson. Also just-in this week: Bob Margolin, Bowerbirds, Lance Lopez, Nick Moran, Rocco DeLuca, Pharoah [...]

Fleetwood Mac – Go Your Own Way: Live 1977 (2012)

Published on 2012-03-05 06:44:18

A rare UK import now seeing wide release that features live recordings and archival material from Fleetwood Mac’s commercial apex, 1977’s Rumours. Of the 13 live tracks here, seven are from that multi-platinum effort – including “Go Your Own Way,” “Songbird,” “You Make Loving Fun,” “Never Going Back Again,” “Gold Dust Woman,” “The Chain” and “Oh Daddy,” but curiously not [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “The Ties That Bind” (1980)

Published on 2012-03-05 05:39:11

Confession time: When The River first came out, I didn’t like it very much. It’s an unusual reaction for me (there’s one other exception, which I’ll get to a few albums from now) as Bruce’s material nearly always manages to resonate in one way or another. I dunno, maybe I was expecting Darkness Part II, with more loud guitars and [...]

Ronnie Montrose, dead at 64 after bout with cancer, remembered as ‘one of the all time greats’

Published on 2012-03-04 10:43:52

Ronnie Montrose died Saturday after a five-year battle with prostate cancer. He was 64. Best known for his band Montrose, formed in 1973 with vocalist Sammy Hagar, bassist Bill Church and drummer Denny Carmassi, Montrose also founded the groundbreaking Gamma in the late 1970s and issued a series of well-regarded solo projects. Over the years, his albums and tours featured [...]

Steely Dan Sunday: “Aja” (1977)

Published on 2012-03-04 07:54:28

It’s debatable on whether or not this was their plan from the beginning, but by The Royal Scam, Steely Dan was clearly aiming to make jazz-rock or jazz-pop that was suitable for mainstream radio. Thus, most of their songs adhered to the 3-5 minute format and while the solos can often be interesting, even monumental, after Countdown To Ecstacy they [...]

One Track Mind: Andrew Bird, “Eyeoneye” (2012)

Published on 2012-03-04 07:26:30

With “Eyeoneye,” Andrew Bird finds a great middle ground between the rather over-earnest sound of his early solo records and the broader ambitions of his old band Bowl of Fire. At the same time, “Eyeoneye” — the lead single from the forthcoming album Break It Yourself — continues to burnish Bird’s reputation as the most talented whistling bookworm string-a-ding singer-songwriter [...]

Half Notes: Mastodon – Leviathon (2004)

Published on 2012-03-04 07:08:54

After the blast of intensity and creativity of Remission, fans expected nothing less than more of the same. Oddly, Leviathon does not deliver and listeners are the better off for it. Instead of continuing where the last album left off, with an apocolyptic, dense roar, Mastodon opted for variety and melody. Rather than build on sounds and structures pioneered by [...]

Guilty pleasures: Kiss – Sonic Boom (2009)

Published on 2012-03-04 06:49:14

It was sort of like when you’re a kid, trying to buy condoms for the first time: Time magazine, brown shoelaces, Trojans, Doublemint gum. Try to look casual. They won’t notice, right? Instead, Tuesday night at the Walmart checkout: Colgate toothpaste, 3 pairs of socks, Sonic Boom by Kiss, Toms of Maine toothpaste. The big exception is that I’m not [...]

Bowerbirds – The Clearing (2012)

Published on 2012-03-04 06:22:21

Having weathered all kinds of bad luck and bad times – including, but limited to, breaking up, serious illness and having their dog hit by a car – Beth Tacular and Phil Moore reconvened for another go at Bowerbirds. The results mirror the sweeping emotions of such things, sounding at times devastatingly sad, but (and this is the important thing) [...]

Tony Banks says classical influences in his work go all the way back to Genesis

Published on 2012-03-03 16:26:46

Some might have been surprised by Genesis co-founder Tony Banks turn toward classical music. But, it turns out, he’d always had an interest in the genre. “As a child my mother used to play classical music,” Banks says. “She was a good pianist. She played a lot of Chopin and that was quite a strong influence. I’ve always liked classical [...]

Rolling Stones getting back together to celebrate 50th anniversary — with a commemorative photo book

Published on 2012-03-03 15:55:30

Fans have been waiting with bated breath for the Rolling Stones to announce plans for a gala 50th anniversary event. The hope, obviously, was for a tour. That hasn’t happened yet. But that doesn’t mean the band won’t be celebrating. Band members have overseen a new 352-page photo book called The Rolling Stones: 50, by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie [...]

Tony Martin: Don’t look for a reunion with Black Sabbath any time soon

Published on 2012-03-03 15:37:07

Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler recently reconvened for a planned album, but don’t look for a similar happy reunion between the band and one-time singer Tony Martin. “Sabbath haven’t spoken to me for over 15 years,” Martin says, in an interview with Antonis Katsaros from Rock Overdose. “I met Iommi very briefly in Russia once and he said [...]

Rocco DeLuca – Drugs ‘n Hymns (2012)

Published on 2012-03-03 08:31:15

To be so organic, so uninhibited and free — during the song “Amen,” Rocco DeLuca actually turns from the microphone, filling the room around him with a howling lament — Drugs ‘n Hymns is often grounded by the familiar. That gives this record both its magic, and its heft. DeLuca, who’s been leading a blues rock-informed outfit called the Burden [...]

Half Notes: Heaven and Hell – Live at Radio City Music Hall CD/DVD (2007)

Published on 2012-03-03 07:57:34

I think it’s pretty cool that the band opted to not carry the Black Sabbath moniker for their tour in support of the material Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi and Co. recorded as Black Sabbath in the early 1980s, then again in the early 1990s, and once again this year for The Dio Years Sabbath compilation. The CDs are what [...]

Something Else! Playlists: 2011 Yes remix, with extras from Jon Anderson, Billy Sherwood and Alan White

Published on 2012-03-03 07:16:28

It has been, quite literally, the best of times and the worst of times for fans of Yes. The prog-rock legends issued their first album in a decade last year. But not before enduring the wrath of some old-line fans who were angry because Yes had moved on without co-founding lead singer Jon Anderson. By the time the year was [...]

Neil Young and Crazy Horse – Greendale (2003)

Published on 2012-03-03 06:49:37

A new reunion with Crazy Horse had us going to back to Neil Young’s most recent collaboration with the band, an early 2000s concept album that arrived long after we thought the idea was dead. After all, we want instant gratification. We’ve got shrinking attention spans. Heck, we can’t even make it all the way through an MTV video … [...]

Half Notes: Jacob Deaton – Tribulation (2012)

Published on 2012-03-03 06:25:40

Atlanta guitarist Jacob Deaton began the year with a new album—his first one, in fact—and makes a good initial impression. These six songs, all Deaton’s, vary in tempo in mood but the common thread throughout them all is that they are crisp post-bop with simple melodies and advanced harmonies. This leader allows a lot of running room for pianist Nick [...]

Release date for Rush’s long-awaited Clockwork Angels appear on two Japanese sites

Published on 2012-03-02 15:28:18

Two separate music sites, Amazon.co.jp and HMV.co.jp, have posted a May 23 release date for Rush’s Clockwork Angels album — the first indications of when this long-awaited project might appear. No firm dates have been announced for the U.S., or anywhere else, through the band. Still, fans have to be circling that date now as a strong possibility. This is [...]

Frank Ocean responds to possible sampling suit by Eagles’ Don Henley: ‘Ain’t this guy rich as f**k?’

Published on 2012-03-02 15:05:43

In the wake of a rumored threat from Don Henley to sue over sampling the Eagles’ “Hotel California,” R&B singer Frank Ocean took to the Internet to plead his case: “Shit’s weird. Ain’t this guy rich as fuck? Why sue the new guy?” The Eagles have accused the Odd Future rapper of lifting “the whole master track” for Ocean’s new [...]

New film focusing on legendary Cream drummer Ginger Baker in the works

Published on 2012-03-02 14:25:51

Cream drummer Ginger Baker will be the subject of an upcoming film, “Beware of Mr. Baker.” After his stint from 1966-68 in Cream, Baker later joined the supergroup Blind Faith then led the fusion-rock band Ginger Baker’s Air Force. He’s also worked with Atomic Rooster, Bill Frisell, Bill Laswell, Charlie Haden, Masters of Reality, Public Image Ltd., and BBM, with [...]

Ian Hunter Band, featuring Mick Ronson – Live At Rockpalast DVD (2012)

Published on 2012-03-02 07:43:52

Mott the Hoople should have been huge. They should have been selling out arenas, rather then barely filling theaters as headliners in America, when they weren’t opening for Queen back in the 1970s. But in the same hard luck fashion so typical of this great band’s mostly unfortunate history, they split up at right about the same time they actually [...]

Merbow – Dead Zone (2012)

Published on 2012-03-02 07:17:36

Music reviewing is famously described as “dancing about architecture” but dissecting Merbow’s noise music is more comparable to slicing water. For starters, the Japanese king of noise challenges and stretches the whole notion of what we call music. There are no shapes or discernible patterns to his computer-generated clicks, wheezes, beeps, bumping, buzzes, booms and other circuit-bent insanity. On his [...]

Forgotten series: Impala Syndrome – Impala Syndrome (1969; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-03-02 06:31:40

Previously known as Los Impalas, this Venezuela-based group eventually moved to Spain where they met with great success. The band’s discs, which encompassed a mix of different styles, were well received and are now relished by collectors throughout the world. In tune with the changing times, Los Impalas then switched their name to the snazzier sounding Impala Syndrome and released [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Bruce Springsteen, “We Are Alive” (2012)

Published on 2012-03-02 05:26:43

Much was said in response to the notion that Wrecking Ball was to be Bruce Springsteen’s “angriest” album. People seem to have in their heads a firm notion of what it means to be angry. So when the music surfaced, opinions crystallized around that thread, commonly expressing bemusement at the seeming lack of anger. Were they expecting 45 minutes of [...]

‘Just in it for the money’?: Jon Anderson says Yes has let its fans down

Published on 2012-03-01 16:21:30

Jon Anderson, ousted from the band he co-founded in 2008, says Yes is “never going to be the same band” without him. Yes is actually on its second lead singer since dumping Anderson as he struggled with a bout of respiratory problems. Benoit David toured and recorded with the band through the end of last year, when he too had [...]

Ever the chameleon, Todd Rundgren is taking on symphonic rock next

Published on 2012-03-01 15:20:47

Todd Rundgren continues his chameleon-like career path with the announcement of a pair of symphony shows in Rockford, Illinois, this June. They represent his first two symphonic dates in the U.S., though Rundgren has already appeared with the Dutch Metropole Orchestra in the Netherlands, last year. Rundgren has already dabbled in every permutation of art rock, into power pop, into [...]

Ian Anderson admits ‘abject terror’ concerning sequel to Jethro Tull’s Thick as a Brick

Published on 2012-03-01 14:59:16

Fans aren’t the ones who are a little nervous about the idea of Ian Anderson releasing a sequel to Jethro Tull’s classic Thick as a Brick. Anderson himself admits he’s “in a state of abject terror.” The original album, Jethro Tull’s fifth long player, was released in 1972 to critical acclaim for its nervy conceptual bravado: Thick as a Brick [...]

Best of February 2012: Reader picks include Paul McCartney, Van Halen and (big surprise) Adele

Published on 2012-03-01 08:27:42

Little surprise here, but nothing topped Adele last month. When you diss the consensus album of the year, people tend to take notice. Heh. February 2012 also saw the long-awaited arrival of Van Halen’s reunion album, and a new release from Paul McCartney — sparking a resurgence of interest in all things Beatles. Elsewhere, there were early peeks at upcoming [...]

One Track Mind: Dr. John with the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, “Revolution” (2012)

Published on 2012-03-01 07:18:35

Deeply wounded by the way his hometown drowned in the wake of Katrina, Dr. John has spent the last few years railing against The Man. But he’s never sounded so focused, so full of both piss and vinegar. And, more importantly, the New Orleans native hasn’t shoveled out a groove this deep in ages. Credit the expected — but, in [...]

On Second Thought: The Who – Endless Wire (2006)

Published on 2012-03-01 06:53:52

You can argue as much as you want whether this was the Who, or — as Roger Daltrey was fond of putting it — Who2, or as some jokingly said, “The Two,” or should have been a Pete Townshend album, or should have simply been called Townshend/Daltrey, but the fact remains the same: Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey recorded and [...]

Half Notes: Nick Moran Trio – No Time Like Now (2012)

Published on 2012-03-01 06:22:46

What struck me first about the Nick Moran Trio’s second album No Time Like Now were the instantly likable melodies and the righteous grooves. But listening to it closer reveals other reasons to like this record: the subtle tempo shifts (“Wishful Thinking”), a soul-jazz take on the blues that retains the soul of the original (Cream’s “Strange Brew”) and picaresque [...]

One Track Mind: Bruce Springsteen, “Land Of Hope And Dreams” (2012)

Published on 2012-03-01 05:49:59

First, I have to admit that I was never the biggest fan of this song. Or more accurately, I didn’t like it placed later in the live set. It seemed like the tempo dragged things down. There, I said it. So then I find out that Bruce has made a new studio version for Wrecking Ball. Hmmmm…what does that mean? [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Four songs from the Rolling Stones’ 1981 Hampton Coliseum show

Published on 2012-02-29 17:37:37

The Rolling Stones have uploaded four songs to YouTube from their recently released archival live date in 1981 at Hampton Coliseum: “Black Limousine,” “Little T&A,” “She’s So Cold” and “Satisfaction.” Often bootlegged, but never officially released — until earlier this month — this Virginia concert had become something of a legend. If you were wondering what the fuss was about, [...]

Drummer Jerry Gaskill’s health is improving, but King’s X tour is cancelled

Published on 2012-02-29 17:18:23

King’s X drummer Jerry Gaskill’s health is “headed in the right direction,” the band says, but its upcoming tour is off. Gaskill suffered a heart attack on February 26, even as King’s X was preparing for a new round of concert dates. He has been in an intensive care recovery ever since. King’s X was preparing to kick off a [...]

Despite sad end, bluesman Gary Moore still remembered as ‘an inspirational player’

Published on 2012-02-29 16:32:56

Those who played with Gary Moore remembered his furious ingenuity rather than his sad passing, as news broke this week that the legendary guitarist died a year ago from alcohol poisoning. Moore, who came to early fame as a member of Thin Lizzy, later established a celebrated career in the blues. But Greg Lake — an original co-founding member of [...]

Ex-Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord diagnosed with pancreatic cancer

Published on 2012-02-29 14:28:27

Former Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord has pancreatic cancer, though band drummer Ian Paice says the disease was caught in its “really early stages.” Lord is seeking treatment in Israel, but the 70-year-old is hoping to return to music later this year, Paice told the Canadian radio station CIRK K-97. Lord played with Paice in Deep Purple from 1968-76, and [...]

Former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley at work on a new album, and another book

Published on 2012-02-29 14:16:28

Just a year after writing his book “No Regrets,” Ace Frehley is at work on another — as well as an album of new songs. No word on the focus of his new musical project, or who will appear alongside the former Kiss guitarist. It would be Frehley’s first album since 2009′s Anomaly. As for the book, Frehley says deadlines [...]

Davy Jones, lead singer of the Monkees, dies at 66 from apparent heart attack

Published on 2012-02-29 14:01:21

Sixties teen idol Davy Jones has died of a heart attack, his publicist confirms. He was 66. His band the Monkees, assembled for a hit television program in 1966, once boasted four No. 1 albums in a 13-month period. Jones continued to tour as a solo act, performing as recently as last week. Early Monkees’ hits — written by some [...]

Something Else! Interview: Bass-playing jazz legend Stanley Clarke

Published on 2012-02-29 09:31:44

A new seven-album retrospective from Legacy focuses on one of Stanley Clarke’s most innovative periods, his solo Epic recordings of the 1970s. They would propel the young Clarke, already a burgeoning legend on the bass from his on-going stint with fusion pioneers Return to Forever, toward new heights: He became the first bassist to headline tours and craft gold-selling solo [...]

Cosmic Michael – Cosmic Michael (1969)/ After A While (1970; 2012 reissues)

Published on 2012-02-29 08:06:29

No matter how much research has been expended on Cosmic Michael, he remains an enigmatic figure. But thankfully, the pair of albums he recorded back in the day, which appeared on the Bliss imprint, have survived and have recently been reissued by the Gear Fab label. Initially released in 1969, Cosmic Michael proposes a compatible marriage of electric blues and [...]

Bill Frisell, Matt Chamberlain, Lee Townsend and Tucker Martine – Floratone II (2012)

Published on 2012-02-29 07:50:21

Ever since Bill Frisell broke away from his longtime label Nonesuch and signed up with Savoy Jazz a couple of years ago, we have been subjected to wave after wave of Frisell releases. This was to be expected, though, as his departure from Nonesuch had a lot to do with being held back by the label from releasing material at [...]

Fred’s Country Fried Rock: Shooter Jennings, “Outlaw You” (2012)

Published on 2012-02-29 06:25:14

If Rip Van Winkle were a country music fan waking up today and flipping on the radio, he’d probably be just as confused and lost as the character in Washington Irving’s classic tale. He’d hear candy-coated pop songs, recycled classic rock riffs and, of all things, guys in cowboy hats rapping. He’d hear songs about deep subjects like disposable plastic [...]

Nick Mason on Pink Floyd’s often-forgotten co-founder: We’d have been nothing without Syd Barrett

Published on 2012-02-28 17:01:13

Nick Mason, the only member to have appeared in every different configuration of Pink Floyd, credits long-departed co-founder Syd Barrett for giving the band its “liftoff” — even as he expresses regret over how the group parted ways with the troubled singer-songwriter. “If you just look at that first album (1967′s Piper at the Gates of Dawn), the first songs [...]

Chicago, Doobie Brothers will be rocking down the highway together on summer tour

Published on 2012-02-28 15:59:15

Chicago and the Doobie Brothers are teaming up for a massive summer tour, set to kick off July 11 in Tuscon, Arizona. The classic rock legends have already announced 21 confirmed dates through August. Chicago has sold more than 38 million albums in the U.S., including 18 platinum and 8 multi-platinum releases. That run includes 21 To 10 hits. The [...]

Following Eminem’s lead, Toto sues record label over unpaid digital royalties

Published on 2012-02-28 15:31:10

Toto and Eminem don’t intersect very often, maybe not at all. Until now: Toto is taking action against Sony, filing suit in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in search of more than $605,000 in unpaid digital royalties. The legal move follows a precedent set last year by Eminem, who had success in arguing that digital downloads should be [...]

Ahmad Jamal – Blue Moon (2012)

Published on 2012-02-28 07:21:34

With the death of Hank Jones a couple of years ago, Ahmad Jamal might now be considered the dean of jazz pianists, but in all likelihood, he’s long been more influential than even the highly regarded Jones. He was one of the first pianists of the modern jazz era to embrace the principle “less is more,” making use of pauses [...]

Heritage Blues Orchestra – And Still I Rise (2012)

Published on 2012-02-28 06:58:47

This begins, as most blues albums do, with a stamping rhythm and this heartfelt lyric in celebration of a bunch of stuff that’s not good for you. Only then, that chewed-clean template is joined by these bright blasts of shiny brass newness. With that, the Heritage Blues Orchestra’s And Still I Rise boldly announces that it isn’t simply going to [...]

Half Notes: Mark Lindsay – The Complete Columbia Singles (2012)

Published on 2012-02-28 06:29:19

Mark Lindsay, coming off a career-making period as frontman for Paul Revere and the Raiders, proceeded to reel off a string of solo hits for Columbia in the early 1970s — only they had little, if anything, in common with the initial fancy-pantsed garage-rock outbursts of his old band. By the time Lindsay bolted, he’d already started moving toward more [...]

Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson – Live at the US Festival 1983 (2012)

Published on 2012-02-28 06:14:33

Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson took the stage of the 1983 US Festival as confirmed crossover country stars — but without all of the sell-out slickness that’s attached to the term these days. No, Jennings and Nelson were unreconstructed rebels, each in their own fashion. You had Nelson, the cookie-cutter song plugger-turned-shaggy dog superstar. And Jennings, the rough-hewn outlaw playing [...]

One Track Mind: Bruce Springsteen, “You’ve Got It” (2012)

Published on 2012-02-28 05:33:44

Yessir, the world is sure full ‘o problems, but our Mr. Springsteen knows that there’s still room for some old-fashioned lust. “You’ve Got It” serves it up with a sleazy bump & grind shuffle, full of hot slide guitars and swelling horns. Swelling? Yeah. Video courtesy of Gina Giambone Next up: Rocky Ground

Prove it all (late) night!: Diving into Bruce Springsteen week on Jimmy Fallon

Published on 2012-02-27 22:48:02

As usual for Bruce Springsteen, there are a few select media appearances before the release of a new album. For Wrecking Ball, Bruce has chosen (huge Bruce fan) Jimmy Fallon. This week is Bruce week on Late Night, with multiple Springsteen appearances, as well as Kenny Chesney, John Legend, and Elvis Costello showing up to pay their musical respects. Early [...]

Sammy Hagar says Chickenfoot gives Michael Anthony the respect he never got in Van Halen

Published on 2012-02-27 18:09:27

Van Halen is missing more than Michael Anthony’s signature tenor, Sammy Hagar says. They’re missing a very good bass player. Together now in Chickenfoot, Hagar and Anthony have focused on mixing their vocals higher in the mix than they did during their own time in Van Halen. Just as importantly, Hagar says, they’ve let Anthony inhabit a larger musical role [...]

Heart troubles for Foreigner co-founder Mick Jones, King’s X drummer Jerry Gaskill

Published on 2012-02-27 17:32:06

Both Foreigner guitarist and Mick Jones and King’s X drummer Jerry Gaskill are recovering from heart ailments. Jones is underwent surgery last week, according to The New York Post. Meanwhile, Gaskill was in stable condition after suffering a heart attack on Saturday. King’s X is preparing to kick off a three-week tour on March 28 in Austin, Texas, as the [...]

Neil Young’s reunion with Crazy Horse has nixed the Buffalo Springfield tour

Published on 2012-02-27 16:37:40

Neil Young’s reunion with Crazy Horse has nixed previously announced plans for a long-awaited tour with Buffalo Springfield. Neil Young, Richie Furay and Stephen Stills got together as Buffalo Springfield for the first time in four decades for an appearance at 2010′s Bridge School benefit. There was also an appearance during the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee [...]

One Track Mind: Bruce Springsteen, “Wrecking Ball” (2012)

Published on 2012-02-27 07:44:09

Yeah sure, it was written for the whole Giants Stadium thing, but “Wrecking Ball” can certainly be seen in the broader context: that the passage of time is something we can’t do a whole lot about, so we might as well make the most out of it … and not let our anger destroy us. Songs like this — which [...]

Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls – Lung of Love (2012)

Published on 2012-02-27 07:19:33

Eyes, you hear about all the time. Lips and hips, too. And the heart? All day, every day — and a million times on Valentine’s Day. But the lungs? Not so much. Call it another offbeat choice on the topic of love from the one I always figured to be the “rock” half of folk-rock duo the Indigo Girls. Amy [...]

New Music Monday: Corrosion of Conformity, and a Pink Floyd reissue we hate

Published on 2012-02-27 06:55:14

Atop our teetering stacks for this edition of New Music Monday are Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Corrosion of Conformity, Lyle Lovett and Matthew Shipp, as well as reissues and live music projects from Hiener Stadler, Mark Lindsay, Pink Floyd, Rick Nelson, Susan Tedeschi, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Also just-in this week: Fanfarlo, Heritage Blues [...]

miX&dorp (Various Artists) – Black and Tan Edits (2012)

Published on 2012-02-27 06:29:44

DJ-manufactured dance/electronica/trance stuff isn’t usually my cup of tea, but maybe it’s the lack of good melodies to go along with the grooves. That’s the special advantage of Black And Tan Records’ “miX&dorp” party remixes of blues tracks out of their catalog of blues artists called Black and Tan Edits: the Chicago and Delta-inspired blues these guys play have hypnotic [...]

Half Notes: Rick Nelson – The Complete Epic Recordings (2012)

Published on 2012-02-27 06:12:54

It’s tempting to think that Nelson’s 1972 flip-off single “Garden Party” — written after the former teen popstar was booed off the stage at Madison Square Garden, he says, for daring to play some of his newer stuff — was the end of the road. But Nelson, in fact, was quite productive into the late 1970s, though little of the [...]

Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Darkness On The Edge Of Town” (1978)

Published on 2012-02-27 05:36:37

There’s rage, desperation, and resignation, all of which are distilled into this fine, fine, ending to Darkness On The Edge Of Town. When Bruce leans into this last verse with neck veins a-poppin’, he passionately wraps those emotions up with a golden thread of hope. Tonight I’ll be on that hill ’cause I can’t stop I’ll be on that hill [...]

David Marks says the Beach Boys’ sound was always ‘something special’

Published on 2012-02-26 13:43:04

From the very first, David Marks knew the Beach Boys were on to something. And he says he feels it all over again, now that the founding members have reunited for a much-anticipated concert tour and new studio album. “I think it was evident pretty early on that we were onto something special because our sound was unique,” said Marks, [...]

Roger Hodgson is finding his voice again on rare U.S. tour since leaving Supertramp

Published on 2012-02-26 12:05:22

Roger Hodgson’s long-awaited U.S. tour — his first since 1983 — is giving him the chance to do something that Supertramp never did: Establish his own name. The group hit its commercial peak with 1979′s U.S. charttopper Breakfast in America, an album that’s sold more than 20 million copies on the strength of hits singles “The Logical Song” (No. 6 [...]

Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Rod Stewart, Stevie Nicks to appear together again this summer

Published on 2012-02-26 10:12:35

Fresh off a series of successful shows last spring, Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks will join forces again for a summer tour. The initial stop is set for Cleveland on July 20, though only six shows have so far been confirmed. Stewart, of course, will be in Cleveland this April for his second induction into the Rock and Roll Hall [...]

Steely Dan Sunday: “Black Cow” (1977)

Published on 2012-02-26 07:49:38

People who followed Steely Dan back in the day must have known before hearing a single note that they were in for a big surprise in the fall of 1977 when Aja first appeared in record stores. The first suspicious sign was the album cover: it wasn’t ugly! Hell, its sleek, dark minimalist design on this veneer similar to a [...]

Half Notes: Secret Machines – The Road Leads Where It’s Led (2005)

Published on 2012-02-26 07:31:51

The secret of the Machines is that they have an addictively fun, poundingly-heavy beat that is reminiscent of Led Zeppelin, and they have a penchant for really stretching out their compositions for texture and emphasis. It’s prog-rock without the slightest hint of twee frilliness. Road was an EP with a non-album track, “Better Bring Your Friends,” and covers of Van [...]

Magnolia Memoir – The Perfect Crime (2012)

Published on 2012-02-26 07:17:54

Magnolia Memoir has been described, and beautifully so, as Fiona Apple meets the Killers with a dash of the Clash — and that’s a good start. What’s not delineated there is the torch-song vulnerability, fragile and yet hopeful, that propels much of the work on The Perfect Crime. It’s then that this quintet begins to separate itself from an ever-burgeoning [...]

Forgotten series: Sixpence None The Richer – Divine Discontent (2003)

Published on 2012-02-26 06:58:37

What do the following artists have in common: Rickie Lee Jones, Natalie Merchant, Lori Mckenna, The Sundays, Bjork, Kate Bush, Ani DiFranco and Dar Williams? Each one, on first listen, made the rest of my world momentarily drop away. This is no joke. Of course, the first would have been Rickie Lee Jones. I can still remember the way the [...]

Pink Floyd – The Wall (1979; 2012 Immersion/ Experience reissues)

Published on 2012-02-26 06:26:23

So, OK, Pink Floyd has climbed over The Wall again, this time with a sprawling new reissue — set for release on February 28 via EMI — that includes the remastered original album, in-concert renditions from 1980-81 and a slew of demos that chart the project’s development from its earliest inspirational moments. This is the last title in the Why [...]

Mort Weiss: Two strangers on a train, me and another kid named Elvis Presley

Published on 2012-02-25 08:13:26

Elvis Aaron Presley. I spent most of a day and night with the cat, back in March or April 1956. Me? I was stationed at Fort Riley Kansas in the 1st Infantry Division — the Big Red One — and was going home to Los Angeles, California on leave, by train. Most folks weren’t using airplanes back in that day. [...]

Fanfarlo – Rooms Filled With Light (2012)

Published on 2012-02-25 07:43:19

This English group combines alt-rock, world-music polyrhythms and chamber pop into an amalgam that sounds like David Byrne sitting in with Philip Glass. Fronted by Simon Balthazar, Rooms Filled With Light is Fanfarlo’s second release — following 2009′s far more somber Reservoir – and it fast tracks that project’s nascent explorations into artsy next-gen new wave. Set for release on [...]

Ian Tordella – Tragic Comedy (2012)

Published on 2012-02-25 07:12:52

I might have stated this a time or two before on this space, but the future of jazz as a living, breathing, expanding music form is in the hands of the twenty and thirtysomethings who grew up on Bjork, Radiohead and Oasis, but went to some of the country’s finest music programs and conservatories to soak in Armstrong, Parker, Monk, [...]

Lyle Lovett – Release Me (2012)

Published on 2012-02-25 07:01:39

If you know anything about Lyle Lovett, the tongue-firmly-in-cheek title of his forthcoming release — his last for Curb Records, the only label he’s ever recorded for — will come as no surprise. Neither will the fact that, by pure force of intellect, personality and humor, the Texas singer-songwriter is able to mold what can only charitably be called an [...]

Rock ’n’ Roll Monkey and the Robots – Spooky Kooky Attic Static (2012)

Published on 2012-02-25 06:35:29

Stationed in Detroit, Michigan, this peculiarly named band simply defies classification! Pouring countless influences into a single blender, Rock ’n’ Roll Monkey and the Robots have truly conceived a style that’s all their own. Spooky Kooky Attic Static (Rock ’n’ Roll Monkey/Motor Sounds) marks the band’s fourth full-length album, which should not only quench the thirst of diehard fans, but [...]

Heiner Stadler – Brains on Fire (2012)

Published on 2012-02-25 05:57:55

For the first time on compact disc, we hear some of the early works of this innovative pianist and (a particular focus here) composer/arranger. Brains on Fire includes a series of tracks recorded between 1966-74 from Heiner Stadler, a vastly underrated German-American pioneer in the avant-garde jazz movement — with each of its two discs highlighting a separate element of [...]

Download four free songs from Andrew Bird, including his new single “Eyeoneye”

Published on 2012-02-24 17:27:06

Noisetrade is offering a free download of a four-song EP by Andrew Bird in advance of the release of his new album Break It Yourself on March 6. The EP includes “Eyeoneye,” Bird’s lead single for Break It Yourself; along with “The Crown Salesman” and “So Much Wine” from a recently released advance seven-inch; and an additional song from the [...]

Should Queen continue without Freddie Mercury and John Deacon? Adam Lambert says: ‘It’s their prerogative’

Published on 2012-02-24 16:19:02

The news that Queen will appear with yet another lead singer has some fans returning to what’s becoming an age-old conundrum: Is it Queen without Freddie Mercury? Heck, is it Queen without John Deacon? Don’t ask Adam Lambert, the American Idol finalist who’ll front Queen at this year’s Sonisphere Festival. “That’s really up to (Queen co-founders) Brian (May) and Roger [...]

Joe Perry to become latest member of Aerosmith to write an autobiography

Published on 2012-02-24 14:43:20

Another day, another Aerosmith autobiography. Since 2009, drummer Joe Kramer and then frontman Steve Tyler have both penned their life stories. Next up: Guitarist Joe Perry, who confirmed those plans in a new post on Twitter. “Officially started writing my biography this week,” Perry writes. “More info. to come soon re: publisher, tentative release date, etc…” Perry won’t be the [...]

Black Sabbath adds unnamed U.S. stop; Bill Ward’s status still up in the air

Published on 2012-02-24 14:32:55

An August date has been set for a U.S. stop by the reunited Black Sabbath, though whether it will include all four of the legendary metal band’s original members remains to be seen. “They’re gonna be doing one show in America this summer, but I can’t say yet because we can’t announce it, the promoters have to,” Sharon Osbourne, wife [...]

Carolina Chocolate Drops – Leaving Eden (2012)

Published on 2012-02-24 10:06:22

The Carolina Chocolate Drops, despite their rocket-ride to Grammy fame in 2010, hadn’t yet made an album that captured their live set’s boot-scooting, blues-belting string-band revivalist verve — until now. Producer Buddy Miller brings a candle-lit ambiance to the proceedings, allowing the band to wander ever deeper into backwoods musical influences from across the Deep South. Again stirring in so-called [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball (2012)

Published on 2012-02-24 09:44:10

Bruce Springsteen’s much-anticipated new studio album Wrecking Ball is — much as all the advance hype has suggested — a somewhat radical left turn for the artist, both musically and quite literally in the case of the lyrics. But it is also nowhere near the huge departure some of those early dispatches from the recording studio may have led some [...]

Half Notes: The Mars Volta – Amputechture (2006)

Published on 2012-02-24 09:19:53

After Frances the Mute, I honestly wasn’t sure if I particularly cared where the Mars Volta was going next. I found the album completely misguided — or maybe unguided is a more fitting word — and a sonic mess, as if the band simply threw together every chord progression and half-song idea they could muster, then stretched everything out for [...]

Metallica’s Lars Ulrich on Lulu: Venture out of the box, and fans ‘have a hernia’

Published on 2012-02-24 08:58:34

Lou Reed’s recent collaboration with Metallica found its share of detractors, and that criticism was apparently hard for the veteran rocker to absorb. “It was difficult for Lou Reed because he takes everything very personally,” Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich told radio station DC101. “And I think he was very surprised.” Ulrich said the band tried to prepare Reed for the [...]

Half Notes: Talking Cows – Almost Human (2012)

Published on 2012-02-24 06:19:30

The Dutch quartet Talking Cows never take themselves too seriously—see video below—but the non-nonsense modern jazz they make is no joke. Admirers of The Netherlands’ great jazz icon Misha Menglelberg, Talking Cows uses strong melodies that often masks the intricacies happening underneath, and an energetic, pliable rhythm section (Dion Nijland, double bass; Yonga Sun, drums). Saxophonist Frans Vermeerssen and pianist [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Bruce Springsteen, “This Depression” (2012)

Published on 2012-02-24 05:30:07

It’s the emptying of a soul on a personal level. Or is it the soul of a nation, pleading to its citizenry? In any case, “This Depression” takes desperation and distills it down to the thoughts needed to survive it (along with a soaring Tom Morello guitar solo). Those ideas are present in the mind of every Wrecking Ball character. [...]

David Lee Roth breaks down the Van Halen sound — from early influences, to ‘Biblical’ solos, to those fiery endings

Published on 2012-02-23 17:36:50

David Lee Roth has described Van Halen’s music as “whiskey in a paper cup,” recommending “short doses and not every night — please!” Now, he’s ready to go in depth on what makes their sound so special. It starts, Roth says in an interview with The Guardian, with the principal band members’ childhood influences: “The busing program in America started [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Hear the new supergroup featuring Jack Bruce, Vernon Reid, John Medeski and Cindy Blackman

Published on 2012-02-23 17:16:21

Legendary Cream bassist Jack Bruce is part of a new supergroup, this one featuring Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid. Check them out here! The band, called Spectrum Road, also includes drummer Cindy Blackman Santana, a veteran jazz performer who has also played with Lenny Kravitz and her husband Carlos Santana’s bands; as well as jazz keyboardist John Medeski, best known [...]

Dennis DeYoung on his legacy with Styx, and that ill-fitting ‘Mr. Roboto’ mask

Published on 2012-02-23 16:58:14

Styx fans remember well the year 1979 and Cornerstone, an album that began a decisive turn away from prog rock for the band — with its capstone moment being the epic ballad “Babe.” From there, it seems, the group was on a collision course with the pop showman Dennis DeYoung on one side, and the hard-rocking duo of James “J.Y.” [...]

On Second Thought: Paul McCartney and Wings – Back to the Egg (1979)

Published on 2012-02-23 10:47:29

It’s time to go back and reevaluate Paul McCartney and Wings’ unjustly ignored Back to the Egg. Released in May 1979, the album showcased a rebuilt Wings lineup, with lead guitarist Laurence Juber working in sharp counterpoint to Denny Laine. Also on board was co-producer Chris Thomas, a former assistant to George Martin for the Beatles’ White Album who brought [...]

Half Notes: Brian Eno – Another Day On Earth (2005)

Published on 2012-02-23 10:22:24

Brian Eno’s first vocal, “pop”-based album since 1990′s overlooked classic (in my opinion) Wrong Way Up with John Cale and also to Nerve Net, Another Day On Earth found Eno in much more ambient territory than one might expect from the description. Comparisons to 1992′s Nerve Net are likely more fitting, but it’s really more like Eno’s work with Jah [...]

Dio – Holy Diver (1983; 2012 Audio Fidelity remaster)

Published on 2012-02-23 09:55:01

Believe it or not, there was once a time when metal was just metal. You didn’t have the death and black metal guys looking down their noses at the power and traditional metal fans and vice versa. You didn’t have publicists mangling language to create a subgenre like “blackened jazz thrash death polka” so their band could be the only [...]

One Track Mind: Kenny Aronoff on John Mellencamp, Buddy Rich and John Fogerty

Published on 2012-02-23 07:01:49

On this special edition of Something Else Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to ubiquitous sideman Kenny Aronoff, whose current touring gig with Chickenfoot is just the tip of the proverbial career iceberg. Go inside a series of sessions with John Mellencamp, as Aronoff helps construct key elements on the singles “Jackie Brown,” “Wild Night” and “Jack [...]

Half Notes: Memories Of Machines – Warm Winter (2011)

Published on 2012-02-23 06:27:28

My first thought upon listening to Warm Winter by Memories Of Machines was that it’s very similar to Steven Wilson’s softer side. My second thought was that the vocalist sounds an awful lot like Wilson’s old No-Man partner Tim Bowness. Turns out, it IS Tim Bowness singing. He formed this band with multi-instrumentalist Giancarlo Erra of Italian art rock band [...]

One Track Mind: Bruce Springsteen, “Death To My Hometown” (2012)

Published on 2012-02-23 05:49:32

Imagine towns both small and large, all across a country. Their essence has been drained by “progress” and blind greed, the result being the disappearance of factories, home foreclosures, and all manner of economic chaos. Those in power do their best to look the other way. Worse than that, they try to convince everybody else that the blame should not [...]

Genesis’ Tony Banks to issue new classical project Six Pieces for Orchestra in March

Published on 2012-02-22 18:15:09

Tony Banks, a co-founding member of Genesis, is preparing a new classical album for March release, called Six Pieces for Orchestra. The Naxos label recording is Banks’ second classical project, following Seven: A Suite for Orchestra in 2007. Violinist Charlie Siem is featured, along with alto saxophonist Martin Robertson and the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of [...]

Razor and Tie plans sweeping reissue series focused on Emerson Lake and Palmer

Published on 2012-02-21 18:19:14

A sweeping reissue campaign will follow Razor and Tie’s new signing of Emerson Lake and Palmer to an exclusive multi-year licensing deal for North America. That begins with The Best of Emerson Lake and Palmer: Comes and See the Show, available now in stores and on iTunes. The 14-song compilation features the trio’s most memorable songs, including “Lucky Man,” “From [...]

Queen’s Brian May: American Idol’s Adam Lambert ‘would meet with Freddie’s approval’

Published on 2012-02-21 11:11:34

Queen will return to at the UK’s Knebworth Park – the site of its final live performance with Freddie Mercury – this summer with American Idol finalist Adam Lambert fronting the band. “Judging by my incoming mail, this decision will make a lot of people very happy,” May said. “It’s a worthy challenge for us, and I’m sure Adam would [...]

One Track Mind: Bruce Springsteen, “Shackled And Drawn” (2012)

Published on 2012-02-21 08:02:50

Today’s Wrecking Ball preview is “Shackled And Drawn,” stream provided by Rolling Stone magazine. While the references to the have and the have-nots have so far been fairly elliptical (especially on “We Take Care Of Our Own”), this song draws up a much starker contrast with a man “trudging through the dark in a world gone wrong” and, more pointedly: [...]

All-star Supertramp tribute, new prog-rock album on tap for Yes alum Billy Sherwood

Published on 2012-02-21 07:29:51

Billy Sherwood, a 1990s-era member of Yes, is working on two new all-star projects – a tribute to Supertramp and an original prog-rock album. A track like “The Laws of Nature,” for the Cleopatra Records prog release, illustrates the guest-packed theme: Sherwood confirms on his Facebook page that John Wetton (Asia, UK, King Crimson) is on vocals; Tony Levin (Peter [...]

Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber – All Ya Needs That Negrocity (2011)

Published on 2012-02-21 07:18:27

In characterizing the music of the deliberately elusive collective Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber, one can come up with a whole host of made-up genres and still not quite nail what they sound like. Is it trance fusion-jazz? Freefrom funk? Structured group improv? Or is it avant-soul? Yes, to all of these things, and more. I already took a stab [...]

Half Notes: Steve Cropper and Felix Cavaliere – Nudge It Up a Notch (2008)

Published on 2012-02-21 07:14:10

If I was to make up a list of my favorite guitar players (and, thus, exposing myself to the Internet scourge known as GuitarFan™: You know the type. They blurt out things like “Where’s Slash?!!” and “Dimebag!” — think of it as a kind of Rock ‘n’ Roll Tourette’s) then Steve Cropper would have to be there. Going all the [...]

On Second Thought: Eels – Shootenanny (2003)

Published on 2012-02-21 06:55:01

Damn, how disappointing this album was the first few times through. I even applied my “five times” rule (listen at least 5 times before you pass judgment, especially negative, upon something) and it still failed to ignite anything in me other than contempt. Eels frontman E is known for his tendency to go for the chuckle at odd times, which [...]

Jeremy Davis and the Fabulous Equinox Orchestra – Great American Swagger (2011)

Published on 2012-02-21 06:39:52

You come in expecting one thing, being as Jeremy Davis focuses on the mid-century big-band formula. And, at times, you hear Sinatra in this album. Dorsey, too. So, it’s easy at first to group Davis and a band fronted by singer Clay Johnson with the ever-growing legions trying to reanimate those bow-tied old black-and-white orchestras. They might have a brassy [...]

One Track Mind: Bruce Springsteen, “Easy Money” (2012)

Published on 2012-02-20 15:39:37

It has been announced that tracks from Bruce Springsteen’s forthcoming album Wrecking Ball will be streamed from various sites, one new song per day. Today sees the release of “Easy Money,” streaming at the News page at Backstreets.com. Early reports of this album indicated that some Seeger Sessions influences had been added back into the mix. If “Easy Money” is [...]

Beach Boys about half finished with highly anticipated studio reunion project

Published on 2012-02-20 15:30:10

After years of very public squabbles, the Beach Boys appear to be working in perfect harmony again. The reunited group — including founding members Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine, along with legacy members Bruce Johnston and David Marks — is about half finished on a long-waited new studio recording. A tour is also planned, beginning in April. “The [...]

Heart bursts into 2012 with new album, box set, autobiography and concert dates

Published on 2012-02-20 14:42:56

After issuing just one album — 2004′s Jupiter’s Darling — between 1993 and 2010, Heart is now set to release its second studio project in two years. Frantic, due this fall, follows 2010′s Red Velvet Car. But that’s not all. Heart is also prepping a rarities-packed box set — including tracks that didn’t appear on the band’s major label rleeases [...]

Santana/Journey cofounder Gregg Rolie to make appearance at New York City’s Iridium

Published on 2012-02-20 14:19:51

Gregg Rolie, co-founder of a pair of multi-platinum supergroups in Santana and Journey, will make a two-night solo appearance at the famed Iridium in New York City in March. Rolie’s Iridium stop follows the release of his well-received new solo EP, Five Days, and he is expected to play songs from that release as well as signature favorites from throughout [...]

Jack White prepares for busy March, with appearance on SNL and first solo headliner shows

Published on 2012-02-20 12:58:08

March will be a busy month for Jack White, as he launches his solo career away from the White Stripes. First comes a March 3 appearance on Saturday Night Live, where he is expected to debut two tracks from his forthcoming album Blunderbuss, due April 24. Lindsey Lohan has been announced as show host. Then, a week later, White will [...]

New Music Monday: Santana and Sinead O’Connor, Don Byron and Blue Öyster Cult

Published on 2012-02-20 07:42:44

New Music Monday beings another truckload of interesting releases, not least of which are Cursive, Don Byron, Mona and Sinead O’Connor, as well as reissues and concert souvenirs from Diana Ross, Parliament-Funkadelic’s Eddie Hazel and Santana. Also just-in this week: Chloe Brisson, Ivo Perelman, Jeff Hamilton, and Kevn Kinney and the Golden Palominos. Other interesting updates of older items include [...]

Forgotten series: Girl – Sheer Greed (1980)

Published on 2012-02-20 07:20:27

Often, when we do a Forgotten Series item on Something Else! Reviews, it focuses on an overlooked record from a band that most everyone is familiar with. This one may fit the title a little better, though there are a few guys in the band you might know. Girl was the androgynous early-1980s outfit of singer Phil Lewis, who made [...]

Half Notes: T.S. (Sean) Bonniwell – Close (1969; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-02-20 06:59:22

What a trip this is, the lone and long-forgotten album from Sean Bonniwell, or T.S., or whatever. Best known as leader of the 1960s American garage-rock band the Music Machine, he’d briefly established a reputation for fuzzy-guitared, Farfisa-organed sides like the Top 20 hit “Talk Talk.” You hear, in the best of it, an early infrastructure for punk. Don’t come [...]

One Track Mind: The Squires of the Subterrain, “Idling in the Sun” (2012)

Published on 2012-02-20 06:37:10

For the past two decades, the Squires of the Subterrain has been putting out some of the coolest sounds one could hope to experience. Not a band, but an individual artist, who also frequently records under the name Christopher Earl, the Rochester, New York-based multi-tasking musician has often and deservedly been referred to as a modern day god of retro [...]

Half Notes: Sinead O’Connor – How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? (2012)

Published on 2012-02-20 06:14:48

Amazingly, next year marks the 25th anniversary of Sinead O’Connor’s career-making debut, 1987′s The Lion and the Cobra. Unfortunately, other than a memorable cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” her subsequent public life has been notable more for controversy and tabloid headlines (the Pope thing on SNL; public bouts with depression; the recent on-again, off-again, on-again nuptials) than any [...]

Benoit David says he was informed of his ouster from Yes through news reports

Published on 2012-02-19 14:27:18

At first, Benoit David says he was simply taking some time off from Yes’ ongoing tour to recover from throat problems. Then, David found out — just like we all did — that he had been let go, after reading a news report. That’s the bombshell revelation found in a new statement from the ousted Canadian singer, who’d fronted Yes [...]

Ned Evett – Treehouse (2012)

Published on 2012-02-19 07:56:47

You’re to be forgiven for expecting this to be a guitar record. First, there’s Ned Evett himself — a master of this specially created fretless version of the instrument. And his producer, gearhead Adrian Belew. Heck, Evett has toured with Joe Satriani, for chrissakes. Yet here, on Evett’s sixth solo release, there are precious little brain-pretzelling solos. It’s not that [...]

Tomahawk – Anonymous (2007)

Published on 2012-02-19 07:25:46

Listening to Anonymous without knowing what Mike Patton project it was, those familiar with previous installments in the Tomahawk catalog might have been hard-pressed to pin the work specifically on them. Where the earlier two albums focused on abrasive metal, the thematic Native American nature might cause some to assume that Fantomas was responsible. Still, there are also nods to [...]

Half Notes: Don Byron’s New Gospel Quintet – Love Peace and Soul (2012)

Published on 2012-02-19 07:01:49

The debut of this soulfully swaying amalgam finds Byron – one of this era’s more intriguing jazz clarinetist/saxophonists – turning his attention to the layered musical legacies of Thomas A. Dorsey and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Dorsey, known as the father of black gospel, pioneered the combination of traditional Christian hymns with the rhythmic complexities of jazz and blues. Tharpe shared [...]

Steely Dan Sunday: “Here At The Western World” (1976)

Published on 2012-02-19 06:38:03

You know the story: a band goes in the studio to records tracks for an album and finds they recorded more than what they needed for that record, so they leave one or two tracks off of it. You’ve also seen this play out: a major act comes out with a blockbuster album, so record label seeks to cash in [...]

Half Notes: Sonic Youth – Dirty (1992)

Published on 2012-02-19 06:16:02

For years and years, Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation was the record I went to when the mood struck for some ugly & hypnotic guitar. Dirty now sits in that spot. Actually, it’s the second disc of the deluxe-edition set from 2003: full of b-sides and, more important, a ton of rehearsal recordings. Blistering and hideous guitar madness. This isn’t for [...]

Posted master list for new Van Halen reunion tour includes some tasty deep cuts

Published on 2012-02-18 16:45:41

A series of David Lee Roth-sung Van Halen songs has appeared at the Roth Army Forum, purportedly to be used as a master set list for the new comeback tour. There are some interesting surprises in store for fans of early Van Halen, if it turns out to be real. The list is dotted, of course, with big hits, classic [...]

Yes alum Trevor Rabin to issue new instrumental project Jacadranda in May

Published on 2012-02-18 16:16:47

Former Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin has completed a new instrumental solo effort called Jacaranda, with a release date set for May 8 via Varese Sarabande Records. There are also plans for new album with fellow Yes alums Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman. Jacaranda, Rabin’s first all-new solo release since 1989′s Can’t Look Away, will feature Tal Wilkenfeld, Vinnie Colaiuta, Lou [...]

Tom Scholz wants to fit in some new Boston concert dates before the end of the world

Published on 2012-02-18 12:33:03

Tom Scholz will rush Boston out on the road before the long-predicted apocalypse of 2012: “Just 10 months till the end … at least, till the end of the Mayan calendar, anyway,” he said in announcing a series of summer dates on Boston’s Web site. Boston, best-known for the songs “More Than a Feeling,” “Foreplay/Long Time,” “Don’t Look Back” and [...]

Rainbow’s final album with Ronnie James Dio to be reissued as picture disc for Record Store Day

Published on 2012-02-18 12:09:38

Rainbow’s 1978 project Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll, the last to feature frontman Ronnie James Dio, will be reissued on April 21 by Niji Entertainment Group in celebration of Record Store Day. Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll, composed almost entirely by Dio and Ritchie Blackmore, includes a number of fan favorites, including the anthematic title track, Dio favorite “Gates of [...]

Even though El Camino is just out, the Black Keys are eager for a return to the studio

Published on 2012-02-18 11:58:50

The Black Keys are on a roll. Just months after the release of El Camino, and before the band has even launched a new North American tour, Dan Auerbach says the band has enough material for a follow up. “We don’t know when it would come out,” Auerbach said in an interview with Billboard.com, “but we want to try to [...]

Santana – Greatest Hits: Live at Montreux DVD/Blu-ray (2012)

Published on 2012-02-18 08:22:00

His sound is so crystalline, so special, that Carlos Santana remains recognizable with or without pictures. Yet for all of the accolades showered on this Mexican-born American guitar hero, not least of which is his inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Santana has always been as bold and colorful as he is collaboratively brilliant. Greatest Hits: Live [...]

Half Notes: Willie Nelson – You Don’t Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker/ Songbird (2006)

Published on 2012-02-18 07:59:09

Once you’ve heard Willie Nelson’ You Don’t Know Me: The Songs Of Cindy Walker, a strong album of covers, it’s easy to see where Nelson gets his knack for songwriting: He obviously studied Walker’s template and then took it in his own direction. What’s surprising here is that an album of 50-60 year old music still sounds so vital today. [...]

Hyrrokkin – Astrionics (EP, 2011)

Published on 2012-02-18 07:34:23

Hyrrokkin, which is named after one of Saturn’s moons, is a band that didn’t exist nine months ago but came together quickly and late last summer, produced an EP on cassette and CDR’s as they went a-touring across across North America. Astrionics, as this initial set of recordings is called, introduces Hyrrokkin as an adventurous band specializing in experimental rock. [...]

Half Notes: Chloe Brisson – Blame It On My Youth (2012)

Published on 2012-02-18 07:02:50

When this New Hampshire vocalist first arrived with the debut project Red Door Sessions, she was all of 13-years-old. Inevitably, the attention surrounding Brisson was as much (maybe more) about her age as her, well, her voice. Chloe Brisson returns, four years later, with an album that makes the case for a career beyond that of youthful curiosity. In the [...]

David S. Ware String Ensemble – Threads (2003)

Published on 2012-02-18 06:27:50

David S. Ware felt it was time to focus on his abilities as a composer. As he puts it: “I didn’t want to make another quartet album with everybody blowing. There are enough records with me blowing my brains out.” Now personally, I love it when Ware blows his brains out. Just check out “Lexicon” from Go See The World. [...]

Queen set to appear at Brit Awards, even as Adam Lambert jump starts rumors of new collaboration

Published on 2012-02-17 15:32:52

Here’s what we know about Queen at this hour … Brian May and Roger Taylor will appear at next week’s Brit Awards, scheduled for Tuesday, February 21. As for their on-again/off-again collaboration with American Idol finalist Adam Lambert? Not so much. Queen has posted this new message, concerning this year’s Brit awards: “You might just recognise a particular guitarist and [...]

After years of fiery electric blues and Southern rock, Warren Hayes considers unplugging for next solo project

Published on 2012-02-17 15:00:20

Warren Haynes has become known, through his associations with the Allman Brothers Band and Gov’t Mule, for playing uptempo, rollicking electric blues and Southern rock. His next solo project might be a little more low key. “I listen to so many different types of music,” Haynes told M – Music & Musicians. “At some point I’d like to make a [...]

Tony Iommi’s continuing struggle with cancer has nixed the Black Sabbath reunion tour

Published on 2012-02-17 14:46:58

Black Sabbath will not be able to follow through on a planned tour in the wake of founding guitarist Tony Iommi’s cancer diagnosis. The band, in an announcement today, said a scheduled performance at the Download Festival would now be its only summer concert appearance. Returning Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne will fill in on the previously scheduled band dates, [...]

Now that Glass Hammer’s Jon Davison has taken over as lead singer with Yes, will he stay?

Published on 2012-02-17 07:48:42

Though at first it appeared Jon Davison would only be a stop-gap replacement as Yes’ frontman, it’s since become clear that Benoit David is gone for good. The question then becomes: Does Davison continue as lead singer past this ongoing tour? Already, Davison is the 18th person to have been a member of Yes, and another chapter in what has [...]

Ivo Perelman/Joe Morris/Gerald Cleaver – Family Ties (2012)

Published on 2012-02-17 07:35:27

Ivo Perelman is currently on a creative spree, and this latest frenzy is comparable to the 1996-2000 period when he tore off 20 albums. It got instigated by the creation this saxophonist’s latest combo, a dream line-up made up of Joe Morris (double-bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums) and Matthew Shipp (piano). With these guys, Perelman and his new cohorts quickly developed [...]

Half Notes: Mona – Mona (2012)

Published on 2012-02-17 07:09:18

Their emblematic lead single, “Listen to Your Love,” is everything you need to know about Mona: A stirring, arena-rock riff; a howling, transfixing frontman; a propulsive, punky chorus. So, OK, this might be ground already well trod by Kings of Leon. Still, there’s something intriguingly authentic about this project, recorded in the band’s basement in Nashville, Tennessee. Originally conceived as [...]

One Track Mind: The Eddies, “Jungle Beat/ Don’t Know Where To Start” (2012)

Published on 2012-02-17 06:50:00

I tell you, they just don’t make singles like this anymore! Streaked with slinky surf and spy rhythms, compounded by a forceful garage rock finish, “Jungle Beat” bubbles over with the kind of exuberance rock and roll music was originally built on, while “Don’t Know Where To Start” wiggles and jiggles with fuzzy distortion and plucky hooks buzzing with intensity. [...]

Half Notes: Eddie Hazel – Game, Dames and Guitar Thangs (1977; 2012 reissue)

Published on 2012-02-17 06:25:27

A lost gem by the late, great lead guitarist for Parliament-Funkadelic, Hazel’s 1977 debut album features a trio of well-selected covers amidst of series of thunderously groovy originals featuring many of his fellow P-Funk All Stars. Highlights include the trippy reverie of Hazel’s take on the Mamas and the Papa’s “California Dreamin,’” then the darkly funky update of John Lennon’s [...]

The Friday Morning Listen: Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas (2012)

Published on 2012-02-17 05:39:37

Are there any positive aspects to a 90-minute commute? Usually … not. Though yesterday morning I encountered some surprise entertainment. The first part of the ride was very smooth, mostly owing to my late start. I left at around 8:20AM and reached the highway 40 minutes later. At the overpass a quick glance over the railing confirmed a traffic jam, [...]

Half Notes: Cursive – I Am Gemini (2012)

Published on 2012-02-17 05:14:39

Anchored by the longtime trio of vocalist/guitarist Tim Kasher, bassist Matt Maginn and guitarist/vocalist Ted Stevens, Cursive’s latest long player is a bit of surprise — a Big Idea Project. While the emo-punk band has always explored its share of thorny issues (religion, narcissism, drowning in hell’s flames), here they drill in on a song cycle involving twin brothers separated [...]

Something Else! sneak peek: Karmakanic – In a Perfect World (2011)

Published on 2011-07-05 08:42:52

by Fred Phillips Karmakanic had me from the name of the band. I was the go-to guy for prog metal and rock at another site for many years, and I really got burned out on the genre as a whole. These days, it takes a proven history or something that piq

Marshall and Lichtenberg – Mike Marshall and Caterina Lichtenberg (2010)

Published on 2011-07-05 08:01:28

by Mark Saleski Most people think of the mandolin as being a rootsy, countrified kind of instrument. Surely there is no denying the rich history of the bluegrass side of the mandolin. Yessir, Bill Monroe was the king, but that does not mean that the

Half Notes: Sonic Youth – Rather Ripped (2006)

Published on 2011-07-05 07:39:11

by Tom Johnson Can a band mature and continue to challenge themselves and listeners? Rather Ripped answers yes. Sonic Youth may not wail away with walls of squealing distortion like they used to but Rather Ripped‘s lyrical focus on relationship

One Track Mind: John Wetton, “The Last Night of My Life” (2011)

Published on 2011-07-05 07:19:20

“Last Night” fades in with a tactile urgency, as Austrian jazz fusion guitarist Alex Machecek plinks, splonks, and then gets all bendy. It’s easily the best performance — and, really, the best track — on John Wetton’s new Raised i

Half Notes: Elliott Sharp and Carbon – Larynx (2007)

Published on 2011-07-05 06:50:10

by Mark Saleski Elliott Sharp does two things very well: construct very thought-provoking compositions and make scary, scary noise in the realization of those compositions. Larynx is a reissue from 1988. You know, the holiday season is in full swing.

One Track Mind: Rick Stone Trio, “Ballad for Very Sad and Very Tired Lotus Eaters” (2011)

Published on 2011-07-04 08:43:04

Rick Stone picks more obvious standards elsewhere on his forthcoming release, Fractals. There is Victor Young’s “Stella by Starlight,” given a vampy album-opening 7/4 intro; and a lush take on Jerome Kern’s “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.” Ston

One Track Mind: Timbuk 3, “National Holiday” (1989)

Published on 2011-07-04 08:09:28

by S. Victor Aaron So you’re thinking, “Timbuk 3, weren’t they the ones who had that cool song back in the 1980s …?” Yes, yes, we’re talking about that husband and wife tandem of Pat and Barbara K. McDonald who gav

Half Notes: Jacintha – Jacintha Goes To Hollywood (2008)

Published on 2011-07-04 07:47:58

by Mark Saleski Singaporean singer Jacintha (full name Jacintha Abisheganaden) takes on the songbook of the Hollywood of my youth: “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head,” “Que Sera Sera,” “California Dreaming,”

Something Else! Featured Artist: The funky, funky JB Horns

Published on 2011-07-04 07:14:40

James Brown got all of the headlines, be they for his fancy moves, his fancier suits or his brushes with the law. But the JB Horns, those great groovers who provided the punctuation to every grunt, gasp and squeal, remain an underrated element to the

Julia Hülsmann Trio – Imprint (2011)

Published on 2011-07-04 06:36:46

German pianist Julia Hülsmann has made her mark with trio jazz fronted with a vocalist, either male or female, but had returned to the instrumental three when she signed up with ECM and recorded her first album with them, The End Of A Summer (2008).

Sparks Fly on E Street: “Born In The U.S.A” (1984)

Published on 2011-07-04 06:11:52

Welcome to the first edition of Sparks Fly on E Street, in which me & my pencil take a tour of the entire Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band catalog, one song each Monday morning. First, I must credit fellow Something Else! writer-type p

Steely Dan Sunday: “My Old School” (1973)

Published on 2011-07-03 08:16:06

One thing—actually, one of many things—I miss about early 70s rock was all the rock bands with horn sections in them. There were a lot of them making memorable songs that got much radio airplay back then, and the horns gave their songs an

Half Notes: Sufjan Stevens – Illinoise (2005)

Published on 2011-07-03 07:49:30

by Tom Johnson The second installment in Stevens’ planned 50-piece “states” series took aim at Illinois. As a follow-up to 2004′s stunning Seven Swans, it struggles a bit, but is a rewarding and entertaining listen. Stevens

The Lucien Dubuis Trio with Marc Ribot – Ultime Cosmos (2010)

Published on 2011-07-03 07:21:51

by Mark Saleski Sometimes, the music chooses me … or at least falls into my lap at just the right time. Things are crazy. But in the middle of it all, I discover the Lucien Dubuis Trio and Marc Ribot. Yeah sure, you know that I will follow Marc

One Track Mind: Sarah Jarosz, “The Tourist” (2011)

Published on 2011-07-02 08:51:58

by Tom Johnson Do we need another Radiohead cover? Hasn’t everything been said about Radiohead by artists from every corner of the music world? From Christopher O’Riley’s albums of sleepy piano solos to premiere jazz pianist Brad Me

Neil Young – Chrome Dreams II (2007)

Published on 2011-07-02 08:22:45

by Mark Saleski I love to read negative reviews of albums put out by aging rock stars. They’re predictable in a comforting sort of way. A big chunk of them say that the artist hasn’t been any good since the “blah blah” release

Summer reruns: Miroslav Vitous – Remembering Weather Report (2009)

Published on 2011-07-02 07:49:56

by S. Victor Aaron As one of the seminal jazz-rock bands of the seventies, Weather Report has been plenty celebrated and covered. And yet, most of the recognition covers the 1976-1982 period in which the groundbreaking bassist Jaco Pastorious was in

Half Notes: Sun Ra – Space Is The Place (1974)

Published on 2011-07-02 07:07:25

by Mark Saleski If they had a jazz big band playing on that old TV show “Lost In Space,” this would be the one. Take a sort of big band lineup, but then mix in some 1960′s spacey keyboards and some truly wacky vocals. Sun Ra and his

Radiohead – Hail to the Thief (2003)

Published on 2011-07-01 08:44:43

by Tom Johnson I wanted to love this. I originally heard the “pre-release” mp3s that slipped out, and I was enthused at what appeared to be a return to the “classic” Radiohead sound of OK Computer and The Bends. As much as I l

Half Notes: Turtleboy – Smart Matter (2011)

Published on 2011-07-01 08:19:39

More on our series on “weird-assed trios”… Tenor saxophonist Jonathan Linghurst and guitarist Ryan Butler went down to the Village Vanguard in New York five years ago to catch a Paul Motian Trio show, and got to meet with Motian Tri

Guilty pleasures: Poison – Open Up and Say … Aah! (1988)

Published on 2011-07-01 07:57:21

by Fred Phillips In the circle of music fans that I normally find myself in, mentioning Poison is usually not a good idea. Bands with poof hair and makeup — unless, of course, it’s corpse paint — will usually get you laughed out of the

Half Notes: Luscious Jackson – In Search of Manny (1994)

Published on 2011-07-01 07:14:55

While the all-girl Luscious Jackson made all kinds of concessions by including then-hip back beats and low-key rhymes, Manny still aspires to a groovy article of faith. (It’s something they shared with the Beastie Boys, who ran the label this a

Half Notes: Falkner Evans – The Point Of The Moon (2011)

Published on 2011-07-01 06:04:38

Being from the town of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Falkner Evans might be a jazz pianist, but he’s travelled through other styles of music before settling there permanently, even served as a member of country swing band Asleep At The Wheel in the early 80

The Friday Morning Listen: John Mellencamp – Uh-Huh (1983)

Published on 2011-07-01 05:30:33

We had the “official” start of summer a little over a week ago, by I’ve always felt that the 4th of July weekend was when summer stepped into its full bloom. In what has become a tradition, the small farm house that I pass by on my

Something Else! Interview: Delfeayo Marsalis, producer and trombonist

Published on 2011-06-30 08:17:27

Delfeayo Marsalis, recipient of the 2011 NEA Jazz Masters Award, stepped out with a rare recording as a leader this year — just his second since the 1990s. Sweet Thunder: Duke and Shak, a canny reworking of Duke Ellington’s 1957 suite Such Sw

Half Notes: Fear Factory – Demanufacture (1995)

Published on 2011-06-30 07:49:17

by Tom Johnson If you want to look back and see when metal changed directions, Demanufacture is the album that could easily be the one that did it. With their previous album Soul of a New Machine, Fear Factory did something unusual: They released a r

Laszlo Gardony – Signature Time (2011)

Published on 2011-06-30 07:26:19

Hungarian-born pianist Laszlo Gardony is an accomplished musician and composer, having graduated from Berklee and serving as a professor there for a number of years. He’s mingled with many of the best jazz has to offer: Dave Holland, Miroslav V

ZZ Top – Mescalero (2003)

Published on 2011-06-30 07:04:05

by Mark Saleski If you ever get a chance to see the movie “Dazed And Confused,” you’ll be treated to a pretty accurate depiction of a typical weekend in late 1970′s America. The bad hair, the hiphuggers, the muscle cars, the 8

Hans Zimmer – Inception (2010)

Published on 2011-06-30 06:35:44

by Tom Johnson I found myself entranced by the horn-laden theme that repeatedly roared through the ads for Inception. Less song-like and more a series of massive, rumbling horn crashes, the music seemed as important as it was mysterious. Hans Zimmer&

Yes – Fly From Here (2011)

Published on 2011-06-29 08:36:30

This album is, in many ways, better than it has any right to be. Yes had already tried a project with Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes — and without Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman — in 1980, and the resulting project Drama turned into an guita

Half Notes: Bjork- Army of Me: Remixes and Covers (2005)

Published on 2011-06-29 08:11:10

by Tom Johnson Created as a benefit for Unicef, this is a bit of a unique remix album. Bjork allowed fans, or, well, anybody, to submit their own take on her song, “Army of Me” on her official website. The best results wound up on this al

One Track Mind: Fleet Foxes, “The Shrine/An Argument” (2011)

Published on 2011-06-29 07:39:58

by Mark Saleski Do things in music always have to go smoothly? Does it bother you when your expectations are upset? I’ve always enjoyed it when a song takes an unexpected left turn. Two great examples are John Zorn’s version of the “

Anne Mette Iversen Quartet – The Milo Songs (2011)

Published on 2011-06-29 07:02:52

When I think of all the members of the young, exciting roster that the fledgling Brooklyn Jazz Underground Jazz Records has in its ranks, one of the first names I think of is Anne Mette Iversen. She is a serious talent at both acoustic bass and compo

Half Notes: Ronnie Earl – Hope Radio (2007)

Published on 2011-06-29 06:33:22

by Mark Saleski Ronnie Earl is one of the most soulful blues guitar players out there. Though he’s played with vocalists (Sugar Ray Norcia being my favorite), he specializes in instrumental recordings like the ones found on Hope Radio, a live r

Michael Franks – Time Together (2011)

Published on 2011-06-28 07:54:12

You don’t see me cover a lot of jazz vocalist or smooth jazz records, so you may wonder what is up with this piece about a record from smooth jazz’s premier vocalist, Michael Franks? When I informed our own Mark Saleski my intention to co

Half Notes: Neil Haverstick – Stick Man: Electric Music for 19 and 34 Tone Guitars (2009)

Published on 2011-06-28 07:29:52

by Mark Saleski To the neophyte, microtonal music can seem less than accessible. Yeah, tones show up that the western ear just isn’t used to. On Stick Man, Haverstick takes microtonality and uses it in many contexts, not just ‘jazz.’

One Track Mind: Muddy Waters, “Mannish Boy” (1977)

Published on 2011-06-28 07:13:34

by Tom Johnson When Tool’s Lateralus came out a few years back, there was much talk about how intense it was going to be, how it was going to be all about building tension and sudden release. I ran out and scarfed up a copy shortly after the st

Half Notes: Liam Finn – FOMO (2011)

Published on 2011-06-28 06:44:41

Liam Finn’s second solo record is different, something far more conventionally pop-infused than his 2007 debut, a thrilling but almost confusingly complex outburst of creativity called I’ll Be Lightning — and that can, at first, sound l

Pat Metheny and Ornette Coleman – Song X (1986; reissue)

Published on 2011-06-28 06:10:39

by Mark Saleski Sorta like Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music, Pat Metheny and Ornette Coleman’s Song X has long been a strange attractor for all sorts of hyperbole, rumor-mongering and dismissal. Yeah, Song X was nothing but a slap in Geffen

Something Else! Interview: Joey Molland, of Badfinger

Published on 2011-06-27 08:57:26

For Joey Molland, the last surviving member of the classic lineup of Badfinger, every day is a gift. “I have me health, and my voice is holding up,” Molland, 64, told us in a recent interview. “I keep practicing on my guitar, so I can get bette

Half Notes: Jandek – Glasgow Monday DVD (2007)

Published on 2011-06-27 08:24:58

by Mark Saleski Blame this one on Irwin Chusid and his book Songs in the Key of Z. His chapter on Jandek drove me to seek out Jandek’s CDs — much to the displeasure of TheWife™. I’ve been hooked ever since. Don’t let the fac

Movies: AC/DC – Live at River Plate (2011)

Published on 2011-06-27 07:46:56

by Fred Phillips Of the two recently released AC/DC DVDs, Live at River Plate is by far the least interesting to me. I’m much more intrigued by the long-awaited DVD/Blu-Ray release of Let There Be Rock, featuring original singer Bon Scott. But this

One Track Mind: Frank Sinatra and Count Basie, “The Best Is Yet To Come” (1964)

Published on 2011-06-27 07:21:25

The crashing brilliance of “The Best Is Yet To Come,” courtesy of Frank Sinatra and the Count Basie band, came to mind on this, the fifth anniversary of Something Else! Reviews. The site has evolved through a couple of iterations into the

The Tragically Hip – In Between Evolution (2004)

Published on 2011-06-27 06:52:56

by Tom Johnson The Tragically Hip, a staple in the band’s homeland of Canada, was still largely unknown in the U.S., two decades in their career. In Between Evolution seemed to be a concerted effort to break through in the states. Unfortunately

One Track Mind: Tony! Toni! Toné!, “Anniversary” (1993)

Published on 2011-06-27 06:01:44

Do you know what today is? It’s our anniversary. R&B songs from the 1990s don’t come a lot in the rotation in that endless soundtrack running in my head, but this sweet, jazzy little Philly soul-cum-New Jack Swing slow jam stands out

Steely Dan Sunday: “Show Biz Kids” (1973)

Published on 2011-06-26 08:34:22

Blues-rock guitarslinger Rick Derringer is probably best known for his 1974 hit “Rock ‘N Roll Hootchie Koo,” a boogie rock anthem that still gets me fired up today. Before that, he was in Edgar Winter’s White Trash band and pr

Jacky Terrasson – Mirror (2007)

Published on 2011-06-26 08:12:27

by Mark Saleski How many times have you heard somebody say that they were never able to get into jazz because “I don’t understand it?” Maybe you are that person? Well, I want to let you in on a little secret: There is no right answe

Half Notes: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus (2004)

Published on 2011-06-26 07:41:31

by Tom Johnson Nick Cave seemed to have found his lighter side on this double-release (packaged in the same box), shunning a bit of the dark murder themes he’s been known for. In fact, this is a downright uplifting album, a complete anamoly in

One Track Mind: Mongorama, “Tin Marin” (2011)

Published on 2011-06-26 07:04:02

Inspired by an early Cachao album, “Tin Marin” is the rousing closer on Mongorama’s new self-titled project on California-based Saungu Records. A thrilling exposion of classic charanga-jazz, the album features a nine-piece all-star

Half Notes: Bill Evans and Jim Hall – Intermodulation (1966)

Published on 2011-06-26 06:35:57

by Mark Saleski Firstly, credit must be tossed in the direction of my former guitar teacher. Jerry Adams turned me on to piles of great jazz (and loaned me actual LPs). Jerry’s favorite guitarist was Jim Hall. I’m not sure I’d use t

Summer reruns — Overlooked jazz woodwind recordings by Roland Kirk, Sonny Stitt, others

Published on 2011-06-25 08:34:41

by S. Victor Aaron Some favorite jazz albums that don’t come up at the top of anyone else’s top records list, but I thought were outstanding despite the lack of publicity … ART PEPPER with George Cables, GOIN’ HOME (1982): Art

One Track Mind: Churchwood, “Vendidi Fumar (I Smell Smoke)” (2011)

Published on 2011-06-25 08:02:05

Guitarists Bill Anderson and Billysteve (yep, one word) Kopri turn the blues inside out on Churchwood’s “Vendidi Fumar,” then wear it around like Lady Gaga’s meat dress. Theirs is a sound — sudden, bright and menacing &#

One Track Mind: Churchwood, “Vendidi Fumar (I Sell Smoke)” (2011)

Published on 2011-06-25 08:02:05

Guitarists Bill Anderson and Billysteve (yep, one word) Kopri turn the blues inside out on Churchwood’s “Vendidi Fumar,” then wear it around like Lady Gaga’s meat dress. Theirs is a sound — sudden, bright and menacing &#

Half Notes: Tom Waits – Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards (2006)

Published on 2011-06-25 07:46:20

by Mark Saleski Good gawd, the man is a veritable Fort Knox of ideas. From barroom stompers to pensive ballads to clattering percussion to spoken word oddities. Waits reciting Bukowski? Yes, please! Waits is the weird uncle you’re fascinated by

Richard Pinhas and Merzbow – Rhizome (2011)

Published on 2011-06-25 07:19:07

Last fall, we saluted the arrival of a new Richard Pinhas CD, Metal/Crystal, one that supplemented his trio with fellow experimentalist warriors Merzbow and Wolf Eyes. Those sessions made the Japanese noise music legend Merzbow and the French electro

Forgotten series: Infectious Grooves – The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move (1991)

Published on 2011-06-25 06:41:04

by Fred Phillips Converting a huge CD collection to digital as I’ve been doing slowly for the past couple of weeks can be tedious, but it also has its rewards: Namely, stumbling across very cool records that you haven’t spent any quality time wit

Grayson Capps – The Lost Cause Minstrels (2011)

Published on 2011-06-24 08:44:47

What Grayson Capps brings to country music, if you can call it that, is a real sense of danger. From the first of “Highway 42,” a tune that jangles like a loose fender, I was thinking about those long-haired rebels of the 1970s — Ch

Half Notes: Troy Roberts – Nu-Jive (2011)

Published on 2011-06-24 08:03:10

I probably say this too often, but here goes … this record is just too much fun! Saxophonist Troy Roberts knows how to lay down the funk and on Nu-Jive, the funk is relentless. From the David S. Ware-meets-Steely Dan opening salvo of “Chi

Terence Blanchard – Malcolm X: The Original Motion Picture Score (1991)

Published on 2011-06-24 07:37:06

If, during the opening strains of your DVD copy of “Malcolm X,” you stop eating popcorn mid-munch, that’s just fine with trumpeter Terence Blanchard. His original score for the 1991 Spike Lee film was designed to be anything but bac

Jerry Granelli Trio – Let Go (2011)

Published on 2011-06-24 07:11:38

Everytime I’ve examined a Jerry Granelli record, like Song I Thought I Heard Buddy Sing or News From The Street, I’ve marveled at how a guy who drummed for all those Charlie Brown children’s TV specials with Vince Guaraldi ended up

The Friday Morning Listen: Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run (1975)

Published on 2011-06-24 06:01:14

One of the things I love about our 24/7 “news” cycle is the daily “Which new technology is going to kill you or otherwise screw your life up”-type story. Cell phones cause brain tumors. Facebook is leading people to have extra

Something Else! Interview: Lenny White, of Return to Forever

Published on 2011-06-22 08:41:26

Fusion jazz drummer Lenny White is prepping for a reunion with the newly expanded Return to Forever, which will make 32 stops in the U.S. beginning in Pittsburgh on Aug. 7. The newest members are former Mahavishnu Orchestra violinist Jean-Luc Ponty a

Half Notes: Five-Eight – I Learned Shut Up (1993)

Published on 2011-06-22 08:09:06

With a name for the record books (said to be the average height of American males), a hometown that couldn’t have hurt and a finely honed screamer-guitarist, Athen, Georgia’s Five-Eight planted itself in the center of all that was groovy

Matt Schofield – Anything But Time (2011)

Published on 2011-06-22 07:37:00

Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Alvin Lee, Robin Trower and the late Gary Moore … all part of British blues guitar legacy. But try to name someone who came of age after the 1960s and belongs in that company? Matt Schofield may be the one who should

Half Notes: Nicholas Urie Large Ensemble – Excerpts From An Online Dating Service (2009)

Published on 2011-06-22 07:06:07

by Mark Saleski On Nicholas Urie’s MySpace page, we’re informed that “This isn’t your grandma’s big band!” No kidding. With lyrics taken from actual online dating service recordings, the thematic content would make

Forgotten series: Tin Machine – Live: Oy Vey, Baby (1992)

Published on 2011-06-22 06:28:11

by Tom Johnson I think Tin Machine was unfairly dismissed. Consisting of two studio albums and this live disc, and featuring David Bowie and guitar-genius Reeves Gabrels (who would accompany Bowie in his solo works through the 1990s), Tin MachineR

Neil Young and the International Harvesters – A Treasure (2011)

Published on 2011-06-21 09:01:55

Time to rethink Neil Young and the 1980s. A Treasure, featuring live songs from a 1984-85 tour with a group of Nashville pros, is the sixth release in Young’s ongoing Archives Performance Series — and it shines a spotlight on an often ove

Half Notes: Ernie Krivda – Blues for Pekar (2011)

Published on 2011-06-21 08:31:55

Tenor man Ernie Krivda pays tribute to a fellow Cleveland resident, the late writer (American Splendor) and jazz critic Harvey Pekar in this lickety-split throwback bebop recording, out today on CD and DVD formats through Capri Records. Krivda only s

Billy Corgan – The Future Embrace (2005)

Published on 2011-06-21 08:09:54

by Mark Saleski I squinted out through the heavy dawn fog at the mysterious figure standing near the edge of the ocean bluff. Slowly moving closer, it became apparent that she was totally nude, except for a black top hat. With her left arm extended t

Vicious World – Plays the Music of Rufus Wainwright (2011)

Published on 2011-06-21 07:39:08

Originally named for a Rufus Wainwright song, it was perhaps inevitable that Vicious World would eventually devote an entire album to this underrated contemporary singer-songwriter. That doesn’t make the prospect any less daunting, considering

Half Notes: Modest Mouse – Good News For People Who Love Bad News (2004)

Published on 2011-06-21 07:14:33

by Tom Johnson This is one of the few instances where a song by a very odd band got huge, was virtually everywhere, and still I loved every second of it. “Float On” couldn’t be ignored, and I don’t know why you’d want to

Eric Hofbauer and the Infrared Band – Level (2011)

Published on 2011-06-21 06:34:43

Boston-based guitarist Eric Hofbauer penned the liner notes to his new album out today, Level, beginning it with the testimony that “the music on Level … explores the human condition using sound to tell stories.” He then goes on to

Something Else! sneak peek: Yes, “We Can Fly” (2011)

Published on 2011-06-20 08:41:58

Yes, working now in tandem to Jon Anderson’s revitalized solo career, returns with a reworked song from the last time they issued an album without him. “We Can Fly,” composed by Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, is the lead single from

Aaron Goldberg and Guillermo Klein – Bienestan (2011)

Published on 2011-06-20 08:06:58

When pianist Aaron Goldberg set out to do this record, he wanted to mix things up with the compositions and arrangement, and so he called in Argentinian composer, arranger and fellow pianist Guillermo Klein to take the lead in those departments. Klei

Elvis Costello and the Imposters – The Delivery Man (2004)

Published on 2011-06-20 07:42:04

by Tom Johnson Somehow, nearly thirty years into his career, Elvis Costello managed to turn out one of his best albums ever. Costello is anything but afraid to take a chance. Some may argue that he’s too willing to do so, leaping from one style

Gerald Wilson Orchestra – Legacy (2011)

Published on 2011-06-20 07:17:40

He’s conducting an all-star band, featuring the likes of Antonio Hart, Luis Bonilla, Renee Rosnes, Lewis Nash and Peter Washington. Yet the star of the show on Gerald Wilson‘s brilliant new release remains his adopted hometown of Chicago.

Half Notes: The Low Anthem – Oh My God, Charlie Darwin (2009)

Published on 2011-06-20 06:35:37

by Mark Saleski Easily my favorite release of 2009. The Low Anthem surprised me at a show that spring. I’d never heard of them before and they came out and managed to make me forget my name, my identity, and what my favorite color was. It was a

Clarence Clemons (1942-2011): An Appreciation

Published on 2011-06-19 10:17:39

Late last night, I saw the email light blinking on my phone. A single new message had come in from one of my writer cohorts. The subject line read “Blood Brothers” … and I knew. By the time you read this, thousands of obits will hav

Steely Dan Sunday: “Your Gold Teeth” (1973)

Published on 2011-06-19 08:31:38

Cathy Berberian was this phenomenal opera/modern classical/anything vocally challenging singer. Born in Attleboro, Massachusetts in 1925, Berberian was into music at an early age, starting with the Armenian folk music of her ancestry, and also opera.

Father’s Day special: Mike + the Mechanics, “The Living Years” (1988)

Published on 2011-06-19 07:42:06

by S. Victor Aaron If there’s one song I am drawn to by the message alone, it’s this one. The cheesy late-eighties production and the plain melody does not bother me one bit. That’s because this song is a touching confessional coupl

Burning Gums – Burning Gums (2011)

Published on 2011-06-19 07:08:44

A stylistic tour de force, this self-titled trio effort manages to take in many of jazz music’s most notable influences, even tosses in a dash of Pacific island flavor, but it never falls into the rote imitative traps of so many of today’s more t

Half Notes: Last Exit – Koln (1986)

Published on 2011-06-19 06:50:58

by Mark Saleski I do believe that there just might be a major error in the Guinness Book of World Records. They’re claiming that the loudest animal sound is made by the blue whale. Hmmmm … not that I want to be a know-it-all or anything b

Father’s Day special: Bruce Springsteen, “You’re Missing” (2002)

Published on 2011-06-19 06:18:25

This song, issued in the wake of the devastating attacks on New York City in 2001, nearly overwhelmed me with grief the first time I heard it. I thought of my father. He’s been dead more than 20 years, and I must admit that — like everyth

Summer reruns — Something Else! Interview: Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown

Published on 2011-06-18 08:59:26

The late Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown could be an ornery man. How ornery? When I talked to Brown in 1991, he was at work on an autobiography. Fair enough. But then he wouldn’t let a conversation get going. What’s the lowest he’d been? It’s

Guilty pleasures: Norah Jones – Feels Like Home (2004)

Published on 2011-06-18 08:22:05

by Mark Saleski Smack in the middle of the initial Norah Jones explosion (remember? When it seemed like the radio was tryin’ to brainwash you by playing “Don’t Know Why” every 20 minutes or so … and you kept thinkin̵

Half Notes: Rush – Snakes and Arrows (2007)

Published on 2011-06-18 07:44:46

by Tom Johnson While it may not quite be the wild and crazy effort that producer Nick Raskulinecz promised, Rush‘s Snakes and Arrows was a solid, enjoyable album. If anything, it suffers mainly from the band’s attempts at covering so much

Brainkiller – The Infiltration (2011)

Published on 2011-06-18 07:11:41

Remember last month when I said I have more examples of weird-assed trios coming up? Here’s another one. Inspired by the long running Ray Anderson-led BassDrumBone trio, Brainkiller has Brian Allen manning the trombone and Hernan Hecht on drums

Half Notes: Ayelet Rose Gottlieb – Up to Here/From Here (2009)

Published on 2011-06-18 06:39:36

by Mark Saleski To call Gottlieb a jazz singer is to miss the point. The problem is that that description brings to mind names like Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald and Abbey Lincoln. Those tremendous artists have their own fine voices but Ayelett Rose

Gary Wright – Connected (2011)

Published on 2011-06-17 08:41:37

Gary Wright‘s life around the Beatles continues, as he helps kick off the UK leg of Ringo’s ongoing All-Starr Band tour today at Hampton Court. Wright’s newest album Connected also includes a turn from Starr — as well as a con

Half Notes: Bill Frisell – Live (1995)

Published on 2011-06-17 08:17:42

by Tom Johnson My first real exposure to jazz was either John Coltrane’s Sun Ship or this. Time has erased the gap between the two, but it matters little. Either way, I was in way over my head. I bought both in quick succession, but found Sun S

Forgotten series: Aerosmith – Honkin’ on Bobo (2004)

Published on 2011-06-17 07:39:33

by Fred Phillips As I listen to the awful new solo work coming out of the Steven Tyler camp and begin to come to grips with the fact that my favorite rock band is dying a slow, painful death, I think back a few years to a moment when I was once again

Half Notes: Fourth Ward Afro-Klezmer Orchestra – East Atlanta Passover Stomp (2009)

Published on 2011-06-17 07:09:49

Out of Atlanta comes a large band of a very different kind: a ten-piece group that is built on the idea of combining afrobeat and klezmer music. Though they are more of a local outfit, they’ve gotten the attention and praise of musical tastemak

The Friday Morning Listen: Bruce Springsteen – Growin Up; Joe Jackson – A Slow Song

Published on 2011-06-17 06:12:29

At the end of last weekend, I watched Fellini’s 8 1/2. Turns out that might not have been the best idea for a Sunday evening. me: A weird thing happened to me this week. Joe Jackson: What? me: Well, you heard about what happened to Clarence Cle

Something Else! sneak peek: Ry Cooder, “No Banker Left Behind” (2011)

Published on 2011-06-16 08:33:30

Tough times call for angry protest records, for political records, for records that produce rueful smiles. Ry Cooder has done that and more with “No Banker Left Behind,” a tart treatise on the recent financial meltdown to be included on h

Half Notes: Mike LeDonne – The Groover (2010)

Published on 2011-06-16 08:11:57

by Mark Saleski From swing (“Bopsolete”) to smokey blues (and what self-respecting organ ensemble would sidestep the blues? Check out “Deep Blue,” killer guitar solo by Peter Bernstein on this one), this group knows how to hav

One Track Mind: Adrian Belew on songs from King Crimson, his Power Trio and the Bears

Published on 2011-06-16 07:47:01

On this special edition of Something Else! Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to Adrian Belew, guitarist with King Crimson. Discover why he likes working with younger musicians (no mortages or spouses to lure them out of the studio!),

Half Notes: Farmers By Nature – Out Of This World Distortions (2011)

Published on 2011-06-16 07:19:07

Three of the most gifted improvisers in free jazz today released this week a studio follow-up from their well-received 2009 live debut. As fellow giants of the NYC downtown scene, William Parker, Craig Taborn and Gerald Cleaver know each well musical

Metallica – Death Magnetic (2008)

Published on 2011-06-16 06:58:43

by Mark Saleski Not that long ago (well OK, maybe it was…), when the roots of my inner music nerd/writer were being put in place (1978, Creem magazine), there were several bands whose records were in heavy rotation on my turntable: Led Zeppelin

Half Notes: Ziggy Marley – Dragonfly (2003)

Published on 2011-06-16 06:31:57

by Tom Johnson Bob Marley’s son did this one without the Melody Makers to make an album less about being reggae and more about music. Ziggy seems to find some influence in the Dave Matthews Band, as many songs feature passages that could easily

Something Else! Interview: Adrian Belew, of King Crimson

Published on 2011-06-15 08:51:00

Adrian Belew, at work these days a classical reformulation of his well-received 2009 trio project e, admits that he’s unsure when King Crimson will reform. “No word right now,” he says of the group, led since its late 1960s inception by Robert

Half Notes: Dizzy Gillespie/Sonny Stitt – Duets (1958)

Published on 2011-06-15 08:24:07

An underappreciated Dizzy Gillespie record on Verve, includes some s-s-smokin’ thoughts of “Con Alma” — two, in fact. Produced by Norman Granz, this new “Con Alma” lets you pull apart that Latin jazz masterpiece. T

Orrin Evans – Freedom (2011)

Published on 2011-06-15 07:45:17

You might say that top-notch jazz pianist Orrin Evans has become a fixture here at SER. It all got started four years ago when we noted his participation in Robin Eubanks’ EB3 unit that made the phenomenal double-CD Live, Vol. 1 of 2007. Early

One Track Mind: Katie Costello, “Isn’t It Lovely” (2011)

Published on 2011-06-15 07:26:08

Opening with the old-world charm of an accordian and trumpet, at once lonesome and timeless, Brooklyn-based Katie Costello’s “Isn’t It Lovely” slips into your head like a thief. The whole song has a similar cunning, never goin

Duke Ellington – Live at the Whitney (1995)

Published on 2011-06-15 06:51:16

Early on, you never heard much piano from Duke Ellington, a grievous thing. It was only in the twilight of his career that this American jazz master regularly consented to taping some shows where his impish wit at the instrument could be heard front

Half Notes: Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass-Kickin Team – When the Oakteam Comes to Town (2007)

Published on 2011-06-15 06:16:48

by Mark Saleski There was a time when the purchase of a new album resulted in yours truly spending an insane amount of time locked into his bedroom, pouring over liner notes while rattling the walls with that most recent vinyl object of my affection.

Pat Metheny – What’s It All About (2011)

Published on 2011-06-14 08:53:39

If you were tasked with listing the influences of JazzGuitaristPatMetheny™, some good entries might be Four and More (Miles Davis), Ornette Coleman’s Something Else!!! (Sorry, couldn’t resist), and Smokin’ At The Half Note by the

Forgotten gems: Dire Straits – Communiqué (1979)

Published on 2011-06-14 08:29:14

by Tom Johnson Check out guitar George he knows all the chords … Having originally picked up a used copy of Communiqué, I shelved it for a while when I realized that I just wasn’t all that in the mood for Dire Straits at the time. I̵

Their Ocean – Still Waters EP (2011)

Published on 2011-06-14 08:05:58

Their Ocean, ambient then soulful, is one of those amalgams that sounds instantly recognizable, yet completely new. The Chicago-based psychedelic R&B/indie rock group has described itself as “a cross between Hall and Oates and Arcade Fire,

Books: R. Crumb – Draws the Blues (1993)

Published on 2011-06-14 07:44:41

by Derrick Lord Occasionally jazz and blues fans need to be reminded that we don’t have to limit ourselves strictly to musical recordings. Keep in mind there is plenty of great artwork available that would be a nice addition to any collection o

Half Notes: Monty Alexander – Harlem-Kingston Express: Live (2011)

Published on 2011-06-14 07:18:02

Pretty much for the last twenty years, there have been two types of Monty Alexander records: one that features exuberant, evocative mainstream New York jazz and one that showcases Alexander’s unique Jamaican-styled jazz. Earlier this year, the

Guilty pleasures: The classic-rock live album

Published on 2011-06-14 06:57:51

by Mark Saleski Superfluous. Meaningless. Pointless. Redundent. Obligatory. No, I haven’t been playing with my thesaurus. These are just some of the words that are often used to describe live recordings. Me, I’ve always loved them. Way ba

Half Notes: Hickoids, “Bennie and the Jets” (2011)

Published on 2011-06-14 06:21:00

The Austin, Texas-based Hickoids, a shambling, couldn’t-give-a-sh–t group of cowpunk nutjobs, cover their share of oddball Anglophile items on the new Kicking It With the Twits, out on Saustex Media in San Antonio. The Stones (“Have

Paul McCartney – McCartney; McCartney II (1970/1980, reissue)

Published on 2011-06-13 07:51:27

After the dissolution of both his bands, first the Beatles and then Wings, Paul McCartney closed himself into a studio to work on solo productions, with varying results. Taken together, McCartney and McCartney II — newly repackaged as part of t

Best wishes for ailing E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons

Published on 2011-06-13 07:09:56

by Mark Saleski The news reports have been (necessarily) very sketchy at this point. All we know is that Clarence Clemons has suffered a stroke. For years, there have been a lot of discussions on the usual websites about the end of the E Street Band.

Half Notes: Otis Spann – Last Call (1970)

Published on 2011-06-13 06:47:11

This remarkable lost classic was not released until 2000 — because the tapes were thought to have been destroyed … until they were found in a warehouse in 1999. Done just three weeks before Otis Spann‘s death from liver cancer, Mudd

Black Country Communion – Black Country Communion 2 (2011)

Published on 2011-06-13 06:22:02

I can still remember a time when hard rock bands played music that had a lot of soul, meaning and depth. When the music meant more than the image. When listening to them lifted you up, not brought you down. And when you could count on a fresh new bat

Half Notes: Peter Brötzmann/ Mats Gustafsson/ Paal Nilssen-Love – The Fat Is Gone (2007)

Published on 2011-06-13 05:56:18

by Mark Saleski I have to purchase my Brötzmann only very occasionally because it takes a while to get over the blatant intensity. Recorded at the Molde International Jazz Festival, this is really what European improvised jazz is all about. Well, ma

Steely Dan Sunday: “The Boston Rag” (1973)

Published on 2011-06-12 07:44:37

There’s not a whole lot of lyrics to this song, but I’ve never been quite able to decipher them, and from what I gather from a quick scan on the internet, no one else seems to be too sure what they mean, either. My best, uneducated guess

Half Notes: Paul Motian/ Joe Lovano/ Bill Frisell – Time And Time Again (2007)

Published on 2011-06-12 07:18:48

by Tom Johnson This trio is basically Bill Frisell‘s home away from home, it seems. If he’s not putting out his own solo album, it seems like you can almost count on something from this trio sooner or later, where he indulges his more str

Mike McGuire – Beyond the Ark (2011)

Published on 2011-06-12 06:59:29

Americana singer-songwriter Mike McGuire travels a land of heavy weather, echoing church bells, sad tales and long memories. But he never lets go of the one thing that binds us together: Faith, in ourselves, in our future paths, in our country. It’

One Track Mind: James Cotton and Billy Branch, “Rocket 88″ (2011)

Published on 2011-06-11 08:24:30

Like an aging boxer making an heroic late-round stand, James “Superharp” Cotton brilliantly tangles on a timeless favorite from his 1960s tenure with Vanguard, giving fellow harp master Billy Branch all he can handle. Even now, CottonR

Half Notes: David Bowie – Reality (2003)

Published on 2011-06-11 07:51:03

by Tom Johnson Just over a year after Heathen hit stores, David Bowie was back with another dose of his recently — once again — re-invented self. (Hey, at least we got a few albums in a row from this persona.) Having successfully shed his

Steve Earle – Jerusalem (2009)

Published on 2011-06-11 07:09:16

by Mark Saleski I know what I like, but you won’t find me setting any rules. This is as close to a “philosophy of music” as you’re going to get out of me. That idea has been the driving force behind most of the stuff I write a

Half Notes: Nilson Matta and Roni Ben-Hur – Mojave (2011)

Published on 2011-06-11 06:31:50

Israeli-born guitarist Roni Ben-Hur and Brazlian-born bassist Nilson Matta head a date with percussionist Café (another Brazilian) and American drummer Victor Lewis in tow, called Mojave. While the title might conjure up images of the American South

One Track Mind: Tedeschi Trucks Band, “Midnight in Harlem” (2011)

Published on 2011-06-10 08:11:53

A greasy slap of Dixie beer-soaked soul, “Midnight in Harlem” is the sweet-swaying centerpiece of a new all-you-can-eat buffet of deep-fried delights called Revelator from this 11-person collective of groovers led by Allman Brothers guita

Something Else! sneak peek: Black Country Communion 2 (2011)

Published on 2011-06-10 07:24:03

On Tuesday, the hard-rock supergroup Black Country Communion’s 2 drops, and you best believe it’s gonna get the SER Lowdown like the first record did. Hard to believe but the Joe Bonamassa/Glenn Hughes/Jason Bonham/Derek Sherinian summit

Half Notes: Wilco – Sky Blue Sky (2007)

Published on 2011-06-10 06:54:41

by Tom Johnson Opening with the gentle guitar of “Either Way,” a film begins to unreel in my mind. The black screen, the titles, and then Jeff Tweedy‘s soft, scratchy voice crackles out “Maybe the sun will shine today” j

The Friday Morning Listen: Ghost Train Orchestra – Hothouse Stomp (2011)

Published on 2011-06-10 06:09:40

Before I get to the part of the article where I piss off the Ken Burns jazz fans, let me rant a little about something completely (well, almost) unrelated. So I’m minding my own business the other day when I see this tweet (Hmmm … if some

Something Else! sneak peek: Paul McCartney, “Blue Sway” (2011)

Published on 2011-06-10 05:47:24

Here’s a new song and video from the forthcoming remastered special edition of Paul McCartney‘s 1980 solo project McCartney II. A never-before-released track, “Blue Sway” will be part of the set’s bonus audio disc, to be

Something Else! sneak peek: Pat Metheny, What’s It All About (2011)

Published on 2011-06-09 08:19:50

On June 14th, guitarist Pat Metheny will release What’s It All About, an all-acoustic album that’s about as far as you can get, technologically speaking, from last year’s Orchestrion. This incredibly intimate recording features Pat

One Track Mind: Bill Summers on “God Make Me Funky,” “Watermelon Man,” others

Published on 2011-06-09 07:48:40

On this special edition of Something Else! Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to percussionist Bill Summers. As he and the rest of the Headhunters are set for the June 14 release of Platinum — a multi-faceted new release that ble

Trey Gunn – Untune The Sky (2004)

Published on 2011-06-09 07:17:15

by Tom Johnson Newly free of King Crimson in 2004, some wondered just what it was that Warr guitarist Trey Gunn would be doing. A great short answer came in the form of Untune the Sky, a combination CD/DVD package. The CD takes the shape of a best-of

Half Notes: Rempis/Rosaly – Cyrillic (2010)

Published on 2011-06-09 06:59:04

by Mark Saleski Saxophonist Dave Rempis’ co-conspirator on drums, Frank Rosaly, lays down some solid grooves and textures. Nothing here is quite as chaotic as say, Interstellar Space, but the music isn’t exactly subdued either. Rempis dis

One Track Mind: Jeff Crosby, “Too Many Walls” (2011)

Published on 2011-06-09 06:17:44

From a small town up in Idaho a fourteen year old kid picks up a guitar and ten years later he’s already done so much with that instrument and his voice, but eager to do more. As the frontman for the rock/funk/jam/bluegrass band Equaleyes, Jeff

Something Else! Interview: Percussionist Bill Summers, of the Headhunters

Published on 2011-06-08 08:32:23

The Headhunters, who with Herbie Hancock crafted jazz music’s first platinum release, return this month with an aptly titled new project — Platinum. In 2003, their million-selling 1973 debut Head Hunters was ranked No. 498 in Rolling Stone’

Guilty pleasures: Genesis – Calling All Stations (1997)

Published on 2011-06-08 07:49:10

by Tom Johnson Fans and critics alike pretty much ripped Genesis‘ final album, Calling All Stations to shreds when it came out, as it seemed to please no one in particular. The old fans didn’t quite get the full-on prog-revival Mike Ruthe

Dawn Harden – A Lifetime (2011)

Published on 2011-06-08 07:22:04

There is this deeply personal texture to A Lifetime, a redemptive 10-track journey through love’s rocky terrain. French jazz-pop singer-songwriter Dawn Harden wrote or co-wrote, with pianist Patrick Pernet, all but one of the songs, giving the reco

Half Notes: The Who – Live at Leeds (1970)

Published on 2011-06-08 06:57:45

by Mark Saleski This album documents The Who at their most ferocious. Roger is in great voice. Moon is a dynamo on the drums, his kit sounding like it might fly apart at any second. Entwistle’s bass, as always, is far more than an anchor. And t

One Track Mind: Wadada Leo Smith’s Organic – “Don Cherry’s Electric Sonic Garden” (2011)

Published on 2011-06-08 06:06:09

The music of Wadada Leo Smith, no matter the setting, is spiritual, mesmerizing, purposeful and often dense. We found out back toward the end of ’09 just how dense his music can be when this innovative trumpet player debuted his Organic ensemble on

Erik Friedlander – Bonebridge (2011)

Published on 2011-06-07 07:21:51

Since Tom Cora’s tragic passing in 1998, there might not have been a more adventurous cellist on this planet than Erik Friedlander. Friedlander, however, is no Cora, who was at his best at the most freakish sides of jazz and rock. Friedlander seems

Half Notes: The Decemberists – The Crane Wife (2006)

Published on 2011-06-07 06:54:05

by Tom Johnson I really wondered what the move to Capitol Records would do to the Decemberists. Would they turn in something less than stellar, as happened with Death Cab For Cutie on their major label debut, Plans? Or would they stick to their guns

Grover Washington Jr. – Grover Live (2010)

Published on 2011-06-07 06:18:59

by Mark Saleski I’m not one to quote Wikipedia, but this time around it makes perfect sense: “Smooth jazz is a sub-genre of jazz which is heavily influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles (separately, or, in any combination

Ozzy Osbourne – Blizzard of Ozz/ Diary of a Madman (1980/81, reissue)

Published on 2011-06-07 05:35:45

by Fred Phillips One of the more contentious issues in Ozzy Osbourne’s career may have finally been laid to rest with the release of a pair of reissues on Sony Legacy — Diary of a Madman and Blizzard of Ozz. The story starts shortly before th

Jon Anderson – Survival and Other Stories (2011)

Published on 2011-06-06 08:22:01

Too often, it was like Jon Anderson didn’t want to make a solo record that sounded too much like Yes. As interesting as these sideroads no doubt were, they gave few clues to how his own voice fit into the wider topography of the band. And they

Half Notes: Leo Kottke – Great Big Boy/Peculiaroso (1991/1994, reissue)

Published on 2011-06-06 07:51:58

by Mark Saleski I already owned 1991′s Great Big Boy, and it’s a fine one. The album was allowed to go out of print for the usual reasons (which I won’t waste our time on), only to reappear in a likeably presented two-fer in 2007 wi

Dave Douglas – Moonshine (2007)

Published on 2011-06-06 07:16:18

by Tom Johnson I really admire trumpeter Dave Douglas. Not only is he world-renowned as one of jazz’s best, he has taken the high and difficult road by setting out to create his own little sanctuary for musicians, a label in Greenleaf Music whe

Half Notes: Carolyn Leonhart and Wayne Escoffery – Tides of Yesterday (2010)

Published on 2011-06-06 06:46:02

by Mark Saleski Normally, I’m not a particularly skeptical person. But when I see things in album credits like “hair,” “makeup,” and “dresses,” it’s tough to not tighten up a little. The good news is th

Tim Berne, Jim Black, Nels Cline – The Veil (2011)

Published on 2011-06-06 06:02:24

Three of the larger figures in the downtown New York avant jazz scene, Jim Black, Nels Cline and Tim Berne, joined forces a couple of years ago to form a trio that find the intersection where the three thrive in. That area of overlap falls in the hin

Steely Dan Sunday: “Razor Boy” (1973)

Published on 2011-06-05 08:23:45

Walter Becker once called himself as a “B+” guitarist. I’m not entirely sure about that, but as a bassist, I’d rate him at least an A minus. Nonetheless, Becker had a history of making way for another bassist to play on a Stee

Solomon King – Medicine (2011)

Published on 2011-06-05 07:55:45

Over the course of the striking, stripped-down Medicine, former Detroit autoworker Solomon King returns to that moment when the blues moved inexorably away from the uplift that defined gospel music, and ultimately toward rock ‘n’ roll and then hi

Half Notes: Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha (2007)

Published on 2011-06-05 07:19:20

by Tom Johnson It was going to be hard for Bird to top his previous album, Andrew Bird And The Mysterious Production Of Eggs, a gorgeous, moody stunner. Equally balanced between upbeat rock numbers and quieter strings-backed pieces, Eggs had somethin

One Track Mind: Richard Nelson Large Ensemble, “Strive” (2011)

Published on 2011-06-05 06:39:43

In most big bands, the guitarist functions as nothing more than a member of an expanded rhythm section — and for a while it seems like Richard Nelson (even though it’s his band, and all) had fallen into the same role on his forthcoming al

Gonzalo Rubalcaba — Fe’ … Faith (2011)

Published on 2011-06-04 08:24:07

Intense and beautiful, Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba’s new Fe’ … Faith, is this meditative wonder. Like the earth making its inevitable yearly circle, Rubalcaba returns time after time to themes and thoughts — but never approaches thing

One Track Mind: The Jesus Lizard, “Mailman” (1996)

Published on 2011-06-04 07:58:44

by Tom Johnson “Mailman” is singer David Yow’s tale of a woman being stalked by some creepy bastard who likes to send her little love notes through the mail. He wants to know if he can run his fingers through my hair He also wants t

Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation – Mighty ReArranger (2005)

Published on 2011-06-04 07:31:32

by Mark Saleski Back in Led Zeppelin‘s day, it was near to impossible to twist the radio dial (yeah, radios had dials back then … think of a radio dial as an ancient, manual hyperlink, without the Internet or computers or any of that stuf

Half Notes: Dave King – Indelicate (2010)

Published on 2011-06-04 06:44:06

by Mark Saleski A piano and drum ‘duo,’ all played by Dave King. Yes, the drummer for The Bad Plus not only has piano skills as well but also a big piles of ideas to play with. Grooves would of course be expected, as well as dissonance an

Honey Ear Trio – Steampunk Serenade (2011)

Published on 2011-06-03 08:33:38

Listening to Allison Miller’s superb CD from last year Boom Tic Boom, I appreciated how it covered a lot of ground within advanced modern jazz, helped along by such sympathetic supporting players in this piano jazz trio. But that album still le

Half Notes: Roomful of Blues – Raisin’ a Ruckus (2007)

Published on 2011-06-03 08:01:30

by Mark Saleski “What? You’ve never head any Roomful of Blues?” I tell you, I’ve asked that question far too many times. They’ve gone through many lineup changes through the years, and their list of alumni includes Duke

Ben Folds – Speed Graphic (2003)

Published on 2011-06-03 07:22:54

by Tom Johnson Ben Folds opened this EP (Speed Graphic refers to the camera seen on the sleeve) with the Cure‘s “In Between Days.” While staying true to the Cure’s sound, he managed to inject an extra little dose of his hopefu

Half Notes: Trey Anastasio – Bar 17 (2006)

Published on 2011-06-03 06:55:33

by Tom Johnson Poor Trey. Not only did he get wrapped up in dealing with a major label in 2005 with Shine, he also had to deal with the double-whammy of two decidedly non-fan friendly formats that Columbia insisted on releasing the album through, the

The Friday Morning Listen: Mystery Bear – Sublimation (2008)

Published on 2011-06-03 05:29:24

I have again entered the musical aesthetics zone. The usual question is “Why do I like that?” This time around, I want to get a little more general: Why does anybody like (or dislike) anything? How do people decide what is “goodR

Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins – A Scarcity Of Miracles (2011)

Published on 2011-06-02 08:51:47

by Tom Johnson It was only a matter of time before Robert Fripp came out of hiding again. Notoriously reclusive, the unusual guitarist seems to disappear just when things seem to get really interesting, such as a few years ago when a new incarnation

Half Notes: Marc Cary – Focus Trio Live (2009)

Published on 2011-06-02 08:23:57

by Mark Saleski Dude is wearing a porkpie hat on the cover. Dude is making “jazz face.” Dude can play his ass off. Skip right to the end and check out “CD Changer.” It’s not often that a pianist will apply so much torque

One Track Mind: Bill Champlin on “Hard Habit to Break,” “After the Love is Gone,” others

Published on 2011-06-02 07:51:56

On this special edition of Something Else! Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over former Chicago singer and keyboardist Bill Champlin. He talks about Grammy-winning tracks “Turn Your Love Around” and “After the Love Has Gone,” his

Keith Jarrett – Radiance (2005)

Published on 2011-06-02 07:16:34

by Mark Saleski Some musicians have the ability to transcend their physical talents to put on display their thought processes, a sort of direct conduit between the hands and that mysterious inner pool of music. Or … in Keith Jarrett’s cas

Half Notes: Low – Drums And Guns (2007)

Published on 2011-06-02 06:41:12

by Tom Johnson Who knew Low would crank things up like they did with 2005′s The Great Destroyer, their Sub-Pop debut? Were they holding back all those years, or did the label urge them to do something different? Whatever it was, it worked again

Something Else! Interview: Bill Champlin, formerly of Chicago

Published on 2011-06-01 09:14:29

Bill Champlin, who co-founded the legendary Bay Area band the Sons of Champlin, is perhaps best known for his nearly three decades as a member of Chicago. But he had already collected a pair of Grammy awards before joining Chicago, first for “After

Mike Keneally and Metropole Orkest – The Universe Will Provide (2004)

Published on 2011-06-01 08:49:22

by Tom Johnson I was a little disappointed with guitarist Mike Keneally’s initial release of 2004, Dog. It seemed to be lacking a little something physical, some cohesive element, in the music, but where it worked it worked great. It was just t

Half Notes: Jae Sinnett – It’s Telling … A Drummer’s Perspective (2007)

Published on 2011-06-01 08:11:18

by Mark Saleski Wow, sometimes you just stumble onto a little gold. Jae Sinnett’s kit work manages to channel bits of my favorite drummers (Jeff Watts, Tony Williams) while retaining his own thing. It’s very inspiring to be witness to a p

Something Else! sneak peek: Paul McCartney, “Coming Up” (remastered audio stream)

Published on 2011-06-01 07:31:20

To get you ready for the Concord Music Group’s deluxe June 14 reissue of Paul McCartney’s 1970 solo debut McCartney as well as 1980′s McCartney II, here’s a new remastered audio stream of “Coming Up” &#

Half Notes: Anti-Social Music – Is The Future Of Everything (2011)

Published on 2011-06-01 06:57:59

Last year, the outlaw chamber music cooperative Anti-Social Music did something that was out of the ordinary for a democratic cooperative and presented songs only by of its thirteen members, Pat Muchmore. But there has never been anything ordinary ab

Dapp Theory – Layers of Chance (2008)

Published on 2011-06-01 06:04:50

by Mark Saleski Some people really have the wrong idea about jazz. They think that most of it falls into two very broad categories: traditional, where guys in suits play an introductory theme before taking turns soloing over the developed chord chang

Tommy Shaw – The Great Divide (2011)

Published on 2011-05-31 09:42:34

This was one of those records that I didn’t expect to like, maybe didn’t even want to like. Bluegrass, I like. Tommy Shaw, I like. You couldn’t help but wonder how this thing would ever come together. Yet, as with other successful c

Half Notes: Dave Glasser – Evolution (2010)

Published on 2011-05-31 09:11:12

by Mark Saleski Sax, piano, bass and drums — staples in the jazz world. Sometimes, that combination can be bland. If the players don’t add a little spice to the proceedings, you quickly realize that you’ve been here before. (“

Manu Katché – Neighbourhood (2006)

Published on 2011-05-31 08:33:21

by Mark Saleski Ever stumble into one of those snotty Internet arguments tugging back & forth about the capabilities of musicians? Specifically, the old “Is it possible for player X (an expert in genre A) to cross over to the land of genre

Half Notes: Corinne Bailey Rae – Live In London and New York (2007)

Published on 2011-05-31 07:44:28

By Tom Johnson Corinne Bailey Rae is one of those unexpected interests for me, a pop-chanteuse making the kind of music I typically wouldn’t really find much interest in. But, for some reason, I fell for her simple, emotive voice. My only probl

One Track Mind: ANT-BEE, featuring Peter Banks, “Endless Journey” (2011)

Published on 2011-05-31 07:06:02

“Endless Journey,” a thrilling little space-rock number by ANT-BEE, begins appropriately enough: With a countdown and then a rocket launch. The unmistakable tone of Peter Banks’ guitar floats by next — and it’s a transfi

Half Notes: Earl MacDonald – Re: Visions (2010)

Published on 2011-05-31 06:24:14

By Mark Saleski Subtitled “Works for Jazz Orchestra,” this album showcases the arranging talents of Earl MacDonald as well as a stellar cast of cohorts. I have to be honest here and say that big-ish bands are not usually my thing. That is

Something Else! Interview: 10cc cofounder Kevin Godley

Published on 2011-05-30 07:51:44

Kevin Godley, as a co-founder of 10cc, helped propel “I’m Not In Love” to No. 2 on the U.S. charts in the summer of 1975, before leaving the band with fellow co-founder Lol Creme. They scored a Top 20 hit in the mid-1980s, even while starting a

Half Notes: Jessie Marquez, “La Herida (The Wound)” (2011)

Published on 2011-05-30 07:07:11

Listening, you’d be hard pressed to place Jessie Marquez, a sensual American singer with Cuban roots, anywhere near her hometown of Eugene, Ore. There is something so otherworldly, so richly textured, so intimate and humid and spicy about track

Sheryl Crow – C’mon C’mon (2002)

Published on 2011-05-30 06:27:52

by Derrick Lord Old sayings get to be old sayings for a reason: There is usually a good bit of truth in them. I gave Sheryl Crow’s album C’mon, C’mon a spin based on the single “Steve McQueen” and I thought: “Yup, the

Half Notes: Charles Evans/ Neil Shah – Live at Saint Stephens (2009)

Published on 2011-05-30 05:56:18

by Mark Saleski Baritone sax (Evans) and piano recorded live at a church. The room gave just the right amount of natural reverb, which is a great thing because too much echo can muddy all of those wonderful details my ears parts expect from the bari

Steely Dan Sunday: “Bodhisattva” (1973)

Published on 2011-05-29 08:08:06

A rock song about Buddhism that you can dance the Charleston to and boasts not one but two badass guitar leads? That’s a party tune, Steely Dan Style. The success of Can’t Buy A Thrill only brought further pressure on the band by the reco

Half Notes: Tyler Summers Trio – Live at the Cellar (2010)

Published on 2011-05-29 07:29:11

by Mark Saleski Hey, so the trio is actually a quintet. Sort of. In any event, there’s a healthy dose of telepathic interplay on this disc. I particularly like how Summers plays his soprano sax (he plays alto as well) off of David Braid’s

Sonny Rollins – Plus Four (1956, reissue)

Published on 2011-05-29 06:59:20

by Mark Saleski Ever have a dream where the impossible has suddenly come true? No, I don’t mean something like you’ve won the lottery, or you finally hooked up with that special someone. No, I’m talking about the impossible. In my c

Half Notes: Rufus Wainwright – Want One (2003)

Published on 2011-05-29 06:10:45

by Tom Johnson With his 2001 release, Poses Wainwright (yes, the son of Loudon Wainwright III) gave the world a breath of fresh air. Often set to what amounts to modern day Tin Pan Alley tunes, Wainwright uses his voice to display something that so o

Neil Young – Living With War (2006)

Published on 2011-05-28 08:34:07

by Mark Saleski The debate had become predictable; maybe a little sad, too. An artist was coming out with a protest record. You could hear the bluster from miles away. Folks twisted themselves into spittle-flecked knots in the attempt to dress down t

Claudio Scolari/Daniele Cavalca – Colors Of Red Island (2011)

Published on 2011-05-28 07:34:23

Usually when we’re on the topic of a record led by a drummer, the story will be about a bandleader and sometimes, the primary composer, who also happens to be the drummer. The burden of carrying of melody and most of the solos usually falls on

Half Notes: Dan Pratt Organ Quartet – Toe The Line (2010)

Published on 2011-05-28 07:13:06

by Mark Saleski You just can’t go wrong with the B-3. Saxophonist Dan Pratt might be running the show, but it’s B-3 player Jared Gold who is the secret weapon here. Secret weapon #2 (Wait, is it OK to have two?) is trombonist Alan Berber.

Forgotten series: Tortoise – Tortoise (1994)

Published on 2011-05-28 06:42:17

by Tom Johnson I suppose the most effective argument I could make to indicate that this album got under my skin is that during the fourth track, titled “Onions Wrapped in Rubber,” I was imagining scenes from the 1986 sci-fi thriller Alien

Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011): An Appreciation

Published on 2011-05-27 21:01:31

Musician and street poet Gil Scott-Heron, best known for “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” died today. Cause of death was not immediately known; he was 62. Scott-Heron started out at the dawn of the 1970s as a jazz-inclined R&B

Something Else! Featured Artist: Little River Band

Published on 2011-05-27 09:22:26

Australia’s Little River Band placed 11 songs in the Top 40 in the late 1970s and early 1980s, becoming one of the most successful acts to come from Down Under. Yet, somehow that note-perfect blending of sweeping vocals and polished musicianship &#

Half Notes: Joe Chambers – Horace To Max (2010)

Published on 2011-05-27 08:53:19

by Mark Saleski There are drummers who can keep time, who stay out of the way in the effort to enhance their fellow musicians’ sound. Moving a step beyond that are people like Joe Chambers, who play with so much nuance and obvious consideration

The Friday Morning Listen: Charlie Haden/ Pat Metheny – Beyond The Missouri Sky (1997)

Published on 2011-05-27 08:04:55

Vacation Part 3. OK, so I didn’t win the lottery. I didn’t buy a big house on the Maine coast. There was no affair with the real estate agent. But you could have probably guessed all of that. What came to pass did seem something like a fa

Half Notes: Chris Connelly – Phenobarb Bambalam (1992)

Published on 2011-05-27 07:01:43

Chris Connelly, coming off key contributions to a pair of recordings by Al Jourgensen’s Ministry, neatly sidestepped the dreaded “industrial” tag here with simple musicianship (not to mention a dead-on Bowie vocal turn). Still can&#

Viktor Krauss – Far From Enough (2004)

Published on 2011-05-27 06:19:21

By Tom Johnson I spent most of the morning flipping between one disc and the next, restless for something that actually fit my mood. I just didn’t want to, you know, as they say, deal and nothing particularly appealed to me. On days like this,

Claudio Scolari/Daniele Cavalca – Colors Of Red Island (2011)

Published on 2011-05-27 06:00:23

Usually when we’re on the topic of a record led by a drummer, the story will be about a bandleader and sometimes, the primary composer, who also happens to be the drummer. The burden of carrying of melody and most of the solos usually falls on

Half Notes: Rufus Reid and Out Front – Hues Of A Different Blue (2011)

Published on 2011-05-27 05:46:42

When I listened to the all-time-great bassist Rufus Reid’s brand new CD Hues Of A Different Blue for the first a couple of times, it kind of threw me for a loop. Last year’s release Out Front, an SER “Best of 2010: Mainstream and Mo

The New Gary Burton Quartet – Common Ground (2011)

Published on 2011-05-26 08:21:10

Vibraphonist Gary Burton’s entire career as a musician has been about thinking outside the box and exploring new frontiers in jazz music. When he was only seventeen years old, his first recording date was with country and western guitar great H

Half Notes: Emmylou Harris – Stumble Into Grace (2003)

Published on 2011-05-26 07:53:34

by Tom Johnson Following her fantastic 2000 release Red Dirt Girl, this found the angelic-voiced Emmylou Harris continuing down the path she started with Daniel Lanois on the equally fantastic but slightly more stunning 1995 album Wrecking Ball, and

Journey – Eclipse (2011)

Published on 2011-05-26 07:11:28

In many ways, the initial cuts on Journey‘s Eclipse recall the wide-open heavy fusion of the the band’s original Gregg Rolie-era records, a period when guitarist Neal Schon pulled and stretched his muse. At the same time, singer Arnel Pin

Half Notes: Avery Sharpe Trio – Live (2010)

Published on 2011-05-26 06:39:15

by Mark Saleski First off, I just have to say that this album, recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio in Boston, sounds gorgeous. Many modern recordings, even in the quieter jazz realm, are tainted by the overuse of compression. Not so he

One Track Mind: Michael Wolff on songs with Cannonball Adderley, Warren Zevon, others

Published on 2011-05-26 06:14:10

On this special edition of Something Else! Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to jazz pianist Michael Wolff. He shares insights into an Indian-inflected collaboration with Charlie Hunter, the lasting allures of funk classics like the T

Mr. Mister – Pull (2010)

Published on 2011-05-26 05:47:07

by Tom Johnson The 1990s seemed pretty brutal for bands. In those days before the Internet really became a legitimate marketplace for artists to take their music directly to the fans, the industry had their way with bands — treating them like d

Something Else! Interview: Jazz pianist Michael Wolff

Published on 2011-05-25 08:08:59

Jazz pianist Michael Wolff — an endlessly engaging player whom the New York Times has praised for “near impeccable good taste, technical facility and lyrical inventiveness” — joins us for an SER Sitdown to discuss the lasting

Half Notes: Elvis Costello – North (2003)

Published on 2011-05-25 07:27:57

by Tom Johnson Elvis Costello makes yet another shift in his career, this time to take on the persona of a jazz crooner backed by an orchestra arranged and conducted by his own bad self. Does it work? Depends on your view of Elvis: If, in your world,

Forgotten series: Kiss – Revenge (1992)

Published on 2011-05-25 07:02:02

by Fred Phillips When you think of Kiss, most people think of the outrageous makeup and elaborate stage shows of the 1970s or, perhaps, the somewhat sad nostalgia act the band has become today, starring in reality shows and attempting to relive those

Half Notes: Chris Green Quartet – Merge (2009)

Published on 2011-05-25 06:27:50

by Mark Saleski I do like my jazz with some funk, and Chris Green delivers. The opening track “Good Riddance!” cooks right along as does “Coffee ‘n Scotch,” built on a simple ostinato that gets moved around in sly ways a

Edith Wilson – He May Be Your Man … But He Comes to See Me Sometimes (1973)

Published on 2011-05-25 05:58:24

A pioneer as just the third African American woman to make a phonograph recording back in the 1920s, Edith Wilson later fell on hard times — and was reduced to appearing through the mid-’60s (and quite anonymously) in the first Aunt Jemim

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones – Rocket Science (2011)

Published on 2011-05-24 09:02:43

by Tom Johnson Sometimes old really is new again. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones existed as a trio for a handful of years after harmonica/pianist Howard Levy left, only to ask consistent fill-in saxophonist Jeff Coffin to join their ranks. Being a tal

Something Else! Featured Artist: Bob Dylan

Published on 2011-05-24 08:09:08

In honor of Bob Dylan‘s birthday today, Something Else! Reviews presents 7 for 70 — our list of top recordings from across the 70-year-old’s lengthy career. We were careful to select at least one project from each of his five decade

Sean Jones – No Need for Words (2011)

Published on 2011-05-24 07:27:38

Sean Jones does something with No Need To Words” that’s sorely needed: Talk about love in a complete way. Not just the romantic part, or the passionate part (though that’s here, too) but the other parts — the angry parts, the

Half Notes: Black Francis – Bluefinger (2007)

Published on 2011-05-24 06:57:27

By Tom Johnson Frank Black is dead, long live Black Francis. Or maybe he was just resting. I don’t know, honestly, why he changed back to the Pixies-era moniker, but it didn’t really matter. Black turned out the best effort since his firs

Houndog, featuring David Hidalgo and Mike Halby – Houndog (1999)

Published on 2011-05-24 06:19:52

by Mark Saleski Los Lobos guitarist/accordian player and all around musical polyglot David Hidalgo got together with vocalist Mike Halby (Canned Heat, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers) to create this fantastic chunk ‘o blues. Hidalgo, as usual

Half Notes: Melvin Jones – Pivot (2011)

Published on 2011-05-24 05:47:43

Listening to this record before I even read Melvin Jones’ liner notes, I already knew what he meant by the title of this debut album by him. It’s an album that has many shades of jazz on display, and the constant is the pure, malleable tr

Something Else! Interview: Christian prog-rocker Neal Morse

Published on 2011-05-23 08:07:28

Neal Morse, former frontman for Spock’s Beard, joined us for an SER Sitdown in advance of today’s release of his long-awaited Testimony 2 on Radiant/Metal Blade Records. A follow-up to 2003′s autobiographical progressive rock epic T

Gavin Harrison and 05Ric – Circles (2010)

Published on 2011-05-23 07:41:47

by Tom Johnson There’s an easy target for this band: All the people who listened to any of the past few Porcupine Tree albums and just couldn’t get enough of Gavin Harrison’s drumming. Harrison’s skills are not just that he is

Half Notes: Tom Harrell – Roman Nights (2010)

Published on 2011-05-23 06:17:33

by Mark Saleski My favorite Tom Harrell record is actually a Jim Hall record. These Rooms was a Jim Hall Trio album featuring Tom Harrell. Really great stuff. There was a certain synergy between Harrell’s flugelhorn and Hall’s guitar. Som

Starlicker – Double Demon (2011)

Published on 2011-05-23 06:03:19

I don’t know if it’s a trend of not, but lately I’ve noticed a lot more unconventional trios in jazz. By “unconventional” I mean without the bass player, and the usual premise I’ve heard for doing this is to allow

Half Notes: The Black Keys – Magic Potion (2006)

Published on 2011-05-23 05:28:13

by Tom Johnson Every genre seems to get reinvented every so often. Jazz had its renewal a few years back, and now the blues seems to be burbling under again, beginning into the early 2000s with the success of the White Stripes. But the White Stripes

Steely Dan Sunday: “Turn That Heartbeat Over Again” (1972)

Published on 2011-05-22 08:31:02

Among our favorite bands, we all have our Least Favorite Song. When it comes to Steely Dan, this one is most likely mine. Now that we reached the end of Can’t Buy This Thrill, I can look back to a record that had several peaks, with the valleys

Baby Brother – Strange Things (2011)

Published on 2011-05-22 07:17:13

A great groovy mess, Baby Brother combines roots rock and punk in the most intriguing of ways. The result, Strange Things, lives up to its title, and that’s not a bad thing. Based in Brooklyn, N.Y., Baby Brother somehow combines Johnny Cash and the

One Track Mind: Sun Ra, “It’s After The End Of The World” (1972)

Published on 2011-05-22 06:38:28

By Mark Saleski Like mystery novels, poetry, or any other form of art, music has a lot of uses. We’re sad and pull out those old Son House records. Happy? How about some Speaking In Tongues-era Talking Heads? Is romance in the air? Perhaps some

One Track Mind: Blondie, “Rapture” (1980)

Published on 2011-05-21 08:21:51

Recently, there’s been some talk about the latest date purportedly marking the End Of Times, and if I remember correctly, that day is today. So if the biblical calculations are correct this time, this will be my sign-off post. Hey, it’s b

Half Notes: Stephane Grappelli – Plays Jerome Kern (1987; reissue)

Published on 2011-05-21 07:41:17

This isn’t so much a rethinking of American Broadway composer Jerome Kern’s work as a deeply romantic, light jazz/classical aside. Recorded in 1987, the same year the legendary French gypsy jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli passed, Plays Jerome K

Greg Brown – Freak Flag (2011)

Published on 2011-05-21 06:27:11

We love these songs. The words become a part of us. Does that mean we “know” the artist? When Bruce Springsteen appeared on VH1′s Storytellers, a fan asked him that very same question. Bruce’s response was a resounding (and la

Half Notes: Bruce Barth Trio – Live At Smalls (2011)

Published on 2011-05-21 05:37:14

I took a quick survey of pianist Bruce Barth’s discography, and the album titles go like this: Home: Live in Columbia Missouri, Live at Café Del Teatre, Live at The Village Vanguard, Hope Springs Eternal, Live. So when New York’s legenda

Nasar Abadey and Supernova – Diamond In The Rough (2011)

Published on 2011-05-20 08:09:56

Washington D.C. percussion specialist Nasar Abadey has earned his stripes over decades performing with some of jazz’s towering figures like Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Pharoah Sanders and Sonny Fortune. These days he spends much of his ti

Half Notes: Talking Heads – The Name of this Band Is … (1982; reissue)

Published on 2011-05-20 07:39:40

by Tom Johnson A definitive entry in the Talking Heads’ catalog this was somehow out of print at one point for, what, nearly two full decades? I was lucky enough to stumble upon a bootleg copy of the vinyl a while back but the sound quality was

The Friday Morning Listen: Tom Waits – Healing The Divide (2009)

Published on 2011-05-20 06:54:33

Vacation Part 2. Oh my, it feels so good to downshift. With no daily work regimen to get the stress train moving (beyond making sure that there’s enough coffee for the next day), the relaxation response takes over. When I wake up from my first

Forgotten series: Johnny Winter – Guitar Slinger (1984)

Published on 2011-05-20 06:03:18

by Derrick Lord Gas up Johnny Winter’s Guitar Slinger if you’re in the mood for some good old hell-raising Texas blues. Don’t expect a clean garage here but a oil-stained, parts-thrown-everywhere, Playboy-calendar-hanging, hot-rod f

Half Notes: Taylor Haskins – Taylor Haskins + Recombination (2011)

Published on 2011-05-20 05:33:23

Taylor Haskins, who’s done an impressive amount of soundtrack work, has put out an appropriately cinematic project here. Originally recorded in 2009, but just issued by NineteenEight Records earlier this month, Taylor Haskins + Recombination begins

Half Notes: Stephane Grappelli – Plays Jerome Kern (1987; reissue)

Published on 2011-05-20 05:33:17

This isn’t so much a rethinking of American Broadway composer Jerome Kern’s work as a deeply romantic, light jazz/classical aside. Recorded in 1987, the same year the legendary French gypsy jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli passed, Plays Jerome K

Something Else! Featured Artist: Ornette Coleman

Published on 2011-05-19 08:27:08

Ornette Coleman called his music the Shape of Things to Come, then later harmolodics. Everyone else, eventually, came to call it free jazz. And that fits. It was, after all, so very free. Some of it was hard to understand, maybe still is. These were,

Bruce Springsteen – Devils & Dust (2005)

Published on 2011-05-19 07:39:42

by Mark Saleski Every true music fan has in their pocket a short list: the artists who hold special meaning. Our relationships to those artists are different from the rest. Each release means something. They’re not just records, they’re e

Half Notes: King’s X – Live All Over The Place (2004)

Published on 2011-05-19 07:07:02

by Tom Johnson Three-part harmonies, a verified guitar-god genius, and some of the lowest, thickest, sludgiest bass around — King’s X is like the Beatles of metal, but they go year-after-year depressingly ignored. They scored a few minor

One Track Mind: Alphonse Mouzon on Weather Report, McCoy Tyner, solo songs

Published on 2011-05-19 06:27:21

On this special edition of the Something Else! Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to legendary fusion drummer Alphonse Mouzon. A life around jazz, and fellow jazz greats, has left Mouzon with his share of stories. So did the lengthy se

Half Notes: The Elements of Jazz – The Elements of Jazz (2011)

Published on 2011-05-19 05:47:47

The Elements of Jazz is a quartet from Miami bills themselves as “The New Sound of Miami,” with its clean and lean jazzy grooves that sharply contrast with the “new sound of Miami” from the 80s, Gloria Estefan and the Miami So

Something Else! Interview: Jazz drumming legend Alphonse Mouzon

Published on 2011-05-18 09:33:21

A seminal force in the berth of fusion, the versatile Alphonse Mouzon has played drums alongside of dizzying array of jazz greats. Even today, it’s no different. He worked with Gil Evans on his 1969 release Blues in Orbit, then Roy Ayers at the

Half Notes: Lester Young and Teddy Wilson – Pres and Teddy (1956)

Published on 2011-05-18 09:02:37

What was cool about Lester Young was that he kept evolving. All “Pres” did was: – Pave the way for bebop in the 1930s. – Presuppose, while playing clarinet with Basie back in the day, the cool California sound of Paul Desmond

The Who – Who’s Next (1971; reissue)

Published on 2011-05-18 08:21:40

by Tom Johnson I am a remaster junkie. I hear something has been remastered and I just can’t help myself: I must possess it. I must own it, pore over its lush new packaging, read the densely packed liner notes, and repeatedly play it over and o

Half Notes: Travis Sullivan – New Directions (2011)

Published on 2011-05-18 07:49:46

Since 1999, alto saxophonist Travis Sullivan has made a record on average only about every six years or so. Perhaps it’s because he’s very much into his signature project leading the 18-piece big band Bjorkestra, a vehicle for his arrange

Something Else! Featured Artist: Ornette Coleman

Published on 2011-05-18 07:39:08

Ornette Coleman called his music the Shape of Things to Come, then later harmolodics. Everyone else, eventually, came to call it free jazz. And that fits. It was, after all, so very free. Some of it was hard to understand, maybe still is. These were,

My Chemical Romance – Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge (2004)

Published on 2011-05-18 07:14:09

by Mark Saleski One of the things the really bugged me about the whole “modern rock” and Nu-metal era (is it over yet?) was the sameness. Not just that a lot of the bands sounded the same, but that the songs themselves tended to be extrem

Half Notes: Eric Reed and Cyrus Chestnut – Plenty Swing, Plenty Soul (2010)

Published on 2011-05-18 06:31:55

by Mark Saleski To my ears, the reference standard of piano duo recordings has to be that Chick Corea/Herbie Hancock thing. Monstrous, is what it is. This is a little different though. First, it’s Reed and Chestnut (duh). Second, there’s

David Gibson – End Of The Tunnel (2011)

Published on 2011-05-17 09:04:36

The sweet, liquid and brassy sound of a trombone has been a major cog in the jazz machine since around its inception, bigger at some times more than other. These days, it doesn’t enjoy the stature and popularity it used to, and I often why when

Forgotten series: Black Sabbath – Sabotage (1975)

Published on 2011-05-17 08:26:37

by Fred Phillips Mention Black Sabbath in a metal crowd, and everyone has a favorite. You’ll get plenty of votes for their self-titled 1970 debut, which most people, myself included, consider the very first heavy metal record. Paranoid, also releas

Half Notes: Grant-Lee Phillips — nineteeneighties (2006)

Published on 2011-05-17 07:18:33

by Tom Johnson The great Grant Lee Buffalo may have been long gone, but the heart was always just the voice and guitar of Phillips anyway, wasn’t it? In between takes as Gilmore Girls’ resident town troubador, Phillips found a few free mo

One Track Mind: Bobby and Suzy, “Sink Hole” (2011)

Published on 2011-05-17 06:12:37

At first, there’s a homespun innocence about Bobby and Suzy, this brother-and-sister duo. Recording in their music room at Charleston, S.C., you can almost see them as they once were — children, maybe in Halloween costumes, pretending to

Half Notes: Count Basie – Kansas City 3: For the Second Time (1975)

Published on 2011-05-17 05:42:26

Those looking to get a groove going inside Count Basie‘s sprawling, soul-deep catalogue should start with his 1970s stuff — where, more often than not, you find Basie in accessible, small-group settings. Here’s my favorite, a trio r

One Track Mind: Michael Ray, “Piano Blues” (2011)

Published on 2011-05-17 05:13:53

West Coast-based pianist Michael Ray has been performing with sibling drummer Stephen since they were 10 and 7 years old, respectively. Together, they’ve played more than 2,300 concerts together. That deeply ingrained sense of musical brotherhood,

Levon Helm – Ramble at the Ryman (2011)

Published on 2011-05-16 09:32:00

We’re reminded again on Ramble at the Ryman, a record both timeless and new, that Levon Helm was the loamy voiced, rail-jumping rhythmic center point of the Band, the yearning storyteller and gritty soul. Their records were drawn from continuit

Half Notes: Avi Wisnia, “New Year” (2011)

Published on 2011-05-16 08:48:02

Insistent but quiet, Avi Wisnia begins with a bracing confidentiality, gently pulling you in the pillowy reverie of “New Year.” But, just like that, Wisnia shakes himself awake as Renee Warnick’s swooning voila surrounds him, moving from the br

Half Notes: Count Basie – Kansas City 3: For the Second Time (1975)

Published on 2011-05-16 08:06:26

Those looking to get a groove going inside Count Basie‘s sprawling, soul-deep catalogue should start with his 1970s stuff — where, more often than not, you find Basie in accessible, small-group settings. This is my favorite, trio recordin

The Blind Boys of Alabama – Down in New Orleans (2008)

Published on 2011-05-16 08:06:11

by Derrick Lord The Blind Boys of Alabama have been providing great gospel music for so long, and have such a reputation in Southern Gospel circles, that for many no further review is needed. After all, they began carving their reputation in stone fr

Christopher Cross – Doctor Faith (2011)

Published on 2011-05-16 07:18:42

The new Doctor Faith, Christopher Cross’ first original studio album in 12 years, occasionally finds him taking a darker — hell, I’ll just say it, crankier — view of things. The first clue that there might be a few bumps in the road b

Half Notes: Robert Fripp – Exposure (1979, ressiue)

Published on 2011-05-16 06:21:53