Music
Rod Stewart, Atlantic Crossing (Rhino/WB)
Rod Stewart’s Atlantic Crossing comes from one of the most fascinating periods in music history for me, a time when England’s extreme tax rates chased many musicians to American shores. […]
Fox Bat Strategy, A Tribute to Dave Jaurequi (Absurda)
As with other works of film director and multi-talented artist David Lynch, this record is beautiful and peculiar. Lynch produced, mixed and co-wrote all of the songs, supplying all of […]
The dB’s, Like This (Rhino)
The first two albums by the dB’s could barely contain all the ideas written into each song. On Stands for decibels and Repercussions, Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey’s pop songs […]
Telefon Tel Aviv, Immolate Yourself (BPitch Control)
Immolate Yourself is a sad final document for Telefon Tel Aviv in a number of ways. The band that could conjure up melancholy soundscapes while reading the morning paper, but […]
Better Than Ezra, Paper Empire (Red Distribution)
By now, Better Than Ezra holds few surprises. They make BTE songs full of longing, ache and surging energy. They’re attentive enough students of modern pop that their recordings don’t […]
Black Moth Super Rainbow, Eating Us (Graveface)
This is so up my alley—Moog synthesizers, trip-hop drums, and melancholy robo-vocals singing surprisingly solid melodies. Psychedelia is rarely this convincing and this attractive. When Tobacco robo-sings “Iron Lemonade / […]
Perfect Balance: Allen Toussaint
Allen Toussaint finally looks comfortable. We’ve finished talking and during the conversation, he expressed concern that he wasn’t a good interview. He was gentlemanly as you’d expect, forthright, and though […]
Preservation Hall Jazz Band, New Orleans Preservation, Vol. 1 (Preservation Hall)
By now, it can’t be a surprise that there’s a lot that is subtly smart about the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Like the best traditional jazz, little of what’s special […]
Caddywhompus, EPs (Independent)
“What’s in a name?” Shakespeare once wrote. In “Caddywhompus” one expects a lot—or at least a band that rocks. They don’t disappoint. The first 45 seconds of this album warn […]
Language Barriers
When we think of Zachary Richard at Jazz Fest, we think of a sort of Cajun Jimmy Buffett, not the quieter, more meditative roots rock of Richard’s first English album […]
