Music
Ruthless Juveniles, Hard As the F**k, Pt. II (MoBo Joe)
The tracks on Ruthless Juveniles’ second release show a definite improvement over those on the group’s first, Hard as the F**k. But as a whole the album suffers from predictability […]
Todd Westbrook, By the Quarter Moon’s Light (Westco)
Todd Westbrook’s name is the only one on the cover of By the Quarter Moon’s Light, the Baton Rouge singer’s second CD, but the recording comes across more like a […]
Olympia Brass Band, New Orleans Jazz Preservation (Mardi Gras)
No one should ever mistake the Olympia Brass Band for the ReBirth or Soul Rebels brass bands. Besides obvious differences in age, the two camps stand at opposite ends of […]
Raymond Anthony Myles, A Taste of Heaven (Honey Darling)
Very few studio recordings do justice to the spirit and communal glory of live gospel. A Taste of Heaven resolves this problem from the very first cut. “Elijah’s Rock” begins […]
Chris Thomas, 21st Century Blues…From Da ‘Hood (Private Music)
I always did like rap for its poetry, its edge, its rhythm, its groove. But as a lover of the sound of real live instruments- a horn section versus synthesizer, […]
Chris Isaak, Forever Blue (Sire)
In this album’s first song, “Baby Did a Bad Thing,” the bad thing Chris Isaak’s baby has done to him is so “low down” that he can’t even bring himself […]
Bob Marley and the Wailers, Natural Mystic (Tuff Gong)
When Bob Marley’s death got people started on the task of evaluating the ultimate importance of his music, few thought of him as a “singles artist.” But since 1984’s Legend […]
