Articles by: Nick DeRisoNick DeRiso
Nick DeRiso has also explored jazz, blues, rock and roots music for Gannett News Service and USA Today, All About Jazz, Popdose, Living Blues, No Depression, the Louisiana Folklife Program and Blues Revue, among others. Named newspaper columnist of the year five times by the Associated Press, Louisiana Press Association and Louisiana Sports Writers Association, he oversaw a daily section that was named Top 10 in the nation by the AP in 2006. Contact Something Else! Reviews at reviews@somethingelsereviews.com.

by / on May 24, 2013 at 10:52 am / in Rock Music, Streams

Exclusive stream: The Kinks’ Dave Davies, “Little Green Amp” from I Will Be Me (2013)

Thank Dave Davies, metal kids. Punk kids, too. His idea to take a razor to his Elpico prior to the Kinks’ recording the distortion-soaked “You Really Got Me” birthed a thousand garage bands. “Little Green Amp” takes you right back there.

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by / on May 23, 2013 at 1:31 pm / in Across the Great Divide, Rock Music, Roots Music, Uncategorized

Across the Great Divide: The Band, “Orange Juice Blues” from The Basement Tapes (1967)

People forget that it was Richard Manuel, that lost, beautiful soul, who created some of the Band’s first original compositions — including this one, which serves as the debut track for Across the Great Divide.

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by / on May 23, 2013 at 9:28 am / in Pop Music, Rock Music, Uncategorized

Chicago’s Bill Champlin and Toto’s Joseph Williams – Live in Concert (2013)

Though neither has recently recorded with the groups that made them superstars, Joseph Williams and Bill Champlin remain inextricably linked to Toto and Chicago, respectively, both on tour and in our collective consciousness.

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by / on May 22, 2013 at 11:21 am / in Pop Music, Progressive rock, Rock Music, Something Else! Interviews, Uncategorized

Something Else! Interview: Ray Wilson, formerly of Genesis

Ray Wilson is enjoying the best of both worlds these days, having just released a terrific new solo project even while joining Steve Hackett for a series of concerts focusing on classic-era Genesis.

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by / on May 22, 2013 at 9:28 am / in Rock Music, Uncategorized

One Track Mind: John Fogerty, “Mystic Highway” from Wrote a Song for Everyone (2013)

Sounding more like the Eagles than anything so raw and rootsy as Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Fogerty’s new song “Mystic Highway” offers a country-rocking groove to go with a dreamily optimistic lyric.

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by / on May 21, 2013 at 10:48 am / in Metal, Movies, One Track Mind, Pop Music, Rock Music, Uncategorized

One Track Mind: Queen, “Sheer Heart Attack” from Queen on Fire: Live at the Bowl (2013)

Too often, Queen has become the sum of its over-stated parts — the operatic singer, the layered vocals, the anthematic balladry. What’s lost is the group’s ability to unleash round house after round house of knuckle-sandwich heavy rock.

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by / on May 21, 2013 at 9:14 am / in Rock Music, Roots Music, Uncategorized

Crazy Horse’s Billy Talbot – On The Road To Spearfish (2013)

Even as bassist Billy Talbot prepares for a round of European shows with Neil Young and Crazy Horse, he’s issuing a new studio album with his own band. On the Road to Spearfish is due today from Vapor Records.

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by / on May 20, 2013 at 12:33 pm / in Jazz, Uncategorized

Bob James and David Sanborn – Quartette Humaine (2013)

Apart, and most certainly together, Bob James and David Sanborn have most often been associated with a sound more easy-going and palatable than necessarily challenging. Not here.

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by / on May 20, 2013 at 10:14 am / in Metal, Movies, Rock Music, Uncategorized

Ronnie James Dio – Finding the Sacred Heart: Live in Philly (2013)

With the sad anniversary of Ronnie James Dio’s death some three years ago comes an opportunity to return to a muscular concert offering that finds him near the peak of his solo powers.

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by / on May 19, 2013 at 9:14 am / in One Track Mind, Progressive rock, Rock Music, Uncategorized

One Track Mind: Blackfield, “Pills” from Blackfield IV (2013)

Even as Steven Wilson focuses more determinedly on his solo career, Blackfield — his concurrent, more pop-focused project with Aviv Geffen — continues forward.

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