by S. Victor Aaron Moore never goes too long between studio releases; just last year we were here chatting up his then-new Close As You Get and now the Irish heavy blues-rocker is already back with another mixture of originals and classics, called Bad For You Baby. When Moore isRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Nutini, from North Of England Way, got notice from performing his songs in London showcase clubs and ended up signed by Atlantic Records when he was barely 18. Soon afterwards in ’06, he recorded this gem of a debut album. These Streets doesn’t seek to stealRead More

This marked the North Mississippi Allstars’ first offering in three years and the first since mentor R.L. Burnside passed away in 2005. The NMA’s station in life has been to provide a heavily-amped version of Junior Kimbrough, and you have to wonder if success will cause them to stray fromRead More

by S. Victor Aaron The thing that amazes me when exploring Brazilian music is that while there are usually a lot characteristics you can find in most music out of that country, overall the music is much more diverse than the Brazilians get credit for here in America. That reallyRead More

S. Victor Aaron Evidently, the word “constellation” in your CD title means you’re gonna stretch people’s ears. But while Roseman does it with trippy reggae-jazz, Eisenbeil gets it done with good old fashioned free (read: whack) jazz. Eisenbell is clearly influenced by that godfather of free form guitar, Derek Bailey,Read More

by S. Victor Aaron I remember trombone player Josh Roseman from his notable appearance on my favorite Charlie Hunter album. He had a certain sass in his sound that stood out and made me think he wasn’t content with being a run-of-the-mill bone player. But that thought never got muchRead More

by S. Victor Aaron A lot of hay has been made of Porcupine Tree’s 2007 release Fear Of A Blank Planet, and yes, I’ve joined in the fray. It’s a solid effort from a band that hadn’t stumbled much to begin with. But PT’s leader Steven Wilson is just tooRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Singer/songwriter Machan’s resume reads like Sheryl Crow’s before 1994: an in-demand backup singer for heavies like Sting, Pink Floyd, George Benson, Gov’t Mule, Pat Benatar and Hiroshima. And now, like Crow did back in ’93, she seems to be making an earnest attempt at a soloRead More

A very brave record, in that all ‘Til Tuesday had to do was stick with the sleek pop of the day and cash the checks.

by Nick DeRiso Ray Brown is one of those underrated guys who kept on producing important work well past his so-called prime, because he remained such an in-the-pocket guy. You can’t go wrong with the old Jazz at the Philharmonic stuff, of course. But I also typically recommend his late-periodRead More