Back in the 1970s and 1980s, Memorex ran a popular ad campaign for their blank cassette tapes, asking “is it live, or is it Memorex?” Memorex tapes may be long gone, but the question has taken on new significance.

The week’s teetering stack of piping hot freshness in music is topped by Brad Mehldau, Esperanza Spalding and Lost in the Trees

On this special edition of Something Else Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to super-producer Nile Rodgers, of Chic fame.

by Mark Saleski I have a confession to make. The other morning, while munching on a bowl of hemp granola and slurping my first cuppa, I watched a Justin Timberlake video … and I really liked the song

On this special edition of Something Else! Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, who is set to release a moving tribute album to John Lennon called All We Are Saying later this month.

by Mark Saleski Bill Frisell has often been referred to as the mad scientist of the guitar. His good friend Gary Larson goes the idea one better, that Frisell has a team of mad scientists living inside of his brain. The notion is a funny one, because the stereotype of the wild-haired & wild-mannered man in the lab is about [...]