by Nick DeRiso Sounds of Saturn, a Fort Wayne, Ind.-based experimental trio, takes the road less travelled on Mars Via Parachute. In fact, often, they’re not on any road at all. Instead, the record employs every trick in the noodle-rock playbook, from psychedelia and stadium-shaking riffs to thrilling science-geek constructionsRead More

by Nick DeRiso Drummers, even the rare ones who find fame, are enablers. They spend the bulk of their time refocusing the spotlight on others. It’s no different on Nommo, the sterling new quartet release by Turkish-born Ferit Odman. He assembled a thoughtful group of notables for sessions held inRead More

Photograph by Caleb Chancey by Nick DeRiso Hannah Miller sings in a raw, emotionally available register that occasionally goes so high it’s almost outside of her control. That lends a heartrending urgency to songs like “All My Love,” released in August as part of a four-song EP called Journey toRead More

by Nick DeRiso Big Apple Blues came by this vintage sound honestly. They put down tracks for Brooklyn Blues in an old hometown studio, Excello Recording, playing live before analog equipment on throwback instruments. Then they picked out a series of cuts by giants of the genre. Included on thisRead More

Editor’s note: Here’s a repost of our review of 1978’s City to City by Gerry Rafferty, who died today in London from liver failure after a lengthy battle with alcoholism. Rafferty scored Top 10 hits first with Stealers Wheel (“Stuck in the Middle”) and then with his own “Baker Street”Read More

by Nick DeRiso Equal parts Summer of Love songcraft and heartland soul, the Shamus Twins’ Garden of Weeds is as apt to jangle as it is to twang. That’s reflective of the Los Angeles-based band’s founders, guitarist Jerry Juden and bassist Tim Morrow, two halves of the same genre-busting whole.Read More

by Something Else Reviews Writing can feel akin to tossing a flat rock across the surface of a shimmering river. You never know how far it will go, or just how wide those concentric circles left behind might eventually spread. Sometimes, the thing just sinks. Like, well, a rock. ButRead More

by Nick DeRiso Let’s get this admission out of the way: Picking the best of 2010’s unsigned treasures is like trying to determine your favorite grain of sand. There are far too many, really, to make any reasonable guess — and the whole time you’re walking around with a bucketRead More

by Nick DeRiso Taking on Nina Simone, a singer of dusky persuasiveness, might be foolhardy enough. Remaking this song, a Top 20 pop hit off Simone’s celebrated 1958 debut Little Girl Blue seemed like the worst idea of all. But Canadian singer Kellylee Evans finds a new light, even ifRead More

by Something Else Reviews Over the last few weeks, this merry band of music lovers has offered its varied take on the Year That Was. Now, we winnow it all down. First to go were the personal obsessions (Mark: Mary Halvorson; Pico: Greg Ward’s Fitted Shards), and other worthy entriesRead More