Articles by: S. Victor Aaron

Vinyl

Something Else! sneak peek: Robert Randolph and the Family Band, “Born Again” (2013)

Robert Randolph and his Family Band are poised to follow up on that T-Bone Burnett-produced affair We Walk This Road (2010) with Lickety Split, a group of a dozen new recordings including nine new originals. You May Also Like: Robert Randolph & the Family Band – Got Soul (2017) MarcusRead More

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Tommy Malone – Natural Born Days (2013)

Tommy Malone was not lacking for work as a musician, not with his frontman role in one of the best and beloved roots bands going, the Subdudes. This underrated talent had basically handed his career over to this New Orleans favorite on and off from 1987 until the band wentRead More

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Bill Frisell – Big Sur (2013)

The progenitor of Americana jazz makes music that’s most directly inspired by a scenic crown jewel of Americana itself. You May Also Like: Bill Frisell – Music IS (2018) Bill Frisell’s Timeless ‘Live’ Opened Up a New Musical World for Me Andrew Cyrille, with Wadada Leo Smith and Bill FrisellRead More

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Aerophonic Records Two-fer: The Rempis Percussion Quartet – Phalanx; and Wheelhouse – Boss of the Plains (2013)

Earlier this year Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis launched his own record label Aerophonic to serve as the main home for his various projects and the first two of these recordings are hittin’ the streets You May Also Like: Kuzu (Dave Rempis, Tahi Dorji, Tyler Damon) – ‘Hiljaisuus’ (2019) Kuzu –Read More

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Book of Three (Taylor Ho Bynum, John Hébert, Gerald Cleaver) – Continuum [2012] (2013)

Given the stature within improvised music circles of Taylor Ho Bynum (trumpet), John Hébert (bass) and Gerald Cleaver (drums), any new release by these guys should be greeted with great interest You May Also Like: Illegal Crowns [Tomas Fujiwara, Mary Halvorson, Taylor Ho Bynum + Benoît Delbecq] – ‘Unclosing’ (2023)Read More

WTF?! Wednesdays: Negativland, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For [Radio Mix]" (1991)

WTF?! Wednesdays: Negativland, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For [Radio Mix]” (1991)

Like WTF Wednesday alumnus John Oswald, the outlier troupe Negativland gained much notoriety with sampling that flouted the boundaries between fair use and outright unauthorized copying of another artist’s material. You May Also Like: Casey Golden – ‘ATLAS’ (2018)

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Global Noize – SLY Reimagined (2013)

A couple of years ago, the brilliantly creative Steven Bernstein and his Millennial Territory Orchestra made a Sly Stone tribute MTO Plays Sly, and after his band got done reconstructing Stone’s music, I wondered if there was a need to devote an album revisiting that body of work anymore. YouRead More

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Mike Zito and the Wheel – Gone To Texas (2013)

Mike Zito’s life has taken him from St. Louis to Key West to southeast Texas. A deeply personal and sincere bluesman, Gone To Texas is Zito speaking — or singing, really both figuratively and literally about his long road to not only redemption, but also outright triumph. You May AlsoRead More

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The Nth Power, “Spirits” from the Basic Minimum Skills Test EP (2013): One Track Mind

Like The Endangered around this time last year, I came across a EP from a band just getting off the ground that stands out from the current crop of emerging acts You May Also Like: Mike Dillon & Punkadelick – ‘Inflorescence’ (2023)

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One Track Mind: Bernie Mora and Tangent, “Dandelion” from Dandelion (2013)

One of my favorite Rush songs is “The Trees.” I love that brief acoustic, Renaissance mannered intro with a full-bodied metal guitar suddenly bursting in You May Also Like: Bernie Chiaravalle, Guitarist With Michael McDonald: Something Else! Interview