This newly released documentary on the ex-Byrds singer-songwriter Gene Clark is not only very much welcome, but long overdue. You May Also Like: Gene Clark – Firebyrd (1984): On Second Thought
Unlike 1980s miniseries full of glamour and glitz or 1990s relationship-themed cable movies, 1970s TV movies were sleazy, scary, dopey or just plain weird. They were characterized by schlock, horror and the occasional tearjerker or social commentary. You May Also Like: Bob Dylan’s Elvis Movie: ‘Hearts of Fire’ (1986)
Made up of three highly distinctive voices in the world of jazz and avant-garde music, Thumbscrew should probably collapse under the weight of its star power You May Also Like: Thumbscrew [Mary Halvorson, Michael Formanek + Tomas Fujiwara] – ‘The Anthony Braxton Project’ (2020) Thumbscrew – ‘Multicolored Midnight’ (2022) IllegalRead More
My first encounter with the dazzling whack jazz guitar wizardry of Raoul Björkenheim came via one of his many projects, the Norwegian-Finnish alliance power combo Scorch Trio (Luggumt, 2004). You May Also Like: Raoul Björkenheim / eCsTaSy – Doors Of Perception (2017) Björkenheim, Sopko, James, Laswell, Yamaki (Inaugural Sound ClashRead More
John Lurie is a musician, a composer, an accomplished painter, and an actor. For good measure, toss in raconteur and all-around Internet wise guy. You May Also Like: Of All the Tom Waits Albums, ‘Real Gone’ May Be the Tom Waits-iest Tom Waits Challenged Our Preconceived Notions (Again) With ‘GlitterRead More
For non-musicians, the creative process can be something of a mystery. The composer has all of that training about melody, harmony, scales, time signatures, and chord progressions — and out of that the musical ideas are born…somehow. The truth is that while the process can indeed be opaque (sometimes evenRead More
These days, I approach a new Iced Earth record with both high hopes and a little trepidation. You May Also Like: Kait Dunton, with John D’earth – ‘Planet D’earth’ (2019) Wicked Realm, Aug. 26, 2016: Shows I’ll Never Forget
The musical palette employed during “Worlds Apart” — the tablas and the vocals delivered by Asif Ali Khan and Haji Nazir Afridi — was almost shocking. This is a Bruce Springsteen song?! You May Also Like: Reevaluating Bruce Springsteen’s ‘The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle’
Los Lonely Boys have never sounded more cosmopolitan, never more engaged in the wider musical landscape around them, and yet Revelation isn’t all about previously untried sounds. The brothers keep their feet firmly planted on a now familiar soul-soaked blues-rock firmament. You May Also Like: Los Lobos – ‘Native Sons’Read More
Billy Branch, a fire-kissed harp-playing protegé of blues great Willie Dixon, took some 15 years between studio recordings — and not because of some lack of creative impetus. Instead, Branch was waiting for a new sound to come together. You May Also Like: Jaimie Branch – Fly or Die (2017)
