Amanda Palmer? Yummy. Though, part of me wanted to run screaming in the other direction when I found out this solo record was a collaboration with Ben Folds. There is only one Folds song that I can remember (“Army”) that doesn’t make me want to shove an ice pick intoRead More

Jens Wendelboe is putting together some terrific stuff with his big band and Fresh Heat is the latest in what should be a regular occurrence on the jazz release calendar. You May Also Like: The Maharajas – You Can’t Beat Youth (2017) William Shatner and Canned Heat, “Let’s Work Together”Read More

At times, jazz vocalist Maria Neckam’s music sounds like Joni Mitchell during her mid-70s jazz excursion but with a Annette Peacock stream-of-conscienceness flow and Bjork-like modern sensibility, delivered with pipes as pure as Suzanne Vega. You May Also Like: Jacob Garchik – ‘Assembly’ (2022) Roberto Maria Zorzi, Michael Manring, ScottRead More

Under different circumstances, there is no doubt Homer would have been major players in the hard-rock league. The San Antonio, Texas band’s lead guitarist, Galen Niles, informs us in the liner notes to this comprehensive collection of works that limited distribution of their discs was the prime reason they wereRead More

Remasters for the seminal post-punk godfathers of what would become “industrial.” (Not really industrial, but it inspired bands like Ministry and Nine Inch Nails, who somehow got wrongly lumped in with bands like Einsturzende Neubauten and Skinny Puppy, who really are industrial.) Unique here is the first-time-ever-on-CD Ha! Killing JokeRead More

Amazon.com Widgets While many a pianist/vocalist duo has surely been influenced by the twin mid-1970s collaborations of Bill Evans and Tony Bennett, it’s another thing entirely to take those albums head on. You May Also Like: Rod Harris Jr., “I Can’t Tell You Why” from Exits and Options EP (2018):Read More

There could be no better way to open Bob Wayne’s upcoming album than with the title track, “Till the Wheels Fall Off.” If you don’t know anything about Wayne going into this song, you’ll know everything you need to know about him once it’s over. You May Also Like: NoRead More

The Meldavians represent the coming together of three major talents all out of North Carolina: vocalist and acoustic guitarist Melissa Reaves, guitarist Scott Sawyer and keyboardist Dave Fox. You May Also Like: Farewell Milwaukee – FM (2016) Spencer Davis Group – Taking Out Time: Complete Recordings 1967-1969 (2016)

Simply Red, from its late-1960s sense of pop-soul style to its keening, R&B-soaked countertenor, sounded old from the start. It was little surprise, then, that they eventually had a No. 1 hit with a remake of “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” — and even did an album withRead More

I’ve said many times that I was something of a liar back in the days of disco. While I wasn’t a huge fan of most of the music, there were a few artists (and sometimes particular songs) who I really liked You May Also Like: Why the Weird Specificity ofRead More