by Mark Saleski There have been pieces of music in my past that have stirred such emotional resonance that I wondered if maybe the music was written for me. You May Also Like: Kansas, “With This Heart” from The Prelude Implicit (2016): One Track Mind James Booth and the ReturnRead More

Long, long before Nels Cline had attained his current status as one of the most original, fearless and bad-assed electric guitarists around, he was an obscure twenty-something acoustic guitarist playing in a small, acoustic combo You May Also Like: The Smudges [Jeff Gauthier + Maggie Parkins], “The Gigue Is Up”Read More

You could forgive Nils Lofgren, best known these days as a 27-year member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, for issuing a contemplative record after such a difficult period. And there’s some of that here. You May Also Like: No related posts.

by Mark Saleski Being the musical egghead that I am, I tend to be very fond of Frank Zappa’s thoughts on composition. In particular, the idea that anything can be music. Yes, anything You May Also Like: Derek Wieland of Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Albums That Shaped My Career Far OutRead More

The Black Keys return with a grimy, fast-moving rock number that gasses up the deep-blues atmosphere of their breakout release Brothers. You May Also Like: The Black Keys Hit Upon the Right Rootsy Mix With ‘Brothers’ Why the Black Keys’ ‘El Camino’ Was More Continuation Than Breakthrough

When taking in Julian Lage’s uniquely poetic Gladwell earlier this year, I sensed something uncommonly creative about Lage’s saxophone player, Dan Blake, and his ability to blend in flawlessly with a cello and play music that reconciled jazz and folk and classical music. He even contributed music that fit perfectlyRead More

It’s this time of year that I miss my Dad the most. He passed away in 2008, and though I think about him often, in the fall those thoughts are ever-present. You May Also Like: No related posts.

What’s intriguing about Move by Canada’s Sultans of String isn’t so much the dancing violins that skitter here and there, or even the fizzy guitars that seem to weave in and around this globe-trotting tapestry. You May Also Like: Ivo Perelman + Arcado String Trio – ‘Deep Resonance’ (2020) DamfinoRead More

I’ve been spending a lot of time over recent weekends doing something I haven’t done in a long time: listening to the radio. You May Also Like: Rick Wakeman and the English Rock Ensemble – ‘The Red Planet’ (2020) Yes, That’s Stephen Stills on One of the Bee Gees’ BiggestRead More

All hail the long-awaited return of the ass-kicking rebel chick Shirley Manson and her scraggly band of alterno-rockers in Garbage. You May Also Like: Why R.E.M.’s ‘Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage’ Remains Definitive