A long-awaited advance single hails the return of that odd conundrum called Death Cab for Cutie, whose spit-take name can’t begin to hint at the deep musical complexities tucked away inside. You May Also Like: Death Cab for Cutie, “Summer Skin” from ‘Plans’ (2005): One Track Mind

by Mark Saleski There are two things that can be counted on when cracking open a new Carla Bley Big Band record: 1. many, many interesting and twisty passages of musical architecture and 2. volume. Oh yes, the horn section is enormous You May Also Like: Riverside [Dave Douglas, ChetRead More

by Tom Johnson David Torn’s Tripping Over God is an album that has defied description since the day I bought it in 1995. With only a vague knowledge of the man as a member of David Sylvian’s band for the Secrets Of The Beehive album You May Also Like: DavidRead More

Steely Dan’s “Midnite Cruiser” remains the song Jim Hodder is most remembered by. And it’s a fine way to be remembered.

This is a different kind of blues record, one with a joltingly modern menace. The Third International’s Beautiful Accident brilliantly updates a time-weathered genre by focusing on texture as much as lyrical content. You May Also Like: Michael McDonald – Wide Open (2017) Michael McDonald, “Find It In Your Heart”Read More

In the twisted, sound-bending world of Garage Á Trois, it’s well beyond finding that rare groove, it’s about finding sounds that are even more fundamentally rare. You May Also Like: Garage A Trois – ‘Calm Down Cologne’ (2021) Nolatet – No Revenge Necessary (2018)

In a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career dating back to the early 1950s, the Isley Brothers stayed on the move — transforming themselves from gospel shouters to doo-woppers to early rock ‘n’ rollers to nasty funksters to lover-man balladeers. You May Also Like: How the Isley Brothers MadeRead More

“Mississippi Mile,” a country-inflected blues, finds John Oates right up close, even as his band sets about making this rafter-rattling ruckus.

Tomorrow is Record Store Day, that annual event reserved for the celebration of that seemingly dying breed of retail outlet. I’ve written plenty about the future of digital music (mostly my lack of interest in it), but Record Store Day transcends You May Also Like: ‘All Things Must Pass: TheRead More

“The Soul Cages,” a Sting album about boyhood grief, remains this strangely powerful if demanding narrative, one with textured song structures and densely emotional themes. Its triumph comes right away, though, on the opener “Island of Souls” — a compellingly dark, perfectly conceived tale of a riveter’s son whose dreamRead More