by Mark Saleski I already owned 1991’s Great Big Boy, and it’s a fine one. The album was allowed to go out of print for the usual reasons (which I won’t waste our time on), only to reappear in a likeably presented two-fer in 2007 with Peculiaroso from 1994, whichRead More

by Tom Johnson “Mailman” is singer David Yow’s tale of a woman being stalked by some creepy bastard who likes to send her little love notes through the mail. You May Also Like: Indigo Girls, “The Rise of the Black Messiah” from One Lost Day (2015): One Track Mind GlennRead More

by Tom Johnson Just because King Crimson is one of my all-time favorites doesn’t mean that I have to trot out the old standard In the Court of the Crimson King. I don’t particularly care for it, regardless of its standing as a prog-classic. The one that I return to,Read More

Chris Connelly, coming off key contributions to a pair of recordings by Al Jourgensen’s Ministry, neatly sidestepped the dreaded “industrial” tag here with simple musicianship (not to mention a dead-on Bowie vocal turn). Still can’t be sure how he made time for Phenobarb Bambalam, considering he was also touring andRead More

Los Lobos guitarist/accordian player and all around musical polyglot David Hidalgo got together with vocalist Mike Halby (Canned Heat, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers) to create this fantastic chunk ‘o blues. You May Also Like: Los Lobos, “Gates of Gold” from Gates of Gold (2015): One Track Mind Los Lobos – ‘NativeRead More

by Derrick Lord I’ll never forget my first night at a “real bar” when I turned legal. There used to be this place called Daddy Rawshucks Oyster Bar, which was the typical cool joint so common then and so rare now. No corporate logo needed. I was legal anyway butRead More

Confession time: I still have a place in my heart for Miles Davis‘ oft-reviled last album Doo-Bop. Sure, taken as a hip hop album, it didn’t set any new standards. But taken as a jazz album looking to the future, it held lasting importance as the precursor to hybrid albumsRead More

Author Jonathan Franzen (The Corrections, Freedom) was feeling sort of burned out and overexposed after spending several months book touring, with his personal history a constant subject. His solution was to travel to a remote island You May Also Like: Why You Should Give Pat Metheny’s ‘Rejoicing’ Another Listen ‘ElegantRead 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

“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