What do the following artists have in common: Rickie Lee Jones, Natalie Merchant, Lori Mckenna, The Sundays, Bjork, Kate Bush, Ani DiFranco and Dar Williams? Each one, on first listen, made the rest of my world momentarily drop away. This is no joke. Of course, the first would have beenRead More

After Frances the Mute, I honestly wasn’t sure if I particularly cared where the Mars Volta was going next. I found the album completely misguided — or maybe unguided is a more fitting word — and a sonic mess, as if the band simply threw together every chord progression andRead More

Brian Eno’s first vocal, “pop”-based album since 1990’s overlooked classic (in my opinion) Wrong Way Up with John Cale and also to Nerve Net, Another Day On Earth found Eno in much more ambient territory than one might expect from the description. Comparisons to 1992’s Nerve Net are likely moreRead More

If I was to make up a list of my favorite guitar players (and, thus, exposing myself to the Internet scourge known as GuitarFan™: You know the type. They blurt out things like “Where’s Slash?!!” and “Dimebag!” — think of it as a kind of Rock ‘n’ Roll Tourette’s) thenRead More