Since we’re on the topic of Austin-based acts, why not shift our focus to one of the most acclaimed and yet most elusive since the death of Stevie Ray Vaughan? I’m talking of course about the Arcangels. It would be impossible to discuss the Arcangels without a discussing their sometimes-volatileRead More

by Matt Reynolds In the mid-to-late 90s, when bands with names like Oasis, Blur, Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam were inescapable on the American airwaves, there was an up-and-coming band out of San Francisco that arguably held more musicianship and all-out rock and roll firepower than all the previous mentionedRead More

by Pico It’s the middle of January, which can only mean we’re about a month late on those year-end lists. Oooops. This past year, I’ve listened to perhaps a little less of the rock, pop and r&b records than in 2008, but the selections for my favorites were easier toRead More

by Pico Before diving deeper into the stacks o’ jazz cd’s, I’d like to turn our attention toward a few records of the rock, pop & blues sides that I managed to sample over the last few months. With one exception, these are all by long-established stalwarts, falling right inRead More

by Pico It’s been a long time since I rock and rolled… -Led Zeppelin What can I say, I’ve let a lot of release dates on the mainstream side go by without any mention. And so, it’s catch-up time. Three major acts, plus an act with a major cause. NoRead More

It’s a classically American record by an American who was an expatriate for half of her young life. Being the daughter of a globe trotting missionary didn’t give Diana Birch a first hand indoctrination to American culture the way most Americans get it, but she was always a quick studyRead More

The rock landscape is littered with immensely talented bands who, for some reason or another, never got off the ground. And I’ll bet virtually no one has heard of about 98% of them. The remaining 2% are those whose talent wasn’t recognized until it was too late, or the bandRead More

Crosby, Stills & Nash hadn’t produced a new studio record in fifteen years (or ten, if you add Neil Young), but there hadn’t been a more active period of release activity of new/previously unheard material by these three than there have in the last few years. David Crosby and GrahamRead More

by Pico Back in the late seventies my oldest brother would come home from college for the weekend and bring with him records by all these fusion and crossover jazz figures that I hadn’t heard of before but sounded good to my younger ears. That’s how I first got toRead More

In June of last year Steve Lukather folded in Toto’s tent, declaring that “If there isn’t Paich or at least one Porcaro how can we even call it Toto?” Thirty years of recording, touring, enduring tragedy (drummer Jeff Porcaro’s death in 1992) and a revolving door of band members wereRead More