Let’s hand the reins over to Henry McCullough, singer-songwriter and ex-sideman with Paul McCartney and Wings, Joe Cocker and Spooky Tooth, among others.

by Tom Johnson Some music feels overwhelming. When Battles hit their stride with Mirrored, the first feeling was that, as tight as they were, they felt like the wheels were just moments from being flung off. Or they were strapping you into a tilt-a-whirl that would quickly go out ofRead More

by Tom Johnson Leaving aside the goofy name, Pugwash was that weird bastard child we music writers like to talk about — you know, the “this meets that”: They sounded like latter day XTC meets Jellyfish. In one album, in addition to Pugwash’s own Thomas Walsh, we find friends fromRead More

Relationships heading toward their end can often impart a kind of repelling force between the couple involved. In “For You,” a relationship has run off the rails and there’s no small amount of soul searching. You May Also Like: Reevaluating Bruce Springsteen’s ‘The Wild, the Innocent and the E StreetRead More

Some fun facts about this track: 1. “East St. Louis Toodle-oo” is the only Steely Dan track in which Becker and Fagen are not in the songwriting credits. This one was written about fifty years earlier by Duke Ellington and his trumpet player, Bubber Miley. You May Also Like: FiveRead More

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke must have had a bunch of material laying around after ‘Kid A,’ because that was exactly what this follow-up album felt like.

by Mark Saleski As the era of Classic Rock shrinks into the musical and cultural rear view mirror, it’s been enlightening to see how the stars have dealt with aging. You May Also Like: Why ‘Draw the Line’ Signaled the End of Aerosmith’s Blazing First Era Why I’m Still DisappointedRead More

Canned Heat, the doomed boogie-blues revivalists, only made a lone appearance at the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival. Yet they still managed some star-crossed magic. You May Also Like: William Shatner and Canned Heat, “Let’s Work Together” (2020): One Track Mind

Tommy Keene is still making what sounds like lost power pop gems from decades back, except they are brand new. You May Also Like: Tommy James and the Shondells – Cellophane Symphony (1969): Forgotten Series The Doughboys – ‘Running For Covers’ (2019) The Click Beetles – ‘Pop Fossil’ (2020)

Random Touch, perfectly named, is an accidental neo-prog music collective. Even better, they’ve issued a double album called Tributary, a 23-track, two-hour project, that — again, perfectly named — couldn’t be further from the mainstream. Comprised of found sounds and improvisational asides on whatever instrument is at hand, Random TouchRead More