by S. Victor Aaron A lot of hay has been made of Porcupine Tree’s 2007 release Fear Of A Blank Planet, and yes, I’ve joined in the fray. It’s a solid effort from a band that hadn’t stumbled much to begin with. But PT’s leader Steven Wilson is just tooRead More

Full Circle isn’t not so much about a CD than it is a story of a certain musician’s redemptive long journey back from personal tragedies. And his new band is a musical group led by a man who sought to provide a willing public the soulful, energetic free wheeling styleRead More

Tony Joe White is one of us, pure and simple. Earthy and plain-spoken. Southern and proud. With all the contradictions.

Fewer bands in rock have been more unjustly maligned than Chicago. Now, I’m no fan of the David Foster years, but being responsible for some of the shlockiest pop of that era doesn’t diminish the more innovative and ambitious output of the seventies, especially those first five albums. You MayRead More

Turns out, chaff from Umphrey’s McGee still makes for a tasty loaf of bread.

I owned it before Born To Run … before Darkness On The Edge Of Town. You’ve probably never heard of it. Heck, chances are you’re unfamiliar with the artist as well. You May Also Like: Why Todd Rundgren’s ‘Back to the Bars’ Remains So Powerful Bill Evans – Time Remembered,Read More

Many is the legend with a forgotten sideman who helped make him great. Count among them Johnnie Johnson, the sleeper pick’s sleeper. See, you’ve been listening to him for years, as the barreling bar-room pianist in those old Chuck Berry records. Do yourself a favor, if you love that earlyRead More

*** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** NICK DERISO: I was a huge Steely Dan fan, so I once bought even the individual releases, pining for those lost moments of the 1970s. Meaning: I was ready to love Fagen’s second solo album. Bought it out of the box, hoping for “Aja”Read More

They opened up the building and we streamed through the turnstiles, tickets and hats and signs in hand. We bought Dome Foam, personal pizzas, and peanuts. So much of that was similar to other days in this place, as the New Orleans Saints played their first home game of theRead More

In the brilliant, circular overture of synthesizer and riff that opens ‘Endless Wire,’ we find a triumph for what’s left of the Who.