Like The Endangered around this time last year, I came across a EP from a band just getting off the ground that stands out from the current crop of emerging acts You May Also Like: The Nth Power – Abundance (2015) Mike Dillon & Punkadelick – ‘Inflorescence’ (2023) Joe Mandica,Read More

With a smart assist from Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples transforms Funkadelic’s “Can You Get To That” from a sing-along slab of greasy-good uplift into this Americana-inflected groover. You May Also Like: Mavis Staples, “Your Good Fortune” (2015): One Track Mind Mavis Staples Wrote a New Ending For Her FatherRead More

Last month we got a taste of UK acid jazzers The Brand New Heavies’ first release since 2006’s Get Used To It, and the advance single “Sunlight” signaled a pretty decent return. You May Also Like: Brand New Heavies’ self-titled debut defined a now-lost acid-jazz cool Biscay – Burnt MementosRead More

The best peace, love and harmony anthem of 1985 didn’t come from the composing pen of Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, wasn’t produced by Quincy Jones and not sung by hordes of rock music’s biggest stars. You May Also Like: How the Isley Brothers Made Seals and Crofts’ ‘Summer Breeze’Read More

The last recordings of an early rock legend had none of the crunchy grit of “Dizzy Miss Lizzy.” Instead, Larry Williams reimagined his sound.

It would be easy enough to tag this as Southern rock, or as blues, or even — at times — as gospel, were Randall Bramblett’s The Bright Spots not so consistently all of those things, and something more. You May Also Like: Sea Level, “That’s Your Secret” (1977): One TrackRead More

This is a first-time CD reissue in any form of Sam The Sham’s fine 1971 solo album, originally released on Atlantic Records and produced by the legendary Tom Dowd at Criteria Studios in Miami You May Also Like: Boz Scaggs + Duane Allman, “Loan Me a Dime” (1969): One TrackRead More

Michael McDonald’s “Judgement Day” has a ballsy gumption that his smoothed-out pop hits and plasticine Motown remakes scarcely aspire to.

Seven years after their last release, acid-jazz pioneers The Brand New Heavies signal a return to original form with “Sunlight.” You May Also Like: Brand New Heavies’ self-titled debut defined a now-lost acid-jazz cool The Cretins, “Haven’t Got a Clue” (2019): One Track Mind David Philips, “Home” from Winter (2017):Read More

Long a shadowy figure, Shuggie Otis had become known more for his absence than for psychedelic soul successes like 1974’s Inspiration Information and writing songs like Brothers Johnson’s No. 5 1977 hit “Strawberry Letter 23” You May Also Like: Otis Redding’s “Dock of the Bay” emerged out of crushing grief:Read More