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 Tom Johnson X equals 10 and V equals 5. So that’s 10 to the tenth power times 5 … carry the 1 … whatever. It’s higher math, but this was, believe it or not, the group’s 15th album. I’m going out on a limb here — I can’t imagineRead More

by Tom Johnson You just don’t think of too many great guitarists in indie-rock. It’s practically built into the genre to not emphasize your skills. So what a refreshing treat a band like Built To Spill is where they most definitely fall into that meaningless “indie rock” category (since theyRead More

by Tom Johnson This spunky singer, 19 years old at the time, was a lot smarter and had a much more mature ear than her age indicated. You May Also Like: Chairmen of the Board – Greatest Hits (1973): Forgotten Series Just Us, “I Can’t Grow Peaches on a CherryRead More

by Tom Johnson Even before Guided By Voices split on New Year’s Eve 2004, some fans were pining for the old days — back when Robert Pollard and company crudely recorded in a basement on cassettes into a boombox, throwing caution to the wind and making lo-fi masterpieces that confoundedRead More

by Tom Johnson Our oldest daughter is preparing for her first days of first grade. Supplies have been bought, some in ridiculous quantities (seriously, 36 pencils for the first day alone?!) You May Also Like: Bob Wayne – Hits the Hits (2015) Chad Bradford, “Friday Morning Rain” (2015): One TrackRead More

A band reunites, and fans complain that the results don’t really sound like their older material. This time, Living Colour almost sounded too much like it.

Guitarist and vocalist Steven Wilson seems to have split his pop sensibility off from his “other” band, Porcupine Tree, so they could focus more on delving into darker subjects with heavier music. Blackfield, his project with Israeli singer Aviv Geffen, is more of an outlet for his more, um …Read More

by Tom Johnson Another slab of envelope-pushing jazz from Craig Taborn, one that relies heavily on the strong improvisatory skills of the band backing his keyboards and piano. You May Also Like: Craig Taborn’s Junk Magic – ‘Compass Confusion’ (2020) Tim Berne’s Hardcell [Berne, Craig Taborn + Tom Rainey] –Read More

by Tom Johnson This is an album I grew so comfortable with so quickly that it nearly slipped my mind that it came out only in 2004 and is actually not an album I grew up listening to. Granted, Phillips has hardly changed his MO since disbanding Grant Lee BuffaloRead More