by Tom Johnson It’s hard not to wonder how bassist Gerard Smith’s fight with cancer during the recording of Nine Types of Light affected the group. After all, the end result is a decidedly different affair than past TV On The Radio efforts, sounding all the more mature and, admittedly,Read More
by Tom Johnson My dad introduced me to Robert Cray long ago and, even into a new century, little had changed with Cray: He was still putting out dependable, if unspectacular, albums of his smooth brand of blues — a sound that fills in that overlooked category of music thatRead More
by Tom Johnson Bassist Tony Levin has made an incredible career for himself backing some of the finest musicians in the world, but his most notable contributions have been with Peter Gabriel and the ’80s and ’90s incarnations of King Crimson. He left, then returned around this time when TreyRead More
by Tom Johnson Aimee Mann, the former ‘Til Tuesday frontwoman, turned in yet another amazing performance, this time in the form of a concept album centered on boxing as a metaphor for relationships. Or something like that. It doesn’t really matter; what matters was that Mann’s songcraft is once againRead More
Dave Grohl has, for the most part, put aside his throat-bleeding yell. Thank the gods. Oh, it’s still there, to be sure: “Bridge Burning” comes tearing out of the speakers at full bore, Grohl hollering away, but that gives way to singing pretty quick, and then he sticks with itRead More
by Tom Johnson Bill Frisell has become one of the most easily recognizable guitarists in jazz, and it’s not without an effort to incorporate himself into as many styles as one person could in a lifetime. Few guitarists in any genre could pull off the feat of having played inRead More
by Tom Johnson King Crimson has been a chameleon throughout its four decades of existence, not just shifting to reflect the times but also acting as a sort of quality-assurance agent You May Also Like: King Crimson moved far afield on Discipline, but didn’t forget its roots
by Tom Johnson First impressions . . . you know what they say about that. They’re always right. Unless they’re not. You May Also Like: Nick Cave, “Avalanche” from Black Sails on Starz (2015): One Track Mind Tony Malaby’s Sabino – ‘The Cave of Winds’ (2022)
by Tom Johnson David Torn’s Tripping Over God is an album that has defied description since the day I bought it in 1995. With only a vague knowledge of the man as a member of David Sylvian’s band for the Secrets Of The Beehive album You May Also Like: DavidRead More
by Tom Johnson Alien was once the only Alien film I had not seen in the theater. Yes, I actually paid (and dragged my wife along) to see the unfortunate Alien Resurrection. What a stupid concept: Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) having flung herself into flaming, molten metal at the end ofRead More
