Jon Young currently contributes to Consequence of Sound and No Depression and has previously been a regular contributor to such publications as Trouser Press, Crawdaddy, Music and Sound Output, Request, Launch, SonicNet, Creem, Harp, Musician, Blender, Spin, Paste and Mother Jones. His preferred listening includes The Byrds, Billy Fury, Wynonie Harris, Billie Holiday, Howlin’ Wolf, The Kinks, Barbara Lynn, METZ, Thelonious Monk, Norma Jean, Charlie Parker, Doug Sahm, Raymond Scott, Del Shannon, Connie Smith, Speedy Ortiz, Dusty Springfield, Toots and the Maytals, Caetano Veloso and Hank Williams, among others. His career highlights include interviewing Del Shannon and meeting Doug and Bob McKenzie.
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien’s lost album, now resurrected.
Hillbillies confront the challenge of rock’n’roll.
Exploring the back pages of a great pop songwriter.
Young minimalists avoid the second-album blues.
Oh, the delights that await!
Jimi at play in his own sandbox.
The King at home, in glory days and after.
The peerless performer mixes jazz and pop with consummate grace in a small club.
“I’m wound so tight my head could pop,” sings Alex Edkins.
The elegant Stereolab singer continues her restless quest.
Dylan in Tokyo, reimagining the canon.
The Fab Four, reconfigured once again.
Jimi, knocking on the door of superstardom.
Jilian Medford plunges headlong into desperate longing and crushing heartache.
The King in all his glory, before the fall.
Mesmerizing Irish folk music, dressed up for today.
How Bob spent the pandemic.
The leader of La Luz pivots from groovy psychedelia to unplugged strangeness.
A tenor sax ace and Hammond B-3 queen team up to make feelgood soul jazz.
Bob’s 1997 return to form, remixed and supersized.
The King struts his stuff on big stages and goes small behind the scenes.
Jimi on the cusp of change, testing the boundaries of stardom.
A Fab Four masterwork, refurbished and expanded.
An underrated Nashville genius takes the spotlight in a dozen reissues.
Scruffy synths and existential despair add up to a mesmerizing debut.
An electrifying performer tackles rock’n’soul classics from Iggy Pop to Irma Thomas.
The fiery METZ frontman edges out of his comfort zone.
The lesser-known back pages of a Phil Spector star.
Ron and Russell Mael’s overlooked 21st-century gems.
Peerless dream pop from a Filipino-Argentinian magician.
Sly folk-pop trickster from New Zealand plays intriguing head games.
Glimmers of baroque pop brilliance, decades after “Walk Away Renee.”
A country legend rolls with changing times and reaffirms her greatness.
The King circa ‘71, still in fine voice, at a creative crossroads.
A big voice infuses old soul sounds with modern urgency.
A pastel psychedelic haze, seasoned with notes of modern angst.
The long and winding road of the Fab Four’s most troubled album.
Soulful stars and wannabes, from Lloyd Price and The Clovers to Baby Dee and TNT Tribble.
Dylan chases inspiration every which way, never pausing to rest.
Elegant instrumental gems from the impeccably funky Memphis quartet.
Country cousins take a snort of disco and funk. Get out on the floor!
A Los Angeles institution crafts affectionate covers of hometown faves.
Worlds and generations collide, with breathtaking results.
A 2000 psychedelic gem from Argentina resurfaces in the material world.
Jay Som + Palehound = a gentle, idiosyncratic gem.
The Swamp Fox receives a thoughtful assist from Dan Auerbach.
Merrill Garbus mixes itchy music and restless social commentary to spark a revolution of the mind.
Copyright protection produces more enticing revelations from Bob’s endless back pages.
Stark, confessional tunes plus Omnichord equal unsettling intimacy.
A British pop great teams up with American producers to make timeless music.
An underrated album from a Big Apple provocateur gets refurbished.
James Osterberg through the years, profound and profane.
Gospel titans rock the house with spirit and soul, and everyone’s invited.
Jimi’s errant tangents yield fruit more than a half-century later.
Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and friends make beautiful, exotic noise.
The King meets the Nashville Cats in Music City. Fine country-pop ensues.
Richard Penniman goes to church, ‘80s style.
A freaky Argentine spellcaster conducts a dizzying head trip.
Two rascals conspire to create funny, touching character studies.
A roaring Toronto trio turns raw noise into severe, thrilling beauty.
The best in Memphis synth-punk, direct from a crumbling future.
An introspective bedroom-pop star grows up gracefully.
An innovative maverick fires up his exhilarating 1940s big band.
The Speedy Ortiz leader uncorks a bracing solo effort.
An Americana heroine serves up prime leftovers.
The piano genius in fine form, direct from a high-school auditorium.
An unsparing singer-songwriter gets back to basics, brilliantly.
The Man in Black, looking back and still memorable.
Two old masters take a leisurely stroll through an imaginary past.
The first family of gospel rolls with the times on four secular ‘70s albums.
A transfixing Irish singer crafts modern folk tales of vulnerability and strength.
A well-traveled Texas troubadour offers reassurance in tough times.
Christina Schneider takes a journey to the center of the mind.
A brash Chicago quartet turns modern anxiety into snappy entertainment.
Katie Crutchfield delivers emotional shock therapy with devastating efficiency.
Angelic singing plus timeless songs spells heavenly grace.
Patterson Hood and company wrestle with despair over the state of the world today.
The Hillbilly Shakespeare as heard on the radio in 1951.
Missing-in-action pop royalty resurfaces with a sophomore masterpiece.
Just Another Band from East L.A. unwraps a new holiday classic.
The Godfather of Soul sets the stage on fire. Funky nirvana ensues.
Sublime soul instrumentals, from “Green Onions” to “Hip Hug-Her.”
Ray Davies’ greatest concept album gets supersized.
California’s honky-tonk hotbed gets a fascinating, sprawling survey.
The Fab Four’s final studio work gets a fancy makeover.
AC/DC covers: The next big country trend?
Mxmtoon mixes crippling self-doubt and lilting melodies to endearing effect on her debut.
Melina Duterte frets over friends and lovers on a bedroom-pop masterpiece.
Olivia Rose taps into dark places of the soul with well-tuned empathy.