Fans of fusioneers as diverse as Return to Forever, Scott Henderson & Tribal Tech and Dan Weiss’ Starebaby will definitely find common cause here, but to say the record sounds like any of those folks is inaccurate.
While still best known for his new wave and power pop work with the Plimsouls and the Nerves (despite neither of those bands having existed in years, if not decades), Case is at his best when he’s filtering what’s now called Americana through his own unique brain.
Although their next release promises to have more of a rock edge, the mood of Sirens Go By, especially the title track, perfectly suits the uncertain and contemplative time we are in.
After eight albums with his so-called “Zen funk” band Ronin and three with his more expansive group Mobile, Swiss pianist Nik Bartsch returns to the solo format for the first time since 2002.
With one foot in the gypsy jazz of Stephane Grapelli and another in the spontaneous intensity of Albert Ayler or latter-day John Coltrane, Nagano is as comfortable with straight post bop as with free jazz, and seems to be happiest when she blends the two.
With a light guiding hand for the musicians and his own improvisational skills at their peak, Lloyd varies the mood of each song according to its thematic landscape.
Despite seemingly constant setbacks (bandmember deaths, interpersonal squabbling, singer Mike IX Williams suffering liver failure), the New Orleans band is, if anything, stronger than ever.
Essentially, their music is a party in spite of life falling apart, thus making The Divorcees the perfect post-pandemic soundtrack.
Copyright protection produces more enticing revelations from Bob’s endless back pages.
With an album cover that could have easily been shot in the 90s, Apache Rose proudly sport clear influences of alt-rock acts like the Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots, and Queens of the Stone Age.
The Reducers remind us of their unequalled brilliance on a new live set
The group is at their best replicating the Industrial and atmospheric piano ballads by Martin Gore, but they expanded what were commonly interludes on Depeche’s greatest albums from the 80s and brought them front and center.
Bobby Burg’s first Love of Everything release in a decade offers aural hugs in a year where any kind of embrace is desperately needed.
The Californian-based dynamo outfit Hayley And The Crushers return with a new set of music, a six-song set aptly titled Fun Sized.
“Unsung Procession” and “Through an Open Window” present Thumbscrew at its most prototypical, with guitar melodies that leapfrog over expected changes, non-conformist harmonies and a rhythm section that keeps the ground unsteady under the lead instrument’s feet.
The career of drummer Joe Chambers stretches back to the early sixties, when his rhythm work was a staple of many a Blue Note LP. He logged time with Bobby Hutcherson, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Andrew Hill, Donald Byrd and more, plus gigged with Hugh Masekala, among others.
Stark, confessional tunes plus Omnichord equal unsettling intimacy.
The San Francisco based outfit Strangers In A Strange Land release a cover of the Bee Gees “Ring My Bell” featuring a Bee Gee and Shel Talmy
Palmyra Delran returns with The Doppel Gang, and the music world is a better place.
A testimony to Rock And Roll, courtesy of the split single featuring Genya Ravan and The Shang Hi Los
Matthew Shaw delivers an album of tribute, nostalgia and advances, with the electric poetry of Nachtmusik.
Zamrock, the African nation of Zambia’s indelible contribution to the wide umbrella of rock & roll, had to start somewhere, and this is it.
Wallflower is a fantastic document of a state of mind that countless others have likely experienced in the preceding twelve months, and is definitely recommended for any fans of Lana Del Rey.
By the end of Get Big, the album is a truer descendent of Americana than the majority of slickly-produced odes to beer and women that masquerade under the title today.
A British pop great teams up with American producers to make timeless music.
Named for his children, Uma Elmo gives Bro new vistas to probe, expanding and refreshing his exploratory musical outlook.
Modern jazz supergroup R+R=NOW formed out of what was supposed to be a one-off, freely improvised show at South By Southwest in 2017.
Led by the inimitable vocalist Theresa Jeane and featuring Steven Tobi, *Javier Garza Jr. and Josh Perrone, The Nearly Deads are one of the hottest rock bands to come out of Nashville. Their amalgam of powerful pop vocals and aggressive alternative rock music combined with their love of all things geek mixed in with messages of positivity and empowerment creates a truly unique style. I sat down with TJ and Steven to find out more.
It is still early in the year, but Sea Area Forecast, out February 10th, has all the makings to be one of 2021’s strongest indie rock efforts.
L.A. based singer, musician and actress, London Thor’s latest single is both timely and timeless. It captures so much about current mental health and attitudes in the pandemic afflicted world but it also speaks for those who have always found social situations stressful.
An album like And the Triumph of Justice is, to put it simply, sheer fun, a breath of fresh air, and a reminder of this country’s potential just when it is needed the most.
Aeronautics is a great showcase for some strong jazz talent that’s relatively unknown – for now.
It’s not easy listening if you pay attention to the lyrics, but it rewards that attention with catharsis.
Part of the New York scene starting in the seventies and into the eighties, the axeman vacillated between mainstream soul/pop (including LPs for Island and RCA/Novus, the former produced by Nile Rodgers) and avant-garde jazz (work with Oliver Lake and Wadada Leo Smith, recording the landmark Clarity LP in 1977).
Between the absence of a rhythm section and a disinclination to go for the obvious raising of the roof, the pair relies on interplay and feel, showing a near-telepathic sense of how to move around each other, as well as a profound connection to the pieces they choose to include.
An underrated album from a Big Apple provocateur gets refurbished.
Magic Beans might very well be a perfect title for the album, because it is full of songs that start off unassuming before growing to unimaginable heights; making a record full of delightful surprises.
The Israeli native wields expansive playing and lyrical melodics for a session that fits in well with ECM’s “chamber jazz” aesthetic.
All New Information is a big step forward for the artist, finding Lord Sonny with a leaner, heavier sound, a clear sense of direction, and a newfound edge in his delivery and songwriting.
Although some of the Louvins’ material has aged better, what is still evident is the intensity and conviction in their voices, creating an irresistible energy that persists despite the changing times.
This Land brings together iconoclastic musical minds that intersect in the jazz world: vocalist Theo Bleckmann and brass quartet the Westerlies
Twenty Twenty perfectly captures the zeitgeist of our times; combining fear with tempered hope, grief with apocalyptic camaraderie.
Working with pianist Marilyn Crispell and drummer Carmen Castaldi, the horn man explored new, more atmospheric territory, with an emphasis on making interiority exterior.
At a time when the dominant African pop sounds were Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat, Ebenezer Obey’s miliki and King Sunny Adé’s jùjú, Ngozi’s roiling rock was less jazz and James Brown and more Jimi Hendrix.
Recorded in both New York and Norway, these nine songs deftly mix warm synthesizer textures with a lightly soulful rhythm section to showcase Darrah’s reserved romantic anguish.
James Osterberg through the years, profound and profane.
Together, “Mother” and “Tryin’ To Get To Heaven” complete each other and stand as new reminders of the incredible artist we lost five years ago. But more importantly, the songs renew our gratitude that he was here with us.
“There are eight tracks drenched in dream gaze and a post punk sensibility that will rock your corner of the world for a short time. While it may rain colder on your senses, there is always a warmth to be found at the core of these soundscapes.”
“I’d be hard pressed to give a hard and fast description of this release, as it’s a constantly shifting musical cape, colors swirling about as crystalline notes settle around you. The instrumental passages are exotic swatches of tropicalia meshed with dreamy psych folk.”
Gospel titans rock the house with spirit and soul, and everyone’s invited.
