Vashti Bunyan – Heartleap (Dicristina Stair Builders)
The release of a new original album by Vashti Bunyan is as rare as it is exciting, especially considering that her last was released nearly a decade ago and that … Read more
Album Reviews
Ani DiFranco – Allergic To Water (Righteous Babe)
Maybe it’s me who can’t shake the seismic impact of Ani DiFranco opening for Dylan in the swamps of Jersey, blasting through the night during the ’97 Living In Clip … Read more
Lucinda Williams – Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone (Highway 20/Thirty…
Doing away with the perfectionist label with which she was tagged in the ’90s, Lucinda Williams’ new double-disc set unfolds organically. Nonetheless, these are polished songs featuring a confident Williams … Read more
Trigger Hippy – Trigger Hippy (Rounder Records)
Having fronted The Dead for a time, Joan Osborne is no stranger to supergroups. In Trigger Hippy, the soulful singer has joined forces with founder/drummer Steve Gorman, producer/guitarist Tom Bukovac, … Read more
Marcia Ball – The Tattooed Lady And The Alligator Man (Alligator Records)
We have too long been deprived of this lanky wonderful artist’s funky driving Louisiana rhythms, her soulful voice and the great songs she writes and sings. This is her first … Read more
Bruce Hornsby – Solo Concerts (Vanguard Records)
If one were to give a reward for the most versatile performer possessing popular appeal, Bruce Hornsby would surely be considered one of the more worthy recipients. A successful solo … Read more
Cymbals Eat Guitars- LOSE (Barsuk Records)
There’s a fantastic line (on a record full of fantastic lines) on the song “XR,” a stomping folk-punk song that sounds like nothing Cymbals Eat Guitars have done before, that … Read more
Joe Bonamassa – Different Shades of Blue (J&R Adventures)
Joe Bonamassa never lets grass grow beneath his feet, musically or otherwise. The blues virtuoso recorded his new album, Different Shades of Blue (out today), in Nashville in between tour … Read more
The Growlers – Chinese Fountain (Everloving Records)
Eight years and five records in, The Growlers may have their greatest achievement yet. The down and dirty stoner beach rock sound that The Growlers are known for has been … Read more
Bryan Adams – Tracks of My Years (Verve)
The youthful, long-haired Bryan Adams that appears on the cover of his latest album seems a total about-face from the spiky-haired, leather-clad incarnation that first lit up American airwaves more … Read more
