Music
- album_review-
Jennifer Warnes: Another Time, Another Place
|Warnes’ first album in 17 years reminds us how much this singular talent has been missed. A benediction about finding resilience in the face of personal misfortune and political uncertainty, it touches on themes of ...read more -
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Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble: Texas Flood
|From the moment your stylus saddles into the opening grooves of the Chuck Berry-tinged “Love Struck Baby,” to the final strains of the Hendrix-dipped slow blues “Lenny,” prepare to be electrified by MoFi’s latest release ...read more -
The National: I Am Easy to Find
|Verging on a concept album, The National’s eighth studio release reflects a ripening extension of their estimable talents and evolving style, bringing into the foreground the band’s collaborations with women—particularly the many musicians and featured ...read more -
The Flaming Lips: King’s Mouth: Music and Songs
|Like Bizarro World Frank Sinatras on acid, the Flaming Lips have always done it their way. This longstanding alt-rocking Oklahoma collective consistently paint their music outside the lines of sonically acceptable society, and they’re at ...read more -
Frank Zappa: Zappa in New York: 40th Anniversary Deluxe
|Housed in a circular tin shaped like a NYC manhole cover, the expanded edition of Zappa in New York commemorates the 40th (technically 41st) anniversary of the original live double album released in March 1978 ...read more -
Over the Rhine: Love & Revelation
|For their 13th LP, the Ohio-based husband-and-wife team of bassist Linford Detweiler and vocalist Karin Bergquist offer 11 meditations on love and loss. The sparse arrangements—marked by Bergquist’s aching vocals, chiming acoustic guitar, and Greg ...read more -
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Ranagri: Playing for Luck
|This is soulful music played by gifted artists who bring vision and virtuoso chops to their work. The contemporary-folk group Ranagri enchants while living up to the promise of the SACD stereo format, putting the ...read more -
Marvin Gaye: What’s Going On
|Kudos to Mobile Fidelity for this extraordinary release of Marvin Gaye’s 1971 masterpiece, What’s Going On. A major artistic step, this brilliant psychedelic-soul song-cycle’s themes of social and economic injustice, the horrors of war, displaced ...read more -
Jeff Tweedy: WARM
|It’s hard not to feel a little conflicted about aging in tandem with a musical hero. But Wilco founder Jeff Tweedy, now nearly a rock elder statesperson, aims to soothe his longtime listeners into bittersweet ...read more -
Eric Bibb: Global Griot
|Exploring the themes of unity, inclusiveness, and social justice from a spiritual perspective, Eric Bibb delivers a double-disc masterpiece in Global Griot, an album ideally suited to the temper of progressive times, or “challenging times,” ...read more -
Father John Misty: Live at Third Man Records
|Father John Misty is the alter ego of Josh Tillman, who played drums for the Fleet Foxes before becoming a popular indy rock singer-songwriter. His studio albums favor a soundscape so lush and dreamy that ...read more -
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Meiko: Playing Favorites
|The best, most affecting singers tend to meet us at the intersection of Nuance and Intimacy Street, a corner the folk-leaning vocalist Meiko has clearly made her home. For this tight-knit collection of an even-dozen ...read more -
Peter Murphy: 5 Albums
|With his baritone voice, haunting melodies, brooding stage presence, and dark lyrics, Peter Murphy was tailor made to perform goth rock, a musical style he helped usher in while a member of Bauhaus. Peter Murphy—5 ...read more -
The James Gang: The Best of the James Gang Featuring Joe Walsh
|The 1970 release of the James Gang Rides Again helped define 70s rock and served as a calling card for guitarist Joe Walsh, who went on to greater fame as a solo artist and member ...read more -
Buddy Guy: The Blues Is Alive and Well
|Chicago blues guitarist and vocalist Buddy Guy honed his chops during the 1960s as house guitarist for the legendary Chess Records. The electric blue pioneer’s blistering chops have influenced everyone from Eric Clapton and Jimi ...read more