TODD RUNDGREN AN EVENING WITH TODD RUNDGREN – LIVE AT THE RIDGEFIELD CLEOPATRA RECORDS Cleopatra Records’ ongoing series of 21st century Todd Rundgren live recordings continues with the release of An Evening With Todd Rundgren – Live At [...]
AEROSMITH AEROSMITH (LEGENDARY EDITION) CAPITOL RECORDS Fifty-three years ago, Aerosmith released their eponymous debut album. Propelled by one of the greatest rock ballads of all time, “Dream On,” 1973’s Aerosmith quickly established the band [...]
TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND FUTURE SOUL FANTASY RECORDS Okay, you don’t have to be a fan of a certain genre, but then, if you are trying to be objective, there are certain things you simply cannot ignore, and that is the capabilities, [...]
THIS LONESOME PARADISE DEATH MOTELS BAD VIBES GOOD FRIENDS Keep the tempo slow. Saturate the guitar sound with echo and tremolo – no fast chromatic power chords or whizzing licks. Have the vocals at least baritone in range with some added [...]
VICIOUS RAIN THE ANATOMY OF SURVIVING ARISING EMPIRE Vicious Rain has always had a way of creating music that is a mix of turbulence and muted pain, a sound that feels like the moment a storm breaks out-an emotional downpour overhead, as the [...]
THE LONG RYDERS HIGH NOON HYMNS CHERRY RED RECORDS It’s easy to dismiss any performer for abiding by the tropes or cliches of the genre they produce music in. All genres have them too: the oft-used blues-based riffage of classic rock, the [...]
DREAM THEATER LOST NOT FORGOTTEN ARCHIVES: LIVE IN TOKYO, 2010 CENTURY MEDIA Live albums are often a great way to capture a band’s raw energy and talent but can sometimes be tricky to pull off in a successful manner. Dream Theater’s recent [...]
THE BLACK CROWES A POUND OF FEATHERS SILVER ARROW RECORDS Since reforming in 2019, The Black Crowes have remained in constant motion through numerous tours, a recent string of remastered boxsets (including last year’s reissue of Amorica and Live [...]
RUSH GRACE UNDER PRESSURE (SUPER DELUXE EDITION) UMe/MERCURY/ANTHEM When Grace Under Pressure first landed in 1984, it captured Rush at a moment of profound transition. The band was navigating new technology, shifting cultural anxieties, and the [...]
GOLD LEADER GOLD LEADER COLOR RED Hailing from Denver, Gold Leader has dropped their impressive debut, eponymous record. Gold Leader is a collection of instrumental songs that teeters between funk and jazz, giving the band a modern and freshly [...]
DRIVING MRS. SATAN LATE EVER AFTER LIBURIA RECORDS If you think that covering the songs of others is easy by just picking up your instruments and microphones, than you are quite mistaken. Sure you can do that, but then you are just a cover [...]
BRIGITTE CALLS ME BABY IRREVERSIBLE ATO RECORDS Navigating a second album is tricky business, especially when your first release and follow-up tour were received with such acclaim that you’re being tipped as the next big indie band. Such is the [...]
SPENCER HOFFMAN CHERRY PICKER ANXIETY BLANKET RECORDS Being a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles will always draw comparisons with the early to mid-70s, when the so-called golden age of California Sound ruled, well, the airwaves then. In the [...]
CAT CLYDE MUD BLOOD BONE CONCORD RECORDS Really good singer-songwriters these days take much harder routes to creating music of substance. Of course it is the much harder road than just strumming your guitar, tinkling your piano and singing [...]
KIM GORDON PLAY ME MATADOR RECORDS It’s difficult to know what to expect from a Kim Gordon solo record, given her avant-garde aloofness over her years in music, but I had no idea just how strange it would be to spend my next 40 or so minutes in [...]
SUZIE UNGERLEIDER AMONG THE EVERGREENS (DELUXE EDITION) MVKA A good album is like a friend who you may not have seen in a while. When you meet up, the reunion is sweet, and the conversation picks up as if no time has passed at all. Among The [...]
CASHIER THE WEIGHT JULIA’S WAR Cashier’s first full-length release is the Lafayette rock band throwing a marker down to all those who listen to them – this is heavy, unapologetic, shoegaze rock. It works, too, at least in parts; there’s some [...]
BILL ORCUTT MUSIC IN CONTINUOUS MOTION PALILALIA RECORDS Since 1996, Bill Orcutt has released 23 solo studio albums, and so Music In Continuous Motion is number 24. He has also made a great many albums collaborating with other artists. Music in [...]
ORA COGAN HARD HEARTED WOMAN SACRED BONES RECORDS I don’t think it is a coincidence that Ora Cogan’s new album opens with the brilliant song “Honey,” with a steady beat, almost like a heartbeat. After all, the album is titled Hard Hearted Woman, [...]
LAMB OF GOD INTO OBLIVION EPIC Lamb Of God has returned with Into Oblivion, their first album since 2022’s Omens. The metal veterans remain as ferocious and consistent as ever over the course of 10 tracks, led by a string of singles, “Sepsis,” [...]
ODD MARSHALL SECONDS INDEPENDENT It is not often that an album sounds like the location in which it was recorded, but the minute I started listening to Seconds, Odd Marshall’s second album (his first since 2024’s successful Sand & Glue), I [...]
MARGARITAS PODRIDAS METALES PESADOS HOPELESS RECORDS With Metales Pesados, Margaritas Podridas deliver a third album that feels both refreshed and unmistakably their own. While the band leans into a more upbeat rhythmic pulse this time around, [...]
WHERE’S BETH ACHE IS A CRICKET IN THE NIGHT INDEPENDENT Good to great singer-songwriters seem to be creeping up on us daily (again!)—artists obviously seem to have a greater need to try and express their personal sensibilities and whatnot [...]
JENN GRANT QUEEN OF THE STRAIT INDEPENDENT With three Juno nominations, millions of streams, and critic accolades all over, Jenn Grant is becoming yet another Canadian music giant. And Grant has not reached that status by sticking to some strict [...]
