North Mississippi Allstars – Set Sail: Album Review
North Mississippi Allstars – Set Sail This album appealed to me from the get-go having lived in the Mississippi hill country when I was 17. It’s a rolling landscape of pine trees, occasional cotton fields, muddy slow-moving rivers and tangles of kudzu vines. And a fraught history. The North Mississippi Allstars invoke this country in […]
Grace Cummings – Storm Queen: Album Review
Grace Cummings is a Folk singer from Melbourne, and with her sophomore album Storm Queen she will slay you with her vocal power. Freakish deep tones of Helen Shapiro combined with the angry passion of Odetta. She has a softer side and can rise up into high soprano in a flash. Joni Mitchell’s presence of […]
Sit Down In Front – Fuelling My Rage: EP Review
Sit Down In Front are an energetic young Punk band from Gisborne, New Zealand who play Old Skool Punk with a souped-up reconditioned motor. They sound great as they hit top gear in a heartbeat and slam their way through their third long playing release in just as many years.
Butter Wouldn’t Melt – 1931: Album Review
Butter Wouldn’t Melt are folk duo Andrea Reid (dulcimer, whistles, vocals) and Nick Burfield (guitar and vocals). Their name is intriguing. It’s an old English saying that lives on in the American South: “butter wouldn’t even melt in their mouth”, referring to someone who is not quite as they appear.
Elvis Costello & The Imposters – A Boy Named If (Capitol)
Elvis Costello & The Imposters pump it up on this, the be-speckled-one’s 32nd studio album.
The Dream Syndicate – What Can I Say? No Regrets…Out Of The Grey + Live, Demos & Outtakes (Fire)
The Dream Syndicate add some muscle to their 1986 album, Out Of The Grey, making this 3-disc set a startling improvement to an album never really got its due.
Jamestown Revival – Young Man: Album Review
Jamestown Revival carry the traditions of Americana as the cultural crusade of their time and present Young Man as both a meditative album and an uplifting one. These are hard times, but there are always good times despite the mood and the bad moon rising.
13th Floor Album Preview: Tall Folk – Wiser
Tall Folk are self-described as a pair with “long limbs and swirling harmonies,” and are comprised of Jack Ringhand, whose roots are in the Midwest of the US and Lara Robertson who hails from Dunedin. What this collection Wiser (recorded by Tom Bell of Port Chalmers Recording Service) offers is a refreshing blend of harmony-based […]
No Girl – Whelmed (Album Review)
No Girl is an Indie-Pop quartet from Auckland who threaten to get under your skin and quietly enchant you with their debut album. Consider yourself Whelmed.
Single Girl, Married Girl – Three Generations of Leaving
Single Girl, Married Girl is a Los Angeles country band who have high ambitions by planting themselves in name at least at the Big Bang moment, when Americana came into creation.
Album Review: Dope Lemon – Rose Pink Cadillac (BMG)
Dope Lemon finally rolls out their Rose Pink Cadillac after being postponed due to “vinyl delay”. This new solo album by Angus Stone should be ready to go, complete with its “Animated Vinyl”.
The Beau Brummels – Turn Around: The Complete Recordings 1964-1970 (Now Sounds/Cherry Red)
The Beau Brummels were just one of many American bands attempting ride on the coat tails of The Beatles in 1964. And they did just that with early Beatle-esque hits such as Laugh Laugh and Just A Little. But as this 8-CD set reveals, there was much more to this band than their chart hits […]
The Black Keys – El Camino (10th Anniversary Edition)
The Black Keys come up with the perfect solution for any last minute Christmas shopping for that rocker on your list.
Dirt – Bloom: Album Review
Dirt is essential to well-being. For your health, roll around in it and consume it. An exploration of soundscapes which bleeds out of and into all manner of Pop Art. Feet planted in the magnificent Sixties and heart soaring out from there.
Cat Stevens – Teaser and the Firecat (Island)
Cat Stevens celebrates 50 years of Teaser and the Firecat, his biggest selling record, released originally in October of 1971.
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss – Raise The Roof (Warner)
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss finally follow up Raising Sand 14 years later. Was it worth the wait?
Shihad – Old Gods: Album Review
Shihad would like to kill those Old Gods. The Gods of death, war and destruction are also the Lords of the Future. Rebirth and regeneration.
Leisure – Sunsetter: Album Review
LEISURE is what Sunsetter is. A deep dive into the immersive waters of Ambient Soul Sonic Groove Thang. The album glides across that ocean like a sleek racing yacht up on its foils.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Barn (Reprise): Album Review
Neil Young saddles up The Horse one more time for an album that sounds part solo/part band effort but, as always, pure Neil. It also happens to be his best work in a wee while.
Adele – 30: Album Review
Adele is the reigning Empress of Soul and takes us on a trip into the heart and mind which is deeply personal and simultaneously all inclusive. That most rarefied atmosphere at the pinnacle of artistic achievement that few are privileged to breathe in.