Album Review: Rickie Lee Jones – Kicks (The Other Side Of Desire/Thirty Tigers)
Rickie Lee Jones turns in her fourth (count ‘em) covers collection, and it’s a winner.
EP Review: Soaked Oats – Sludge Pop (Dot Dash/Rhythmethod)
Self-described Dunedin “sludge-pop” quartet Soaked Oats turn up with their third EP, released digitally and on 10’ coloured vinyl.
Album Review: David Bowie – Clareville Grove Demos (Parlophone)
This collection of six songs recorded as demos in early 1969 finds the young David Bowie still searching for a musical voice that will connect with an audience. That audience was just a few months away.
Album Review: Bruce Springsteen – Western Stars (Columbia)
Bruce Springsteen returns with his 19th album and first album of all new material since 2012’s Wrecking Ball.
Album Review: Neil Young & Stray Gators – Tuscaloosa (Reprise)
Neil Young’s archive series marches on with this latest concert recording from February 5th, 1973.
Album Review: The Felice Brothers – Undress (Yep Roc)
If nothing else, the Trump administration has inspired an awful lot of music lately. The Felice Brothers’ new album finds the Catskill-based band with politics on their mind and a new line-up to help get the message across.
Album Review: Faye Webster – Atlanta Millionaires Club (Secretly Canadian)
21-year-old Faye Webster has just released her third album, a record that combines her lyrics of angst and loneliness with a unique musical blend of contemporary r&b and American roots music.
Album Review: Justin Townes Earle – The Saint Of Lost Causes (New West)
Justin Townes Earle’s eighth album finds an artist hitting a new standard for himself, both in terms of songwriting and production.
Album Review: Jamila Woods – Legacy! Legacy! (Jagjaguwar)
Following up on her acclaimed 2016 debut album, Heavn, Chicago-based singer, poet, teacher and activist Jamila Woods pays tribute to her personal heroes on Legacy! Legacy!
Album Review: The National – I Am Easy To Find (4AD)
The National’s eighth long player is their most ambitious work to date with a short film and a cast of thousands involved in its creation.
Album Review: Mavis Staples – We Get By (Anti-)
With her 80th birthday just two months away, Mavis Staples continues to make soulful, funky music with a very contemporary message.
Concert Review: Chrissie Hart – Back Beat May 11, 2019
She’s sung other people’s songs on cruise ships in the Caribbean and 5-star hotels in China, now Chrissie Hart sings her own songs at Auckland’s Back Beat Bar.
Album Review: Bad Religion – Age Of Unreason (Epitaph)
After a six year hiatus, Bad Religion is back with a new set of blistering, politically-charged songs.
Album Review: Circle 60 – Sawn Off Shot Gold
Psychedelic Octopus Space Adventure, ahoy!!
Album Review: The Hip Priests – Stand for Nothing (Speedowax)
The Hip Priests have been making a racket for a little over a decade with their full-tilt, Scandi-driven rock n roll excess, but the last couple of years have seen them shift their focus away from all-drinking, all-drugging, all-shagging beasts into a singularly more political band, and it works for them.
Album Review: Delaney Davidson & Barry Saunders – Word Gets Around (Rough Diamond)
Delaney Davidson teams up with The Warratahs’ Barry Saunders for an album full of rollicking blues-based tunes.
Album Review: Field Medic – Fade Into The Dawn (Run For Cover)
Field Medic is the nom de plume of LA folkie Kevin Patrick, a new voice on the scene that deserves to be heard.
Album Review: The Rolling Stones – Honk (Polydor/Rolling Stones)
If you don’t have them already, now’s your chance…the best of The Rolling Stones from 1971 onward.
Album Review: Aldous Harding – Designer (Flying Nun)
Its album number three from Aldous Harding. What has she got in store for us this time?
Album Review: Glen Hansard – This Wild Willing (Anti-)
The man behind The Frames and The Swell Season delivers, what turns out to be, a “difficult” fourth solo album.