RE:Visit – The Top Of The Charts, November, 1979
Did Kool and the Gang choose Smooth Life in '79, or did Smooth Life choose them?
Review: Alder & Ash – “The Crowneater”
There’s no place to enter The Crowneater – the new LP from Alder & Ash, out Dec. 6 via Mendicant – because the whole record is just that damned incredible.…
Review: Various Artists, “Come On Up To The House: Women Sing Waits”
Tribute hits the mark for Waits as songwriter, but not Waits as artist.
Review: Opeth, “In Cauda Venenum”
There is something unsettling about this effort, and not in Opeth's typical mist-and-dread-soaked way.
Review: Frank Lenz – “Pyramid”
Frank Lenz is a musician likely only known well among attentive album credits readers. In the past, he’s added his stellar drumming to Pedro The Lion, Richard Swift and Starflyer…
Review: Bill Callahan – “If You Could Touch Her At All” b/w “So Long, Marianne”
Forever-smoggy Austin singer-songwriter Bill Callahan radiates an alarming amount of warmth on two new covers from the classic American songbook, out today via Drag City Records. The pedal steel sure…
Review: Monotrope – “Immutable Future”
Monotrope’s new record is a wondrously dense thatch of black thorns and I love it for that. In case you’re just joining the show, the quartet, which should be storied…
Vinyl Review: Interceptor by Steve Pilant
But for those progressive music fans who understand that the 80’s aren’t just a bleak stretch between The Buggles taking over Yes and Roine Stolt’s The Flower King, Steve Pilant’s…
#MetalMonday: “Heavy Metal Lover” by The Darkness
“Heavy Metal Lover” stands out as a sonic smorgasbord, a veritable heap of metal tropes packed tight (like leather pants) and tasty.
Review: Memory Drawings – “Phantom Lights”
Phantom Lights is the new mini-LP from sorta-post-rock-ish neo-classical ensemble Memory Drawings, out two weeks ago via the Greek boutique label Sound In Silence. But, truth be told, it’s not…
MOVIE REVIEW: “DAVID CROSBY: Remember My Name”
I have to begin with the following disclaimer: as a general measure, I don’t like Cameron Crowe’s films; I’ve always found them to be non-linear and they veer terribly off…
RE: Visit — Neil Diamond, “The Jazz Singer Soundtrack” (1980)
Neil Diamond's ode to American pluralism