Archive for the ‘Music Reviews’ Category

No Better Than This – John Mellencamp (Rounder)

On this his twenty-fifth album, the restless creative soul of John Mellencamp takes a ramble down another path, and this time it’s a path that winds deep into the past and arrives at a location that makes the most possible contemporary sense. Mind you if you are going to go wandering down dark paths into the past of American music its best you take a knowledgeable tour guide and there is no better... Read the full story

Lloyd Cole – Broken Record (Tapete)

Lloyd Cole is either a brave or a humorous artist – and, in all likelihood, he’s both. The opening line on his new, independently recorded album is “Not that I have that much dignity left anyway” and a repeated line in the title track is “starting to sound like a broken record”. It almost invites the suggestion that Cole has devolved from a cutting edge, highly lauded, mainstream, popular... Read the full story

Tired Pony – The Place We Ran From (Fiction/Shock)

This album is the first from a collaboration instigated by the lead singer of Irish band Snow Patrol, a guy named Gary Lightbody. Apparently Snow Patrol are rather big, primarily as a result of a huge hit called Chasing Cars which achieved recognition via being on a television shows named Grey’s Anatomy. All of this information is stuff that I was vaguely aware of but I have to admit that the music... Read the full story

Dom Mariani – Rewind And Play (Liberation)

Dom Mariani is somewhat of a hidden Australian pop-rock treasure. Through bands such as The Stems, The Someloves and DM3 he created a body of work that should have him regarded as a peer of acclaimed international artists of a similar ilk like Ken Stringfellow, Evan Dando, Pat Dinizio, Matthew Sweet and Mitch Easter – masterful creators of melodic power-pop tunes and memorable, often under-stated... Read the full story

Close Up Vol 1, Love Songs – Suzanne Vega (Shock)

Suzanne Vega had an epiphany. Unlike authors who cannot re-write their own books, recording artists are able to re-record their own songs. That way when the original release is out of print, or the label goes broke or a new format appears to supersede the existing one then the songs can simply be re-invented and re-made in the way that’s now suited to them. That decided, she has now gone about the... Read the full story

American Slang – The Gaslight Anthem (Shock)

Along with The Hold Steady, The Gaslight Anthem have been anointed as the saviours of guitar based rock music (is there any other kind?) and on the evidence of their latest album American Slang they are taking the job seriously. They don’t take themselves as seriously as some of the music writers who have been tripping over their superlatives and mixing metaphors to try and suggest that these is... Read the full story

Wake Up The Nation – Paul Weller (Island)

The career of Paul Weller has been notable for its versatility and evolution and this album does nothing to change that view. It’s another set of sharp and incisive songs that cover a lot of stylistic  ground encompassing all of his touch stones – soul, new wave, art-pop and rock n’ roll. It’s his tenth solo album and unlike some of his contemporaries he seems to be gaining in momentum over... Read the full story

Taylor Hawkins & the Coattail Riders – Red Light Fever (RCA/Sony)

Taylor Hawkins is the drummer from the Foo Fighters and the Coattail Riders is a side project that actually has a history that goes back to 2006 when they released a self titled debut album. I never heard that album, but I doubt it could be any more entertaining that this throwback collection. Let’s face it – this is one of the most deliciously retro albums I’ve heard in years. The influences…no... Read the full story

The Hold Steady – Heaven Is Whenever (Shock)

The Hold Steady have a lot to live up to. They’ve pretty much been anointed as the saviours of rock n’ roll, the next link in the chain that starts with Springsteen and Petty and jumps to The Replacements and Soul Asylum and now is picked up by themselves and possibly The Gaslight Anthem. This is the band that sing about being in a band – the angst, the dumb fun, the parties, the angst, the drugs,... Read the full story

Danielle Spencer – Calling All Magicians (Roadshow)

Danielle Spencer’s album Calling All Magicians is interesting. Now calling an album “interesting” is often a back-handed compliment – something like one band telling another band “I can see what you guys are trying to do”, as if it were a  good thing. But in this case “interesting” is a compliment because it’s meant completely literally. The songwriting is interesting, the melodic... Read the full story

Next Page >