In a music career spanning over three decades, Frank Zappa put out over 60 albums. Some call him a genius. Those who don’t simply do not understand (pardon me and my asshole opinion—but I am right). Zappa has always had top-tier musicians in his line-ups, many of which have looked at his music charts and… Continue reading GrandMothers of Invention | Mother's Day | Boulder Theater
For the record, I believe that Pretty Lights Music (the label) represents the future of independent electronic music, offering digital, freely available releases to the public and paying the way with goodwill and a collective reputation for putting on tight live shows. Now, that’s not to say I’m all for the new school way of… Continue reading Eliot Lipp: Shark Wolf Rabbit Snake | New Music Review
The McCauliffe Brothers Band‘s debut full-length, It’s Likely, is, to be quite frank, a mixed bag. A self-described rock/funk/jazz/improvisation/pop act, the North Carolina band treads the line between genres with varied success throughout their first album. To be sure, some listeners will find fault with the band’s musical schizophrenia or the lack of definition in… Continue reading McCauliffe Brothers Band: It's Likely | New Music Review
On his second solo release, entitled Apocalyptic Love, Slash shows us that he can still shred the guitar like a beast. Did we ever have any doubt? From Guns N’ Roses to Velvet Revolver, the man has expertly showcased why he was chosen as runner up in Time‘s “The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players.” His… Continue reading Slash: Apocalyptic Love | New Music Review
Justin Jones‘ new album Fading Light is an Americana opus, full of deep emotion, musical mood swings, and heartfelt playing. The album opens with a choral intro track entitled “Ghosts,” which sets the mood for the first song, an ambient rock tune called “As It Turns Out.” Jones croons “the money’s gone, future too/many lost,… Continue reading Justin Jones: Fading Light | New Music Review
There are those things they teach you in school about poetry, things like rhyme schemes and stresses and metrical feet. Things like sonnets and pastoral poetry and the epic. Regardless of all those rules and terms though, poetry can be one of the most free-form arts, allowing the writer to take on a poetic license,… Continue reading Bobby Long's Losing my Brotherhood: Dissipating Youth & Gaining Perspective
The Devil Makes Three live release, Stomp and Smash is more than a title; it’s a review in itself. Recorded over two sold-out nights at the Mystic Theater in Petaluma, CA, these bluegrass Santa Cruzaders’ are hell bent with a raucous punk spirit. Spewing a sound about as smooth as whiskey, this trio of Pete… Continue reading The Devil Makes Three: Stomp and Smash | New Music Review
On his seventh studio album, Spirit Bird, Xavier Rudd’s gritty voice rises like dust from underneath the dancing feet along an ancestral Songline. In a modern world of industrial landscapes filled with neon signs, it’s hard to “imagine if the trees could tell us where to go.” Yet, Rudd introduces listeners to Australian Aboriginal mythology… Continue reading Xavier Rudd: Spirit Bird | New Album Review
As far as supergroup side projects are concerned, PHILM is a strange beast, and their debut album, Harmonic, follows its creators’ suit like a bipolar demon-child on acid. PHILM, consisting of Gerry Nestler (vocals/guitar, Civil Defiance), Dave Lombardo (drums, Slayer), and Pancho Tomaselli (bass, War) has a rawness to its sound that plays well with… Continue reading PHILM: Harmonic | New Music Review
Let me begin with the disclaimer that I only consider myself a casual fan of The Expendables. It’s not that I don’t like their music; far from it, actually, but I’m not about to start referencing old B-sides off the top of my head or anything of the sort in this review. That being said,… Continue reading The Expendables | 'Gone Soft' | New CD Review
