When a band puts out a “best of” album it is often the sign of a big change: they’re breaking up; looking for a quick way to fulfill their contract with a label so they can sign a better contract somewhere else; or maybe just cashing in. When Snow Patrol released their Greatest Hits in…
It’s been five years since Neko Case’s last album, but it’s not as if she’s been silent since the release of The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, The More I Love You. In 2016 she collaborated with k.d. lang and Laura Veirs on their fine trio album Case/Lang/Veirs, and…
The Bonnevilles, the guitar/drum duo of Andre McGibbon, Jr., and Chris McMullan of Northern Ireland, have made a career out of their commitment to “garage punk blues.” But with just two players, they approach the with a minimalist’s conviction that less is more, and then play with enough aggression, energy and bring enough variation to…
There is a reason that you should always listen to a record more than once before putting it aside. I have been a big fan of La Luz since their 2013 debut It’s Alive but after one spin through Floating Features I thought the band might have regressed some instead of taking all the momentum…
On the 12th Eels album in 22 years, principal singer/songwriter Mark Oliver Everett, known as E, continues a long and lengthy practice of deconstructing the major myths of the American Dream, and the myths and fables of romance, capitalism and the pursuit of personal meaning. Deconstruction, according to Merriam-Webster, is “a philosophical or critical method…
Amen Dunes is the project of New York-based Damon McMahon. Amen Dunes’ fifth record, Freedom, is exactly why you stick with an artist. Every record in Amen Dunes discography has been stronger than the one before and Freedom keeps the trend going as it is Damon McMahon’s finest work to date. McMahon brings a high…
Twelve albums with all the original members is a rare achievement in the music world these days but that is exactly what we get here from Canada’s Sloan. The band has returned with the appropriately titled album, 12, and it is another reminder of what makes a great power pop record. With catchy anthems, memorable…
When The Decemberists’ first single for I’ll Be Your Girl, “Severed” showed up on the appropriate alternative-friendly satellite radio stations a few weeks ago, I bet I wasn’t the only fan to begin worrying that the more modern Brit pop leanings of 2015’s What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World had led the Portland-based…
Moby was making electronic dance music hits before we knew to call it EDM, when it was still called techno/dance pop, but his bold sonic experiments, often mixing musical genres with cinematic flair, have taken his music far beyond the dance floor. While he had an early breakout disco hit with “Go,” and was a…
The second album from Ruby Boots, Don’t Talk About It, roars out of the gate with “It’s So Cruel,” a cow-punk rocker that recalls the energy of Jason & The Scorchers. But before you get your hopes up, producer Beau Bedford (of The Texas Gentlemen), perhaps eager to display the singer/songwriter’s versatility, offers her up…
