Wilco's New Album: Love The 'Whole' Thing
Usually, the whispers start after rock groups have been around for a while, as die-hard fans begin to worry about their beloved band getting stale. Despite its incredibly long run, Wilco has escaped...
View ArticleJonathan Wilson: Making Like Thoreau, In Song
Record producer Jonathan Wilson recorded his new album Gentle Spirit during little slivers of time when the artists he was working with — among them songwriter Jackson Browne and the rock band Dawes—...
View ArticleThe Roots: A Song Cycle For A Life Cycle
The hip-hop band The Roots might currently be the hardest-working band in show business. Five nights a week, it's the house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and is constantly collaborating with...
View ArticleDr. Dog: A Standout Among Stereotypes
Sometimes I wonder: Do the members of young indie-rock bands know that they're walking stereotypes? There's the scruffy dude who's obsessed with everything vintage and analog, the Pavement-worshiping,...
View ArticleHeartless Bastards: Rousing Songs, Born On The Road
It's true that you can still get by in rock 'n' roll on the strength of a unique voice. But it helps if said voice has something interesting to work with. On the first three records by Heartless...
View ArticleReview: Two New Perspectives On Jazz, Gospel
Critic Tom Moon reviews two contrasting perspectives on the intersection of jazz and gospel music. Multi-instrumentalist Don Byron has just released "Love, Peace and Soul" featuring his New Gospel...
View ArticleDr. John: Swamp Grooves From The Bayou Underworld
Right now, Dan Auerbach is living a rock-star moment, with his hard-hitting blues-rock duo The Black Keys selling out arenas all over the country. Lots of people want him on their records. So what does...
View ArticleMelody Gardot Aims For The Space Between Notes
The other day, I had a conversation with Melody Gardot about space. Not outer space, but the space between notes in her music. These days, there's lots of it.
View ArticleA Posthumous Masterpiece Adds To E.S.T.'s Legacy
When the pianist Esbjorn Svensson died in a scuba accident in 2008, many fans of his group, the Swedish trio known as E.S.T., wondered if there might be some unreleased experiments lurking in a studio...
View ArticleLianne La Havas: A Cool Antidote For Late Summer's Heat
It's gotten to that point in the dog days of August where the air is stale and nothing seems to be moving. But sometimes all it takes to snap me out of a late-summer heat coma is the sound of a new and...
View ArticleElina Duni: Love, Lust And Albanian Folk Songs
The spread of formal jazz education has created a new breed of global musician: one who uses improvisation, and other devices associated with jazz, to transform folk and traditional music. The Albanian...
View ArticleBruno Mars Goes Anyplace And Everyplace On 'Jukebox'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-fA-gBCkj0
View ArticleA 1969 Bootleg Unearths Miles Davis''Lost' Quintet
After a slew of multidisc sets devoted to key points in the career of Miles Davis, you'd think Columbia Records would have unearthed every speck of consequential music by now. But not quite.This week,...
View ArticleIs Fleetwood Mac's Expanded 'Rumours' A Bit Much?
An expanded version of Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album Rumours comes out this week, to mark the 35th anniversary of one of the top-selling albums of the '70s. The deluxe set includes demos, outtakes from...
View ArticleJim James: On A Spiritual Quest In The Digital Age
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsvTfaAAVBg
View ArticleAtoms For Peace: Thom Yorke's Electronic Shadow-World
When singer Thom Yorke stepped away from his influential rock band Radiohead in 2006 to release The Eraser, many thought the quirky electronic project was a one-off. Not so, it turns out. Yorke and...
View ArticlePat Metheny And John Zorn: A Vivid Sound World
Guitarist Pat Metheny is revered for his bright, accessible modern jazz. Saxophonist and composer John Zorn is associated with much knottier, often dissonant experiments. Metheny's new Tap: John Zorn's...
View ArticleTom Odell: A Polarizing New Voice Shows Promise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rgHYP0dD_4
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