Tagged: 2010

In 1995, she was trudging herself across a desert and screaming out an angst-ridden tune that was possibly about the dude from "Full House." My teenaged-self went into overdrive at this Alanis Morissette, formerly never too hot but never too cold and now pissed as hell over Joey Gladstone. Through the years, Morissette and my teenaged-self would transition again and [...]

Best known as the drummer in the barrier-breaking metal band Living Colour, Will Calhoun has quietly put together an impressive resume in jazz - notably performing with Wayne Shorter on the Grammy-winning effort High Life, while also appearing along side Jaco Pastorious, Pharoah Sanders, Jack DeJohnette, Marcus Miller and Herb Alpert, among others. Life in This World, due May 14, [...]

John Frusciante has released a lengthy, darkly emotional rumination, written for a friend that went back to the guitarist's days in the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Wayne Forman, tragically, died before he could hear this tribute. It's of particular interest, of course, because Frusciante's most recent release - 20122s progressive synth-pop stunner Letur-Lefr - contained so little, well, guitar. This [...]

• recordcollectionmusic - Wayne by John Frusciante

It’s been a few years since we’ve heard anything from Tony Low, but as evidenced by his new disc, Tone-Wah, he’s obviously kept his chops up in the interim. For those too young to have been there or perhaps you've simply been hibernating in a cave, this highly acclaimed singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist was a founding member of the Cheepskates, [...]

Greg Kihn is best known these days for 1980s-era hits like "Jeopardy" and "The Breakup Song," or perhaps for his longtime tenure as a DJ on San Jose's KUFX. But he's also been a published author since 1996, starting with "Horror Show" - which was nominated in the best first novel category of the Bram Stoker Awards. Kihn's fifth work [...]

Albums with as many songs as a 45 single are bound to be interesting, and that's undeniably the case for Mike Pride's dual epic numbers compiled into his upcoming Drummer's Corpse album. Pride has always thrived on the outskirts of jazz, a trait reinforced by studying under Milford Graves and hanging out with the likes of Anthony Braxton, Otomo Yoshihide [...]

While there is an argument to be had about the temerity Baz Luhrmann remaking "The Great Gatsby," you'll get no such reservations when it comes to Jack White's scorching version of this U2 deep cut from the forthcoming soundtrack. "Love is Blindness" joins cuts from buzzy acts like Florence + The Machine, Lana Del Rey, Beyonce, Fergie and producer Jay-Z [...]

On Mother's Day, r&b/jazz singer, songwriter, and yes, mom, Carol Duboc will present in digital form her newest album Smile. Her sixth album represents a collaboration with fusion giant Jeff Lorber, co-writing and co-producing all ten songs with one of contemporary jazz's most influential keyboardists and composers of all time. Moreover, Lorber brought in some of his heavy hitter session [...]

• Something Else! Reviews - 04 Telepathy

Guitarist Alan Morse joined us just before his band Spock's Beard gathered to shoot a video for "Submerged," offering his thoughts on their newly released album Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep and the band's new frontman. Ted Leonard replaces Nick D'Virgilio, who in turn had replaced Neal Morse - co-founder of Spock's Beard with his brother Alan in the early [...]

The standard-bearing harp influence of Walter Jacobs - he established the vocabulary still used by nearly every amplified modern player - is well documented. This guest-packed concert tribute reminds you of his composing prowess, too. After all, Little Walter would write some 14 Top 10 R&B solo hits in the 1950s, well after his muscular, jazz-influenced style changed the direction [...]

Whenever I describe a jazz artist as unique and eccentric, using odd meters and irregular note progressions, that means I'm describing a whack jazz artist about 99% of the time. Reedman Daniel Bennett on the hand belongs in that one percent. When taking in the Daniel Bennett Group's Peace and Stability Among Bears a couple of years ago, I was [...]

Missing longtime member Tom Pittman, but none of the knee-slapping fun, the Austin Lounge Lizards' fizzy Home and Deranged takes on such typically topical subjects as airport patdowns, big-ego music stars, fat-cat bankers and government conspiracy theories. It's like mixing the hippie politics of Country Joe McDonald with the absurdist humor of Frank Zappa with the front-porch picker's brilliance of [...]

Midwesterner Dan Hazlett ambles out on The Corner of My Eye with a gently undulating cadence and an ever-so-comfy vocal on "The Alchemy of Fish," beginning an album-long connection with every classic 1970s-era singer-songwriter type. His knowing tale of passion's confusion in "What the Heart Knows" recalls Steve Forbert, while "Empty Room" has a loping confidentiality that sounds like nothing [...]

If your complaint about Michael McDonald's brand of city-slicker soul, dating all the way back to the Doobie Brothers, was that it lacked a certain grease-popping earthiness, "Judgement Day" certainly bolsters the argument. Paired with groove-merchant Robben Ford, McDonald's "Judgement Day" has a ballsy sense of determination that smoothed-out pop hits like "Real Love" - not to mention his more [...]

• Judgement Day - Michael McDonald and Robben Ford

Sasha Papernik isn't the first person to attempt to untangle the verities of love in song. Yet Victory, a dark and dangerous piece of noir-inspired songcraft, lures you in anyway. The title track begins with a confrontational stoicism, as Papernik retraces the swirling emotions surrounding the departure of an uncaring lover. Defined by a spooky piano interlude that underscores her [...]

The sound is bad, and the image is worse. But we've gotten a glimpse into a third track from Black Sabbath's forthcoming Ozzy Osbourne reunion record with "Methademic," a track that seems sadly appropriate considering Ozzy's latest back slide - and yet somehow ultimately dissatisfying. The iffy video quality of this performance, recorded live at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne [...]

It isn't exactly a shock to see news of a new Boards Of Canada album, not after they snuck out a handful of copies (literally) of a surprise single for Record Store Day a week ago for very lucky buyers to stumble upon. But news that it's available to order today has stirred up IDM fans and brought one retailer's [...]

A return-to-form triumph for Deep Purple, and a reunion of the crunchy Raw Power-era edition of Iggy and the Stooges tops this heavy-rocking version of New Music Monday. There's also slamming product from the classic Ritchie Blackmore-Ronnie James Dio-Cozy Powell lineup of Rainbow, fresh Ugly Kid Joe and a long-awaited solo effort from Cinderella's Tom Keifer. For jazz fans, Marc [...]

Lorenzo Feliciati more often than not finds himself making collaborative kind of music instead of solo projects. A virtuoso at both electric and acoustic bass, Feliciati needs no help, but recognizes that sometimes, getting together with other creative musicians results in an especially creative outcome. That's an outcome we've seen from both of the Naked Truth albums he did with [...]

Time has been kind to Ray Wilson, who had the misfortune of replacing Phil Collins in Genesis for its final studio album. Calling All Stations, if not undergoing a complete critical reevaluation, is at least becoming better understood. Heck, Steve Hackett has even invited Wilson to join him as part of the 1970s-era guitarist's Genesis Revisited tour. In keeping, Chasing [...]