Live Review - Tipitina's Presents: Zildjian's 400th Anniversary 5/2/23 New Orleans, LA

Tipitina's Presents: Zildjian's 400th Anniversary

Live 5/2/23 New Orleans, LA

For the cymbals (and more) maker Zildjian's 400th Anniversary, the company wanted to do something special during the annual Jazzfest celebration in New Orleans. They hooked up with Stanton Moore (Galactic) and he offered up his home base of Tipitina's for a unique showcase on Tuesday afternoon, in between the bookend weekends. 

He also reached out to his many friends to create a world class house band consisting of Ivan Neville, Eric Krasno, Nick Daniels, Tony Hall, Ari Teitel, Joe Ashlar, Brad Walker, and John Michael Bradford. This lineup would be the headline at any other show, but this one was specifically designed to give the drummer some. All the percussionists were in the spotlight on this afternoon as two drum sets were set up in front of the famous venues stages and a rotating cast of who's-who of the New Orleans drum scene cycled through. 

One of the unique shows clear highlights arrived early as the great Nikki Glaspie (Nth Power) took over and stole the show with her singing and playing on the Betty Harris classic (penned by Allen Toussaint) "Break In The Road", there was no need for warm-ups when this band and drummer can shine so brightly to start. Adam Deitch (Lettuce) brought in the deep funk, which was the theme of the afternoon, as he slapped out "Action Speaks Louder Than Words" from New Orleans own Chocolate Milk. 

The dynamic Joe Dyson (Pat Methany) brought the Mardi Gras Indian vibe alive with tempo changes and breaks during a Wild Tchoupitoulas number while AJ Hall played the skins expertly in front of deep bass and popping horns. One of the style surprises on this afternoon was Jason Marsalis who is known more for his vibes and jazz playing, but on this sunny day decided to break out the deep funk with his rendition of The Meters "Africa" as Krasno wailed on guitar and singer Ivan Neville changed the lyrics to New Orleans. 

Moore had been MC'ing and introducing each artist, but when it became his turn to slide behind the kit he did not disappoint. He chose to play his rendition of Dyke and the Blazer's "Let A Woman Be A Woman (And A Man Be A Man)" and perhaps it was because he was on his home turf, he slapped that skins the hardest out of any drummer at this show, bringing a hard driving, almost punk edge to the funky tune, as the brass wailed behind him.

NOLA legend Herlin Riley confidently played to a set of drummers who clearly love his style while Chris Myers delivered a version of "People Say" which allowed the house band to stretch out. Another standout highlight from an afternoon filled with them was Jamison Ross' delivery of "Them Changes" which found the drummer singing and playing with fierce energy.  

The drummers kept arriving, while percussionist Taku Hirano may have been the MVP, playing with everyone on supportive percussion. Ricky Sebastian added swing to Meters tunes while Pedro Segundo added Latin jazz flair to the funk. 

It would be hard for Zildjian's to celebrate their 400th Anniversary in a town in America more committed to drums than New Orleans and on this afternoon the party kept rolling, starting the day off funky for many in attendance.

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Peep some video from the event below:

Live Review: NOLA Summit II - Iko All-Stars, John Papa Gros, NOLA Suspects @ Howlin' Wolf

Hey all, got a new review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here!

It is of NOLA Summit II - Iko All-Stars, John Papa Gros, NOLA Suspects and Bonerama @ Howlin' Wolf in New Orleans, LA.

A great set of covers and originals from all involved. 

Support the bands, read the review and peep some older video of a few of these bands below:

Album Review: Galactic - Already Ready Already

Hey all, got a new review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here!!!

It is of Galactic's newest release, Already Ready Already. 

I seem to be the go to for Galactic reviews on Glide Magazine, having reviewed the last few of their albums for the site. This one is better than Into The Deep, weaker than Carnivale Electricos and our favorite of theirs Ya-Ka-May. No matter when they release something I am very happy to do so as the band is constantly innovating and using the most musical city in the country as it's back drop. 

The beauty of the band is that they are funky chameleons and looking to evolve every time out. Honestly, it doesn't always translate perfectly on record, but the results are always worth hearing. 

Already Ready Already plays like a long EP more then a must hear full length, but he songs can hit some really high-points including "Touch Get Cut" and our favorite "Dance At My Funeral", their pumping collaboration with BOYFRIEND. 

Personally that is why I love listening to Galactic, if I was to look at the album sleeve and guess which songs I would like best based on guests or known musical styles of tunes 99% of the time I would be wrong, they always turn me on to something new. Can't ask too much more when reviewing tunes. 

Support the band, buy the album, see them live (this Saturday @ Brooklyn Steel) read the review and peep some video below:

   

Album Review: St. Vincent - MASSEDUCATION

St. Vincent

MASSEDUCATION

*** out of *****

St. Vincent’s 5th studio album MASSEDUCATION is a swirling mix of pop, pills, sex and personal confessions blending layers of vocals styles, gorgeous production and instrumentation. However, even with a variety of styles there still seems to be a mask over the proceedings keeping things from truly sinking into the skin.

Annie Clark has made her bones being an art rock guitar slayer, but here she moves directly to the pop and visual glam as this music is tailor made for video distribution and costume changes. While David Bowie is a clear comparison for Clark, her baroque style throughout MASSEDUCATION called to mind Lady Gaga more times than expected.

Her guitar playing takes a back seat (or on some tracks it’s thrown out of the car completely) to her production work with co-producer Jack Antonoff. Dance beats, building choruses and electro-funk breaks are everywhere from the rave up for relationships (especially the fleeting ones) on “Sugarboy” to the sexed up role reversal of “Savior” to the silly-before symphonic “Pills”. With “Pills” Clark mixes up the script from direct 2017 mindless radio pop to an arty flair an ending, a trick she uses a few times throughout.

“Los Ageless” is the best of the swaggering dance tunes as it pushes the music into an industrial flavored pop direction with huge bass hits Trent Reznor would enjoy before ending the tune with a swirling mellow refrain of “Try to write you a love song but it comes out a lament” (another phrase/sound Reznor probably enjoys). While the album bumps plenty, it is the slower piano based tracks that really hit home the hardest, leading to the feeling that the pomp around the upbeat jams is more of a smoke screen for the notoriously private singer.

The mystical cool end of “Los Ageless” dovetails expertly into the achingly personal sounding, minimalist track “Happy Birthday, Johnny”. The detail and emotion of the lyrics and vocals elevate this song for Clark a style she also uses for the back-to-what-you-know love song “New York” which turns out to be an album highlight. “Slow Disco” amps up the dramatic strings while “Smoking Section” artfully declares MASSEDUCATION is not over with Clark's final lyrics.

While “Fear The Future” contains intriguing guitar work and overloaded production sounding as if it was made to steal the show, it is those softer numbers that hint at even great depth and layers for Clark’s future. While this disk is sure to have droves of devotees with its dance-pop friendly sheen it also shows Clark can deliver even more in the future.

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Support the artist, buy the album and peep some video below:

Album Review: Pile - A Hairshirt of Purpose

Pile

A Hairshirt of Purpose

***and 1/2 out of *****

The Boston noise/indie rock collective Pile's newest release is a solid mix of scattershot rock and brooding think pieces. The foursome seem are hitting their confident stride among swirling sounds, dark undercurrents and fiery tones.  

The players Matt Becker – guitar, Matt Connery – bass, Kris Kuss – drums, Rick Maguire – guitar and vocals, work to create lush landscapes and angular tracks that suck in any fans of adventurous music. The banging "Hissing For Piece" is paired with the rolling and wandering journey of "Rope's Length" as the group manages to balance power and delicacy. The group is noticeably more restrained from past efforts, and softer songs like "Making Eyes" push this style to the forefront while "Slippery" incorporates acoustic guitars and sweet sounds before things rev up and burn.

Using a repeating drum intro to tie a few of the songs together works for the album cohesiveness, but each of these songs tend to build on each other. "No Bone" is a pleasant breather with dark undertones acting as prelude to the building terror of "Milkshake". The angular "Texas" is a wild ride even in its brief state before "Hairshirt" ratchets up the riffage and soars with noiserock blaring.  

The album has a few missteps with  "Leaning On The Wheel" out of place with its country road song lyrics and tone melded into a lumbering five minute ode that never accelerates. "Dogs" as well seems to be shooting for something grander and never coalesces even with violins and violas helping out.

The group closes the album with the best effort "Fingers", a rising energetic track that bangs and powers into math rock chaos to finish things off. There is a definite feeling of another Boston act from years ago with Pixies influences as the band experiments in the rock realm via all of its nooks and crannies. The Pixies however were minimalist and cutting and here Pile spread out and take things a bit slower, letting things build, successfully.
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Support the band, buy the album, stream it on bandcamp (or below) and peep some video:

Album Review: Teenage Fanclub- Here

Teenage Fanclub

Here

***and1/2 out of *****

It is a testament to the Scottish rockers that they are still at it and producing shimmering songs since 1989. Going ten albums deep into their career and running strong, Teenage Fanclub are far from teenagers but they still know love, longing, loss, and redemption are the foundations of pop rock.

Having three solid songwriters in the mix certainly helps as guitarists Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley and bassist Gerard Love all contribute evenly to Here but in a cohesive pattern that feels like a full band effort.

The opening trifecta plays gloriously touching on older reference points but also remains alive in the now. "I'm In Love" is the best of the bunch with its direct honesty over earnestness; the statement is fact almost as if it is being sung to the singer alone, confirming the obvious. "Thin Air" pumps up the jangle and touches Byrds like lairs (a reoccurring motif) while "Hold On" starts in a Neil Young vibe, but takes a more rhythmic approach to matters.

"The Darkest Part Of The Night" shows the clear Roger McGuinn influence and some sweet harmonies while "Nothing More To Say" swirls electric, eclectic and mellow. "The First Sight" brings in horns successfully while "It's A Sight" keeps that mellow vibe rolling and adds some cutting electric guitar lines. If there is a detriment to the album is that nothing is hidden; this is clear direct sweet pop rock. Even the downers never get to down and lyrically these roads have been trampled over many many times.

That doesn't matter much though when the disk is this easy going. A slow roller like "With You" bleeds nicely into the end statement of "Connected To Life" which is the most dramatic of the bunch letting the soundscapes broaden. Perhaps it is just the end of summer/start of fall release date, but Here certainly hits a sweet spot of pop purity.
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Kind of surprised how much we liked this record. Nothing earth shattering just good stuff all around. Support the group, buy the album, (you can still stream it for a day or two) and peep some video:

Album Review: Snowglobe- Snowglobe

Snowglobe

S/T

*** out of *****

The newest release from the Memphis based band is a self-titled effort and anytime a group drops a self-titled release after putting out a few albums it acts as a sort of reboot. The 11 track effort is song focused, yet still wandering and a touch odd; all which makes for an engaging ride.

The band is made up of Brad Postlethwaite: Vocals, Piano, Guitar, Keyboards, Drums, Saw, Kitchen Sink, Jeff Hulett: Drums, Vocals, Guitars, Luke White: Guitar, Vocals,  Tim Regan: Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals, Brandon Robertson: Bass, Nahshon Benford: Trumpet, Euphonium.

There can be an effortless feel to the proceedings and seeing how the players have been working together since High School that could be the reason for the easy rolling notes, which also happens to be the focus of the retro looking disk opener, "Easy". Harmonies and sounds blend and whirl together in an organic way, reminiscent of White Denim or Neutral Milk Hotel.

"Walking With Her" contains a Byrds jangle while other songs like "Big and Bright" and "Birthday" continues to recall the psychedelic pop with large swells builds and more of the great harmonies. The band can put too much special sauce into the tracks though as "One More Little Thing" settles into a groove but goes overboard with dramatic strings. Another downer is "We Have No Heat" which lyrically just stays in the title phrase so long that even the over driven guitars can't save it.

Better efforts are "Sid" which moves swiftly along but drops flourishes throughout or the keyboard driven ease of "We Were In Love". This song is an easy highlight of the disk, snapping with bubble gum pop in the vein of The Monkees; it is a vibrant three minute gem of a track. The harmonies return for the most tripped out tracks on the disk, the closing pair of "Little Hands (Universe Pt 1)" and "The Race, The Cure, And The Magic Machine (Universe Pt 2)" that meander around with spacey looseness.

Overall Snowglobe out on Super Sonic Sounds Records has retro warm appeal, but still adds new things to that familiar pop rock sound that is so rooted in the 60's.
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Thanks to Kandice from Nine Mile Records/ Super Sonic Sounds Records for sending this our way. Support the band, buy the album and peep some video:

Album Review: Mudcrutch- 2

Mudcrutch

2

***and1/2 out of *****

From the opening number of Mudcrutch's newest album you are instantly placed back in the southern wilds; dancing outdoors on a warm spring night, listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd and recalling the blues and better times in a folksie sort of way. The song is aptly titled "Trailer" and while the band has problem with names (Mudcrutch? Is there a worse band name) and album titles (this one is inventively titled 2) they certainly don't have any issues spinning their style of easy rolling rock and roll.

For those who missed it the first go around Mudcrutch is a blast from Tom Petty's past, this was the band that initially brought Petty to LA before his solo career. After decades of fame he invited a few original players to re-team with some of his Heartbreakers to create their first official album in 2008. What was perhaps most surprising was the unassuming style of the original and 2 amps up the looseness giving the whole album a lift over it predecessor.

From the quick toss off, string propelled "Save Your Water" to the upbeat banjo laced two-stepping "Other Side Of The Mounatin",  the albums seems to have been done freely and that B-side ease is the root of its rootsy charm. "Dreams of Flying" is a strumming mid tempo jaunt with great backing vocals, the get-up-get-down of "Victim of Circumstance" cooks from the drop, and the delicately affecting "I Forgive It All" aches gloriously.

The only misstep is the six and half minute "Beautiful Blue" which is sluggish and never really catches any sort of vibe, instead dulls the disk as the song stagnates. Things pick up immediately though as "Beautiful World" featuring Randall Marsh on lead vocals, shoots out of the chamber next with its light, upbeat rocking.

The disk closes with "Hungry No More" a fantastic showcase for Mike Campbell's criminally underrated guitar playing and at over 6 minutes it could have sprawled out even further, and hopefully will live.  

Side-projects can take lots of forms and now two albums in it is clear Petty puts Mudcrutch up close to his main band in terms of commitment. While not meant to be earth shattering or even very necessary, the album is certainly worth a few summer night spins under the stars; Mudcrutch 2 is a fun, loose ramble.  
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Support the band, buy the album and peep some video below:

Album Review: Junkie- W/E

Junkie

W/E

*** out of *****

The San Antonio based Junkie delivers an engaging mix of surf rock, lo-fi garage and oddball pop with their newest release w/e. The trio manages to craft their own quirky sense of engagement over these twelve tracks that deal with social isolation, awkward love and getting really high.

The disk is in a sense a throwback as songs are rooted in simple 50's rock style with direct teen lyrics (not from the 50's by any stretch), basic harmonies and hooks, however the band fuzz it up and inject their own style, breathing fresh life into the songs. "glued ghouls" sounds like it was taken out of a malt shop and dipped into ganja based batter complete with mini bass break that moves.

The opener "i like the things you say" couldn't be anymore straight forward and direct while "hurl" uses woo's to the best of their ability. "always in love always bummed" goes angular excellently and is one of our favorite overall efforts here.

"olives owner" has a punchy directness while "bowls" samples Spicoli a few times also picking up the energy in a circular lyrical fashion that deals with, what else, "Smoking THC, Tripping on LSD". The only misstep is when the band tries to stretch their formula over six plus minutes on "i'm not complaining (i think i like it)", the idea and their style in general just works better in small doses.

Closing with the notion "A lot of things bother me/but I don't care, it's whatever" they've captured a perfect slacker motto for the current generation. While the band can become repetitive in many ways, that is directly where their charm lies. It is the basic things that make rock and roll continually great and Junkie seem to have those pretty well covered on w/e.
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Another completely random Bandcamp find, support the band, buy the album and stream it below:

Album Review: Nothing - Tired of Tomorrow

Nothing

Tired of Tomorrow

**and1/2 out of *****

The Philadelphia based four piece Nothing's newest release Tired of Tomorrow comes after lots of trials and tribulations among the band members but as that old tired cliche goes...doesn't kill...stronger. The disk is loaded with worry, uncertainty, and lots of layers of spacious rock that asks some questions only to leave unsatisfied answers.

The band, guitarist and singer Domenic Palermo, guitarist and singer Brandon Setta, drummer Kyle Kimball and bassist Nick Bassett move between genres like dream pop, shoegaze, alt rock and metal but are somewhere in-between them all. Think of a much more laid back version of Cymbals Eat Guitars or a completely neutered Deafheaven and you have a decent starting point. Both of those groups chop up genres winningly and aggressively while for Tired of Tomorrow finds Nothing dabbling instead of truly owning the sound.

Opener "Fever Queen" sets the tone with layers of sonic sound over a short to the point effort. Guitars wash over everything making lyrics a bit tough first go round, but the band moves with ease, if not a whole lot of urgency. Where things get the most hectic is on the heavy "Curse Of The Sun" which feels like a horse ready to gallop even faster and "Our Plague" which builds to a big noise rock instrumental ending.

The band mostly spends Tired Of Tomorrow in that middle ground with tracks like "Eaten By Worms" starting sparse and getting larger, "ACD (Abcessive Compulsive Disorder)" resembles The Cure at it spaciest and "Vertigo Flowers" amps the drums, slightly increasing the energy over soundscapes of six strings.

"The Dead Are Dumb" is the most successful of these 'dreamgaze' tracks; easy rolling spacey lines, around a smooth well sung chorus of "Isn't it quite the same/Isn't it such a shame?" that becomes hypnotic in its grace. "Nineteen Ninety Heaven" is a fun experiment as well that takes a big beat and pairs it with sparse guitars.

The band has been through a lot and the album feels weighted with questioning hopeless lyrics, but also a sense of future redemption in the upbeat, almost poppy tracks. While not earth shattering, and a bit one note, Tired Of Tomorrow is still a fun float along disk to drift with.
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 Support the band, buy the album and peep some video:

Album Review: Autolux- Pussy's Dead

Autolux

Pussy's Dead

*** out of *****

The Los Angeles art pop trio took a long time between albums (last release was 2010) and have become the first band released on Danger Mouse's Columbia Imprint, 30th Century Records with their newest album, Pussy's Dead. The band, Eugene Goreshter (lead vocals/bass), Greg Edwards (guitar/vocals) and Carla Azar (drums/vocals), take their time moving between soundscapes and mellow sonic textures as the 10 tracks roll out.

The dreamy-electro-pop of Pussy's Dead, usually floats out into the ether but Autolux has the added bonus of one of the best drummers working today in Azar keeping things tethered. While the groups tracks aren't earth bound by any means, her deft playing adds a solidness that is crucial, keeping this album much more engaging than if someone just average was manning the kit.

Two of the more intriguing tracks are "Hamster Suite" and "Listen To The Order" but both go after it in different fashions. "Hamster Suite" lyrically dreams and musically moves between metal screeches and organic grooves in art rock fashion, swelling and retaining a tension. "Listen To The Order" repeats and repeats while eerily breaking down and popping back up with images of violence in a tighter fashion.

The overarching issue is that energy can wane and lyrically there aren't lots of standout tracks. The opening duo of "Selectallcopy" and "Soft Scene" just float by without lasting memory while efforts like "Brainwasher" gets falsetto and pushes the dance vibe outward but never truly buys into it. "Change My Head" goes for drama and dynamics but it just feels like electro-wind and bombast, never resonating. One thing that does standout is the album art which is simple yet still striking.  

Produced by BOOTS the disk does contain an easy appeal tonally but also wanders around aimlessly at times ending up a mixed bag with a few moments of magic. Those moments always seem to coalesce with the drumming of Azar adding another level of mystery and reward over more and more listens.  
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An interesting disk, but we wanted a bit more energy injected into it. Support the band, buy the album and peep some video:

Album Review: Violent Femmes- We Can Do Anything

Violent Femmes

We Can Do Anything

**and1/2 out of *****

For a quirky band, not releasing an album in 16 years then putting out one that so closely resembles their past work (if watered down) was odd, but We Can Do Anything also reminds that even when the Violent Femmes are average, they are still worth a listen.

While Gordon Gano and Brian Ritchie ever recording new music is a bit of a shock the music contained really isn't; rambling acoustic, upbeat tracks make up the short release. Backed by drummer Brian Viglione the group stays true to their original style throwing it back right from the start with "Memory". This track is the best one here in that classic Femme style, strumming/skittering strumming with Gano's pleading lyrics and an infectious bouncing acoustic bass from Ritchie closing along in clunky offbeat fashion.

"I Could Be Anything" brings back the childlike vibe that is present from the cover art while disk closer "I'm Not Done" dips back into the bands country touches to end the album. In-between those two tracks the band messes around with adult "Issues" (even rhyming tissues) and "Untrue Love" which deals with, untrue love, shockingly, neither very successfully. Musically the group gets the most out there with "Holy Ghost" incorporating loops, backward tapes and electronics before falling back into an acoustic offering.

All of this is simply passable but the band puts an interesting twist onto the album with their most beautiful/simple/direct song of their career, that is credited to Gano's sister, titled "What You Really Mean". While the band made a successful career on the offbeat, this song stands out with an honesty and truthfulness that adds to the bands back catalog. When they tour, sure you want to hear all the old hits, but this track should make the setlist going forward if not much else from We Can Do Anything does.  
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Yesterday we returned to the early 70's, today the 80's both albums were never really needed in the grand scheme of things but it is good for the players and we wouldn't mind catching either group live.

Support the band, buy the album and peep some video below:

Album Review: Black Mountain- IV

Black Mountain

IV

***and1/2 out of *****

The all over the map rock band Black Mountain returns with their first studio album in 5 years titled IV and while it is technically their 5th release (counting the Year Zero Soundtrack) it is a complete piece of art that just may be their best album yet.

Hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia the group roars from the north with mega riffs, loads of synths and deep drums. Production, handled by doom/metal guru Randall Dunn captures the band in deep chasms and cosmic outer space ways, most surprisingly it is the delicate numbers that stand out. Playing to their strengths the five piece opens with an epic dual vocal dreamscape called "Mothers of the Sun" that is huge in every direction and wins the day.

"Defector" stays in this cosmic swirl, recalling Pink Floyd while the dual vocals of Stephen McBean and Amber Webber play off each other and the stars. "(Over And Over) The Chain" keeps pushing the sonic boundaries (and space analogies) with its organ, meaty riffs and nearly nine minute black hole run time. 

The band still dips its toes into all forms of rock, with the punkish distortion of "Florian Saucer Attack", the indie-pop of "Cemetery Breeding", 70's cock rock swagger of "Constellations" and the acoustic based "Line Them All Up". However, all of these tracks are linked by the electro synths which color everything here; in the end making this record less jumbled than possibly imagined.

The synth work goes into overdrive for the digital swirling of "You Can Dream" that unfortunately is the weakest track here as it over relies on the elctro-phase shifts, rather then using them more as accentuating tones. Overall though Black Mountain's IV is an adventurous, big rock record that recalls various eras in the genres past while still looking towards its future.  
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Support the band, buy the album and peeps some video:

Album Review: Heron Oblivion- Heron Oblivion

Heron Oblivion

Heron Oblivion

**** out of *****

Heron Oblivion finds the four members coming from a few other long time bands (Espers, Comets on Fire) and producing their debut album in a whirlwind of psychedelic fury, layered slow builds and ethereal vocals that haunt. From the opening crawl of "Beneath Fields" to closer "Your Hollows" the band is confident in the tone, delivery and mood.

While the sonics get twisted in gloriously fuzzy ways one constant is lead vocalist and drummer Meg Baird whose singing takes on an other worldly feel; she could take over the saloon singer for True Detective 3 if the show stays in that tortured haunted route.  

"Sudden Lament" is one of the more direct songs with the melody and beat staying fairly straight (with a roaring guitar solo dropped in) while "Rama" rolls our for over ten minutes setting a dramatic scene that soars and chugs at different times making for a harrowing ride.
 
The energy gets ramped up for "Oriar" which finds guitarists Charlie Sauffley and Noel Von Harmonson screeching and clawing at the wails in exhilarating fashion. "Faro" also lets the six strings and their pedals/effects loose on the ears with power and gusto. "Seventeen Landscapes" opens with a bass line and walks around the dark forest of sound off putting at times but in the best of ways.

One issue with the disk can be tied to Baird's singing. Her unique voice makes actual lyrical content secondary to the tone and feel, but for this kind of rock and roll sometimes style over substance can work wonders. 

An excellent first release from a band that feels lived in and fresh all at once, Heron Oblivion does what adventurous rock and roll should do.   
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A few weeks back we previewed one of these tunes, and we were looking forward to the full length. It did not disappoint, this is some cool Psych/Noise Rock and right in our wheelhouse.

Support the band, buy the album and peep some video:

10 Years With Glide Magazine: A Look Back Part 4

Wow, @glidemag, has it really been 10 years since I first contributed to the website? That is hard to believe, time flies. In chatting with the sites fantastic editor, Shane Handler, about this series it turns out I have been the longest continual contributor to Glide, that's a fun feat. It continues to be a great ride but since everyone likes round numbers, I decided to take some time to look back at my favorite writings for the site.

For this installment we will pick our favorite review that we have ever written for the site and we got one of the editors favorites of ours as well to talk about.

First up is our Editors pick as Shane really enjoyed this review of Body/Head's disk Coming Apart from '13. When he first read it he was impressed mentioning it reminded of a NY Times review. We have never really delved into the break up of Sonic Youth and specifically Kim and Thurston because of one main reason...we don't want to.


In reviewing Gordon's and Moore's respective albums though it is impossible not to infer somethings into it as our Body/Head review did as well as our Chelsea Light Moving overflow review in 2013. SY shaped who we are as a music fan and person, so it is hard but we will always have the tunes, even if neither of those disks were particularly lasting.
   
RtBE's personal pick for our favorite review we've written for Glide is this one. It is of Kanye West's album Yeezus.

We don't particularly like the album , but feel it was/is important to hip-hop, so in turn, pop music in general. There are so few "hip-hop" beats here that it plays more as an art project then an album musically and that is incredibly interesting, if not always listenable/enjoyable. While the review may be a bit longer than I would have liked, it all needed to be said and this would be the one we showed to people who wanted to sample our writing. 


As always, thanks to Glide for posting our pieces and thanks to everyone for reading.

10 Years With Glide Magazine: A Look Back Part 2

Wow, @glidemag, has it really been 10 years since I first contributed to the website? That is hard to believe, time flies. In chatting with the sites fantastic editor, Shane Handler, about this series it turns out I have been the longest continual contributor to Glide, that's a fun feat. It continues to be a great ride but since everyone likes round numbers, I decided to take some time to look back at my favorite writings for the site.

Today I want to take a second to look at three of our favorite "Thumbs Down" reviews, thumbs way down actually...they can't all be zingers.

10 Years With Glide Magazine: A Look Back Part 1

Wow, @glidemag, has it really been 10 years since I first contributed to the website? That is hard to believe, time flies. In chatting with the sites fantastic editor, Shane Handler, about this series it turns out I have been the longest continual contributor to Glide, that's a fun feat. It continues to be a great ride but since everyone likes round numbers, I decided to take some time to look back at my favorite writings for the site.

To start this retrospective I wanted to focus on my first interview for Glide, which was also my first reporting interview anywhere. It was with an emerging band from Philly who were just starting to break out, Dr. Dog.

The band had just released We All Belong and were hitting the national radar for the first time. You can read the full piece here, but I want to reminisce on the experience.

Album Review: Bob Dylan- Shadows In The Night

Bob Dylan

Shadows In The Night

** out of *****

Here's the deal, do you like Bob Dylan's voice as it sounds in 2014-15? If you do you will like his most recent studio recording Shadows In The Night a lot. If not? Skip this.

RtBE loves Dylan, there is too much written on this site already about him, but regarding his newest release, there simply isn't that much to say. This collection of standards was literally recorded and marketed to the AARP crowd, with Dylan's voice the direct focal point. He sounds fine, the songs are classics, the backing instrumentation is dull to the point of muzak. It is a slow sleepy affair that is acceptable as background music during a retro cocktail party, but it may be even too subdued for that.

In all honesty if a die-hard Dylan fan can't get that excited about it, I can't give it more then 2 stars. Maybe when I reach retirement age I will come back to it, but for now, if you are infatuated with the bard's vocals check it out, if not move on.
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Catching up on some releases this week that are from earlier in 2015 of artists we like. Pretty amazing that we have so little to say about a Bob Dylan release, but it stirs up zero passion on either side for us, it wasn't laughably bad, nor surprisingly good. Obviously continue to support the artist, buy the album and peep some video:

Album Review: Donnie Fritts- Oh My Goodness

Hey all got a new review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here!!!

It is of Donnie Fritts latest solo release Oh My Goodness. Writing for Glide has been a pure joy over these last 10 years, and one of the main reasons has been the site has opened my ears to tons of new artists.

Fritts, isn't a new artist but he is new to me and this album is pretty damn good. Feel free to buy it here and peep some of the best tunes below:

Album Review: Craig Finn- Faith In The Future

Craig Finn

Faith In The Future

**** out of *****

On Craig Finn's first solo album Clear Heart Full Eyes the lonesomeness was palpable as was the Southwestern motifs, this time around things are more (dare I say) positive. Finn seems to be in a better space as the outlook and music surrounding his newest solo release Faith In The Future moves in the right direction, even though hardships are still everywhere.

The Hold Steady front-man uses his solo releases to turn down the guitars and amp up the story telling, this time digging into his September 11th, 2001 experience during "Newmyer's Roof" which was messy and confusing or inhabiting a drifters world view on opener "Maggie I've Been Searching For Our Son". While the words are what Finn does best, assembling a tight band around him this go around was key.

Joe Russo's drumming is the focal point musically keeping things moving at a steady clip providing pace when needed on the opener and even waltzing booms for "Sarah From Scranton". Producer Josh Kaufman's keeps it mostly mellow but adds flourishes like the horns in "Roman Guitars" counterbalancing the lyrics nicely or the piano line that dances with vibrations during "Going To A Show".  

Tracks where it all comes together like "St. Peter Upside Down" proves that Finn still has a lot to say even if his recent tHS offerings have been on the dull side. Like the title says faith is restored as Finn even recalls "Chips Ahoy!" and horse races this time on "Sarah, Calling From A Hotel" even if the results are a bit scary. A track like the swelling "Trapper Avenue" would in the past been an epic closer for his main band but now a world weary Finn takes things down a notch closing with the conflicted "I Was Doing Fine (Then A Few People Died)".

Having gotten older, Finn always seems to write age appropriate songs, this time at 43 having recently lost his mother, things are restrained as he has seen more of the world, yet still manages to look forward to the next phase.
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We love Craig Finn, one of the best songwriters out there. Support the artist here, buy the album here, and peep some video below: