Category: Reviews

Album | The Autumn Defense – Here and Nowhere

An abiding love of musical masterpieces like The Zombies’ Odessey and Oracle, Love’s Forever Changes and The Kinks’ Village Green Preservation Society set the stage for the latest release from The Autumn Defense, Here and Nowhere. The influences of John…

Album | Ninebarrow – The Hour of the Blackbird

The voice is a most marvelous instrument, it has a flexibility to move the mind in ways that fuel the heart and soul, which is what makes Ninebarrow’s new album, The Hour of the Blackbird, a most mystical experience. While…

Album | Amanda Shires – Nobody’s Girl

Amanda Shires has been dealing with her fair share of ghosts. Finally emerging from her divorce from Jason Isbell, along with the loss of both her grandmother and father, Nobody’s Girl looks at the wreckage of the last few years.…

Album | Neko Case – Neon Grey Midnight Green

A lot has happened in the past seven years. This is the period between Neko Case’s last album Hell-On and Neon Grey Midnight Green. Not that Case hasn’t been productive in the interim, appearing on two New Pornographers albums, writing the musical score…

Album | The Divine Comedy – Rainy Sunday Afternoon

Neil Hannon is firmly ensconced as one of the premier songwriters of his generation. His way with words, his wit, and his ability to craft a song about two people in their dotage who, in order to find their inner…

Album | Carson McHone – Pentimento

Nothing prepares you for Pentimento by Carson McHone. It diverges from the mainstream more often than not. From the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1840, to the bird song that follows then is repeated on a rickety piano, let…

Album | Margo Price – Hard Headed Woman

Margo Price has clearly spent some time in church. There’s sense of solemnity to the music of ‘Prelude (Hard Headed Woman)’, that takes you back to those early days spent in the pews. Yet, when she sings, “I’m a hard…

Album | Anna Tivel – Animal Poem

Closing off the main chapter of summer is Anna Tivel’s seventh full-length studio album Animal Poem. Produced with Sam Weber, most of the recordings were created in a wonderfully collaborative space with many of Tivel’s closest friends making music together…

Album | Eve Adams – American Dust

Living in Los Angeles can take a lot out of a person. For Eve Adams the city had begun to take a toll. She longed for the open spaces, and the high desert offered the serenity she lacked. As a…