Music
Van Hunt, Popular (EMI)
On Popular, Van Hunt’s influences have finally coalesced into a voice. You can still hear Prince, Sly, George Clinton and a host of glam rock folks, but there’s no […]
Chef Menteur, The Answer’s in Forgetting (Backporch Revolution)
It’s easy for space rock bands to fall in love with the technological rush that comes with making a big, ominous sound. But from the opening strummed acoustic guitar chords […]
Cowboy Mouth, The Name of the Band is Cowboy Mouth (Valley DVD)
Sometimes you’ve just got to be there. The Name of the Band is Cowboy Mouth is a DVD of the band at the Roxy in Los Angeles, and it […]
The Happy Talk Band, THERE There (Independent)
If there’s one band that doesn’t do happy talk, it’s the Happy Talk Band. Luke Allen’s songs deal with loss, but not in a depressing way. He writes with […]
Various Artists, Various Christmas Albums (Various Labels)
The challenge with Christmas music is to catch the right mood. The holiday almost inherently sentimental, and it requires artists making Christmas music to accept that. Perhaps because of Pam […]
Mindy Smith, My Holiday (Vanguard)
The strongest release of new music is Mindy Smith’s <em>My Holiday</em>, which has become one of my favorite albums of the year. The Americana singer-songwriter mixes classics and new seasonal […]
Gravity A, Naissance (Independent)
Instead of jazz/jam/funk, this is jazz/jam/rock, which means that when it doesn’t lean toward fusion, it veers toward art rock. Gravity A distinguishes itself with an appealingly spacious sound that […]
Mary Gauthier, Between Daylight and Dark (Lost Highway)
On Easter, Patti Smith says, “Those who have suffered understand suffering and therefore extend their hand.” Thibodeaux native Mary Gauthier’s art bring this thought to mind; on 2005’s Mercy […]
Robyn Hitchcock, I Wanna Go Backwards (Yep Roc)
Robyn Hitchcock is commonly referred to by critics as a surrealist, and that’s certainly the notion filmmaker Jonathan Demme puts forward in his 1998 Hitchcock performance film, Storefront Hitchcock. […]
D.C. Sills, Better When I’m Loved (Independent)
Alexandria folk singer D.C. Sills highlights an interesting phenomenon on Better When I’m Loved, her first full length album. She, like so many folk singers, strives for a seemingly […]
