The GurusThe Gurus(Rainbow Quartz)The Gurus are well-versed in 1960s-era psychedelic pop, owing much to the ’66-’68 period of The Beatles with a little of the San Francisco scene thrown in. Bands with this sound have flooded the market since its birth, so it is easy to blow them off. But The Gurus’ songs are catchy […]
Trevor MacLaren
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Elvis Costello with The Metropole Orkest
Elvis Costello with The Metropole OrkestMy Flame Burns Blue(Universal)This disc continues in the vein of Piano Jazz, but My Flame Burns Blue isn’t a throwaway, fans-only release. Instead, it’s a genius work recorded live in 2004 with jazz and string orchestra Metropole Orkest. Costello gets to rework much of his back catalogue with new arrangements […]
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Shout Out Louds
Published December 08, 2005. Shout Out Louds Howl Howl Gaff Gaff (Capitol) Just simply put, a great pop record that utilizes ’60s pop mixed with ’80s and ’90s indie pop. A bit of new wave injected with garage rock and Brian Wilson’s chamber opuses. Shout Out Louds write some of the best and most original […]
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Aimee Mann
Aimee MannThe Forgotten Arm(Superego)Aimee Mann invades husband Michael Penn’s Beatles collection and comes out with her best disc since Bachelor No.2. The record is based on a song cycle concept about an addict boxer returning from Vietnam. Surprisingly enough, the idea works, though many of the tracks can stand on their own as well. This […]
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Harry Connick Jr.
Published September 18, 2003. Harry Connick Jr. Other Hours (Marsalis/Rounder) Harry drops the Sinatra wanna-be act and pulls together an instrumental jazz record. Who knew at the heart of Connick were Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell? Other Hours is based around small-combo swing, but the band lifts off in various directions in their solos, making […]
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Die Fälschung (Circle of Deceit)
Die Fälschung (Circle of Deceit)Directed by: Volker Schlöndorff (Kino Video)With the recent events in Israel and Lebanon, Volker Schlöndorff’s 1981 film feels quite fitting. The great German actor Bruno Ganz (Downfall) plays a journalist who heads to Lebanon on assignment while his marriage dissolves back in Hamburg. Of course the film tries to connect the […]
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The Cliks
The CliksSnakehouse(Warner)Snakehouse tries to take rock to a more primitive time. Lots of crunch and pulsating beats that recall the days before every rock band began to sound like either shitty metal (Nickelback) or punk-pop (Green Day). The sound owes a lot to Chrissie Hynde and the classic first two Pretenders records. But it’s a […]
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John Stetch
John StetchExponentially Monk(Justin Time)To even tinker with a certified genius and purveyor of all that is holy to be-bop is a heavy burden for anyone, even if you are John Stetch. The arrangements are solid and the proof is in the pudding because chops don’t lie. Reworking some of Monk’s greatest pieces such as “Round […]
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Steve Earle
Published October 09, 2003. Steve Earle Just an American Boy (E Squared) In the wake of Steve Earle’s dark vision of George W. Bush’s America on Jerusalem comes the live set Just an American Boy. The show is riddled with his “unpatriotic” and unapologetic views of politics and American music. It contains favourites such as […]
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Bonnie “Prince” Billy
Bonnie “Prince” BillyThe Letting Go(Drag City)After a couple of clunkers—Sings Greatest Palace Music and Summer in the Southeast—from Americana wunderkind Will Oldham (AKA Bonnie “Prince” Billy/Palace Music/Palace Brothers/Palace Songs/Palace), it seemed cracks were beginning to appear in the facade of what has been an amazing and prolific career thus far. On his 15th full-length release […]
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Wilco
WilcoBlue Sky BlueNonesuchLove him or hate him, Jeff Tweedy is one hell of a hell of a songwriter. After alienating many fans with his avant-garde-fused masterpieces, he switches currents again, writing an album of straight-ahead 1970s singer-songwriter rock. Avoiding the hippie granola of the ’70s LA mellow-mafia, BSB’s rock/pop should make them superstars. Trevor McLarencategories: […]
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Nashville Pussy
Nashville PussyGet Some!SpitfireThough they perfected their sleazy hard-pounding sound on High as Hell, Get Some proves Nashville Pussy has grown, somewhat, as a band. Which means they have moved from the juvenile antics of a 13-year-old to a 14-year-old. They no longer just sound like Mötorhead mixed with Lynyrd Skynyrd — they’ve slowed it down […]