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Scott HrehaReviews
Bushman’s Revenge: You Lost Me at HelloNot for the weak of heart, but open-minded fans of guitar music will find a lot to admire in Even Helte Hermansen's passionate playing. [27 August 2009] 
Rob Mazurek Quintet: Sound IsMazurek's latest Delmark release is a complete and well-sequenced work that's as simultaneously beautiful and challenging as anything in the cornetist's discography. [18 August 2009] 
Drive-By Truckers: Live from Austin TXLive from Austin TX is still an excellent document of a great rock 'n roll band doing what it does best. [17 August 2009] 
Cracker: Sunrise in the Land of Milk and HoneySixteen years past its moment in the sun and in the face of critical indifference, Cracker builds sardonic wit and musical in-jokes into what is possibly the best album of its career. [12 August 2009] 
The Fully Celebrated: Drunk on the Blood of the Holy OnesA potent concoction that will hopefully raise the "fully celebrated" of the band's name from irony to reality. [11 August 2009] 
Ian Gillan: One Eye to MoroccoAn album full of youthful longing that belies its creator's 63 years of age. [23 July 2009] 
Harappian Night Recordings: The Glorious Gongs of HainuweleDr. Syed Kamran Ali melds instruments, harmonies, and rhythms from South America to the Middle East to the Pacific Rim -- and somehow makes a cohesive statement out of the whole thing. [15 July 2009] 
Bob Dylan: New Morning / The Basement Tapes / Before the Flood / Dylan & the DeadThis set of CD reissues is welcome for The Basement Tapes alone where it now possesses a clarity that belies its humble and informal origins. [26 June 2009] 
Mulatu Astatke/The Heliocentrics: Inspiration Information 3This is not a collection of genre exercises -- just uninhibited cross-pollination by an ensemble cast whose creativity knows no bounds. [19 June 2009] 
Japandroids: Post-NothingA virile combination of passion and grandiosity that sounds much larger than the guitar/drums instrumentation implies. [2 June 2009] 
Meat Puppets: Sewn TogetherFans hoping for a return to the more idiosyncratic approach of the band's truly classic 1980s material will likely come away disappointed once again. [26 May 2009] 
Booker T.: Potato HolePotato Hole doesn't live up to the admittedly lofty expectations of the ensemble cast, but it's clear that all involved are having one hell of a good time. [7 May 2009] 
Superdrag: Industry GiantsHow power pop can be so unmemorable is a mystery that Superdrag appears to have solved. [6 May 2009] 
Horace Andy & Ashley Beedle: Inspiration Information 2An uplifting and positively fun album from a pair of artists who are clearly meant to work together. [29 April 2009] 
Roswell Rudd: Trombone TribeWith five different trombone-heavy ensembles, Trombone Tribe is an extended family reunion for the instrument's modern proponents. [27 April 2009] 
Bob Mould: Life and TimesEven if these aren't Mould's actual "Life and Times", he relays them with a conviction that makes them live and breathe as if they were his own. [13 April 2009] 
PJ Harvey & John Parish: A Woman a Man Walked ByA Woman a Man Walked By isn't the most essential item in either artist's discography, but it's still one worth hearing -- if only to witness how slowly and deliberately it reveals its difficult charms. [9 April 2009] 
Lotus Plaza: The Floodlight CollectiveDeerhunter guitarist Lockett Pundt seems the least likely candidate to indulge in solo work, but his Lotus Plaza project shows that there's a lot more going on below the surface of Pundt's shoe-gazing stage persona. [1 April 2009] 
Dead Man: EuphoriaSwedish quartet places an uncomfortable emphasis on instrumental prowess at the expense of memorable passages -- resulting in music that seeps into the brain over time rather than making a powerful first impression. [30 March 2009] 
Wicked Witch: Chaos: 1978-86There's a pervasive feeling that regardless of how authentic Richard Simms' "brother from another planet" persona might be, the music is still a matter of style over substance. [25 March 2009] 
Lafayette Afro Rock Band: Darkest Light: The Best of the Lafayette Afro Rock BandGroups like the Lafayette Afro Rock Band might not be as integral to the history of soul, funk, jazz, and hip-hop as the superstars who get all of the press -- but compilations like Darkest Light help to ensure their place in that continuum. [20 March 2009] 
Gerald Cleaver, William Parker, Craig Taborn: Farmers by NatureAs far as long-form improvisation is concerned, this 65-minute live set by drummer Gerald Cleaver, bassist William Parker and pianist Craig Taborn is a success of the highest order. [18 March 2009] 
Diagonal: DiagonalBrighton, UK-based prog revivalists' debut CD is a frustrating blend of promising directions and tired tricks that doesn't quite substantiate the effort. [16 March 2009] 
Ume: SunshowerAustin, Texas-based trio follows up its debut four years later with a newfound balance between aggression and sweetness. [23 February 2009] 
My Morning Jacket: iTunes Live from Las Vegas at the PalmsJim James and associates reinvent themselves once again, this time falling somewhere between Quiet Storm soul balladeers and a cummerbund-rocking wedding band. [12 February 2009] 
Beans: OnlyLike many previous attempts to mine similar territory, this meeting between Beans' avant-garde hip-hop and William Parker and Hamid Drake's avant-garde jazz is not the groundbreaking mash-up that it aspires to be. [9 June 2006] 
Living Colour: Everything Is Possible: The Very Best of Living ColourWith a track list so skewed in favor of the band's first two records, the savvy consumer might do better to pick up Vivid and Time's Up and call their Living Colour collection complete. [21 April 2006] Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid: The Exchange Session Vol. 1Electricity and drum will change your mind? You better believe it. [31 March 2006] 
Prince: 3121Many of the classic elements of a Prince record are here, but it also feels considerably safer -- like a poorly concealed attempt to recapture past glories at the expense of his wilder creative muse. [30 March 2006] 
Burnt Friedman & Jaki Liebezeit: Secret Rhythms 2Channeling the spirits of Augustus Pablo and Can certainly isn't the worst musical concept to attempt, and Friedman and Liebezeit do a credible job of making it work. [16 March 2006] 
Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3: ...Tick ...Tick ...TickWynn and the Miracle 3 have finally captured the energy and spontaneity of their live performances in the studio, resulting in an early contender for one of the year's strongest rock records. [15 March 2006] Chihei Hatakeyama: Minima MoraliaThe slightest hint of sharp edges and dissonance lurking beneath Hatakeyama's billowing clouds saves the disc from strictly new age purposes, but it veers dangerously close. [9 March 2006] 
Chicago Underground Duo: In Praise of ShadowsBoth members have moved on to more populous and exotic locales, but the Duo's hybrid of jazz instrumentation and compositional tenets with post-rock production techniques still resonates with a distinctly Chicagoan state of mind. [7 March 2006] 
Various: The Rough Guide to the Music of the SaharaCompilations in any genre are rarely so effective. [24 January 2006] 
Dwele: Some Kinda…Improving upon his debut, Dwele delivers another set of smooth and soulful tracks unified by instrumental interludes and a loose conceptual theme that falls somewhere to the right of D'Angelo's Voodoo and Andre 3000's The Love Below. [20 January 2006] 
Les Nubians: Les Nubians Presents Echos, Chapter One: Nubian VoyagerA courageous experiment by a group refusing to work within the confines of 'neo-soul', 'world beat', or any other inflexible genre tag. [19 December 2005] 
Acid Mothers Temple & the Cosmic Inferno: Iao Chant from the Cosmic InfernoFor those uninitiated into the world of these prolific Japanese space-rockers, Iao Chant... is as decent a place as any to start; but if you proceed, do so with incredible caution. [21 November 2005] 
Breakestra: Hit the FloorMiles Tackett and his collaborators form an ambitious crew -- and are obviously talented enough to continue pushing the boundaries of the Breakestra's potential. [27 October 2005] 
The Makers: Everybody Rise!A high tolerance for pedantic tales of skirt-chasing is essential to the enjoyment of this record. [5 October 2005] 
Badi Assad: VerdeAssad's guitar technique and arrangements are impeccable, her singing sweet and alluring, her experimental flourishes tasteful and never intrusive -- all of which comes largely at the sacrifice of passion. [26 September 2005] 
Giant Drag: Hearts and UnicornsListening to Giant Drag is nowhere near the colossal downer its name implies, but rather one of many joyful ironies surrounding the band's excellent debut. [15 September 2005] 
Ernest Dawkins’ Chicago 12: Misconceptions of a Delusion Shades of a CharadeThe future of jazz in Chicago is a bright one, indeed. [19 August 2005] 
SFJazz Collective: SFJazz CollectiveLet it be clear that this is no jazz equivalent of the Wu-Tang Clan, coming together like Voltron to rescue the music from its infinitesimal market share. [16 August 2005] 
The Mobius Band: The Loving Sounds of StaticBand moves to Big City, band releases EP that generates much buzz for full-length... band over-refines sound for potential mainstream success?" [3 August 2005] 
Various Artists: The Sexual Life of the Savages: Underground Post-Punk from São Paulo, BrazilAs with nearly any compilation, there are a few bands that were mercifully limited to one track, but that doesn't make the collection any less vital to anyone who's interested in Brazilian music or post-punk in general. [14 June 2005] 
Pat Martino: Think TankMartino’s new release Think Tank is likely to raise more than a few eyebrows, as it marks a return to the modal-flavored hard bop upon which his reputation is largely based. [12 December 2003]
Kings of Leon: Youth and Young ManhoodSo I suppose it goes without saying that Youth and Young Manhood is most definitely not one of the best debut albums of the last 10 years; it wouldn’t even earn that title if the timeframe were whittled down to the last 10 days. [16 September 2003]
Neil Young: GreendaleGreendale should be seen as nothing less than a serious achievement by an artist who has never been content to simply rest on his past glories—an achievement worthy of even more acclaim in a culture where nostalgia outweighs iconoclasm on a daily basis. [29 August 2003]
Radiohead: Hail to the ThiefSo even if Hail to the Thief isn’t the protest record of the decade, or OK Computer 2 as Yorke suggested in an interview earlier this year, it’s still an incredible album from a band that continues to redefine its boundaries. [20 June 2003] |
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