Sunday, January 1 1995
Tortoise: Standards
Muso-futurist journalist Simon Reynolds defined the music of Tortoise for them several years ago: they’re “post-rock”, they’re “using rock instruments for non-rock purposes”. Now, that’s…
The Pat Travers Band / Y&T: Radio 1 Live in Concert / BBC Live in Concert
Y&T BBC Live in Concert(Fuel 2000) by Scott Hudson traverspat-radio.jpg In the midst of one of rock’s most dismal periods, it’s refreshing to be treated…
The Tragically Hip: Up to Here, The Tragically Hip, Road Apples
When I first down to write this review, I was inclined to lament that it’s a shame these guys aren’t half as popular here in…
Turin Brakes: The Optimist LP
I know a few simple things: that I’ve been listening to The Optimist LP incessantly for about five weeks; that its musical facility and lyrical…
Tethered Moon: Chansons d’Edith Piaf
If you’re a rabid but conservative Piaf fan, don’t get excited just yet. This might not be an album for you. Tethered Moon are a…
Taco: After Eight
Oh boy. Yet another relic of the ‘80s that somehow managed to work its way into my music collection. Taco’s After Eight has to be…
Thistle: Oxygen EP
Cincinnati has always been like a second home to me. As a kid, I spent a number of summers there, enjoying what the city had…
Taraf de Haïdouks: self-titled
Europe, at least since the 19th century, has had a love-hate relationship with its Gypsy (or Roma, as they call themselves) population. Many intellectuals have…
Thingy: To The Innocent
Generally speaking, it’s pretty easy these days to make a distinction between what alternative music (the genre-confused phrase no longer needs quote marks, does it?)…
Tractor Kings: Sunday Night
It is simply too sloppy (and ultimately inaccurate) to slap the alt.country label on this Champaign-Urbana-based duo. No doubt, the roots-inflected approach of Jacob Fleischli…
Matt Tiegler: Gods and Heroes
I would say that Matt Tiegler needs a McCartney to his Lennon, but that comparison would be dishonestly flattering to Tiegler. The reason the Lennon/McCartney…
Therapy?: Suicide Pact
For Therapy?, the band’s biggest hit, 1994’s brilliant Troublegum, was both a blessing and a curse. A mix of uncompromising metal and sugary pop-punk, Troublegum…
This Busy Monster: Fireworks
From the tremulous warble of the musical saw that opens This Busy Monster’s new album, Fireworks, you know this is going to be a distinctly…
T-Model Ford: She Ain’t None of Your’n
T-Model Ford does it once again. Third time in three years for this old geezer. And if he reads this, he’s gonna kick my ass…
Two Way Radio: Bad Transistor
There is a buzz surrounding San Francisco’s Two Way Radio. Whether it be self-generated or created by fans and the industry matters not. Apparently these…
John Scofield: Steady Groovin’: The Blue Note Groove Sides
John Scofield’s records have always (it says here) contained one or two funk grooves, and Steady Groovin’ is a compilation of those sides from his…
The Soft Boys: Underwater Moonlight
If a rule-book had been written for aspiring punk rockers back in 1977, what the Soft Boys did would have broken every single directive in…
Steely Dan: Gaucho
Eventually, everything comes back into vogue, except maybe the music of Steely Dan. Maybe it’s because of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen’s intellectual smugness, or…
Santana: The Best of Santana: Volume 2
In view of Carlos Santana’s Grammy heist with Supernatural (1999), it’s not surprising that his former label (Columbia) should have scurried to put out this…
Nikki Sudden: The Last Bandit
Ragged glory. It’s a quality that dwells in artists who are able to filter out the superficial clutter of much of rock and pop music…
