Sunday, January 1 1995
Jessie Mae Hemphill: Feelin’ Good
Listening to Jessie Mae Hemphill is to experience almost completely pure unvarnished blues. Her music is steeped in her natural familiarity with the ancient roots of Mississippi Hill country traditions while she improvised rhythmically and lyrically to contemporize her sound.
Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child: The Jimi Hendrix Collection
Another Jimi Hendrix greatest hits compilation? Wasn’t 1993’s The Ultimate Experience enough? Or even 1998’s Experience Hendrix? Well, yes and no. Part of the reason…
Engelbert Humperdink: The Ultimate Collection
After aurally pleasing my ears listening to this hour plus treasure-trove of greatest hits (and let me tell you, they are all great hits!), I…
The Haggard: A Bike City Called Greasy
If Hothead Paisan could be in a band, she would take her cat and chainsaw and jump on stage to join The Haggard. The Haggard…
Big Walter Horton & Alfred “Blues King” Harris: Title
This record is so unbelievably good, I felt like I’d won the Big Spin at the lottery. Big Walter Horton played the blues like no…
Coleman Hawkins feat. Kenny Clarke: Lausanne 1949
In late 1949, jazz titans Coleman Hawkins—who among his many accolades is credited with no less a distinction than virtually inventing the tenor saxophone as…
Helium Angel, Early Clue To a New Direction
I get CDs all the time from unsigned bands who have pooled all their resources to put out their own records. Most of the time,…
Hooverville: Lucky Rabbit’s Foot
Two men with two vocals and two instruments recording dry without overdubs. Bluegrass, classic country and hillbilly—a timeless American sound with influences ranging from Hank…
Hootie & the Blowfish: Scattered, Smothered and Covered
On Scattered, Smothered and Covered, Hootie & the Blowfish’s new album of cover songs, the band seems to be under the impression that any song…
Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks: Beatin’ the Heat
After a recording hiatus of several decades, Dan Hicks eased back into the studio and has emerged with his finest record. He writes songs like…
Humble Pie: Natural Born Boogie
Like the blues players he idolized, Steve Marriott may finally be getting his due after he’s no longer here to reap the rewards. Bands like…
The John Hart Trio: Indivisible
From the magnificent Hep label, a guitar trio session that can take a while to get into, individual from folksy to hard rocky, improvised music and melodic sense that needs and repays concentrated listening.
Hybrasil: Friendly Destroyer
Hybrasil is a hard band to pin down. On the surface, they seem to be just another fun hippie jam band, but they seem to…
Haywood: Men Called Him Mister
Listening to Men Called Him Mister by Haywood, brings me back to the early ‘90s, I’m crammed in a sweaty club watching Pavement, or was…
Hot Stove Jimmy: Theme For a Major Hit
As ska moved from Jamaican soul music to American homogenized banality, bands like Hot Stove Jimmy interceded and saved ska from itself.
Hefner: The Fidelity Wars
Working through Hefner’s The Fidelity Wars is like listening to an ex’s mixtape that has been buried in a shoebox for months, its love songs…
Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals: Burn to Shine
The rising star’s name is Ben Harper, and he is being called a compilation of the immortals: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, and Bob Dylan. Interested?…
Nina Hynes: Creation
The formula of heavy beats, electronic loops, and traditional instruments combined with elegant female vocals has served everyone from its pioneer Bjork to Mono and…
Hakim: Yaho
In 1990, Mango released Yalla - Hitlist Egypt, an essential collection of Egyptian pop music with top-notch selections from artists working in both the sha’abi…
