“Mother of the Blues” Ma Rainey Is Restored to Full Glory
Ma Rainey’s Mother of the Blues: The Complete Paramount Recordings 1923-1928 is a treasure trove that fully lives up to both of Rainey’s famous sobriquets.
Music Reviews
Panda Bear and Sonic Boom Create Immersive Neo-Psychedelia
What feels missing from Panda Bear’s new LP is a greater willingness to let carefully chosen timbres lead to equally adventurous harmonic or structural destinations.
Olaf Rupp’s Latest Adventure in Avant-Garde Solo Guitar
Olaf Rupp’s Fuzzy Logic is yet another fascinating release in the Palilalia Records catalog, and his work here is impressive and deeply satisfying.
Xiu Xiu Successfully Evoke a David Lynchian Cinematic World
Eraserhead Xiu Xiu succeeds brilliantly as an evocation of David Lynch’s cinematic world, while proving less convincing as a recording intended to stand on its own.
Ryan Beatty Refines a Musical Language on ‘Sweet Fortune’
Country music may go in and out of style, but on Sweet Fortune, Ryan Beatty employs songwriting foundations that transcend genre.
Grey DeLisle and Les Greene Join Forces for ‘Grey & Greene’
Grey DeLisle and Les Greene create one of her most immediately exciting works, and the genre-crossing keeps it entertaining throughout.
The Rolling Stones Speak in ‘Foreign Tongues’
Foreign Tongues may please some Rolling Stones fans, as the individual members share inspired moments. One can hear their earnestness and desire to please.
Steven Bernstein Releases Brilliant Twin Albums
For all the amazing horn playing that we finally hear from Steven Bernstein these two records remind us that he remains daring and highly conceptual.
’68’s ‘They Are Survived’ Is the Sound of Two Against the End
For 13 years, ’68 made noise rock that was, essentially, about how life-affirming it is to make songs. With They Are Survived, they say goodbye at full volume.
Madonna’s ‘Confessions II’ Lacks Innovation
In creating a sequel to a revival album, Madonna’s Confessions II reinforces the notion that the best we can hope for from our pop matriarchs is nostalgia.
Beth Orton Looks Up to Find Herself Buried Alive
Making The Ground Above may have been therapeutic for the folktronica artist, but it is not redemptive, and Beth Orton knows it.
Taiga Ultan Creates Tight Constrictions to Break Free of Them
Taiga Ultan’s Shade Zero demonstrates that conscious music-making never fully abandons rules, even if those rules are not to have rules.