‘My Happy Place’ sources its infectious feel-good spirit from Bunton’s own enthusiasm that is readily expressed in the content of the album.
Read moreLÉON Defies Categorization, Delivers Dynamic & Distinctive Self-Titled Debut | Album Review
When you listen to LÉON’s eponymous debut album from start to finish (headphones recommended), you’ll understand what all the fuss is about.
Read moreBohannons Keep It Simple Yet Stirring with ‘Bloodroot’ | Album Review
It's not so much that the Bohannons make simple rock & roll. Their talent is in making the complex feel simple, and ‘Bloodroot’ is the prime manifestation of this.
Read moreMarvin Gaye’s Unearthed LP ‘You’re The Man’ Revisits the Icon at a Creative Crossroads | Album Review
That ‘You’re The Man’ falls short of classic status is hardly surprising, but it should also be less than shocking to realize there are moments of sheer genius throughout.
Read moreLucy Rose Digs Deep Within on Brave & Beautiful ‘No Words Left’ | Album Review
Produced by Tim Bidwell, Rose’s fourth studio album ‘No Words Left’ finds her baring the conflicts of her soul with an even more pronounced clarity and self-awareness.
Read moreJenny Lewis Bares Her Soul with Naked Honesty on Cleverly Conceived 'On The Line' | Album Review
It’s a unique pleasure for an artist who spoke to you deeply years ago to continue creating compelling material, as is clearly the case with Lewis’ fourth album.
Read moreWeezer’s ‘Black Album’ Unfurls as a Mixed Bag of Concoctions | Album Review
The geek Weltschmerz of yester-Weezer is still manifest across the record’s ten tracks, but the ‘Black Album’ doesn’t feel as penetratingly visceral as their formative work.
Read moreOver the Rhine’s ‘Love & Revelation’ Illuminates the Resilience & Resolve of the Human Spirit | Album Review
‘Love & Revelation’ derives its strength and substance not from the prospect of escaping, but rather from the notion of embracing life—the good, the bad and everything in between.
Read moreSophie Ellis-Bextor Takes Two Decades of Tunes For A Symphonic Spin on ‘The Song Diaries’ | Album Review
‘The Song Diaries’ charts Ellis-Bextor’s journey from frontwoman for theaudience to an engaging solo entity through seventeen reimagined tracks—nineteen on the vinyl pressing.
Read moreThe Unequivocal Brilliance of Little Simz’s ‘GREY Area’ Is Crystal Clear | Album Review
Little Simz’s ‘GREY Area’ deserves every plaudit and prize coming its way, and if there’s any justice, they will arrive by the barrel load.
Read morePartners In Rhyme Smif-N-Wessun Return Reinvigorated with ‘The All’ | Album Review
Here’s to another adult contemporary rap album, which is age-appropriate in its reflections of the ‘90s without succumbing to excessive nostalgia and sentimentality.
Read moreDido’s Distinctive Pop Pulse Radiates on Stirring ‘Still On My Mind’ | Album Review
The vocal, lyrical and arrangement levels all function superbly throughout the runtime of ‘Still On My Mind,’ which makes for an absorbing listen.
Read moreSolange Aims High with Captivating & Challenging ‘When I Get Home’ | Album Review
Solange’s fourth album unfolds as a loosely constructed, often lyrically repetitive set of songs that intermingle and flow into one another to an even greater degree than her previous album.
Read more‘Sky Blue’ Extends the Mystique & Magic of Townes Van Zandt’s Songcraft | Album Review
Van Zandt’s ability to bring songs to life with just his words, voice and guitar is why, some 20 years after his death, people are still re-examining and enjoying his work.
Read moreCzarface Deliver Another Dose of Dopeness With Ghostface Killah Collaboration ‘Czarface Meets Ghostface’ | Album Review
The collaboration succeeds because all three emcees deliver what their longtime fans were hoping for: an album that is current, but harks back to their best moments in the past.
Read moreSwindle Paves a Distinctive & Dynamic Musical Path with ‘No More Normal’ | Album Review
‘No More Normal’ unfolds as a tour de force of musicality that is easily encompassed by the artist at the heart of the endeavor.
Read moreSean Price’s Legacy of High-Caliber Hip-Hop Expands with Small Professor Collaboration ’86 Witness’ | Album Review
Across the ten-track affair, Small Pro’s beats provide the perfect accompaniment to Price’s signature gravelly flow and sharp lyrical barbs.
Read moreJessica Pratt Transforms the Darkest Hours of the Night Into the Sublime with ‘Quiet Signs’ | Album Review
A terse yet utterly transcendent triumph of a third album that illuminates Ms. Pratt’s evolving songcraft, the brilliant ‘Quiet Signs’ rather remarkably augurs that her best may still be to come.
Read moreGary Clark Jr.’s Genre-Blending ‘This Land’ is a Quintessentially American Musical Masterpiece | Album Review
‘This Land’ reimagines what contemporary blues might sound like without the profound influence of the 1960s British Invasion to alter its trajectory in the United States.
Read moreColin Linden & Luther Dickinson Craft a Whole Lotta Songs to Love with ‘Amour’ | Album Review
The performances captured here are all stellar, with the The Tennessee Valentines doing a particularly exceptional job of making sure each and every song sounds perfect.
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