‘Vernia’ has all the makings of an E-Dub masterpiece, and quickly shakes off the ring-rust that emerges in a few instances.
Read moreBananarama Reclaim Their Enduring Class Act Status with Incandescent ‘In Stereo’ | Album Review
As original rule breakers, Bananarama have nothing left to prove. That they can produce a record of such quality and care is in and of itself a laudable, if not surprising feat.
Read moreAnderson .Paak Fires on All Soulful Cylinders Throughout Vibrant ‘Ventura’ | Album Review
The currency of Paak’s fourth studio affair is an abiding need for a groove and the eleven tracks here are all variations upon that theme.
Read moreThe Yawpers Revel in Their Kinetic & Kaleidoscopic Brand of Rock on ‘Human Question’ | Album Review
The album’s individual songs possess a seamlessness that feels like driving on an empty highway and suddenly realizing you're going 85 miles per hour.
Read more‘Amazing Grace’ Captures Aretha Franklin at the Summit of Her Spiritual Power | Film Review
Photo courtesy of NEON
“Aretha Franklin looked for excellence in everything she did, and she wanted excellence from this film,” the film’s co-producer Tirrell D. Whittley explains.
Read moreEmma Bunton Returns in Reverent & Ravishing Form with ‘My Happy Place’ | Album Review
‘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 more