My earliest memory of Bowie is from 1975 – when I was in high school. I remember two buddies of mine arguing about who was superior David Bowie or Foghat. An argument that today makes about as much sense as which is smarter a dog or goldfish, but at the time I was ignorant about pop […]
Nothing delights my ears more than when a legacy act delivers an album late in their career that is as daring as anything from their prime. That is rare, but even rarer is when they deliver a masterpiece that holds its own against the meat of their catalog. And rarest of all is when they […]
My first exposure to Harry Styles was on Saturday Night Live when he was promoting his first album in the spring of 2017. I was immediately impressed – he had that pop star magic that is hard to describe, but you know it when you see it. About a month later his first album was […]
I heard a lot of positive hype on this album in 2020, but not being familiar enough with Schneider’s work I was reluctant to lay out $25 for a hi-res download. My typical purchase of music (mostly vinyl and occasionally downloads and CDs) is predicated on my being very familiar with the artist or being […]
I haven’t listened to the Flaming Lips for years and have not seriously listened to anything since 2002’s Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. I noticed the Lips had a new release and the fact that Wayne Coyne is about my age somehow caught my attention. Pitchfork gave it a decent review (7.7). This Pitchfork tease […]
I am not much of a Pearl Jam fan, but I was motivated to check this new album out after listening to Bill Simmons’ podcast with the band’s Eddie Vedder and Jeff Ament. It is hard not to be a rock fan of a certain age and not be a Pearl Jam fan. Their first […]
This is one of my favorite albums of the 00s. I got to see Secret Machines live twice. Once when they warmed up and seriously upstaged the Kings Of Leon at First Avenue. The second time was at the same venue where they headlined and performed “in the round.” Both were amazing shows. Now Here […]
It is a bit pretentious of me to create a “best of” list, but that has not stopped me from making a “best of” list for the last several years. I am not an expert who is listening to a couple hundred albums a year, this is merely a list of albums I liked that were […]
Sometimes, it is easy to miss what is going on in your own backyard. My Chicago-based son turned me on to this wunderkind living under my nose. If I read the local press here in Minneapolis I would have been aware of this guy. Voted most likely to succeed by the local entertainment weekly and […]
It looks like some critics are panning Jack White’s new album. For example Pitchfork: With the joy and wit all but absent from his songwriting, Jack White’s third solo album becomes a long, bewildering slog. I don’t agree it is worthy of all that bile. I like the album. I respect Jack White and his […]
Axl's Catch Groove 