Listening Booth: Bruce Springsteen, “Working On a Dream”
Bona fides: I’m a Jersey boy, and a fan. I’ve got more than 50 Springsteen concerts under my belt. I’ve even met him once or twice, and no, I never...
Posts Tagged: "Listening Booth"
Listening Booth: Beth Rowley, “Little Dreamer”
Beth Rowley – Little Dreamer (2008, Verve Forecast) purchase this CD (Amazon) Yes, Beth Rowley is another white, female British soul singer, but before you write her off as another...
Listening Booth: Olivia Broadfield, “Eyes Wide Open”
Olivia Broadfield, Eyes Wide Open (2007, Pig Factory) purchase this album (Amazon) Just when I think I’ve heard enough wispy female bedroom pop, along comes another cute-as-a-button waif with an...
Listening Booth: Guns n’ Roses, “Chinese Democracy” — A Second Opinion
It’s the curse of the debut album: the artist, unsure of who he/she is or what he/she ought to sound like strikes out in all directions — a power ballad...
Listening Booth: Ranlom, “Going on Holiday”
Ranlom – Going on Holiday (Quirky Bird, 2008) purchase this album (Amazon) With the amount of shit I’ve given Christmas music over the last few years, and the obvious relish...
Listening Booth: The Guggenheim Grotto, “Happy the Man”
Guggenheim Grotto – Happy the Man (UFO Music, 2009) purchase this album (Amazon) Its artwork has the sort of washed-out color tones that usually suggest an album from Jack Johnson...
Listening Booth: Guns n’ Roses, “Chinese Democracy”
Guns n’ Roses – Chinese Democracy (Geffen, 2008) purchase this album (Best Buy) Unless you’ve spent a lot of time in the company of William Shatner, Chinese Democracy will likely...
Listening Booth: Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, “Cardinology”
Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Cardinology (2008) purchase this album (Amazon) It’s been fashionable for the last few years to slag Ryan Adams at every turn. There’s no doubt that...
Listening Booth: Tipsy, “Buzzz”
Tipsy – Buzzz (Ipecac, 2008) purchase this album (Amazon) They call their music “drunktronica,” explain the seven-year layoff between this and their previous release by saying they were “distracted by...
Listening Booth: Rosie Thomas, “A Very Rosie Christmas”
Rosie Thomas – A Very Rosie Christmas (Nettwerk, 2008) purchase this album (Amazon) Okay, yes, I know — everyone hates Christmas music, and anyway, we’re about to bombard you poor...
Listening Booth: Miranda Lee Richards, “Light of X”
Miranda Lee Richards – Light of X (Nettwerk, 2009) purchase this album (Amazon) She took guitar lessons from Kirk Hammett and R. Crumb was her godfather, but don’t expect shredding...
Listening Booth: “Warren Zevon” (Collector’s Edition)
October 30, 2002 – It was close to the end when Warren Zevon made what everyone knew would be his final appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. The cancer...
Listening Booth: The Cure “4:13 Dream”
The Cure – 4:13 Dream (2008) purchase this album (Amazon) For bands like the Cure, that have been able to stick it out for 30 years of recording and touring,...
Listening Booth: Cheap Trick, “BUDOKAN!”
Cheap Trick – BUDOKAN! (Sony/Legacy, 2008) purchase this album (Amazon) On the surface, I grant you, this looks like a terrible idea, especially if you’re a Cheap Trick fan. Sony...
Listening Booth: Eric Hutchinson, “Sounds Like This”
Eric Hutchinson – Sounds Like This (2008) purchase this album (Amazon) Nine times out of 10, I’ve got to believe that a singer/songwriter who got a crucial career break from...
Listening Booth: Red Wanting Blue, “These Magnificent Miles”
When I was in my early 20s, I worked for a major concert promoter here in New Jersey. I recall that each time I walked into his office, I would...
Listening Booth: Ry Cooder, “The UFO Has Landed”
Ry Cooder – The UFO Has Landed (2008) purchase this album (Amazon) It’s a hundred degrees in the shade, easy, and you’ve been hiding from the worst of the heat...
Listening Booth: Passion Pit, “Chunk of Change EP”
Steadily making its way around the Internet, the Chunk of Change EP by Massachusetts’ Passion Pit started out as a Valentine’s Day gift to founder Michael Angelakos’ girlfriend. Angelakos wrote...
Listening Booth: Lucinda Williams, “Little Honey”
Like many other people, I welcomed Lucinda Williams into my life with the release of the Grammy-winning Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, in 1998. Over the course of the...
Listening Booth: Taj Mahal, “Maestro”
Taj Mahal – Maestro (Heads Up, 2008) purchase this album (Amazon) Maestro celebrates Taj Mahal’s 40th anniversary as a recording artist, and true to contrarian form, Mr. Mahal has elected...
Listening Booth: Ben Folds, “Way to Normal”
Ben Folds – Way to Normal (Epic, 2008) purchase this album (Amazon) Ben Folds has always been an artist I’ve appreciated more in theory than in practice. I’ve appreciated the...
Listening Booth: Joshua Radin, “Simple Times”
Joshua Radin – Simple Times (Mom & Pop, 2008) purchase this album (Amazon) When Joshua Radin’s new record, Simple Times, arrived unbidden on my doorstep, I assumed the worst, because...
Listening Booth: Tony Lucca, “Come Around Again”
Tony Lucca – Come Around Again (Lucca Music, 2008) purchase this album (CD Baby) Like a lot of white suburban teens, I spent a good portion of the early ’90s...
Listening Booth: Creedence Clearwater Revival Reissues
Creedence Clearwater Revival – 40th Anniversary Reissues (Fantasy, 2008) (six separate CDs — see below for purchase links) Okay, first things first — I realize the image above is for...
Listening Booth: Nina Simone, “To Be Free”
Nina Simone – To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story (Legacy, 2008) purchase this album (Amazon) Nina Simone made her concert debut in the early ’40s, as a 10-year-old girl...
Listening Booth: Lindsey Buckingham, “Gift of Screws”
Work or play. Family or friends. Protein or carbohydrates. Life is about seeking balance. Lindsey Buckingham has been seeking balance too. In his case, the challenge is to balance his...
Listening Booth: 3rd Rail, “Between Eleven”
3rd Rail has been around for about 10 years and, according to their MySpace page, were named “Best Unsigned Band in California” at the California Music Awards. Having been in...
Listening Booth: Or, the Whale, “Light Poles and Pines”
Or, the Whale – Light Poles and Pines (self-released, 2007) purchase this album (CD Baby) I give all the credit in the world to this band’s publicist. Instead of holding...
Listening Booth: Jason Reeves, “The Magnificent Adventures of Heartache (And Other Frightening Tales)”
Jason Reeves – The Magnificent Adventures of Heartache (And Other Frightening Tales) purchase this album (Amazon) Think The Magnificent Adventures of Heartache (and Other Frightening Tales) is a long title?...
Listening Booth: Laura Nyro, “Season of Lights … Laura Nyro in Concert”
Christmas Eve, 1970. I was at the Fillmore East to see Laura Nyro. A month earlier, Nyro had released her fourth album, Christmas and the Beads of Sweat, and it...