Life Itself is the gripping, heartwarming, detailed and powerful story of the inimitable Roger Ebert, the beloved film critic from the Chicago Sun-Times (as well as scriptwriter, author and all…
Rob Ross
1039 Articles
Rob Ross has been, for good, bad or indifferent, involved in the music industry for over 30 years - first as guitarist/singer/songwriter with The Punch Line, then as freelance journalist, producer and manager to working for independent and major record labels. He resides in Staten Island, New York with his wife and cats; he works out a lot, reads voraciously, loves Big Star and his orange Gretsch. Doesn't that make him neat?
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Relics is the fourth release from nouveau synth-pop trip Faded Paper Figures, who have been doing their thing on record since 2008, when they released their debut album. Of equal…
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Pleasing rock-pop is how I would describe this debut album from Los Angeles’ Dream Alive. Before The Dawn has structure, good production, melodies, harmonies and even if it is a…
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This is not a typical album review; this is special. Grace Griffith is a Washington D.C.-based singer; a performer in the folk tradition – specifically Irish folk – and vocal…
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It isn’t enough that we live in a time of “Big Brother is REALLY watching you” with downloading documents from the internet and having authorities at your door a minute…
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As someone who worked for nearly two decades in the music industry for record labels, distributors, etc., I was quite eager to read this book. Unfortunately, my appetite was whetted…
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Suzanne Vega has always been a delight in my musical life; I can’t pretend that I haven’t loved her from the moment I heard “Marlena On The Wall”. She is…
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It makes me feel good to know that there is this whole new crop of musicians from the mid-West releasing quality music. I’ve had the pleasure of hearing many of…
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I said that if the “taster” single, “Everybody Sometimes” was an indication of how this album would go, then Glenn Tilbrook’s Happy Ending was bound to be as much of…
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Falimy, the 9th album from Portland, Oregon’s Rachel Taylor Brown is awash in melody, almost a study in classic mid-’60’s songwriting: structural shifts, key changes, orchestration and most of all,…
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There have been, in recent memory, a few albums that have been late bloomers – recorded by bands that gave birth to other bands who went on to great successes. …
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Paul Weller is another of those artists where the line between “critic” and “fan” is easily/completely blurred. You have to understand, I’ve been a student of Weller’s since I first…
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Coming from the lead singer/guitarist/songwriter of new-wave veterans Squeeze, Glenn Tilbrook’s voice hasn’t aged one bit – it sounds just as sweet as it did when I first heard “Slightly…
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TRNZPRNT (pronounced as “transparent”) are New York/New Jersey area hard rock veterans of several bands, now having joined together to form this heavy-ish rock unit in the vein of…
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One of the smartest socio-political pundits to ever have the floor, the written word and the ear of the American public, the late, truly great Eugene Luther “Gore” Vidal is…
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A five piece band from Harlow, Essex in the U.K., Morning Parade unleash their second album, Pure Adulterated Joy, with an eye on invading the American consciousness. Having previously visited…
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I have to admit, I wasn’t keen on Mould’s last album, 2012’s Silver Age; at the time, I felt it was far too much of him ripping off Bob Mould…
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I was 19 when I first heard The The’s Soul Mining; it was a big album in my social circle. It was a thoughtful, deep, somewhat downcast yet emotionally buoyant…
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LOVE IT. Grooves, warmth, melody, seductive vocals – this second album from Brooklyn’s Flutronix, the flute-wielding duo of Nathalie Joachim and Allison Loggins-Hull is a home run. Produced by Flutronix…
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Author/food writer/blogger/critic/”Calvin & Hobbes” aficionado (and former music industry insider) Nevin Martell delivers what I think is his finest book to date – a loving and laughable look at life…
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For so many, R.E.M. was one of the most important bands to come along since The Beatles; they helped redefine and reshape the musical landscape, starting in the early ’80’s…
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Dramatic, almost theatrical and yet musically broad with a tremendous production – this is Diamonds, the debut full-length album from Johnnyswim, a husband-and-wife duo. The vocals of Amanda Sudano-Ramirez range…
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Five albums into his solo career and English-born, New York-bred Edward Rogers delivers a grand slam of a release with this offering, Kaye. Dedicated to the late, great Kevin Ayers…
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For whatever reason, intuition told me even before I heard a note of this album, that this was going to be something special. Not because I have a predisposition for…
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I don’t know anything about this band from Vancouver, B.C., but upon first listen, The Shilohs self-titled sophomore album has shades of another melodically-infused band’s maiden release… Of course, I’m…
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This band from Santa Barbara delivers a very strong album; this being their sophomoric effort. And this second album comes a decade after the band had split – glad to…
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Another of Irvine Welsh’s bleak yet sickly humorous novels about life in Scotland turned into a film, much like the heralded Trainspotting. However, unlike Trainspotting, which arrived on these shores…