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…
Rob Ross
1030 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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Rob Ross
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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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Rob Ross
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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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Rob Ross
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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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Rob Ross
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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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Rob Ross
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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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Rob Ross
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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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Rob Ross
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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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Rob Ross
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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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Rob Ross
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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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Rob Ross
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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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Rob Ross
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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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Rob Ross
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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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Rob Ross
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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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Rob Ross
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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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Rob Ross
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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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Rob Ross
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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…
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Rob Ross
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I don’t know how this escaped being recognized as a vitally important piece of work in a time of major musical landscape shifts. But let’s first remember who leads this…
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Rob Ross
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This six-song mini-album comes courtesy of Austin’s Broken Gold, which is the brainchild of Ian MacDougall, who is both the frontman and main writer. There’s a very warm and lush…
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Rob Ross
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This very interesting album is credited to The Peter Ulrich Collaboration, instigated and led by the original percussionist for Dead Can Dance. Here, Mr. Ulrich is multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, aided…
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Rob Ross
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Chicago-based singer-songwriter Andrew Belle, recently unwrapped his second full length album, Black Bear. The ten-track collection is awash in atmosphere and does have a “soundtrack-style” feel in many of the…
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Rob Ross
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Harris Glenn Milstead was the one and only Divine, the first great, international drag star to successfully captivate America’s imagination. Although his reign was brief – sadly, he died in…
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Rob Ross
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This low-voltage, high energy, coolly warm collection of stellar acoustic-based songs comes from the co-author of the timeless classic, “Summer In The City”. For those not familiar, Mark Sebastian is…
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Rob Ross
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Gorman Bechard’s What Were We Thinking Films delivers one of the most riveting, interesting, informative and entertaining films I’ve seen in a while. Every Everything: The Music, Live & Times…
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Rob Ross
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It isn’t often one reads a book about music – famous rock musicians – and find references to Maslow or Goethe. This is, hands down, the only psychological study I’ve…
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Rob Ross
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This English band, in the tradition of Paul Weller/Blur/Oasis, etc. are back with a new single. It’s a catchy song on the whole – but it’s empty in many ways: …