Mary Chapin Carpenter makes sadness sound good. This is a gross oversimplification of her appeal, one which I hope to correct later on in this review, but at their best,…
CD Reviews
636 Articles
Dw. Dunphy
1 Min Read
It isn’t hard to fall for Tift Merritt, and not just for the obvious, superficial reasons. I recall back in 2005 when she was making the rounds for Tambourine, her…
Kelly Stitzel
4 Min Read
One of the best moments I’ve ever had at a concert happened during a Rufus Wainwright show on my birthday in 2004. It was at a smallish outdoor venue in…
Ken Shane
2 Min Read
I love Shelby Lynne. I’m not given to starting my reviews with such proclamations, but I think it’s important that you know where I’m coming from. Not only is Shelby…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
There is a group of great American songwriters who make the process seem so effortless that sometimes their brilliance is taken for granted. Their chord structures are simple, mostly played…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
I don’t know how strange it’s been, but it has certainly been a long trip for Matt Pond PA. The band’s story begins in Philadelphia in 1998, before relocating to…
Michael Fortes
5 Min Read
Trip hop meets New Romanticism as X:THC’s new multimedia project takes Popdose writer Michael Fortes on a deep existential trip.
Pete Chianca
1 Min Read
Where does Stevie Van Zandt find these bands? It’s easy to imagine the Wicked Cool Records founder prowling around with his ear pressed up against strange garages, listening for the…
Dw. Dunphy
1 Min Read
Settling for easy descriptions never gets a writer very far. That goes for describing an act as sounding like another act, or insisting a group’s specific genre should sound a…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
I am certainly not about to knock any songwriter who includes a song called “Shane” on his album. In this case, Martin Sexton is writing about his son, but his…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Over the past few years, David Byrne has made his best music as a guest performer on other artists’ tracks, due in part to his increasingly Zelig-like ability to insert…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
I went through a huge BoDeans phase in the mid ’90s — I can’t remember how it started, but what I do recall is that this was before I had…
Ken Shane
2 Min Read
I like the good old three chord rock and roll as much as any other jaded music writer does. But I also like innovation. I love hearing young bands trying…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
I’ve really pretty much had it with covers records — those of you who follow me on Twitter may have recently experienced my raging disdain for Marc Cohn’s upcoming exercise…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
Retro-soul is a musical style in which contemporary artists attempt to recapture the sound and feel of the great soul music of the ’60s and early ’70s. Musical touchstones include…
Ken Shane
3 Min Read
“The general theme of this record is trying to find balance in your life and being okay with decisions, mistakes, and even triumphs. Being satisfied with whatever world you’ve carved…
Robert Cass
3 Min Read
Two weeks ago Jeff Giles asked me to review Talk About, the new album from Mishka, the first — and so far only — artist signed to j.k. livin Records,…
Dw. Dunphy
1 Min Read
Live albums, more than any other, date themselves immediately, and not merely because the date is plastered all over the recording. Multiple artists on a roster are even more susceptible….
Michael Fortes
2 Min Read
Michael Fortes has stumbled and fallen for the alluring songs and hypnotic voice of Berkeley’s Ash Reiter, and he thinks the same might happen to you too.
Jason Hare
1 Min Read
In a 1995 interview with Canada’s MuchMusic, Barenaked Ladies’ vocalist Steven Page attempted to describe his band’s new philosophy following the departure of keyboardist/percussionist Andy Creeggan. For a while, he…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Gentle folk ballads performed in hushed voices by sensitive dudes with acoustic guitars have gotten kind of a bad rap since Zach Braff helped make Iron & Wine famous, and…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
An ugly, ageless motherfucker given to pork pie hats and boozy harmonica solos, Peter Wolf is about as rock ‘n’ roll as rock ‘n’ roll gets — the kind of…
Michael Parr
1 Min Read
As if Daryl Hall’s ego isn’t inflated enough, The Bird and the Bee go and devote an entire album to the Rock and Soul of Hall & Oates, Michael Parr has the review.
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
I don’t think there’s a band on the planet that’s done a more thorough job of repackaging its hits than Chicago — and in the 20 years since scoring its…
Dw. Dunphy
1 Min Read
It’s difficult not to look at Jan Berry and Brian Wilson as spiritual twins. Berry was a budding studio genius, starting raw with doo-wop bands but eventually teaming with Dean…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
The power trio has had a long and glorious history in the annals of rock and roll. The simple, but often explosive blend of electric guitar, bass, and drums is…
Michael Parr
1 Min Read
James Mercer and Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton have joined forces to create the indie super-group Broken Bells. Michael Parr reviews the group’s debut record.
Dw. Dunphy
1 Min Read
Coming from the 1970s UK pub-rock scene, Graham Parker had to slip away from the shadows cast by Nick Lowe, the producer of his first album Howlin’ Wind, and the…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
I wish that record companies, publicists, and critics for that matter, would kick the habit of feeling the need to describe artists in terms of other artists in their press…
Michael Fortes
3 Min Read
Is the “new” Jimi Hendrix album really worth all the hullabaloo? Popdose writer Michael Fortes digs deep to find out.