Tejano music so good that not even death could stop it, the Texas Tornados’ Esta Bueno is the first, unlikeliest, and best reunion album of 2010. The first time I…
CD Reviews
635 Articles
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Getting old sucks, but some things just get better with age — just ask Wendell Holmes of the Holmes Brothers, who has dealt with some of the health issues that…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Lifehouse fascinates me in many ways, none of them musical. For instance, who would have guessed these guys would still be around ten years after “Hanging by a Moment,” let…
Dw. Dunphy
1 Min Read
I’ve been forced over the past few years to create a new gauge for music discrimination: good, bad and American Idol. I’ll leave the show bashing to someone else because,…
Jack Feerick
1 Min Read
As anyone must be who follows pop entertainment, I’m a keen observer of trend cycles. Culture is a marketplace, and there are all kinds of practical reasons to keep an…
Anthony Hansen
1 Min Read
Though I’ve been a Bowie fan for just about as long as I’ve been a sentient human being (thanks, Dad!), I’ve only seen him live once and it was on…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
The sixth and final chapter in the American Recordings collaborations between Johnny Cash and Rick Rubin is a direct conversation between a man and his maker.
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
Don Was (born Don Fagenson) and David Was (born David Weiss) grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, and met in junior high school in the 1960s. It was a…
Mike Heyliger
1 Min Read
On the back of the booklet in Gil Scott-Heron’s I’m New Here CD is a message. The message reads as follows: “There is a proper procedure for taking advantage of…
Dw. Dunphy
1 Min Read
The cover of Robin Aigner’s Bandito says a lot about what’s inside, and that boils down to a nice sense of ambiguity. At first, the imagery of a rabbit preparing…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Jason Ringenberg might have a burgeoning career as the kids’ music cowpoke known as Farmer Jason, but fortunately for us all, he hasn’t forgotten his roots — which means, oh…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Great Big Sea’s SÁ©an McCann steps out on his own this week with Lullabies for Bloodshot Eyes, a solo collection whose title suggests the coolest kids’ album ever made, but…
Pete Chianca
1 Min Read
I don’t know about everybody else, but I for one couldn’t be happier about the return of the ’70s flourish. You know, the urgent strings, the unnecessary but wholly welcome…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
Ok, this is tough stuff. The tenth studio album from San Francisco’s the Brian Jonestown Massacre is a swirling psychedelic phantasmagoria. The band, best known to most people via their…
Will Harris
1 Min Read
If there’s one thing you need to take into consideration when reviewing a release from Rhino Handmade, it’s this: don’t let yourself be overwhelmed with the presentation. This is a…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
You know, between Yeasayer’s new album Odd Blood, and Shout Out Louds new one, Work(Merge Records), I may finally be taking a liking to this new-fangled music. Both bands have…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
When you think of hip-hop, you almost certainly don’t hear the swells of an orchestra in your head — and when you think of turntables, your mind probably leads you…
Ted Asregadoo
2 Min Read
If there was ever a genre of music that I really can’t stand, it’s country music. That being said, I have to say that the music gods must have a…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Dan Black rose to prominence by mashing up the Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize” and Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” but like fellow mixtape phenom Wale, he’s sharp enough to know you leave your sharpest…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
This British four-piece has been a buzz magnet overseas for months, heavily dividing critics while drawing comparisons to hipster-friendly acts like Arcade Fire and Fleet Foxes. Now that their debut…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
From a music biz standpoint, April Smith is a cutting-edge marvel, making good use of most (if not all) of the tools available to indie musicians; she’s recorded a Daytrotter…
Michael Fortes
4 Min Read
Popdose writer Michael Fortes has developed a case of the warm and fuzzies after reviewing Juliana Hatfield’s new acoustic album, Peace & Love.
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
Rob Smith explores Sade’s first album in ten years, “Soldier of Love,” at Popdose.com.
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
The Brooklyn-based band (yes, another one!) Yeasayer garnered a lot of positive critical and public attention with their 2007 debut album All Hours Cymbals. Following rigorous touring in support of…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
It may not be as much fun as its artwork implies, but that’s pretty much a matter of course when you’re talking about an album titled Genuine Negro Jig from…
Ken Shane
1 Min Read
A meadow. Sheep. A wild-eyed man with torn britches playing the flute whilst standing on one leg. All of those images occurred to me when I listened to the new…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band has always been rooted in tradition, and at this point, the group is a tradition itself — to the point that quite a few of…
Dw. Dunphy
1 Min Read
I have developed a reputation as someone who hedges his bets when it comes to criticism, and Peter Gabriel’s first full album in a very long while (since 2002’s Up,…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Like a lot of his peers, Wilson Pickett was primarily known as a singles artist; most people, if they remember his work at all, know him for “In the Midnight…
Dw. Dunphy
2 Min Read
Before we get too far into this, let’s address the main question right up front: can Jeff Bridges sing? The answer is yes, but he sings like an actor. The…