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…
CD review
533 Articles
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…
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.
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.
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
When offered the opportunity to review some country music for Popdose, I was excited. Our site does not have a bias against any particular genre (obviously), but it’s rather apparent…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
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…
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,…
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.
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
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…