Friends, robots, Kardashians, lend me your ears. Remember the days when you didn’t rely on a streaming algorithm to turn you onto new music? That’s right, back when your parents,…
Omnivore Recordings
Chris Hillman co-founded some of the most classic, seminal, groundbreaking acts of the ’60s and ’70s – namely The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Manassas, and The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. But…
Jeffrey Gaines is a name you should be familiar with because he’s been putting out thoughtful, soul-clenching, highly personal and rewarding music for over 25 years. Alright is his first…
On February 2, Omnivore Recordings will release the third and fourth discs in their splendid compilation series The Ru-Jac Records story. Ru-Jac was a Baltimore-based soul and R&B label founded…
Dear God, this is amazing. Not because it’s Big Star – let’s make one thing clear from the outset: I don’t like live albums as a rule of thumb; I…
So there have been a few occasions where I had been asked to write about Chris Bell’s I Am The Cosmos album – and I’ve done it. Having bought the…
This wonderful, 22-track compilation is just part of the work Chris Bell did before he dug his heels in with Big Star in 1971. Omnivore Recordings has gathered selections from…
This sophomore effort from heralded producer/musician Chris Price is a revelation. I found it, thanks to the excited recommendations of a friend and I’m so glad I paid attention…
With the May 5th release of his jaw-droppingly stellar album, Wild Empty Promises, Holden Laurence joins an elite group of artists on my CD wall, including Dave Grohl, Chris Mars,…
On Friday, April 21, 2017, power pop rock goddess Cait Brennan releases Third, her second album and first on Omnivore Recordings. It’s only been a year since her 20 year-in-the-making,…
The saying, ”if we reached just one person, then it was all worthwhile” usually applies to indie films nobody has seen or cancelled-too-soon cult TV shows, but it also applies…
The first thing I want to disclose before going further is to say that in the canon of the three albums Big Star, one of my favorite bands (and part…
If it wasn’t enough that John David (J.D.) Souther’s debut self-titled album was a stunner, then it shouldn’t come as any kind of surprise that his sophomore effort, Black Rose,…
J.D. Souther’s debut solo album could (at least the argument is there) be looked at as the “lost Eagles album” – between the debut and the more countrified Desperado. But…
A new compilation from Omnivore shines a light on an unjustly forgotten soul singer
As I did with the recent re-issues of Big Star’s #1 Record and Radio City, I went into listening and watching Live In Memphis with open mind and fresh ears, especially since…
A new album sheds light on a forgotten soul label
Every year, while lording over an impressive amount of music catalogue news and views at my site, The Second Disc, I think the same thing at the end of every…
Jellyfish recorded only two albums during their brief career. Neither has ever appeared on vinyl. Now both have been reissued in splendid new vinyl editions.
In 1970 Alex Chilton was fed up with is role in the Box Tops and still a year away from Big Star. The music he made that summer was a bridge to the future.
According to crazy people, next year will see the wholesale demise of compact discs as well as the heroic efforts of Jon Cusack saving the world from cataclysmic disaster. With that in mind,…