As someone who worked for nearly two decades in the music industry for record labels, distributors, etc., I was quite eager to read this book. Unfortunately, my appetite was whetted…
Rob Ross
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Rob Ross
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Suzanne Vega has always been a delight in my musical life; I can’t pretend that I haven’t loved her from the moment I heard “Marlena On The Wall”. She is…
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Rob Ross
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It makes me feel good to know that there is this whole new crop of musicians from the mid-West releasing quality music. I’ve had the pleasure of hearing many of…
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Rob Ross
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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…
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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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Rob Ross
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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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Rob Ross
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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…