It was clear from the opening moments of Bruce Springsteen’s “Land of Hope and Dreams” concert that the Boss had a few things to say about President Donald Trump and the state of the nation. In a dramatic flash of patriotic red light, he strode onto the stage in his best proletariat preacher mode and addressed his flock.
“The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock ’n’ roll in dangerous times,” he proclaimed during a tour stop at San Francisco’s Chase Center on Monday, April 13. “The America that I love — the America I have written about for 50 years that has been a beacon of hope and liberty around the world — is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless and…
Category: rock
Jazz has long operated with something like an open-door policy, absorbing influences from classical, folk, rock, and beyond. Turkish-American composer Mehmet Ali Sanlikol extends that tradition in a particularly personal way on The Electric Oud Man Speaks and You Listen…, a five-track project that brings Turkish makam, jazz improvisation, and rock energy into a shared musical language.
Sanlıkol’s musical background reflects that synthesis. Raised in Istanbul by a classical pianist mother, he grew up surrounded by Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin before discovering jazz — a turning point that led him to study the music more deeply and eventually attend Berklee College of Music. Boston is now his home…
There’s just something timeless about Montreal. It carries a deep European history into a future rife with possibility, clear-eyed concern, and ever-expanding cultural diversity. These elements are among the building blocks used by the many recondite and stylistically adventurous artists the city produces — much like Atsuko Chiba, who present a sure-footed path through the perpetually shifting terrain they choose to walk through Montreal’s geography.
On their eponymous fourth full-length, the band immediately introduce their complications with “Retention,” a song that dares you to define genre, swapping new style elements in and out of its slow, twilight creep. Vocalist Karim Lakhdar’s rap-accented lyrics trace the boundaries…
1. Caroline Polachek – Look at Me Now
2. Mike Polizze – Cheewawa
3. Royal Trux – Waterpark
4. King Kong – Scooba Dooba Diver
5. Steve Gunn – The Handshake
6. Red Red Meat – Gorshin
7. Oneohtrix Point Never – Krumville
8. The Halo Benders – Virginia Reel Around the Fountain
9. Jessica Pratt – World On a String
10. Kim Gordon – Dirty Tech
11. Viktor Vaughn – Vaudeville Villain
12. Stress Eater – Giving Back to the Universe
13. Sun Ra – Trying to Put the Blame On Me (Live)
14. Sunburned Hand of the Man – Nimbus
15. Kurt Vile – Constant Repeat
French TV’s latest CD, The Spanish Caper, is the 16th in their long history and their 2nd for Cuneiform.
Disc One is new songs recorded in Spain featuring charter member bassist/composer Mike Sary, guitarist Kasumi Yoneda (also from the Japanese band TEE), long-time drummer Jeff Gard, plus members of the French band Mentat Routage (who also make up French TV’s line-up when touring Europe).
The second disc is a collection of somewhat-obscure rock covers from the late 60s-early 70s. Songs featured include deep tracks from Iron Butterfly, Kinks, Mountain, Spirit, Procol Harum, Traffic, Steppenwolf, The Guess Who, James Gang and more The line-up…
With their breakthrough hit ‘Into The Valley’ in 1979, Dunfermline, Scotland’s premier export Skids quickly rose to become one of the most respected and popular bands to emerge from the UK punk and new wave era. Founding members Richard Jobson (vocals) and Stuart Adamson (guitars) were a dynamic combination up front (Adamson went on to even greater commercial success when he later founded Big Country) while the band’s tight, taut sound was grounded by William Simpson on bass and first Tom Kellichan and later Mike Baillie on drums.
Always considered up there with the greatest among their peers – The Jam, Siouxsie And The Banshees, and The Stranglers, for example – both singles and albums showcased…
Bruce Springsteen is currently on his ‘Land of Hope and Dreams’ US tour with Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, a trek inspired by the Boss’ ongoing fury at the Trump regime, and in particular the killing of two Minneapolis citizens by ICE agents earlier this year.
Bruce and the E Street Band perform a 27-song set on night two at the Kia Forum in Inglewood.
Tour premieres of “Two Hearts” and “American Land” (last performed in 2017). “War”, “Clampdown” (written by Strummer/Jones, recorded by The Clash), “Streets of Minneapolis,” “House of a Thousand Guitars” (performed solo acoustic), and the show-closing cover of Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom” all appear; “Land of Hope and Dreams” is the main-set closer.
Alan Bishop’s latest album seems at first like a showcase of his music at its most rocking. But it’s also steeped in psych, folk, and desert blues, making good on Sun City Girls’ exploratory rep.
The long career of Arizona’s trio Sun City Girls went in every direction you could imagine, and many you probably couldn’t. Starting with a blast of hardcore-adjacent DIY cassettes, the band expanded its palette quickly, planting big, muddy footprints all over tons of styles and genres, some inherited and some invented. Mixing cross-cultural influences, sharp instrumental chops, and pranksterish jokes, Sun City Girls’ music (and insanely prolific release schedule) could make you wonder not only how they did it, but what exactly “it” was—and whether even they knew.
An acquaintance recently decided that after 10 years, four albums, thousands of miles touring the world and a handful of those cringey “Ship Rocked” cruises, he was adjourning his band. The pretext involved “leaving on a high note” and that “you never hear fans or writers talking about a band’s ‘essential, groundbreaking eighth album.’”
The members of SoCal post-everything ensemble Failure might read that line and think “cool story, brah” while laughing aloud. Because as the trio delivers its seventh long player, its sense of self-awareness, internal editing and transitional sonic wanderlust remains as compelling as ever. Untethered from L.A. rock scene expectations, their sordid drug histories or the alleged need for critical pigeonholing, Ken Andrews,…
Five years ago, Michael Cavanagh, long-time percussion expert for psych-rock powerhouse King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, made his solo debut under the CAVS moniker with a self-titled effort.
The ten-song drums-only effort was an exercise in the drummer’s ability to capture a listener’s attention with exclusively drum patterns, resulting in a groovy, atmospheric effort that ultimately didn’t catapult CAVS into the solo spotlight like similar artists of his ilk. The difficult transition from band member to lone musician is a bumpy, often misdirected endeavor that rarely seems to go well for the artist who dares undertake it. Still, in traditional Lizard Wizard fashion, Cavanagh wasn’t discouraged with the difficulties of his debut, but inspired.
The third solo album by New Orleans D.I.Y. musician Urq (Spllit, W-9), This Dismal Village marks his Exploding in Sound label debut.
It’s his first to be recorded entirely on a four-track cassette Portastudio, almost ditching any digital elements in the process (although some chords from a phone app were looped into “Kings in Bed,” for instance). A dingy, lo-fi blend of playful prog-pop, druggy psychedelia, angular punk, and alternate tunings, it’s a dystopia-themed concept album that travels through time with stops in the Dark Ages, the 1950s, and the present, and each track represents a location in the village. While not recommended for those in a dour or earnest mood, cynicism is welcome.
Inspired by Shirley Jackson’s novel We Have…
…features a brand new remaster of the original album an additional CD of rare live recordings from 1970 from Dave Brock’s archives along with with seven bonus tracks drawn from a 1969 demo session, both sides of the ‘Hurry On Sundown’ single and a studio out-take and new stereo mixes of the album by Stephen W Tayler.
Produced by former Pretty Things guitarist Dick Taylor, Hawkwind‘s first album was rightfully compared to Pink Floyd’s early sound: an appealing conglomeration of hippie rock grooves and inter- planetary guitar trips set to the phosphorescent wandering of Dik Mik’s electronics and Nik Turner’s cool sax playing. Hawkwind may not have been their most lucrative album, but it’s where it all began. Hawkwind’s initial…
YES revisit their 2019 4 song mini-album From A Page with this expanded 15-track double album, featuring the original 4 songs alongside alternate takes & demos of songs written during these sessions, many of which would appear on the band’s subsequent album Fly From Here.
In 2010, after a last-minute show in Zacatecas, Mexico, the band (Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Alan White, Benoit David & Oliver Wakeman) met up in Phoenix, Arizona to begin writing for the next YES album. This two week session would bear fruit to the 4 released songs in addition to “Into the Storm”, “Hour of Need” & “The Man You Always Wanted Me To Be”, all of which would appear on the Fly From Here album featuring Geoff Downes after Wakeman departed during the recording sessions.
Official 5CD box set featuring all of the surviving British radio and television appearances by the legendary Strawbs between 1966 and 1984.
The roots of Strawbs go back to 1963 when Dave Cousins and Tony Hooper founded the bluegrass duo The Strawberry Hill Boys. The first Strawbs’ album was issued in May 1969 and saw the band embark on a wonderful career which produced a series of classic albums. Dave Cousins was the visionary, gifted musician and songwriter at the helm of many line-ups of the band which at various times featured such notable members as Ron Chesterman, Tony Hooper, Rick Wakeman, Richard Hudson, John Ford, Blue Weaver, Dave Lambert, Chas Cronk, Rod Coombes, and John Hawken. Cousins’ musical vision…
Newly remastered 4CD box set by Peter Hammill featuring his first four studio albums issued on his own label, Fie! Records, between 1992 and 1996. Peter Hammill first came to prominence as the founding member and voice of the legendary progressive rock group Van der Graaf Generator.
Alongside his work with Van der Graaf Generator, Peter Hammill has enjoyed a long career as an innovative and ground-breaking solo artist. In 1992 he established his own label, Fie!, to handle his solo work, beginning with the release of the acclaimed ‘Fireships’ that year. A more introspective work, the album was labelled in the original liner notes as “Number 1 in the BeCalm series” and received much critical praise thanks to songs such as ‘I Will Find You’, ‘Curtains’ and ‘Gaia’.
Lowell George may well be the most underrated and underappreciated figure in the history of rock ’n’ roll. As a writer, guitarist, singer, and producer, his influence spanned genres—rock, R&B, country, blues, and the adventurous rhythms of West Coast jazz—and seemed to know no bounds.
Born and raised in Hollywood, California, George mastered multiple instruments at an early age. His prodigious talent soon caught the attention of Frank Zappa, leading to a stint with The Mothers of Invention. In 1969, after parting ways with Zappa, George formed Little Feat. With Zappa’s support, the band secured a deal with Warner Bros. Records and quickly became a musicians’ band, revered for its originality and virtuosity. Alongside George were standout players…
The last Foo Fighters album, 2023’s But Here We Are, was a profound act of public grieving, the band’s first music since the tragic death of beloved drummer Taylor Hawkins only a year earlier. “Someone said I’ll never see your face again/Part of me just can’t believe it’s true,” Dave Grohl sang on the LP’s determined anthem “Under You.” For a band whose three-decade run has always been marked by how uncannily well-adjusted they seem, seeing them power through such a major loss in real time made for what was arguably the most emotionally intense listen in their discography. That is, until now. The band’s 12th album, Your Favorite Toy, is the next chapter in that story of fighting through grief and looking forward. Yet where its predecessor often had a reflective…
Ringo Starr’s debut outing with T Bone Burnett, 2025’s Look Up, was a creative triumph, so the pair haven’t messed much with the formula on this swift follow-up. Returning are Molly Tuttle – duetting with Starr on three of the 10 tracks, including Robert Plant/Alison Krauss-styled opener ‘Returning Without Tears’ – and Billy Strings for the Everly Brothers-fashioned harmonies of ‘My Baby Don’t Want Nothing’.
Sheryl Crow pops up on the title track (which comes with Ringo’s meditation-informed spoken-word section: “Don’t be attacked by your thoughts… let them come in, let them go”) while St. Vincent cameos on ‘Choose Love’, a reworking of a previously-released 2005 Ringo song now given mid-’60s R&B swing and…
The remarkable output of Ekseption, is compiled in this 13-part CD box set, Planet Ekseption.
Their real breakthrough came in 1969, when their first album Ekseption was released. With their unique combination of classical music and pop, they achieved international success and released 6 popular albums in 3 years. Keyboardist Rick van der Linden gave the band its recognisable sound during that period, until he left in 1973. After his departure, their success slowly declined, even though there were reunions later on.
Planet Ekseption brings together their musical legacy with remastered albums and rare bonus material.The first 9 albums have been remastered from the original master tapes. The remaining 3 albums have been mastered…
There’s an affectation that courses through certain parts of the musical fringe, where an artist or group’s oft-used descriptors perfectly capture what the listener might be in for. In that, they mirror the best of kitschy B-movies. There’s little doubt what films with titles like Attack of the Crab Monsters or The Blob might give you. So it goes for Houston, Texas duo Ak’chamel, Giver of Illness. The group, who have never revealed their identity, have spent years building out one of the most singular catalogues in experimental music, a strange and enthralling fusion of found sound, psychedelia, neo-folk and the deepest, eeriest recesses of the avant-garde. And their tagline of “Fourth World post-colonial cultural cannibalism” is about as faithful as an indicator can get…