Hype’s a dangerous thing, especially for a new artist, but trumpeter Dave Adewumi doesn’t disappoint on his debut outing, captured live at Ornithology in Brooklyn in July 2024. Testifying to the glowing endorsements he’s received from Jason Moran, Mary Halvorson, and others are the musicians joining him on the set, vibraphonist Joel Ross, bassist Linda May Han Oh, and drummer Marcus Gilmore. Adewumi couldn’t have asked for better partners, all three first-call players with solid careers of their own. His horn’s all over the date, Adewumi’s assertive attack making good on Moran’s description of him as a player of “fearless charm and reckless rigour.”
It might appear as if Adewumi’s suddenly arrived, but in fact he’s been steadily…
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waxing | waning is the third album release from the Glasgow based trio Taupe and follows Fill Up Your Lungs and Bellow (2017) and Not Blue Light (2020). The band also released the EP Get the Keys in 2019. Comprising Mike Parr-Burman (guitar, bass guitar, electronics), Jamie Stockbridge (alto and baritone saxophones) and Alex Palmer (drum kit, percussion), Taupe work up a storm of skronk, free jazz and harmolodic frenzy whose closest relations include Zu, Melt Banana and John Zorn.
…The interlude subtitled ‘Stride’ sounds like a sea returning to still. Stroked percussion alongside a silvery, droning undertow provides a respite following the almost-nauseating whirl of ‘Anti-Bird-Spike-Bird-Nest, which begins with droned notes interrupted by…
Previously known as a member of Afrobeat fusionists NOMO and for his introspective indie rock songwriting as In Tall Buildings, Erik Hall reached a new audience with his acclaimed solo recordings of minimalist works during the 2020s. Turning the genre on its head, he recorded Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians by himself, multi-tracking all the instruments without any pre-programmed arrangements or loops, and he did the same with Simeon ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato. Following Solo Three, which included pieces by Glenn Branca, Laurie Spiegel, Charlemagne Palestine, and Reich, Hall released a different version of Canto Ostinato, this time performed with two of his regular collaborators, Metropolis Ensemble and Sandbox Percussion.
Following albums made in his home state of New Jersey, across New York State, and while living in rural Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, John Andrews‘ fifth LP was written and recorded after a move to the industrial, maritime neighborhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn. Its working-class setting and Andrews’ seasonal job with N.Y.C. Parks both work their way into the warm, reflective fabric of the self-produced Streetsweeper. It also marks his relocation from the Woodsist label to Earth Libraries. This time around, Andrews’ semi-fictional band the Yawns consists of Luke Temple (bass, guitar), who also engineered the album, as well as his returning Cut Worms touring bandmates Noah Bond (drums) and Keven Lareau (bass). Star Moles’ Emily Moales lends backing…
If 2025 was the year the UK reclaimed its rock ‘n’ roll crown with the Oasis reunion, 2026 is officially the year Richard Ashcroft reminded us why he was always the movement’s beating heart. Fresh off his massive stint as the special guest on the Oasis Live ’25 tour, Ashcroft has dropped Live Vol. 1, a career-spanning collection that feels less like a standard live album and more like a victory lap.
Recorded during his triumphant run of shows following the stadium mania of the previous year, Live Vol. 1 captures Ashcroft at his most potent. From the opening chords, it’s clear his voice hasn’t aged a day; if anything, it’s gained a soulful, weathered depth that adds new layers to classics like “The Drugs Don’t Work” and “Sonnet.”
The production strikes a perfect balance.
It’s tempting to describe guitarist Rick Vito as an incredibly accomplished backing musician best recognized by those who scour small print credits on their favorite CDs.
And while he has supported dozens of headlining names led by Bob Seger (that’s his famous solo on “Like a Rock”), Bonnie Raitt and John Fogerty, anyone who replaced Lindsey Buckingham and toured with Fleetwood Mac for four years can hardly be considered obscure.
Vito was also a member of Mick Fleetwood’s Blues Band, a side project that nonetheless was GRAMMY nominated. He has also released about a dozen albums under his own name, starting with 1992s debut, and also designs Art Deco and Modernistic guitars. And he’s a better…
At the end of 2024, Michael Weston King and Lou Dalgleish shared their first artistic reactions to the loss of their granddaughter Bebe King, at Southport with a select group of supporters in the media. The two songs, ‘Sally Sparkles’ and ‘The Empty Swing’, hinted at a new direction for the duo who make up My Darling Clementine.
“The events of summer 2024 not only changed the music they were making and the songs they were writing, it also altered their outlook on life. Recognising that everyone’s grief is individual, even that of a husband and wife, Michael and Lou needed to channel their suffering via their own individual creativity and in their own way, rather than in collaboration as My Darling Clementine, so they worked on two solo albums.”
Minneapolis trio Spaceport is back with their second album Cut the Lake, with many missing their first offering Window Seat (2023).
Maybe this time around that initial slip will be corrected, as the band’s creative force, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Arianna Wegley, seems be in full form.
Spaceport’s sound might be in that nether ground many indie bands operate in these days – the subdued guitar rock full of quality melody hooks, with added elements from elsewhere.
Spaceport’s added elements though cover quite a wide ground – on that indie rock base they add folk, classical, and ambient/electronic sounds. Of course, the possibility of a sound mess is there, but Wegley and her band seem to swim…
Maria Taylor started working on Story’s End — her latest LP — six years ago, beginning with a handful of quiet, stripped-down demos in her home studio. There was no real rush to follow up her 2019 self-titled effort, but fractures in both her marriage and a close friendship found her leaning back into these songs once again.
The result is both beautiful and heartbreaking. Songs of marriages and friendships falling apart sit alongside moments of optimism and renewal, making Story’s End an emotionally powerful journal set to a lush soundtrack. The opening title track features Taylor’s hushed vocals floating over a maudlin piano before strings — and eventually drums — enter the mix. It’s a deeply affecting opening salvo.
Before a single note of music was played at the opening night of the 2026 Land of Hope and Dreams Tour, it was clear this wasn’t going to be a typical Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert. In a break from decades of tradition, the band walked onto the stage in total darkness, visible to the crowd only in hazy silhouette. Springsteen came out last, and addressed the capacity crowd at the Target Center in Minneapolis, speaking much like he did at the city’s No Kings rally a few days earlier.
“I want to begin the night with a prayer for our men and women overseas,” he said. “We pray for their safe return. The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock & roll in dangerous…
…4CD deluxe edition include the remastered original album, previously unreleased demos, John Peel Sessions (some never broadcast), and unreleased 1979 concert from Troon.
…Originally released in 1979, Stiff Little Fingers were Ireland’s answer to both the Clash and the Sex Pistols. They had the personal and political stance of the former, and the noisy, pissed off, slash-and-burn musical aesthetic as the latter. Fronted by guitarist and songwriter Jake Burns (he collaborated with journalist Gordon Ogilvie), SLF took off with their two singles “Alternative Ulster,” and, for that time, the utterly out of control screaming that was “Suspect Device.” These two singles make the purchase price of the album a priority. They represent barely contained youthful…
With Elephant, trumpeter and composer Adam O’Farrill reaches a new artistic peak in modern jazz. Leading an exceptional quartet of rising New York musicians — pianist Yvonne Rogers, bassist Walter Stinson, and drummer Russell Holzman — O’Farrill performs in top form throughout, drawing listeners into intricate rhythmic and harmonic frameworks shaped by remarkable breath control and unconventional phrasing.
The program unfolds imaginatively with “Curves and Convolutions”, whose initially mechanical yet fluid motion opens into a fearless, genre-blurring language that incorporates modern classical, new music, and avant-garde influences. O’Farrill delivers a striking solo over a septuple-meter passage before the piece resolves…
Luminosity is the latest addition to my evolving body of trio work.
As I continue to move forward as both a pianist and composer, I’m looking more and more for directness in my music. In keeping my material somewhat simple, there’s room for complexity to emerge through the trio’s improvisations. This might be the first recording of mine that fully embraces that idea.
The title Luminosity hints at a theme of illumination — clarity in both ideas and textures. It feels as though I’m shedding light on my musical concepts, making them more vivid and immediate for the listener. But I’m also interested in the common human element of one’s own inner light that we all share. This fascination with light…
Good As True, the 12th studio album from Yonder Mountain String Band, leans into a warm, expressive sound – bluegrass shaped with an indie edge, rock undertones, and a hint of country. Recorded live in the studio, its eight original tracks trace romantic, personal, and societal relationships and the work it takes to stay connected.
The lead single “Brand New Heartache” pairs rock-driven verses with a bluegrass-lifted chorus as it follows the fallout of a breakup and the uneasy hope of starting again, while “Blind” opens with a striking instrumental riff that lingers long after the song ends, while its lyrics confront regret, mental health struggles, and the pull to become something better. “Long Ride” delivers a sharp, sarcastic look at life in a touring band…
The Shits have been a band for a little under nine years and Diet of Worms is their third album. Neither of which is especially eye-catching as statistics go, but noteworthy in the context of the Leeds DIY punk scene in which they originate, where bands (including ones featuring members of The Shits) frequently rise and fall leaving hardly any documented evidence they were there. A lot of the groups who historically pre-empted the sound heard on Diet of Worms – noise rock, pigfuck, scum rock, sludge punk or some other microgenre terminology – didn’t stick around for anything like this long either, implosive tendencies being a common issue.
So while The Shits’ notoriety has been boosted by the rowdy aura around them,…
Clearlight was formed in 1973 and was the vision of gifted pianist and composer Cyrille Verdeaux. The first work to appear under the Clearlight name was ‘Clearlight Symphony’, recorded in 1973 and 1974 and first issued by Virgin Records in early 1975. The album was notable for featuring Gong members Steve Hillage, Tim Blake and Didier Malherbe. The follow-up album, ‘Forever Blowing Bubbles’ was recorded in the summer of 1975 and featured a full band formed by Verdeaux and former King Crimson violinist David Cross guesting among others.
1977’s ‘Les Contes du Singe Fou’ was recorded with a full band who now included former Magma violinist Didier Lockwood and was a fine fusion of jazz, psychedelic…
Glorious Mahalia is Kronos Quartet‘s third release for Smithsonian Folkways. It follows 2020’s Long Time Passing: Kronos Quartet & Friends Celebrate Pete Seeger, and 2022’s Mỹ Lai. It’s an homage to gospel singer and activist Mahalia Jackson’s work, music, life, and friendships. The idea for the album appeared to Kronos founder David Harrington in 2013 after seeing Clarence Jones, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s lawyer and speechwriter on TV discussing King’s “I Have a Dream” speech from the 1963 March on Washington. Jones provided King with written thoughts, about 15 paragraphs’ worth. As King spoke what he had been provided, Jackson, who had sung before him, was sitting near King and said, “Tell them about the dream. Tell them about the dream, Martin.”
After an album– 2021’s For Allting — where they added new wave polish to the furious indie pop with teeth sound, Makthaverskan come roaring back to full power on 2026’s Glass and Bones.
The group are at their best when the raucousness of the music matches the unstoppable energy and passion of singer Maja Milner. She’s in fine form here and the band are too. It’s a bracing album that sounds like a collection of hit singles, broken up by the occasional stripped down and stark ballad. Yes, ballad. On two songs — “Black Waters” and “Anytime’ — the band step out of the spotlight almost entirely and let Milner take centerstage and get her long-deserved close up. It’s a stunning shift and on first listen it’s easy to wish for the return of the full band and all their…
The first 2026 release from Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s Jazz Is Dead label is a collaboration with legendary Brazilian singing/songwriting duo Antonio Carlos & Jocafi. The pair — both from Salvador, Bahia — have been working together since the late 1960s and have not only recorded their own hits but delivered them for dozens of other artists as well. This is the pair’s first new recording since the 1990s. Muhammad and Younge were in Brazil in 2022 when they were introduced to Antonio Carlos & Jocafi by Baiana System’s Beto Barreto. The men hit it off and made tentative plans to record together. In 2025 Antonio Carlos & Jocafi came to play the Jazz Is Dead club. Younge and Muhammad set them up in their studio with a hip band, and a backing…
…remastered edition with bonus tracks.
As the title suggests, Akira Kosemura‘s entrancing Polaroid Piano is a wistful meditation for minimal piano and field recordings, bleached out with old light. The glitchy electronics of Kosemura’s prior work are gone. The music is so hushed you can hear the action of the pedals, the keyboard shifting in the body of the piano. This quiet rumpus serves as a relaxed rhythm track — one suspects Kosemura mic’d the piano to capture these extraneous sounds, drawing them purposefully into the music. The gesture is Cagean, but the questioning, wonder-filled style is pure Satie. The cover art captures the mood perfectly, although a blue sky filled with kites and balloons would have been just as apt.