Ongoing Adventure: Ranee Lee’s “What’s Going On” (Justin Time, 2014)
Album review by Neil Hobkirk Just a few seconds in, the strings are what strike you. They’re in fact the [...]
Music Reviews
Celebrating 20 Years with Wilco
It’s hard to think of a more prolific, yet low-key American band than Chicago’s alt-rock outfit [...]
Kingston Kong: “Bite My Blues” by Peter van Huffel’s Gorilla Mask (Clean Feed, 2014)
Album review by Neil Hobkirk Raised in a city readily stigmatized as an alternate take—an other London [...]
More surprising vocal collaborations
It’s a formula as old as Ella & Louis. Take two popular performers and put them together; if the [...]
Something Less: “Heaven & Earth” by Yes (Frontiers, 2014)
Album review by Neil Hobkirk Well, the cover art’s nice. And the music’s nice too. Or rather, the [...]
Definitive Statement: Dee Daniels’ “State of the Art” (Criss Cross Jazz, 2013)
Album review by Neil Hobkirk Dee Daniels should need no introduction. Unfortunately, she too often does. In a [...]
Paris is always worth it. Two concert reviews: Cyrille Aimée and Tord Gustavsen
Paris Journal. When the workday is done and lights are low, what to do in Paris when flying solo? Time to [...]
The Long and the Short of Mike Oldfield: “Five Miles Out” and “Crises” (deluxe editions; Mercury, 2013)
Album review by Neil Hobkirk I remember my first proper sound system, purchased during high school in 1984: [...]
The Naxos Music Library and three classical CD’s for summer listening
Imagine 98,760 CDs on the computer server of your audio system – the mind boggles (well, I suppose [...]
Upended Cornucopia: Glass Hammer’s “Ode to Echo” (Arion Records/Sound Resources, 2014)
Album review by Neil Hobkirk Sure, it’s safe to say that Glass Hammer is the finest progressive rock band [...]