Blogcritics

Music Review: Indie Round-Up - J.J. Appleton, Gandalf Murphy, Gary Morgan and PanAmericana!

Jon Sobel — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:25:25 EDT

Womblike melodies and lush yet elemental arrangements trick out Gandalf Murphy's excellent new disc.
J.J. Appleton, Black & White MatineeEvery so often a little jewel of a CD comes along. J.J. Appleton's new six-song disc falls short of full-length, but merits more than the foreshortened "EP" badge. At 24 golden minutes, it seems the perfect length.It opens with its "single," an old-fashioned term that still means...

Music Review: Chuck Leavell, Live in Germany: Green Leaves & Blue Notes Tour 2007

Jon Sobel — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:44:17 EDT

The Rolling Stones' keyboardist may be a "musicians' musician," but there's something for almost everyone on his new two-CD live set.
A joyous noise erupts from this new two-CD release from keyboardist extraordinaire Chuck Leavell (Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Allman Brothers). The set opens appropriately with a Professor Longhair chestnut and motors on through Stones covers, standards, Leavell originals, and a lot more. The pianist has stepped out in front before, notably...

Music Review: Swamp Cabbage - Squeal

Jon Sobel — Mon, 9 Jun 2008 19:55:46 EDT

Rootsy, southern-fried blues doesn't come much more boggy than this.
Rootsy, southern-fried blues doesn't come much more boggy than Swamp Cabbage. Guitarist-vocalist Walter Parks sings in a scratchy mewl, like the voice ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons uses in songs like "La Grange," or like Wammo of the Asylum Street Spankers. Matt Lindley's tuba-like bass sounds, Jagoda's drums, and Parks's...

Music Review: John Mayall - Live at the Marquee and The Masters

Jon Sobel — Thu, 5 Jun 2008 13:17:17 EDT

Two re-releases document the influential British bluesman's creative reinvention in 1969.
1969 was a time of creative renewal for the highly influential British blues-rocker John Mayall. Guitarist Eric Clapton had long since graduated from Mayall's Bluesbreakers band. Guitarist Peter Green had gone off to form an obscure little combo initially called Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, taking with him Bluesbreakers bassist John McVie...

Music Review: Indie Round-Up - Stone Coyotes, Bloom, Preston, Sugar Blue

Jon Sobel — Mon, 2 Jun 2008 14:48:54 EDT

The Stone Coyotes' stark naturalness is what makes them so good.
The Stone Coyotes, VIIIAnother year, another strong record from the Stone Coyotes. This one opens a little strangely, with the slightly hesitant "Tomorrow is Another Day." The rocking really starts with "Land of the Living," which has one of singer-guitarist Barbara Keith's trademark half-shouted choruses; in this one she...

Music Review: Rachel Taylor Brown - Half Hours with the Lower Creatures

Jon Sobel — Fri, 4 Apr 2008 15:12:04 EDT

The poetry of 21st century disillusionment, packed neatly into a plastic disc.
Most singer-songwriters wouldn't start off a CD with a strange, more or less wordless, seven-minute space oddity of toy piano and the ambient sounds of a shopping mall. But Rachel Taylor Brown isn't like most singer-songwriters, and Half Hours with the Lower Creatures isn't like most CDs.That opening track, "Hemocult/I Care About...

Music Review: Indie Round-Up - Michael Veitch, Josh Fix, Keith Killgo

Jon Sobel — Thu, 3 Apr 2008 13:54:18 EDT

Josh Fix's densely produced, rocking, accessible pop will remind some listeners of Ben Folds.
Michael Veitch, Painted HeartThe latest release from Woodstock-based singer-songwriter Michael Veitch takes the listener through the mostly dark recesses of the heart, but with sweet tones and an appealing sense of weightlessness. With a little Cat Stevens and a little Al Stewart in his flutey voice, a lot of skill and soul in his songs, a batch...

Music Review: Indie Round-Up - Gordone, Rush, Blatt, Segal, VonderHaar

Jon Sobel — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:25:25 EDT

Leah-Carla Gordone's best songs are whizzing worlds of twelve-string soulfulness.
Leah-Carla Gordone, Phoenix from the Ashes: RiseLeah-Carla Gordone's folk-rock is an oasis of sincerity in a desert of irony and boastfulness. The best of her work grabs you by the gut, and this disc contains some of her best, most moving melodies to date. These melodies, together with her tension-wracked vocals, turn her best songs into...

Music Review: Indie Round-Up - Spitzer's Folly, Sky Cries Mary, and Down the Line

Jon Sobel — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:43:50 EDT

Who but Sky Cries Mary could make a compelling chorus with just the words "Here comes the 5 Train"?
We hear a lot of crappy music here at the Indie Round-Up. It's part of the process: we have to pan through a lot of sand to find the nuggets of gold. But before we get to this week's good stuff, bear with us while we explore the musical talents of Ashley Alexandra Dupré, the high-priced call girl at the center of the Eliot...

Music Review: Indie Round-Up - Nackman, English, Means, Handcuffs, Soul Summit

Jon Sobel — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:22:16 EST

Alex Nackman crafts shimmery, hooky songs; The Handcuffs combine 80's new wave with 00's crunch on their catchy, highly appealing tracks.
Alex Nackman, Still Life MovesIt took me a while, but I finally thought of who Alex Nackman reminds me of: Peter Frampton. That dates me, of course, as does the fact that Don Henley's solo albums from the 80s came to mind when I listen to Nackman's more keyboard-dominated songs. But on a fundamental level, nothing much really changes in...