Feature: New Indie CDs

Jon Sobel's reviews of music releases from independent artists and labels, collected and published about twice a month.

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Jon Sobel

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• Music Review: Indie Round-Up - Lynn, Sasscer, Abdel-Gawad, LittleHorse

  Egyptian-born violinist Riad Abdel-Gawad mixes the taqasim (improvisational) tradition with tarab, the "performance practice of musical ecstasy."

  Review by Jon Sobel — on Nov 15, 2007

• Music Review: Rachel Barton Pine, American Virtuosa: Tribute to Maud Powell

  A celebration of "the first American violinist to achieve international rank."

  Review by Jon Sobel — on Nov 13, 2007

• Music Review - Indie Round-Up: Kelli Hanson, The Beautiful Girls, Darius Lux

  "Evil Clown Song" sounds exactly like you'd think it would.

  Review by Jon Sobel — on Nov 06, 2007

• Music Review: Indie Round-Up

  Pete Wernick's Flexigrass is a truly unique fusion of bluegrass and old-time jazz.

  Review by Jon Sobel — on Oct 25, 2007

• Music Review: Various Artists - Song of America

  Less postmodern, shoegazing gloom and more rock and roll spirit would have given the whole collection more color.

  Review by Jon Sobel — on Oct 15, 2007

• Music Review: Various Artists, People Take Warning!: Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs 1913-1938

  An extensive sampling of what Tom Waits calls in the liner notes the "oral tabloids of the day."

  Review by Jon Sobel — on Oct 09, 2007

• Music Review: Indie Round-Up - Too Much Music

  Diego Sandrin's new CD is quietly bracing, like a splash of bay rum on the hot old face.

  Review by Jon Sobel — on Oct 04, 2007

• Music Review: Indie Round-Up - Sam Baker, Peter Himmelman

  Peter Himmelman's musical impression of a pompous "rock god" makes Spinal Tap seem tame.

  Review by Jon Sobel — on Sep 21, 2007

• Music Review: Indie Round-Up - Harris, Foster, Sea Dragons, The States

  Corey Harris always reveals something fundamental about the music of the African diaspora, whether it's blues, soul, Afropop or reggae.

  Review by Jon Sobel — on Sep 06, 2007

• Indie Round-Up, Live Edition: Second Dan, Gandalf Murphy, Irion Redux

  Tours of the magical mystical musical cosmos, courtsey of Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams.

  Review by Jon Sobel — on Aug 31, 2007

• Music Review: Indie Round-Up - Irion, Robustelli, Americana Compilation, Wells

  Irion speaks the pop language without using pop formulas, while Robustelli bops and shivers like the best classic jazz-funk.

  Review by Jon Sobel — on Aug 23, 2007

• Music Review: Indie Round-Up - The Pretty Things, Larry Bagby, Jenn Franklin

  They were about the beast that scratches your face and gives you an infection, then stomps on your foot.

  Review by Jon Sobel — on Aug 09, 2007

• Music Review: Indie Round-Up - John Phillips, Stratospheerius

  Phillips's writing combined soulful sophistication with the anything-is-possible musical ethos of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

  Review by Jon Sobel — on Jul 27, 2007

• Music Review: Indie Round-Up - Mahoney, Lez Zeppelin, Speechless, NYEP

  Honeyed pop rooted in McCartney and Squeeze.

  Review by Jon Sobel — on Jul 14, 2007

• Music Review: Indie Round-Up - Tinsley Ellis, Alternate Routes, King Wilkie and More

  King Wilkie's "Captivator" is sure to bring a smile to your face. Unless a motorcycle just ran over your foot.

  Review by Jon Sobel — on Jun 23, 2007

• Music Review: Indie Round-Up - Oldies, Goodies, and Bands from Down Under

  The Stone Coyotes might be making the purest rock of any band working today.

  Review by Jon Sobel — on Jun 08, 2007

• Music Review: Jonathan Coulton, Live at Union Hall

  You come for the funny, you stay for the music.

  Review by Jon Sobel — on May 23, 2007

• Music Review: Indie Round-Up - Women and Children First

  Good children's music doesn't "sing down" to kids, and this CD meets that requirement.

  Review by Jon Sobel — on May 17, 2007

• Music Review: Indie Round-Up - James, Jacobsen, Pagan, Cook, Scotty Don't

  Cook's sensitivity to the importance of empty space is something young performers don't usually develop so early in their careers.

  Review by Jon Sobel — on May 11, 2007

• Music Review: Indie Round-Up - Barnes & Barnes, Wild Man Fischer, And Some "Normal" Music

  "Party in My Pants," "Three Drunk Newts," "Sewey Hole" - they're all here. Eat them up. Yum.

  Review by Jon Sobel — on Apr 27, 2007