Monday , July 6 2026

Jeff Burger

Jeff Burger’s website, byjeffburger.com, contains half a century's worth of music reviews and commentary. His books include Dylan on Dylan: Interviews and Encounters, Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon, Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen: Interviews and Encounters, and Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters.

Music Reviews: David Bowie’s ‘I Can’t Give Everything Away [2002–2016]’ plus a Cat Stevens Anthology

David Bowie

The latest David Bowie collection focuses on a period when he released relatively few full-length studio LPs. Still, the compilers have managed to deliver a wealth of content.

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Music Reviews: The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, plus Dar Williams, Marshall Crenshaw, Wynonie Harris, West Texas Exiles, and Patton & Brokus

Peanut Butter Conspiracy

Formed from the ashes of a group called the Ashes (which included future Jefferson Airplane drummer Spencer Dryden), the Peanut Butter Conspiracy dealt in frequently adventurous rock, much of which deserves more attention than it has received.

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Music Reviews: ‘Joe Meek: A Curious Mind,’ plus a David Bowie Tribute, and Albums from Rory Block, Irving Flores, and Johnnie Johnson

joe-meek-curious-mind

Joe Meek offered his share of teen-oriented pop, but he also had a penchant for strange novelty songs, odd sound effects, and numbers that dealt with the occult, outer space, and life on other planets.

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Book & Music Reviews: ‘Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run,’ plus Reggae from the Mighty Rootsmen and the Kingston Lions

Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run

At one point Springsteen’s finances were so depleted that he couldn’t afford to hire the musicians he needed for the album...

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Music Reviews: A Marianne Faithfull Box Set, plus Robin Batteau and an Anthology of Early Rock and Rockabilly

Marianne Faithfull

Faithfull’s 1960s material is the subject of a recently released six-CD, 81-track anthology that shows she was capable of handling everything from traditional and modern folk to Brill Building tunes and rock.

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Music Reviews: Anthologies from the Pale Fountains and the Kinks, plus the Feelies and Kissing Other Ppl

The Pale Fountains – The Complete Virgin Years

Perhaps the Pale Fountains will finally garner some notice following the appearance of a new four-CD box set devoted to Michael Head's critically acclaimed band, which formed in Liverpool in 1980 and split up in 1987.

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Music Reviews: Nick Drake’s ‘The Making of Five Leaves Left’ and Eric Andersen’s ‘Blue River: Live in Tokyo’

Nick Drake-Making of Five Leaves Left-LP Box Set Cover

Let’s hope we’ll soon see similar boxes devoted to the making of Drake’s other two studio albums, both of which are as noteworthy as his debut. The world needs all the music from him that it can get.

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Music Reviews: Counting Crows’ ‘Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets!’ plus Freedy Johnston and Mike Henderson

Counting Crows

Adam Duritz is still singing about loneliness, dislocation, alienation, and the pitfalls of stardom, but he remains an intense, attention-grabbing vocalist, and these nine tracks are up to the high standards that the group established early in its career.

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