Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Chuck Berry Rocks Live, Dinnerstein Plays Glass, a Comeback for Jo Dee Messina, a Debut (!) from Pussy Riot, Fiddles and Drums from Renée Fleming & Béla Fleck
Chuck Berry: Chuck Rocks Live, Unearthed from 1986
Timed for the 100th birth anniversary of rock-and-roll icon Chuck Berry, a previously unreleased 1986 concert recording is set for release later this year. Remixed in St. Louis and mastered at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, Chuck Rocks Live includes nine live performances recorded directly from the soundboard, plus four tribute tracks from contemporary artists.
All-Glass
Acclaimed pianist Simone Dinnerstein has helped popularize the music of pioneering minimalist Phillip Glass for years. Her debut on French label naïve is the all-Glass Hourglass, which Dinnerstein recorded with her string ensemble Baroklyn (get it?) It features Glass’ Suite from The Hours and his Tirol Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (Piano Concerto No. 1).
Hourglass is available now. Dinnerstein and Baroklyn will perform some of the music, as well as some Bach, at a free concert at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park on June 9, 2026.
Burning Bridges
Country star Jo Dee Messina (“Heads Carolina, Tails California”) is in comeback mode with Bridges, her first studio album in more than a decade, out today. Fresh off a recent appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, she’ll be at the Grand Ole Opry on June 9, 2026.
Pussy Riot’s Cage Match Challenge
Believe it or not, legendary protest act Pussy Riot had never put out an album – until now. Now “fourteen years of protest, imprisonment, surveillance, exile, and survival” have “crystallized into CYKA,” says the announcement, “the album Pussy Riot’s founder, Nadya Tolokonnikova, was always building toward.”
CYKA comes out June 12, 2026. “While the world is waiting for the UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 at the White House, I challenge President Putin to a cage match,” says Pussy Riot.
While we wait for his response, which should be any moment now, we can hear their track “Candy Dopamine” featuring Avenged Sevenfold.
Renée Fleming and Béla Fleck
Between them, soprano Renée Fleming and banjo virtuosos Béla Fleck have won 24 Grammy Awards. Their new collaborative album The Fiddle and the Drum is out now. Joining the pair on “mountain songs, haunting ballads, and folk hymns” are top bluegrass and country singers and players, together celebrating “the enduring traditions of Appalachian music.” The focus track, “The Scarlet Tide,” features Vince Gill.
