Aaron Lee Tasjan is one of those musicians who are like magnets. You know, those in-demand hired hands that entire scenes end up forming around, but only musicians seem to listen to. As such, it’s hard to not just be bowled over by Aaron’s songwriting & guitar chops. I could nerd out on his wordplay [...]

leeding Rainbow (formerly Reading Rainbow) are one of those bands you can’t really write about without namedropping a bunch of other bands, so I’m just going to go ahead & get it all out of the way. Sonic Youth, Nirvana, My Bloody Valentine, Yo La Tengo, etc, & then the ’60s bands that influenced the [...]

Brendan Benson – Metarie (Wellfed Version) f you’re not familiar with the names Brendan Benson & Jason Falkner, you’ve undoubtedly heard their playing, arranging, engineering, or producing on critically acclaimed records by everyone from Paul McCartney to Adele, Beck, the White Stripes, Gnarls Barkley, or even Loretta Lynn. Benson co-fronted the Raconteurs with Jack White, [...]

Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons – Never Meant to Love You ld Believers marks Cory Chisel’s second collaboration with producer/performer Brendan Benson, & was recorded on the analog equipment at Nashville’s Welcome To 1979 studio. Unsurprisingly, it sounds like a 70′s record; between Benson, David Vandervelde, & Dawes, Nashville is beginning to gain a [...]

Turnpike Troubadours – Good Lord Lorrie Nashville has this backwards notion that if life hands you a lemon, you’ve gotta write a song about lemonade. “Key his truck, that’ll make you feel better.” But that’s bullshit because the great country songs were always about lemons. Modern country has lost that melancholy streak, which I guess [...]

There once was a band called the Format. For a time they were my favorite band… they introduced me to Harry Nilsson, & I guess Cat Stevens, too. At some point, I guess Sam wanted to go back to Phoenix & raise a family, so he did. And so Nate started Fun. with some guys [...]

Mando Diao – I ungdomen n 2011, Mando Diao vocalist Gustaf Norén was asked to set a poem by Swedish poet Gustaf Fröding to music on occasion of his death centennial. Encouraged by this experience, the band chose 9 more poems to arrange as Infruset, their first native language record. Fröding is one of Sweden’s most celebrated poets, though most of [...]

want to describe this album for the initiated as one that wears it’s influences on it’s sleeves, but Chuck has been doing this so long I don’t want to suggest that he doesn’t have a “sound.” It’s just tough to describe because it sounds so familiar. It’s so tightly wound into the lexicon of rock [...]

hil Campbell (not the Motörhead guitarist) could be likened to a Scotch Ryan Adams, rivaling the yankee as both a singer/songwriter & substance abuser, only Phil’s personal problems always kept him from ever really achieving Ryan’s level of success. But after more than a decade of VH1 Behind the Music drama (his bad behavior cost him [...]

The following appear in no specific order. Todd Snider – Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables ometimes I wonder how many songs exist that I’d love if I ever just got the chance to hear. This is certainly what drives people to blog about music. “People need to hear Todd Snider.” But when I say “people,” [...]

The conventional wisdom is that if you’ve got 4 ladies & a dude in a band, you’ve got a girl group. Well it may have taken a few years, but Jeremy Byrd has slowly worked his way from behind the drums to the front line, & Travelin’ Band is the first song that showcases his [...]

“Every young band wants to build a wall, but a real rock record’s like a wrecking ball.” Joel’s been on a mellow streak as of late, but Scrappy Happiness proves that he & his Emergency haven’t forgotten how to plug in & rock out. Scrappy Happiness packs all the jangle, all the crunch, & all [...]

hen the Films (the coolest band of all-time, for the uninitiated) broke up, Mike was already back in Charleston with his soulmate, Cary Ann Hearst, working on what would become Shovels & Rope (not to mention a couple solo records). Jake took up residence at Butch Walker’s studio in LA (and released an EP as [...]

You might recognize Cody ChesnuTT from his cameo on the Roots’ hit The Seed 2.0. Or if you’re really down, you might remember a sweet little jam from ten years ago called Look Good In Leather. Well, Cody finally got around to releasing a follow up to the Headphone Masterpiece & it’s a real game [...]

Can I gush for a minute? If Matt Mays brings one thing to the table, it’s a hard groove, & Indio’s got as a deep a pocket as anything he’s released. It’s just locked in so hard… those bongos underneath the middle 8 are fucking relentless. Matt makes the Great White North sound like a [...]