The Avett Brothers: Magpie and the Dandelion
The Avett Brothers Magpie and the Dandelion (American Recordings) The Avett Brothers have come into their own during the mainstream folk surge of the past few years, but they have not just been riding the wave More...
Matthew Good: Arrows of Desire
Matthew Good Arrows of Desire (FrostByte Media Inc.) Though he is not known nearly well enough in the U.S., Matthew Good made me want to be a writer. The Canadian musician is a prolific artist, with his work also More...
Pearl Jam: Lightning Bolt
Pearl Jam Lightning Bolt (Monkeywrench Records) “Everyone’s a critic looking back up the river.” With those words, Eddie Vedder kicks off Pearl Jam’s 10th studio album. In a way, “Getaway” sounds like More...
Jon Batiste and Stay Human: Social Music
Jon Batiste and Stay Human Social Music (Razor & Tie Recordings) Confession: I enjoy old films, consider myself a lover of all genres of music, and even work in an art deco building, but I do not listen to much More...
Manic Street Preachers: Rewind the Film
Manic Street Preachers Rewind the Film (Columbia Records) From Welsh rockers Manic Street Preachers, I usually expect big, sharply written alternative songs with plenty of social commentary. What I do not expect More...
Birdy: Fire Within
Birdy Fire Within (Atlantic Records) Jasmine van den Bogaerde may be just 17, but she is no stranger to the music industry. At 12, she won the Open Mic UK competition, and a couple of years later, she hit the More...
MGMT: MGMT
MGMT MGMT (Columbia Records) I have empathy for artists who don’t want to be pegged one hit wonders. Since their song “Kids” was such a huge smash, MGMT have moved away from that upbeat dance sound. Their More...
The Strypes: Snapshot
The Strypes Snapshot (Virgin EMI Records) Let’s get this out of the way: The Strypes are young. The Irish teenagers have garnered a lot of attention for their ages, particularly since they are younger than More...
Arctic Monkeys: AM
Arctic Monkeys AM (Domino Recording Co Ltd) As I am roughly the same age as the members of Arctic Monkeys, I can stretch to call them peers of a sort. I’ve been a fan since their 2006 debut, and over the More...
Glasvegas: Later…When the TV Turns to Static
Glasvegas Later…When the TV Turns to Static (BMG) When Glasvegas stormed onto the scene in 2008 with their self-titled debut, the Scottish group demonstrated a flare for taking everyday social scenarios and More...
