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Kathleen Johnson
Swervedriver
The shoegaze revival is peaking, so what better time for one of its leading lights to hop on the wagon while the hopping is hot, right? Not so fast. Swervedriver reunited seven years ago and has been touring semi-regularly and writing since. This is the band’s fifth proper album since forming in ’89 in Oxford,…
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Kathleen Johnson
Ryan Adams
Sometimes, it’s good to take a break. Sometimes you must. Such was the case with prolific singer-songwriter Ryan Adams. After being diagnosed three years ago with Ménière’s disease, an inner-ear disorder, he put his successful career aside to focus on therapy and his health. With his condition in check and renewed vigor, Adams returns with…
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Kathleen Johnson
Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren gets the BBC archival treatment, and the results are fantastic. This three-disc, single-DVD set of radio and TV performances is a perfect showcase for the dichotomy that is Todd – pop star and prog-guitar god. It’s a must-have for any fan. Rundgren’s pop history is well known – and it’s well represented here,…
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Kathleen Johnson
Little Feat
By 1976, Little Feat had become a well-oiled live machine, its intoxicating polyglot gumbo of American music truly thriving on the stage. This new DVD and companion CD offers fans a peek at the magic. It captures the band’s set at the Dutch music festival Pinkpop in Amsterdam, and is a most welcome addition to…
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Kathleen Johnson
Chris Robinson Brotherhood
If you’ve lost touch with Chris Robinson since the Black Crowes’ slow down, his latest effort with the CRB is an opportune time to catch up on what’s become a most satisfying second act. This new album, the band’s third studio release, is a snapshot of a group growing securely into itself as a fine…
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Kathleen Johnson
Keith Cameron
The Year (or so) of Mudhoney rolls on. The long-running Seattle foursome has experienced a resurgence of interest lately. The latest example: this well-researched and crisply written biography from rock journalist Keith Cameron, who’s followed the band ever since a London appearance 25 years ago. Most everyone knows the drill by now: Mudhoney fused punk…
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Kathleen Johnson
Ed Mundell
Gettin’ Ultra Electric
Since he arrived in Los Angeles in 2010, it’s been “all systems go” for former Monster Magnet guitarist Ed Mundell. After 19 years with the band, Mundell moved west from New Jersey to launch a new phase of his career. His latest project, the Ultra Electric Mega Galactic, is a hard-chargin’ instrumental space rock trio…
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Kathleen Johnson
Jonathan Wilson
Charlotte to Cali
Jonathan Wilson is having a very good year. His Gentle Spirit CD (Bella Union), a hippie-soul drenched 80 minutes of folk-psych-rock goodness, has earned international praise. He toured Europe throughout 2012 to widespread acclaim, including a stint opening for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, turned numerous heads with his performance at the Jerry Garcia 70th…
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Kathleen Johnson
Jim Walsh and Dennis Pernu
Of all the cool ’80s alternative rock bands, the loveable ramshackle jag-offs in the Replacements were the least likely to give a toss about, oh, anything much at all. That attitude permeated everything about the Minneapolis quartet, and it was always a big reason for the band’s appeal. It was also intrinsic to a creative…
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Kathleen Johnson
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow’s gone country. That’s the line on Feels Like Home, the popular singersongwriter’s eighth studio album. It shouldn’t come as a surprise. Crow moved to Nashville a decade ago and now counts some of the genre’s biggest stars among her friends and neighbors. And country is as hot as ever at the cash register.…
