I now understand the infatuation that music journalists have with making lists. As pretentious, biased, and personalized as lists are, they’re just as much fun to do. Especially this one, which I won’t purport to be the “best” albums of the decade, only my “favorite” albums of the decade. As for the number, well, I [...]
Posts Tagged as ‘funk’
September 23, 2009
Album Review: Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe – Brother’s Keeper
Karl Denson spent more than a decade at the top of the jazz-funk-jam heap, and his band Tiny Universe became legendary for non-stop funk frenzies that tested the limits of time and space. On Brother’s Keeper, it’s clear that he’s trying for more sophistication, continuing to focus on his own vocal stylings while offering new [...]
September 9, 2009
Album Review: Phish – Joy
As maligned as it is, Phish’s studio catalog does one thing really well: it provides brief but telling capsules that mark pivotal moments in the evolution of the band’s music, lives and career. Joy is unlike any other album they’ve released in terms of subject matter, since many of the songs were born of the [...]
September 9, 2009
Music on the Mountaintop 2009 Review
My review and photos of the Music on the Mountaintop festival are now up at Glide Magazine’s Hidden Track blog.
September 3, 2009
Medeski Martin and Wood Album Review on JamBase!
My review of Medeski Martin and Wood’s Radiolarians III is now up on Jambase.com! Check it out, along with all the other awesomeness they’ve got going on…
August 22, 2009
Live Review: Phish – Merriweather Post Pavilion, August 15, 2009
Having recently pressed their collective “reset” button after a half-decade of nonexistence, the guys in Phish have so far used 2009 as – to cop a phrase from the sports world - a “rebuilding year.” The indulgent comeback shows in March served as an enticing prelude to an early summer tour that satisfied but merely [...]
July 25, 2009
Live Review: Janiva Magness at Blue Bayou, Hillsborough, NC, July 17, 2009
Red-hot blues singer Janiva Magness brought her acclaimed show to Hillsborough’s tiny Blue Bayou Club and treated 100 or so lucky patrons to a performance that was as sultry as the humid southern weather. Many fans were surprised to arrive at the club and find the show sold out in advance, which is a testament [...]
July 17, 2009
Album Review: The Phenomenal Handclap Band – The Phenomenal Handclap Band
The Phenomenal Handclap Band have generated a huge buzz, and with an album like this as their introduction to most of the world, it’s no wonder. A wide array of multi-tasking band members gives PHB the ability to emulate one of the major elements of the band’s genesis – club, dance, and DJ music – [...]
July 11, 2009
Live: The Oatmeal Conspiracy and Triple Wide, July 7, 2009, Pour House Music Hall, Raleigh, NC
Raleigh, NC’s Pour House Music Hall hosted the first of many Tuesday night jam sessions this past week, and if the event was any indication, there’s going to be plenty of great music made during The Oatmeal Conspiracy’s ongoing “first Tuesday” residency.
The evening was billed as The Oatmeal Conspiracy and Triple Wide, just like the [...]
July 10, 2009
Album Review: Soulive – Up Here
After setting sail from their funk-jazz roots for a few years, Soulive has re-invented their raw, danceable sound on Up Here. It’s appropriate that 2009 marks their first decade as a band, because it’s taken them a good portion of the last ten years to finally settle down and play some funk a la 1999. [...]
