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…

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 [...]

Bonnaroo Preview: Phish

When the first Bonnaroo took place in 2002, Phish had been “on hiatus” for nearly 2 years, and there was relentless speculation that Trey Anastasio’s festival-closing set would transmogrify into the band’s comeback. The rumors never panned out, but the possibility electrified the weekend. You could feel the excitement in the stiff Tennessee air for [...]

Album Review: Tortoise – Beacons of Ancestorship

Beacons of Ancestorship brings Tortoise’s sound firmly into the future. Once known for their majestic, open-ended post-rock instrumentals, the band have turned engineer John McEntire’s fascination with breakbeats and off-kilter rhythms into an altogether new venture.
The album gives listeners a clear indication of where Tortoise’s sound is probably headed. Change is manifested in dense, [...]

Bonnaroo Preview: Turbine

Since their beginning around 2004, New York City’s Turbine have evolved from a blues-folk duo into an exploratory quartet that is never predictable. Bonnaroo’s Troo Music Lounge will be the secret hotspot of the day on Saturday, with Turbine opening up the beer-laden tent at noon and the aforementioned Russian Circles set later in the [...]

Album Review: OHMphrey – OHMphrey

OHMphrey is a quintet featuring half of Chicago rockers Umphrey’s McGee – keyboardist Joel Cummins, guitarist Jake Cinninger, and drummer Kris Meyers – along with Chris Poland (Megadeth, OHM) and Robertini Pagliari (OHM). Their eponymous debut album, out on Magna Carta, is a fiery, expansive instrumental opus that will please a wide range of listeners.
Gearheads [...]

Album Review: Charles Spearin – The Happiness Project

Charles Spearin, founder of Canadian experimenters Do Make Say Think and sometime contributor to Broken Social Scene, has artistically one-upped himself with The Happiness Project. While it will probably never tug at the heartstrings of as many people as BSS, The Happiness Project is an accomplishment that other musicians will find themselves wishing they had [...]

Emeralds – What Happened

If you’re a musical explorer – someone who’ll give the time of day to just about any offering, no matter how daunting it may seem – you owe it to yourself to experience the cinematic experimentation of Emeralds’ What Happened (CD). Just make sure you aren’t driving or operating heavy machinery (the album is, however, [...]