Album Review: Assembly of Dust – Some Assembly Required

The many parts and pieces that comprise Some Assembly Required snap together in a truly satisfying way, save a few bum edges. Featuring special guests on each song, the album wins in the personnel department, but it’s hard to tell if the guests – John Scofield, Tony Rice, Grace Potter, Mike Gordon, Bela Fleck, Jerry [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Live Review: Gov’t Mule, Raleigh, NC, July 26, 2009

My review of the Gov’t Mule and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit show at the Lincoln Theatre Street Stage is up at Hidden Track – Glide Magazine’s Blog. Take a look at it won’t you?

News Fragments: Jay-Z Replaces Beastie Boys at All Points West, Bright Eyes Close Forever, California Left Standing For Phish Festival 8, New Built to Spill Album, Leonard Cohen Returns

-In the wake of Beastie Boy Adam Yauch’s announcement that he has cancer, the band’s album and tour plans have been postponed indefinitely. Replacing the Beasties at the upcoming All Points West Festival will be NYC’s own Jay-Z, making his first ever U.S. festival appearance.
-Conor Oberst (or as I like to call him, Conor Oh-Burst-Into-Tears) [...]

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: Dave Matthews Band – Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King

It took them most of this decade, but with Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, Dave Matthews Band have finally rekindled the essence that originally intoxicated their fanbase during their 1990’s heyday. The band has never lost their touch in the live setting, but this album is full of songs that will revitalize their set [...]