Music Reviews

What do you do after being a band for 30 years? How does anyone even survive being in a band for that long? U2's studio workflow has evolved into a slow process of addition and subtraction over the years, seemingly tedious, but also somehow giving all members a chance to contribute, edit and

The Small Faces are criminally overlooked here in the United States. "To most people over here we had just one song, 'Itchycoo Park,'" keyboardist Ian McLagan told me recently. In fact, the band had a string of chart-toppers in the UK, not to mention one of the best songwriting

Grandaddy frontman debuts his first album since that band's demise - and guess what? It sounds like Grandaddy. Duh. That means it's absolutely worth listening to and buying a copy. Jason is one of the few people I will mention when talking about artists who have also mastered the art of

I love this band. Not only are Kevin and Anita Robinson great people (and they just added two more great folks to their lineup), but they write amazing songs and play them right. Their fifth album, Rose City (their adopted home of Portland, Oregon's nickname) was written, recorded and mixed in

Kyle Bruckmann, Sam Coomes (Quasi), Gino Robair (Electronic Musician's former editor [their loss] and great drummer), Scott Rosenberg and John Shiurba (Eskimo) comprise an odd man out collection of musicians. No prisoners are taken in their aural assault - I keep thinking I'm listening to

My favorite contemporary French composer and lover of toy pianos, Yann is probably best known for his charming score to the film Amélie. Les Retrouvailles is his most recent studio album, from 2005. Guest vocalists include Stuart Staples (Tindersticks), Jane Birkin, Dominique A and Elizabeth Fraser

I'd heard good things about this album and when I finally got the chance to hear it, I was a convert too. Sometimes it's folky and sometimes noisy, but it's always interesting and a beautiful listen as a group of songs. Plus there's a story behind the recording. I spoke with Ben

I received my copies of the new remasters of The Beatles' catalog in the midst of the media frenzy that was 9/9/09. After all the hubbub died down and I'd had time to think about it, I realized there was one question still hanging: How do you review The Beatles? I followed the stories

Never one to sit still, Sigur Rós vocalist Jónsi has finished his second record outside of his band since Riceboy Sleeps by Jónsi and Alex was released last year. While that album was mostly instrumental, this is an exuberant, joyful pop record with more lyrics in English than any previous Sigur

Here's the eighth proper album and second album with new (since 2008) singer Mollie Israel. I've been a fan of this much-overlooked band ever since meeting them and catching a show years ago, but with this album they've really gelled with Mollie's writing, as well as pushed

Produced by Karl Blau and LAKE. For anyone who thinks that K Records might be all lo-fi, out-of-tune troubadours (which isn't true anyway), here's a group that offers lush, beautiful songs and a great sounding album. Recorded and mixed at Dub Narcotic, Olympia, WA (issue #32) by the