Iggy Pop Every Loser (Atlantic/Warner Bros.) I’m never sure what I’ll get when I get a new album by Iggy Pop. Usually, there’s some version of the standard Iggy — rocking hard, with some social criticism, and a ballad or two – but every now and then he throws us a curve ball; a Preliminaires or an Avenue B. With all of that said, Every Loser pretty standard for him. If there is a surprise here, it is that Iggy...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the ; ) LP by The Shouldies. It’s uncommon enough an occurrence that one can never hope to count on it, but sometimes an album comes along at precisely the moment a listener needs to hear it. In my own case, I’ve been listening to a surprising amount of very moody, very texturally-centered music lately; things like The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode’s Ultra and Psalm 69 by Ministry...

Weyes Blood And In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow (Sub Pop Records) In her current incarnation as pop songstress, musician Weyes Blood may have produced the definitive post-Covid album. Sweet melodies, lush orchestration and a beautiful voice combine to express the relief and pleasure of passing through the crisis. The instrumentation is standard pop — piano, guitar, synthesizer washes, arranged into sweeping waves of music. Weyes Blood has claimed “church music” as a great influence on her work, which is a...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Lies They Tell Our Children LP by Anti-Flag. After thirty-five years in circulation documented by twelve full-length albums, eleven EPs, a multitude of singles, videos, split releases and other releases in addition to innumerable miles logged on the road, it goes without saying that Anti-Flag has paid its dues – but Lies They Tell Our Children proves that, at least in their own eyes, the band still has something to prove...

John Cale Mercy (Domino) I will admit, with rock stars dropping all around us, listening to this CD made me a little nervous. It sounds like John Cale is reviewing his life, looking back with a critical eye and looking forward with trepidation. Initially, I found myself wondering if Mercy was to be another Blackstar, The Wind or You Want It Darker. Musically, however, this is a forward looking album – as Cale collaborates with a number of fresh musicians,...

I Went Down to St. James Infirmary By Robert W. Harwood A Pig’s Tale By Ralph Sutherland and Harold Sherrick At first glance, these two books have little in common other than being about popular music. The first traces the evolution of a classic blues song, the other the birth and life of a bootleg record company. In the end though, they both involve the quirks of American copyright law, especially as it applies (or doesn’t) to music and the...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the “Lost Boys Of Suburbia” b/w “One More Time” split 7” single by The Drowns & Plizzken. It doesn’t feel as though it happens very often, but some releases (and their contents) defy explanation. Like, how does a song appear on a single and nowhere else – particularly when the song in question features such a high quality level? It might not feel like it makes sense, but it happens – and...

Anti-Flag Lies They Tell Our Children (Spinefarm) It might sound a little counter-intuitive but, throughout their career (which has run for thirty-five years now – as of this writing), Anti-Flag has always proven to be at their best when people have already counted the band out – that’s when they have something to prove and that’s when they shine. Most recently, the band shone after they’d finished their two-record contract with RCA and the band released The People or The...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into EmUrgency! by Amai Kuda et Les Bois. It’s not terribly common to come upon an album which sound simultaneously easy to qualify and quantify as well as in addition to coming off completely fresh and original, but that’s exactly what EmUrgency! does. As soon as stylus touches down, needle catches groove and “Which Way” opens the album...

I am a huge fan of the local music scene. Not any particular local scene, but local scenes as a concept; the local scene that can be found in whichever city you call home, for example, reader. If you look, I guarantee you can find talented and interesting musicians all around you. I consistently discover great guitarists, vocalists, performers, all across the musical spectrum in Rochester, NY. As great a wealth of instrumental talent that I find in my local...