Album Reviews
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Former Icicle Works frontman Ian McNabb entered the 1990s without his long-running band, without a record deal, and, as the liner notes seem to suggest, a lack of confidence in his ability–one that would be bolstered by the minor success of a self-released single, recorded for little money and little expectation. It’s understandable, this… Read more
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Belgian-based Antena may have been associated with Factory Records, but their sound was far from dark, broody post-punk. If anything, it was an antidote to that then prevalent style, offering up Latin-inspired jazz, a little samba here, a little bossanova there, all tempered quite nicely by the cooing of lead singer Isabella Antena. Alongside bands… Read more
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Lincoln, Nebraska’s The Millions NE might have been borne out of the ashes of For Against, but one should not expect to find that band’s post-punk grooves in this new project. The Millions NE took on a sound that was dark, but was definitely more accessible and palpable to the masses; sonically, they tread the… Read more
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For a band that released two albums, psychedelic pop band Jellyfish sure did leave a nice cache of rarities. Over the last decade or so, they’ve released a handful of collections of unreleased material, all of which is of varying interest. Live albums, demo recordings, and alternate takes have made the case for the greatness… Read more
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Make It Easy On Yourself 1962 is the third album in El Records‘ ongoing series documenting the writing and recording career of legendary pop composer Burt Bacharach. This series, however, focuses on the more obscure recordings and songs from the man’s vast catalogue, with the occasional more well-known number, when omission would be conspicuous. Many… Read more
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If harpist Carol Kleyn‘s second album, Takin’ the Time, was her attempt to take her sound into a more mainstream direction, her third album, Return of the Silkie, released in 1983, brings her back to the sound she excelled at: haunting and hauntingly beautiful music that defies easy categorization. One cannot easily pigeonhole Kleyn; her… Read more
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This double-disc set finds John Coltrane‘s quartet performing live in Europe in Autumn 1963, and it finds the four-piece band in fine form. It also finds Coltrane and company at a crossroads; big changes would be coming in his sound, his muse taking him into free-form territory, losing all inhibitions about his sound, whilst… Read more
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After leaving sophisti-pop band Matt Bianco–where she had scored a chart hit with her song “Half a Minute”–Polish-born Basia embarked on a solo career. Time and Tide, her debut album, is a joyous, upbeat album of catchy, radio-friendly jazz-pop. Never content to be devoted to one sound, songs would range from Big Band pop (“Time… Read more
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Bassist Monk Montgomery came from a family of four talented brothers; the four would make up a hot jazz combo called, rightly, The Montgomery Brothers. The most famous of the four was brother Wes; a successful guitarist, he helped to redefine the role of guitar as a featured instrument. His career was short-lived, as he… Read more
The Recoup 