LATEST ADDITIONS

Michael Fremer  |  Feb 01, 2009  |  1 comments

The difference between brilliance and cocktail lounge music is measured out in tiny gestures audible as finger dance moves around a predictable melody.

Michael Fremer  |  Feb 01, 2009  |  0 comments

Looking at the sepia toned cover photo, listening to the Civil War era Americana-themed lyrics and unraveling the thick, dark, tuba-tinged instrumental atmospherics, you might easily imagine the recording venue to have been a log cabin in the woods.

Brent Raynor  |  Jan 01, 2009  |  0 comments

Sure, being a shy, self-conscious kid from a rural western town trying to come to terms with life in the big city who constantly yearns for the reciprocity of love to come to fruition, may make it all very easy to cast Jon- Rae Fletcher as the consummate underdog. He even looks the part- tall and sinewy in stature, with a disheveled mane, a goofy grin, and big, thick glasses that may have been popular in the 1950�s; Jon Rae practically begs you to root for him.

Michael Fremer  |  Jan 01, 2009  |  0 comments

A throwback to the �60�s British folk scene that produced The Incredible String Band, Fairport Convention, Pentangle, Shirley and Dolly Collins and dozens of others, Scottish folksinger Alasdair Roberts brings a spare purity to his original folk balladry.

Michael Fremer  |  Jan 01, 2009  |  1 comments

There was a time when recordings studios were scenes, and the scenes produced great records, much like bar and club scenes produce great performers.

Nick Katsafanas  |  Jan 01, 2009  |  1 comments

If you�re not yet familiar with him, Matisyahu is a 28-year-old white, Chassidic Jewish reggae-rapper/rocker from West Chester, Pennsylvania. Now read that over a few more times, do you have a mental picture yet? He dons the traditional dress of The Hasidic Jews, wears a long beard and sounds a bit like �Jr. Gong� Marley. In addition he�s a self proclaimed former-Deadhead, loves Phish and is an adept beat boxer. Now that I�ve got you scratching your head wondering if I�m making this all up, it would be a good time to add that he�s also a talented songwriter, and his album, Youth is quite the unique musical experience.

Michael Fremer  |  Jan 01, 2009  |  1 comments

The late Arthur Alexander�s story is reminiscent of Roy Orbison�s. Like Orbison, Alexander passed away on his way to a resurrected career, though Orbison got to see his rebound while Alexander didn�t. He�d quit the music business and was driving a bus whenElektra A&R exec Danny Khan saw Alexander perform in 1991 at New York's Bottom Line in one of the clubs famous "A bunch of song writers sitting around singing" shows and convinced him to go back into the studio.

Michael Fremer  |  Jan 01, 2009  |  1 comments

A generation has grown up without Reference Recordings, which due to a series of business mishaps, had gone silent and not due to a lack of demand for its consistently spectacular recordings and often adventurous titles.

Brent Raynor  |  Jan 01, 2009  |  0 comments

There is two kinds of music, the good and the bad�

Michael Fremer  |  Jan 01, 2009  |  0 comments

The timbre may have deepened, though almost imperceptibly, but caressing the soft, melodic waves of this set of tidily drawn, dreamy reveries, k.d. lang�s voice remains a magnificent, mellifluous instrument.

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