Spins
Spins: Neil Young & Crazy Horse • Barn
Neil Young & Crazy Horse Barn (Reprise) Neil Young collects his trusty, veteran Crazy Horse gang for a freewheeling album that sounds like a joyful weekend getaway among friends in the garage – or in Young’s case, the restored 19th-century barn. The ambiance is amiable, loose, and natural. The recording draws together an intuitive band […]
Media: December 2021 • Never Forget
At the end of every year, we like to take a moment to acknowledge the media giants in Illinois we lost during the year. This year the list includes television and radio icons, familiar faces and voices, and people behind the scenes. One of the most consequential names you might not know is former […]
Spins: Damon Albarn • The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows
Damon Albarn The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows (Transgressive Records Ltd) The stark black and white boulder on the cover of Damon Albarn’s new solo album announces immediately that this will not be the Day-Glo dance party of his band Gorillaz, nor will it conjure the dandy day-in-the-English-life of his 90s Britpop […]
Spins: The Rolling Stones • A Bigger Bang Live on Copacabana Beach
The Rolling Stones A Bigger Bang Live on Copacabana Beach (Eagle Vision/Mercury/Universal) Walking onto the stage before a massive Brazilian crowd stretching as far down Copacabana Beach as the eye can see, the Rolling Stones tear into a revved-up version of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” to begin this concert filmed on February 18, 2006. The band […]
Spins: Bob Marley and the Wailers • The Capitol Session ‘73
Bob Marley and the Wailers The Capitol Session ‘73 (Tuff Gong/Mercury/Universal) After October 1973 shows in San Francisco during October 1973, producer Denny Cordell brought reggae pioneers Bob Marley and the Wailers to Los Angeles for a session at the famed Capitol Studios. The results are this 12-song CD and film, released for the first […]
Spins: Vanishing Shores • “Maps”
Vanishing Shores Maps (independent) Vanishing Shores has made a swift ascent toward their summit of song. Kevin Bianchi established a compelling sonic identity for the group with 2018’s self-titled debut EP, but he strides forward with this full-length release. Maps finds Bianchi’s artistry expanding while offering a more focused and personal portrait. Elements of Laurel Canyon […]
Spins: Jeff + Ping • The Threefinger Opera
Jeff Elbel + Ping The Threefinger Opera (Marathon Records) A few years ago, Chicago-area musician Jeff Elbel experienced a crushed nerve ending that denied him the use of two fingers on his left hand. This is bad news for someone who not only fronts his own band, the expansive Jeff Elbel + Ping but sits […]
Spins: George Porter Jr. and Runnin’ Pardners • Crying for Hope
George Porter Jr. and Runnin’ Pardners Crying for Hope (Controlled Substance Sound Labs) Bassist George Porter Jr.is widely recognized as a prime mover of funk and soul music, and an ambassador of New Orleans’ treasured musical heritage since the formation of the Meters in 1965. Crying for Hope is Porter’s first album with his crew of […]
Spins: Colin Hay • Going Somewhere – 20th Anniversary Reissue
Colin Hay Going Somewhere (Compass) The collapse of Men at Work was the end of stadium-level stardom for Colin Hay, but it left an open door. Hay stepped through that door and persevered through hard times to rebuild his brand as a respected guitarist, master storyteller, and unparalleled songsmith. True, Hay’s career as a New […]
Spins • Tom Petty: ‘Finding Wildflowers”
Tom Petty Finding Wildflowers (Warner Records) Wildflowers & All the Rest was 2020’s premier rock and roll reissue project, celebrating Tom Petty’s justly canonized 1994 solo gem Wildflowers with a range of revealing packages. A 7-LP Deluxe version did brisk business, but the 9-LP Super Deluxe collection took a leap in price that exceeded many fans’ […]
Spins • Rob Zombie: “Lunar Injection Kool-Aid Eclipse Conspiracy”
Rob Zombie Lunar Injection Kool-Aid Eclipse Conspiracy (Nuclear Blast) For the past three decades, Rob Zombie has been music’s master of macabre. He’s built his career on disco metal groove songs about witches, monsters, and sexy mamas. He excels in disco sleaze groove metal horror-inspired songs to shake your ass to. And that’s exactly […]
Spins: Paul McCartney • McCartney III
Paul McCartney III (Capitol) III is compelling and worthwhile, even if that’s more because of what the album represents as an artifact of its time and Paul McCartney’s artistic resilience than it is for the songs themselves. The album was built upon the back of its most fully-realized song, a lovely chestnut from the vault […]
Spins: Taylor Swift • evermore
Taylor Swift evermore (Taylor Swift) Despite the roller-coaster year that was 2020, it seems that nothing can stop Taylor Swift from doing what she does best. Swift dropped her surprising second no-skip album of the year in early December, somehow managing to display her own genius yet again. Continuing the contemporary alternative writing of her […]
Spins: U2 – “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” • Super Deluxe Vinyl Box Set
U2 All That You Can’t Leave Behind Super Deluxe vinyl box set (Island/Interscope/UMe) During the year 2000, U2 was a band on a mission. After the perceived disappointment of 1997’s experimental and techno-friendly Pop (an album that went “merely” platinum in the United States), the Irish quartet were determined to reclaim their signature sound–and with […]
Spins: Bobby Bare • Bobby Bare Sings Shel Silverstein Plus
Bobby Bare Bobby Bare Sings Shel Silverstein Plus (Bear Family) Country music superstar Bobby Bare’s career spans more than six staggering decades, with an extensive catalog peppered with hits from the heyday of American radio from the late ’50s to the mid-’80s. Bare’s 1958 #2 single “The All American Boy” (errantly credited to Bill Parsons) […]
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