Brooklyn, New York, band Rex is well versed in the idea that what you choose to leave out is just as important as what you leave in. With their third full length release in three years, the trio’s spare, elegiac music is bolstered by cello, viola and violin, giving almost every track an orchestral quality [...]

The arrival of a new Silos collection containing live cuts, alternate versions, and should-have-been hits on a French label begs the question: Does the world need such a Silos collection right now? Perhaps they do in France, but when The Silos signed with Watermelon a few years back, the first order of business was getting [...]

If Meet Red Meat had arrived in a plain sleeve, I would have sworn it was a recording from years past by some long-lost Texas duo. That is, until I got to track number 11, “Phone Tag”, a modern cautionary tale bemoaning the communication gap between a technology-aided couple. But then I know that Red [...]

If it weren’t for some enthusiastic foreigners, Green On Red might be little more than a footnote in the history of ’80s American roots-rockers. But thanks to foreign record labels such as China in London and Normal in Germany, latter-day Green On Red releases and solo records by band members Dan Stuart, Chuck Prophet and [...]

On his first solo album, Meet John Doe, the vocals were pushed forward as far as possible, establishing Doe as a frontman in the wake of the temporary demise of X. Combined with unimaginative roots-pop arrangements the results were somewhat less than spectacular. Not surprisingly the album was quickly forgotten. On Kissingsohard Doe takes an [...]

If Kelly Hogan is remembered only as the leader of the Jody Grind, fans of contemporary pop music would be the worse for it. The short-lived Atlanta quartet’s jazzy tendencies preceded the “cocktail nation” craze by a few years, and as a result pigeonholed Hogan as a sort of diva lounge singer despite the band’s [...]