Author: Kurt B. Reighley
The Long Way Around - Feature from Issue #61 Jan-Feb 2006
Ellis Hooks – Soul man
The march of time is exacting its toll from the titleholders and titans of classic R&B. This past year has seen the passing of greats including Little Milton, R.L. Burnside, and James Brown protégé Lyn Collins. But the torch will not be dropped. Not so long as Ellis Hooks has breath. And judging from the [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #60 Nov-Dec 2005
Various Artists – This Bird Has Flown: A 40th Anniversary Tribute To The Beatles’ Rubber Soul
1965′s Rubber Soul was the first Beatles full-length to drown out their fans’ screams with its musical innovations. It cut deeper lyrically, while interpolating the folk and country elements that were energizing contemporaries Bob Dylan and the Byrds. In light of the latter, it comes as little surprise that many of the artists who lined [...]
The Long Way Around - Feature from Issue #59 Sept-Oct 2005
Rodney Crowell – Preachin’ to the choirs
Consider the curious dual identity of Rodney Crowell. On the one hand, there is the mainstream star who racked up five #1 singles in a row with his 1988 commercial breakthrough Diamonds And Dirt. The man who married into country music’s most prestigious dynasty, the Carter-Cash clan, when he wed Rosanne Cash in 1979 (they [...]
Town and Country - Shorter Artist Feature from Issue #59 Sept-Oct 2005
James Blunt – Super trooper
Singer-songwriter James Blunt was born, raised and educated in England. And his debut album, Back To Bedlam (out domestically on September 20, via Atlantic), has done quite well for the 28-year-old in the U.K., sailing all the way to #1 on the charts, spawning a #1 hit single (“You’re Beautiful”), and securing him a “Top [...]
The Long Way Around - Feature from Issue #58 July-Aug 2005
Sufjan Stevens – The union of our states
When Sufjan Stevens was growing up in Michigan, there wasn’t much music in his everyday life. His stepfather had a decent record collection, but Stevens spent most of the year with his biological dad, whose sole foray into the field was, oddly enough, occasionally playing bongos along with the radio or ubiquitous Motown 45s. Nevertheless, [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #57 May-June 2005
Okkervil River – Black Sheep Boy
Although he made records of his own, oddball folkie Tim Hardin was better-known for interpretations of his work recorded by other iconoclasts: Nico, Scott Walker, and especially Bobby Darin, who went Top-10 in 1966 with “If I Were A Carpenter”. Black Sheep Boy, the third full-length by this versatile sextet from Austin, Texas, is named [...]
The Long Way Around - Feature from Issue #57 May-June 2005
Solomon Burke – The return of the king
“Al Green owes me a breakfast!” With that simple declaration, R&B veteran Solomon Burke launches into one of his many spirited anecdotes. It was a Saturday, in October 2002. The night before, in support of his then-new album Don’t Give Up On Me, Dr. Burke had headlined the annual King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, [...]
The Long Way Around - Feature from Issue #56 March-April 2005
Crooked Fingers – Dignity in the arts
“I remember thinking, ‘If I like this music, all my friends in school are going to think I’m weird. Do I really want to do that? To like weird shit?’ Of course, I did. And everything was fine. The world comes around.” Eric Bachmann of Crooked Fingers looks good. Not necessarily in a People magazine [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #56 March-April 2005
Sharon Jones & The Dap-kings – Naturally
R&B is hardly a hotbed of feminism these days, as Destiny’s Child proclaim their status as “independent women” while shimmying in outfits that would make seasoned Vegas showgirls blush. The era when strong-willed ladies like Aretha Franklin demanded “Respect” and the Honey Cone marched down to the newspaper to find better men via the “Want [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #55 Jan-Feb 2005
Cerys Matthews – CockAHoop
The first thing that leaps out upon popping in CockAHoop, the solo debut from Welsh singer Cerys Matthews, is her vocal timbre. Matthews is blessed (or cursed, depending on your preferences) with one of those bizarre, quavering, baby-woman voices, a la Victoria Williams or ’80s new-wave pinup Clare Grogan (of Altered Images). To hear this [...]
Shop Amazon by clicking through this logo to support NoDepression.com. We get a percentage of every purchase you make!
