Author: Tom Wilk
Record Review from web archive March 6, 2009
Raul Malo
Growing up as a Philadelphia Phillies fan in the 1960s, I was drawn to Cookie Rojas, a jack of all trades on the field who once played all nine positions in a single game. Like his fellow Cuban-American, Raul Malo demonstrates a similar versatility as a vocalist and musician on Lucky One, his first album [...]
Record Review from web archive February 23, 2009
Syd Straw
Syd Straw works at her own pace when its comes to releasing solo albums. Pink Velour, her first studio CD since War And Peace in 1996, carries the credit line “Produced (very slowly) by Syd Straw.” But it proves to be worth the wait, as Straw delivers an intensely personal collection of songs (ten originals [...]
Record Review from web archive January 9, 2009
Katy Moffatt
Like many veteran artists, Katy Moffatt has focused on concert performances rather than studio recordings with the music industry in a state of upheaval. She makes a welcome return with Fewer Things, her first studio album since Cowboy Girl, her 2001 western-themed disc. As the album title implies, Moffatt and producer Andrew Hardin adopt a [...]
Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #75 May-June 2008
Buddy Holly – Not Fade Away — Buddy Holly 1957: The Complete Recordings
Over three CDs, the aptly titled Not Fade Away details Buddy Holly’s rise from struggling singer to international star during 1957. Along with Chuck Berry and Carl Perkins, Holly helped to create the template for the singer-songwriter with his breakthrough hits “That’ll Be The Day” and “Peggy Sue”. Taking a cue from fellow guitarist Les [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #74 March-April 2008
Patty Larkin – Watch The Sky
Watch The Sky is a solo album in the literal sense, as Patty Larkin handles all the vocals, instrumentation, songwriting and production. She uses nearly a dozen instruments (guitars, banjo, bouzouki, toy organ) to create a landscape of layered sound that goes beyond the singer-songwriter norm with unexpected results. On “Phone Message”, the opening track, [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #72 Nov-Dec 2007
Ben Vaughn – Vaughn Sings Vaughn, Vol. 1 & 2
Ben Vaughn has come full circle in his musical career. After starting out in the 1980s as a singer-songwriter fronting his own combo, he found success in the late 1990s doing soundtrack work for television, most notably “3rd Rock From The Sun” and “That ’70s Show”. The first two volumes of Vaughn Sings Vaughn put [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #72 Nov-Dec 2007
Sterling Harrison – South of the Snooty Fox
In a fairer world, “South of the Snooty Fox” would have launched a comeback for soul singer Sterling Harrison. Instead, it will serve as a fitting epitaph for the veteran soul singer who died of cancer at age 64 in August 2005. A commanding vocalist with a range that went from deep growl to liberating [...]
Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #72 Nov-Dec 2007
Modern Lovers – Self-Titled
More than three decades after its original release, the Modern Lovers’ self-titled debut retains its visceral power with a disarming straightforwardness. “Roadrunner”, Jonathan Richman’s celebration of AM radio in a car, is the perfect opener as the song gets pushed into fifth gear by his guitar and Jerry Harrison’s organ. The edgy “She Cracked” and [...]
Bound - Book Review from Issue #71 Sep-Oct 2007
Steve Goodman: Facing the Music
Steve Goodman was a study in contrasts. At 5 feet 2 inches, he stood tall among those who knew him as a man and a musician. While his life was cut short by leukemia in 1984 at age 36, Goodman lived and performed with a zest like every show might be his last. Steve Goodman: [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #71 Sep-Oct 2007
Abra Moore – On the Way
On her first solo album since 2004′s Everything Changed, Abra Moore continues to push the boundaries of the singer-songwriter genre. Producer Mitch Watkins, who also contributes guitar and keyboards, provides a sonic landscape that allows Moore’s voice to wash over the music. “Into The Sunset”, the opening track, sets the tone as a soaring pop [...]
