Category: ESSENTIAL NEW MUSIC

Since the release of its 2011 debut, reviews of Philadelphia rockers Low Cut Connie’s studio efforts have almost always included

Although Steve Earle is an ex-junkie who served time in prison (and is an inveterate political activist and rabble-rouser), when

As a songwriter, Jeff Tweedy has emerged as the modern equivalent of ’60s-era Bob Dylan, packing more vivid imagery and

The Vin Du Select Qualitite imprint has a narrow, precise remit: limited-run, lovingly crafted vinyl-only releases of instrumental guitar music,

Part of making a living as a musician these days requires a continual juggling of social-media presence, touring and making

Subtitled “A Story Of Independent Music, Greater Manchester 1977-1993,” Manchester: North Of England contains 143 tracks spread over seven CDs.

Katie von Schleicher’s voice is masterful: smoky, breathy, spooky, agile. Throughout the facetiously titled Shitty Hits, she explores the edges.

Midwestern heroes Cheap Trick rose alongside punk, sharing similar values without joining the spiky tumult. Rather, the band wed the

Keigo Oyamada’s 2001 wonderwork Point felt like a gateway into a previously undiscovered world of sound: a trippy, drippy, synesthetic

Good things come to those who wait. Chicago-based singer/multi-instrumentalist James Elkington had a decent run leading the Zincs and Horse’s

The musician credits on the album cover of Monster Vision are aliases. It’s fitting for a band based in Shanghai,

Surveying the Summer of Love that birthed Sgt. Pepper, there were certainly albums of equal (or greater) challenge to be