Category Archives: Music

Jack Cooper’s Sandgrown

Jack Cooper’s two-man band Ultimate Painting has made three albums and is working on a fourth, but in the meantime he has released his first solo album. Sandgrown is a song cycle that paints a sonic picture of his hometown, … Continue reading

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Anna Tivel’s Small Believer

Anna Tivel, whose Heroes Waking Up rose to the top of my best-of list in 2016, has a new record out already this year, and Small Believers lives up to the high mark set by that record. Portland’s Anna Tivel … Continue reading

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Various Artists’ Italia 3: Atlante di Musica Tradizionale — Roots Music Atlas; Various Artists’ Italian Café

Have you ever had one of those occurrence in which you put a CD on the player and sit down with the booklet, then look at the player, convinced that somehow the wrong disc got in there? The introduction to … Continue reading

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Karl Seglem’s Nordic Balm

I was initially leery of this album titled Nordic Balm with its whiff of New Age, but because I was very favorably impressed with Karl Seglem’s 2012 release NyeSongar.no, I resolved to set aside my prejudices and approach it with … Continue reading

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Damir Imamovič’s Sevdah Takht’s Dvojka

This album was actually released in 2016 but only recently came to my attention. My ear has wandered away from Balkan music for a while, and Damir Imamovič turns out to be a great attention-getter. Imamovič is the scion of … Continue reading

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Deer Tick’s Deer Tick Vol. 1 & Deer Tick Vol. 2

In the chorus of “Only Love,” midway through the acoustic, folky Deer Tick Vol. 1, Deer Tick front man John McCauley sings, “It’s only love, so don’t be afraid, it will let you down but not today … it won’t … Continue reading

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Fairport’s Cropredy Convention, 10-12 August 2017

Lars Nilsson wrote this review. There is some dispute about when the first Cropredy festival took place. The most common view is that it was the farewell concert Fairport Convention played in what was then the home village of several … Continue reading

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Alan Jabbour, James Reed, and Bertram Levy’s A Henry Reed Reunion

Due to the demands of my life as a music reviewer, I have created a new category in my musical library: despite my reputation in some quarters as a highbrow with a taste for the esoteric, I am developing a … Continue reading

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Christian Jormin 3’s Sol Salutis

The Christian Jormin 3 is a jazz trio based in Sweden, comprised of Christian Jormin, piano and percussion; Mattias Gröroos, bass; and Magnus Boqvist, drums. Sol Salutis is, indeed, jazz, and sometimes subject to that cold intellectualism that I often … Continue reading

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Helge Lien Trio’s Guzuguzu

In my little corner of the world, a new album by the Helge Lien Trio is always cause for (quiet) celebration. Their 2017 release Guzuguzu is a particular treat of lyrical melodicism, playful, sometimes angular rhythms and sonic surprises. From … Continue reading

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