Category Archives: Music

Modern Nature’s Island of Noise

This fascinating and engaging disc is part of an impressive box set created by Modern Nature’s Jack Cooper as inspired by a re-reading of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and its relevance to our current moment. Be not afeard, the isle is … Continue reading

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DAMUG’S ODO (Ofrenda Del Origen)

The Spanish jazz trio DAMUG’s name is an acronym created from the name of pianist, composer and leader David Muñoz Guillamon. But it’s not a one-man show: the music this trio makes is a splendid example of three-way synergy as … Continue reading

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Margo Cilker’s Pohorylle

Margo Cilker is the latest country musician from the far northeastern corner of Oregon to toss a debut album of songs into the world. There’s apparently quite a little music scene up there in Enterprise and Joseph and environs, churning … Continue reading

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SUSS’s Night Suite

The latest recording from ambient country pioneers SUSS takes them out of their Brooklyn environs on a road trip to a part of the country that fully mirrors their sound. After putting out three albums in three years, culminating in … Continue reading

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Laurel Premo’s Golden Loam

Solo guitar albums can be daunting to listen to and even moreso to review. Especially if you’re not a guitar player yourself and don’t have the knowledge to pick out what’s unique about the guitarist’s style, or the vocabulary to … Continue reading

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Various artists’ Folk Music of China, Vol. 18 – Folk Songs of the Uyghur Peoples

This album, the 18th volume in Naxos’ series of 20 releases covering the widely varied folk music of China, is immediately recognizable as something different from most of the other 20 albums. This one features folk songs of the Uyghur … Continue reading

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Various artists’ Folk Music of China, Vol. 17 – Folk Songs of the Tujia and Sui Peoples

This disc, the 17th of 20 releases from Naxos highlighting the varied folk music of China, focuses on two ethnic groups, the Tujia and Sui peoples. They live mostly in several landlocked provinces of south-central china, the Sui in Guizhou, … Continue reading

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Norman Blake’s Day By Day

I probably first read Norman Blake’s name on the extensive liner notes that came with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s landmark country album Will the Circle Be Unbroken, but I’m sure I first saw him perform a few years earlier … Continue reading

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George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass 50th Anniversary

This album has been one of my favorites since I got it in December 1970. It was a monumental achievement and a towering artistic statement by the young man who had been called “the quiet Beatle,” toiling in the shadow … Continue reading

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Michael Nesmith & the First National Band’s Magnetic South, Loose Salute, and Nevada Fighter

The blue, red and white trilogy of albums by Michael Nesmith & the First National Band (plus one later release in much the same vein) remain among my favorite albums more than 50 years later. Nesmith wasn’t the first rock … Continue reading

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