Tag Archives: music

Y La Bamba’s Court the Storm

Court the Storm, the second full-length release from Portland, Oregon’s Y La Bamba, punches all the right buttons. It’s rhythmically, melodically and lyrically rich. Its songs, whether in English or Spanish, are immediately entertaining in all of those ways, and … Continue reading

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Various artists’ This One’s For Him – A Tribute to Guy Clark

(I reviewed this tribute to Guy Clark in 2011. It seems appropriate to re-post it, in light of Mr. Clark’s death on May 17.) Guy Clark is the best country songwriter living. I feel confident saying that since the passing … Continue reading

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Isaac Hayes’s Hot Buttered Soul

Craig Clarke contributed this review. Music legend Isaac Hayes began his career as a session musician and songwriter for Stax Records. (He and partner David Porter wrote “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I’m Comin’ ” for Sam and Dave.) Hayes’s … Continue reading

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Blackmore’s Night’s Secret Voyage

By way of full disclosure, I should start by admitting that I am GMR’s resident monster fan of Blackmore’s Night. It would take a bad album of epic proportions, so stunning in its badness as to send music lovers worldwide … Continue reading

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The Decemberists’ The Hazards of Love

For their fifth full-length recording, Portland, Oregon’s The Decemberists have made a sprawling epic of a record, a grand concept album the likes of which hasn’t been seen much in 30 years or more: The Hazards of Love. Frontman, lead … Continue reading

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Janis Ian’s Society’s Child: My Autobiography, and Best of Janis Ian: The Autobiography Collection

Normally here at the Green Man building we keep books and CDs separate. Oh sure, in every editor’s office the shelves are filled with both, and down in the jungle where the writers dwell the floors are littered with CDs … Continue reading

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Daniel Lanois’ Belladonna

Daniel Lanois has been known chiefly in the past for his recording work with other artists. He was producer on career-reviving records by two mature, established artists: Bob Dylan’s Oh Mercy in 1989 and a decade later Time Out of … Continue reading

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Ion Petre Stoican’s Sounds From A Bygone Age, Vol. 1

This record has quite a back-story. Ion Petre Stoican was a relatively unknown musician in the lively Bucharest scene of the 1970s. He had played professionally, particularly for weddings and such, in a port town for some 15 years, but … Continue reading

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Pink Martini’s Hang On Little Tomato

Pink Martini, the eclectic jazz-classical-Latin-pop combo based in Portland, Oregon, had a surprise worldwide hit with its debut disc Sympathique in the late 1990s. Since then, they’ve had some major lineup changes (one of the lead vocalists, Pepe Raphael, left … Continue reading

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Lhasa’s The Living Road

Lhasa de Sela is a Canadian singer who performs a unique blend of acoustic folk and electronica, sung in the three major languages of the North America: French, Spanish and English. This CD is brimming with passionate melody and rhythm … Continue reading

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