Music Columns

This weekend's controversial on-sale for his upcoming The River Tour, has some Bruce Springsteen fans asking if rock's working class hero has turned into more of a nightmare Boss.

Two recent albums that do new things with very old music.

Ric Todd, Drawing Lines Ric Todd’s new EP Drawing Lines crashes out of the gate with the heavy blues-rock of “Red Letter,” followed by the bouncier but still gritty “Something Real.” These smartly conceived songs combine crisp, stark modern production with traditional retro-rock attitude; in pure sound terms they’re superb. …

These three new albums all fit loosely into the Americana category but are all very, very different. Two are from artists who aren't even (originally) from America.

For fans of Jorma Kaukonen, Paul Simon, Ellen McIlwaine, Leo Kottke, John Fahey, and acoustic guitar mastery in general, discovering Hulburt's only solo album will be a treat as well as a rewarding time capsule (timeless capsule?) too.

Asian folk music and 20th century history inform this collection of modern classical works for Western strings and the Chinese lute called the pipa.

Neil Young's rabble-rousing protest rock; Wilco's free, beautiful noise; and The Stones' dress rehearsal for Altamont.

When the songwriting and his melodic and vocal talents click, they click securely, and sailing through the whole set is Rodriguez's fine voice, a pleasure to listen to whatever he's singing about.

The Who LIve At Shea Stadium 1982 comes as an unexpected surprise from a much maligned era, and is a keeper to boot.

Two recent releases from bassist-bandleaders show how jazz continues to thrive in the most disparate of musical "cultures," even with its relatively small, specialized audience.