Rock

Buddy Holly, the hillbilly who turned into the first stuttering geek of rock, was one of the great triumphs of the rock and roll revolution, making us laugh at the cheap tricks along the way and cry after finding out the truth.

Andy Evans’ offering sounds familiar yet is intriguing enough to warrant a listen.

There is potential for many of the tracks on this album to become chart toppers on alternative rock and/or adult contemporary stations.

Highlights in popular music from 2015. Includes records by Lianne La Havas, Mika, Carly Rae Jepsen, Hot Chip, Seal, Janet Jackson and many more!

Finn's dark, drama-drenched writing mixes nicely with Kelly's more straightforward folk and folk-rock songs; the optimism of Kelly's work is a pleasing counterweight to the seriousness of the sublime pop Finn has crafted over the decades. Both singer-songwriters are in excellent voice on this live recording from 2013.

The seemingly relentless optimism in Billy Crain’s latest offering is needed in today’s world.

Brett Morgen succeeds where others before him have failed in giving the world a Kurt Cobain life story that is as profoundly intimate, non-judgmental and powerful as you could ever ask for.

The hits just keep on coming from Neil Young's Archives Performance Series, and in many ways, Bluenote Café may be the best volume yet. If nothing else, it is certainly among the most interesting.

This series of previously unreleased material just keeps getting better, nearly a quarter-century into its existence.

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. …