Listen Up
Bruce Hornsby
Listen UpThere is a gravity to Bruce Hornsby’s piano rock ’n’ jazz, not an oppressive gravity that holds the listener down but one that keeps both feet firmly on the ground and under mostly blue skies. Not a trivial gravity, eithe...
James Hunter
Listen UpWhen sung by white folks, old-school soul and R&B is often called “blue-eyed soul,” especially in reference to a pasty Englishman like James Hunter who digs that sound. It’s easy to listen to … Believe What I S...
Madeleine Peyroux
Listen UpIn 2004, eight years after her debut, Madeleine Peyroux released her second album, Careless Love, and finally earned the recognition she deserved. While the first, Dreamland, featured a killer roster of musicians, from James Ca...
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
Listen UpSomewhere amid the musical handiwork of Elliott Smith, Weezer, and The Shins, you’ll find a similarly inspired, indie-ish-for-life, guitar-based Missouri quartet sporting a cheeky moniker in tribute to the first president of ...
Pepper
Listen UpThere’s this scene in Blue Crush where surfer girl Anne-Marie Chadwick goes to rescue lil’ sis Penny from a house party on Oahu’s North Shore. Penny, naturally, is pissed, being yanked by her big sister out of what appear...
Darling New Neighbors
Listen UpListening to music is usually a subjective experience, but certain rules and boundaries apply to performing it. Songwriting is not for the weak of heart, but as with Darling New Neighbors’ singer Elizabeth Jackson, the craft ...
Buddy Guy
Listen UpAs one of the masters of the blues, Buddy Guy has honored, enlivened, and extended the genre during his 50-year career. The three-c.d., one-DVD box set Can’t Quit the Blues spans most of Guy’s career, from the early straigh...
Waylon Jennings
Listen UpLongtime Waylon fans remember his first starring role on the Silver Screen, in a 1966 movie in which he portrayed an up-and-coming singer. Yet looking back on those Nashville Rebel days, you don’t see a man all that rebellious.
Ray LaMontagne
Listen UpRay LaMontagne was a critic’s favorite two years ago upon the release of his debut album, Trouble, a largely acoustic, bucolic paean to desperation and love. The singer-songwriter was aptly likened to a wide slew of ’60s an...
Slayer
Listen UpSince forming the early 1980s, Slayer has always been a big black cloud hovering over the music industry. Brutal and agile, precise and cold, bloodied but clean in conscience, the band hasn’t had to kowtow to commercialism to...