For his debut as a producer, journalist and Rare Record Guide editor Ian Shirley has recorded a unique cross-pollination – London's Ebony Steel Band playing the works of German electronic music legends, Kraftwerk.
Revolution is an exceptional piece of work, a timely reminder of how soulful, perceptive and harrowing a writer and singer Paula Cole is and has always been.
In 1981, Johnny Mathis cut an album with the Chic Organization. Columbia Records got cold feet and the project was vaulted for nearly four decades. Mathis talks to PopMatters about the missing piece that's finally been made part of his official discography.
The beloved composer of the smash-hit 1978 Broadway musical, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, was also a singer/songwriter on one of the decade's most prestigious labels. Her 1972 album Beads and Feathers is arguably an overlooked masterpiece. Prior to her October 2018 passing, she spoke with PopMatters about this less celebrated period of her career.
Forty-six years ago, singer-songwriter Pamela Polland was poised for world domination. She and her then-manager, Diane Sward Rapaport, tell PopMatters about the cancelled 1973 album finally out this month.
Rhino has remastered Curtis Mayfield's first four albums, a politically conscious, progressive-soul tetralogy that has stood the test not just of time but also changing tastes and fashions, and come out sounding stronger than ever.
British singer-songwriter Yola talks to PopMatters about emerging from a lifetime of straitened circumstances and emotional challenges to make 2019's most promising debut, Walk Through Fire.
The late singer/songwriter Valerie Carter, whose unmistakable voice appeared on hundreds of albums over several decades, is eulogised by her close friend, Kathy Kurasch, in a new, posthumous collection. Kurasch tells us Carter's story.
Universal's Bobbie Gentry collection was the hit that caught 2018 unawares. PopMatters talks with four Gentry commentators about what the enigmatic singer/songwriter was really like, and asks why she left showbiz behind in 1980.
Music scene veteran Michael Blyth issues his first album with help from band-mates the Wild Braid and it introduces his tremendous, rich, chesty, storyteller's voice.
Pop singer Melissa Manchester made some career calculations in order to stay current in the new wave era, as an expanded reissue of her 1985 album, Mathematics, makes clear. She talks to PopMatters about the pluses and minuses of her 1980s experience.
Louise Goffin talks with PopMatters about crafting a timeless pop album with the unexpected support of a patron.
