Elephant9 and Terje Rypdal Blaze on ‘Catching Fire’
Elephant9’s new LP is a showpiece for what can happen when masterful instrumentalists follow the muse, fueled by an audience that locks into every twist.
jazz rock
The Style Council’s Café Bleu and David Sylvian’s Brilliant Trees at 40
With Café Bleu and Brilliant Trees, Paul Weller and David Sylvian looked forward to jazz as a renewed source of inspiration; but was their pop music still pop?
Those Days Are Gone Forever: Steely Dan’s ‘Pretzel Logic’ at 50
Steely Dan’s 50-year-old third album, Pretzel Logic, conceals its dark satirical vision of modern society beneath immaculate studio production.
Gold Dime Make a Torrent of Beautiful Noise on ‘No More Blue Skies’
Gold Dime’s No More Blue Skies can be loud, fast, and urgent but will also disarm you and create a deeply unsettling atmosphere. It’s well worth the wait.
Joni Mitchell’s Archival ‘Volume 3’ Documents Her Most Fertile Period
Joni Mitchell’s Archives Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972-1975) is a towering achievement and the live concert performances are a special treat.
Traffic’s Free-Flowing British Soul Masterpiece at 55
No British album better synthesized the warmth, energy, and funkiness of New Orleans R&B, Southern soul, and rock better than Traffic’s 1968 self-titled LP.
Just Growing Old? Steely Dan’s ‘Countdown to Ecstasy’ at 50
Steely Dan’s Countdown to Ecstasy reveals a progression toward ever more sheen and polish on a smooth shell, the source of the “yacht rock” label that defined them.
That Stank Attitude: Steely Dan’s Final Albums Two Decades Later
The last album by the rock/jazz phenoms Steely Dan was released 20 years ago. This is a look back at why their last two records deserve reconsideration.
The Smile’s American Tour Rolls on Through New York City
For the Smile, Sons of Kemet’s Tom Skinner provides a deeper London jazz groove to lock into while the Radiohead side offer moody rock elements.
Olli Hirvonen Pivots to Post-rock on Gripping ‘Kielo’
Olli Hirvonen’s Kielo is potent, straddling the borders of ether and earth with commanding resolve: instrumental post-rock at its most gripping.
Isotope 217’s ‘The Unstable Molecule’ Still Sounds Like the Future 25 Years Later
The Unstable Molecule is unstable in all the right ways. Isotope 217 play modern jazz, post-rock, and funk but never fully commit to these genres within any given bar.
Guitarist Matthew Stevens Ties Threads Together for the Singular ‘Pittsburgh’
Dynamic jazz guitarist Matthew Stevens’ new album comes after a bad accident, but its history proves it to be more than just a lucky break.