These reviews is on Amazon under Michael V.. I buy a lotta CD’s and DVD’s, and many from the bands, labels and Ebog, so not everything is reviewed. Also, you will note if ya go to Amazon (gotta go there, I can’t be arsed to write them and the graffics don’t transfer) a lotta 4 and 5 star reviews. That’s not cuz I’m soft, it’s cuz I try to buy what I like, see. Anywhat, there’s a bucha album and at least one book review below.
Hey Jude & Right On
OG soul
There’s reasons he’s famous, and they start here. Charming production, Muscle Shoal’s performances, look for Dwayne Allman. *Jude* is better’n *Right On*, but it’s all good.
6 mins
Tom Verlaine/Dreamtime / Tom Verlaine
A double dose of genius
For Television, Lou Reed, surf, guitar instrumental, quirky vocal-loving intellectual music fans. This ain’t pop, and yer lover may hate it.
Waves: The BBC Sessions
*Waves* rocks
I just got turned onto this band after hearing Swervedriver’s excellent latest (*I Wasn’t Born to Lose You*) and bought most of their (Ride’s) stuff. My fave is *their* latest (Weather Diaries*) followed by this compilation of outtakes. Less produced than their conventional records (I love the BBC aesthetic) – and far longer – it also rocks more. Excellent in cans for the commute.
Concrete and Gold
Again no up to potential
Look, I love the Foo Fighters live, but I think 75% of their records are over-produced pap. “Neighborhood” rocks, is original and passionate and rock radio-single of the year for me. rest is samey. So, ya got a piece of gold, mebbe some copper (“Dirty Water”) and the rest is manufactured stone.
Winwood Greatest Hits Live
If you see a chance, get it
Road-tripped this and me and the teen& 20 y.o. all loved it. I wish there were more specific credits, but the song selection, sequencing and sound are stellar.
Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind)
Electric, my fiends
I got turned onto him – again – by a local TV show (JBTV) and found his NIN inspiration both funny and fascinating. I actually bought the next album and a prior double-live record – this is my fave…
NIN, Bambi Slam, Stabbing Westward, Ministry, etc. He’s on the kinda pop edge of industrial, but very smart about it. Highlight, for me, is “Bleeds”.
Better Nature
Pun’kin Lite
Better than the last one, not as good as the first couple, I feel like the production tames the quirkiness (I first thought *Swoon* hadda a female lead singer). I added a 1/2 star for getting rid of the basketball kick drum on *Neck*.
A Deeper Understanding
Drills into yer brain
I can see why there are haters, because if you don’t like jams, and psych, and reverb, and tenor vocals, and more reverb, and longer jams, and Neil Young, you won’t wanna know. Great in headphones, and for the commute.
Nothing But Thieves
Nothin’ to steal
I’m too old for this stuff, but it does have good production, and it does try to sorta kinda rock. So I added a star.
50 mins
Get Hurt
Anything to stay awake
I hear the Brooce conventions, I guess, and some kinda Stonesy punk mebbe, and I’ll re-visit it later, but somehow doubt I’ll like it any better; pedestrian.
Savage (Songs from a Broken World)
Not tame
I got re-intro’d to this guy onna local cable show (JBTV) and damn but he isn’t a magnetic performer, writing better than ever. Don’t think “Cars”, think NIN. A unique vocal style and voice, and an aggressive sound to surprisingly thoughtful and “imagistic” lyrics.
Sleep Well Beast
A little short of a national treasure
This is a 5, except two songs with annoying electro-percussion, that I hate bad enough to deduct a star. I mean, it’s my review, and I’m a dad, and I know rock, and this kinda dad-rock, too.
58 mins
Heroes – Live In Europe, 2016
Get prog’d
As good as you know it is. And it is.
1 hr
What Does Anything Mean? Basically
The definition of a near-masterpiece of woulda/shoulda
A touch over-produced, as was the style of the times and even the music (think U2, *et al.*) but that just emphasizes the driving rhythms and vocals. In a better world, Burgess woulda/shoulda been Bono.
Decade (2CD)
Extraordinary
When I first heard the vinyl decades ago is when I understood NY is a genius. Before that I’d heard *Harvest* and singles like “Cinnamon Girl” and also CSNY and such but this, this is special. And I’m not a compilation fan, I try and avoid ’em, but this plays like a multiple-sides album oughta, with excellent sequencing of a vary wide body of work – and in retrospect, he was just getting started!.
How Did I Find Myself Here?
Find yourself, right here
Modern reverby psych narrrative jammy re-formed guitars rhythmic and Kendra. Top 5 of the year for me. Top 2? 1?
1 hr
Invitation
I like dirty
It amazes me how much she sound like Stipe in her phrasing – izzat Buck causing that? The lyrics are great, as are the performances (Reiflin is a rock), the production is un-obtrusive and this only only needs a little more of Bloch’s soloing to be a 5. (The core of Kurt, Peter and Scott are on Alejandro Escovedo’s last record – check that out and you’ll see.)
The Days We Had
One-man miss
himself. And he’s doing it OK, he is, but it’s not as good as the band I heard. Mebbe next time.
John Peel Sessions
The arguable over-production, peeled away
I’m a big fan of this band, and I love the production aesthetics of the John Peel Sessions, which present the band in a much-less-but-appreciated production. Also check out the Radio One record, and the bonus live concert on *Script*.
S/T
A new fave
I had heard of these guys as being rather electronica, but this, this rocks. Love her voice, love the stripped arrangements, the beats and tempos, the playing, the bass-featuring mix. Now I gotta go back into the catalogue …
Damn The Torpedoes [Remastered]
A fairly subtle improvement
I give this 5 both as an album – IOW, it was always a “5” – and as a remaster. We’ve all heard the results of crappy re-master, the dynamic loss and even distortion, etc. In just clearing up the mastering, I think this is exemplifies the best approach, altho’ the original CD really wasn’t bad. (Other great re-masters IMO include PJ’s *Ten*, which includes a massively different re-mix, and Miles’ *Kind of Blue* which actually speed up – this is more similar to Page’s Zep re-masters, or the Stones’.) RIP
Songs Of Experience [Deluxe Edition]
Not necessarily rock
Anymore, for me, U2 is about the production, and that voice, and the arrangements and writing and atmosphere/mood, and less about “rock”. II love their progression, also, as they’ve gone light years past punk to their current sophistication. I typically agree with the politics, also, (noting their obsession with “America” [brogue off]) even as I acknowledge (even if they are unsure) that U2 is no longer and hasn’t been for a long time, cutting-edge music. But they have their thing, which I’ll note my teen and 20 sompin’
Living Colour – Shade
I’m a fan, but …
I can’t quite seem to get into this record, and I’m not sure why. The playing is excellent, the singing, too. I go back a long way with this band to seeing ’em tour their 1st major release, standin’ 3′ from VR in a near-empty weeknight club, to that same club packed, to sold out theaters. (Shout out to VR for producing Blood, also!) And I still go back to the first 3 records, and the live one, and the DVD. This one, I’m just not so into the songs, nor the production, I guess because it’s kinda same-same.
It’s A Holiday Soul Party
The perfect voice for it
Deducted one star because it’s a Xmas album. I hope you understand … ((Fun to compare their “Silent Night” version with Cheap Trick’s’, also, as I bought both.) RIP, Ms. Jones.
Christmas Christmas
A good trick
Deducted one star because its a Xmas record. I mean, I hope you understand … It rocks. (Fun to compare their “Silent Night” version with Sharon Jones’, also, as I bought both.)
1 hr
Dear December
Original
Funny, sad, and very musical – a surprisingly good original record that I am sure I will play “out of season”.
The Dusk In Us
Brutal as a good thing
Rhythmic, melodic, heavy, harsh, magnetic, grinding and grooving. Not my fave genre, but definitely my fave band innit. And a shout-out to CB for being a cool guy and re his cool Brutalist pedal.
2 hrs
Add Violence EP
Longer than you might think
A unique voice, highly influential, ever consistent and ever mutating, and an important one for many years now. The last track should suck but is fascinating in its degeneration. I believe there are two more related EP’s to come.
The Idiot
A disconcertingly intelligent record, for all its primitive beats and apparently simple emotions. But there’s sophistication and depth here in the performances, and the writing – Iggy seemed to try to be but was and is (at least when not obliterated) no dum dum boy. Plus, it has the original versions of “China Girl” and “Sister Midnight” and “Nightclubbing”. A companion piece to *Lust for Life*.
Man Woman Life Death Infinity
Modern Church
Modern Church, not exactly reformed, but with MWP gone and Mr. Hoag here they are a little more mid-tempo, perhaps a little more psychedelic, even a touch electronica – for this record. But since they change some all the time, who knows the next. But it’s definitely the Church, with superb drumming, atmospheric guitars, that unique bass and voice. And it has some cool keys and BV’s, and remarkable production that sounds great on my speakers, monitors and cans. I bought tickets to see this tour, then couldn’t make it, and then I lost the CD. So this is my second copy bought a week after I couldn’t find the first – there’s yer endorsement.
Live From A&R Studios
Sweet
Got me some Allmans, I’m good, thanx.
Alone
It’s kinda over-produced to my ears, and while I love Chrissy, it’s certainly latter-day Pretenders, and not the best of those (what I think is *Loose Screw*). I loved Aurbach’s work with Dr. John (but notta Blake Keys fan, etc., me) but this seems a bit murkey. Some songs are great, some not so, and while I’ve not given up on it, it went to the bottom of the stack pretty fast after 3 listens.
The Tel-Star Sessions
Worthy
Demos? I call mule-s*** – it’s excellent versions of the first album songs.
Temple Of The Dog [2 CD][Deluxe Edition]
Makes ya wanna reach down
Picks me up to where I was when I first heard it, every time – as good as any Pearl-J or Sound-G album, and for me a bit better than any Mother Love Bone recording.
Dec 25, 2016
Soul Power
Timeless Modernity
Never heard of this guy before, but the heavy-soul and the Yardbirds-soul and the more modern-soul *is* power. THis is in heavy rotation for a couple weeks now ‘rond here, and even my teens like it.
Dec 25, 2016
Burn Something Beautiful
Smokin’
A long-time fave, rockin’ harder than ever, a little less 80’s without Visconte, Bloch’s lead guitar kills.
Until The Hunter
Take me witha grain
Moments of beauty, the first song just plain annoys me, sometimes it drones, there;’s one little-girl vocal that I also don’t care for – I prefer the first two full-lengths more, but the I just bought another Mazzy bootleg so take me with a grain of salt, or junk …
Of Course You Do
Very promising
Power-trio noise rock, a bit of melody, a bit of Kurt, a bit avant, and a bit feminist – they are very promising, and I shall enjoy following.
Dec 8, 2016
Star Treatment
From the former 16HP singer
Unique voice and writing, a bit less aggressive and more polished then 16 Horse Power , and sometimes folkier.
Fool on Every Corner
Listen, Laugh, Love
I wish he did a longer version of “Cotton Seed”, and that the sound was a little less audience-heavy, but I really like this, and he’s quite a funny guy besides being half of the best song-writing rock band around right now. Great guitar-player, also.
Zig Zag
I need me a Slick guitar
A bit dated, but quite interesting, and the Bowie song is great.
Sep 7, 2016
Search & Destroy: Live in Chicago 1988
I was there, and I am again.
Relatively excellent sound quality of a great performance, second only to *Live At The Channel Boston M.A.*, IMNSFHO.
Something More Than Free
Worth it
I’m not sure why they’re calling this “folk”, other than it’s a marketing thing – it’s what “country” should be, I think, or “alt.country” or “Americana”, etc. Really, it’s just damn good (altho’ I like Southeast better), whatever label – yeah, *damn good* should be the label here. Love his recent openness, also, about DBT and how his life now is – his art has sure not suffered.
Still [2 CD][Deluxe Edition]
No “yet” here
Aye, Richard, that you are not mainstream but shows we know not good music – so impressive is this man’s art.
Sep 4, 2015
Untethered Moon
Shines
Inna cab today, the African driver is whistling along to “Never Be The Same” on the radio – that he guessed it was Nick cave is not relevant (tho’ funny), that he liked it was cool. I like…
Sep 4, 2015
To Be Kind
I like this kinda stuff
I dig this tribal-noise, a bit parallel to Gang of 4, even influencing the Dead Weather, m’thinks.
Sep 4, 2015
Picture You
Picturesque
Spacey, Cali-ish, shoe-gazey, Neil-youngish, etc. Nice background music that keeps calling attention to itself.
Sep 4, 2015
Cuacha
No cuacha, uh-uh
They were actually terrific from the beginning.
Michael V. reviewed a product.
Sep 4, 2015
Works for Tomorrow
Works for me!
Surprising and smart sequencing, terrific musicianship and writing, excellent sound, may be my new fave recording by this, one of my fave bands.
Apr 29, 2015
I Wasn’t Born To Lose You
Right up my lane
I wasn’t much of a fan of shoe-gaze back in it’s day, preferring punk and garage rock and generally more dynamics as well as hookier song-writing, but this, this makes me like the genre. And I love the sound of record itself for it’s murk and mystery and intricacy, and its huge guitars, driving rhythms, buried vocals. I mean, it need not be called, “shoe-gaze”, just very, very good.
Singles
What It Is
Aiight, I bought this because of the Letterman performance last year what was wonderful, and, I note, the nearly as good (altho’ lacking the sheer surprise) performance last night on that same show. And the record, for what it is is really good. For me, “what it is” is something of the problem with it, because I came of musical age in the 80’s, and this could be from then, albeit with a very talented singer (something many 80’s synth-bands lacked – Human League, anyone?) and some pretty good songs. Up-starred because of the voice, the songs, the stage-presence and the sincerity.
What Happens Next
What Happened Now
Really, it should be 3.5 stars; in my little mind. Gill is awesome, but it’s like a solo record for him. And I really miss Jon King, mostly for his attitude. What is not, in my little mind, to say the new singer or the guests are bad – they are good, and I especially like Gronemeyer and Mossheart. Really, it’s a 4 star record, tho’, because it is not yer mom’s Gang of 4 (even if it hasn’t been for years) I’m down-starring it. FWIW, I liked *Content* better, altho’ this is a worthy follow-up.
Gris-Gris
Get-Get
It’s Dr. J and it gots “Gilded Splinters” and it defines a genre of its own.
Apr 3, 2015
Diploid Love
More like a gamete
America’s Polly Harvey? Not even close, but sometimes similar.
Compare this, BTW, with Lanegan’s Blues Funeral, as well as QOTSA.
Apr 3, 2015
Elgar: Cello Concerto; Enigma” Variations; Pomp and Circumstance Marches No. 1 & 4
Good as it gets for me
I will probably never really understand classical – I’m just to lazy and hyper and guitar & vocals oriented – but this is beautiful, and relaxing.
4 stars because I am not qualifried to say what’s 5 stars.
Refractory Obdurate
Stubbornly not quite there
Too long, too dense, second half feels repetitive, but mebbe I just miss 16 Horse Power’s punkiness and lack of restraint.
Apr 3, 2015
Kinky Friedman: Live From Austin Texas
Cowboy hippy-silly.
Bonus star because it’s Kinky, and he’s hilarious, but this never-aired show, now, is actually kinda cowboy hippy-silly.
Apr 3, 2015
Hypnotic Eye
Yer gettin’ sleepy …
Sounds great, not too filling; Mojo was much better.
Apr 3, 2015
Popular Problems
No problems here at all
Along with the persona the voice, the great and understated band – you listen to him for the words, the poetry, the humor and the world-view.
I mean, at least, I do.
Apr 3, 2015
Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone
A double I wish was a triple
That accent, those guitars, the songs …
I only ever been to N’Awlins once’t – she keeps bringin’ me back, sometimes thru the woods.
Apr 3, 2015
Deja Vu
Unforgettable
I used to have this on 8-track.
Really.
Back when “Almost Cut My Hair” had a literal meaning for me.
Still have it on vinyl, somewhere.
Hadda have it on CD, again.
Really.
Back when “Almost Cut My Hair” had a literal meaning for me.
Still have it on vinyl, somewhere.
Hadda have it on CD, again.
Apr 3, 2015
lullaby and… The Ceaseless Roar
Don’t stop, please
What he’s doing now is what he wants to, and with that in mind, it’s excellent.
Gary Clark Jr. Live (2-CD Set)
Predictable
He’s really, really good, as his his band, but he ain’t Hendrix, SRV or Haynes.
Yet.
Ryan Adams
Perfectly perfect
This is such a well-arranged, well-written and deceptively simple record,and so impeccably performed, that the comparisons to Petty were inevitable, not just because of Tench.
But man, is this guy a great writer, and singer, and a damn good guitarist, too.
Comedown Machine
Accurately titled
The problem with a cuppla great early records and a undeniable talent that causes a band to progress and delve into new …
Awe, I’m sorry, it just kinda sucks.
Apr 3, 2015
El Pintor
El Pronti
These guys, for me, are a type of New York rock that flows from the VU, by way of Ian Curtis – I wanna see ’em onna double-bill with Savages, while I’m eatin’ codeine and drinking Martell and diet-coke.
oyager
The Voyager
8675309
She can be annoyingly bouncey, annoyingly flippant, annoyingly “girly” – I think I love her. This week, I mean, until I meet someone better, y’know?
Oh yeah, and hold yer tongue …
.
.
Apr 3, 2015
Acoustic Classics
Interesting, not quite essential
Interesting takes on his classics, but not a really spirited performance, and the sound is a bit dull even as his playing is stellar.
Apr 3, 2015
Ske-Dat-De-Dat… The Spirit Of Satch
Ske-dat-de-dull
It’s OK as back round music, but not enuff of Dr. J’s vocals and I miss his original material, I so loved the last record.
That said, “Mack the Knife” is pretty cool to play for …
Apr 3, 2015
Long In the Tooth
Take a bite
The more I hear it, the better I like it and even the religious stuff is sincere enuff not to annoy this agnostic.
Pretty funny at times, also.
Dylan, Cohen, Ferry, Shaver – these guys are still doing some of their best work and have a lot more to say and I love hearin’ it.
See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody
Compelling and disturbing and unforgettable
Not at all discrete, polite or restrained, it howls like his best rock, gets uncomfortably intimate like his best confessional songs. Not for the h-phobic, nor the non-fan.
Apr 3, 2015
Hard Again
Oooh, yeah-oh-yeah-oh-yeah-oh
Wonderful, loud, raucous, funny and fun. Do crank it up, gotta hear the hollers.
Apr 3, 2015
Why?
Why, indeed
I wanna like it, and Baker is good, but it’s just kinda boring bloozey jazz – get his Frissel stuff, keep hoping he does a record with Scofield.
Apr 3, 2015
Complete Go Sessions
Go, eh, gettit
So great to re-discover this on CD, and it’s about everything this incarnation recorded, great rhythms and jams and Winwood is a constant delight.
Weird, oriental-influenced avant jazz-pop & space-jams; the live stuff is better’n the studio.
Sonic Highways
Cities not quite on flame
It’s aiight, it ain’t nuthin’ new, the guests don’t really stand out, the songs neither, but it sure sounds good, and rocks like Foo.
Apr 3, 2015
DangelonAnd the Vanguard Black Messiah
Converted me
I hate hip-hop. OK, not really, but I loathe rap for the shnizzle G byotch Crystal hedz, y’know? And the crap for the kids.
This, this is genius, dark and dank and dangerous.
Apr 3, 2015
Songs Of Innocence [2 CD][Deluxe Edition]
Needs more edge, and more Edge
I wanna love, but just like it, and not as well as the last one, that everyone else (including the band) hated.
Apr 3, 2015
Apr 3, 2015
Kings And Queens Of The Underground
Mebbe he could front Van Halen?
Totally listenable, unfortunately not very memorable – where’s the monster hooks?
Avonmore
Dorian Grey rock
One of my recent late-night faves, this is up there with *Bete Noir*, the multiple bass parts are especially interesting, the voice in fine form, the rhythms consistently interesting. I always forg…
Apr 3, 2015
Monuments To An Elegy
Eligiacal and monumental
Coincidentally just caught them doing “Bang the Drum” on Fallon. I admit I’m a fan, but I like this lots, whether it’s Tommy the Shlong or the 80-ish macheen bashing drum lines, that distinctive whiny voice is compelling, the guitars huge and the songs interesting.
Sukierae
Just like might expect, and expect to like
Tweedy and son and some other worthies will make you kick back and listen EZ.
Michael V. reviewed a product.
Apr 3, 2015
Man on the Run (Deluxe Version)
One in the hand
Few leads and silly lyrics but great sounds, Traynor’s a monster, and that voice, THAT voice.
Apr 3, 2015
Rips
Rippin’ cool
They mean it, and actually have a bass, and a guitarist who plays lead, and they use Orange amps and rawk.
Apr 2, 2015
Phantom Radio
It’s only 4 stars because I want more real drums and guitars. Those issues aside, get this if ya wanna hear the American version of Nick Cave Lame comparison, but all reviews are, essentially lame. I mean, read The Book, whatever you consider The Book to be, and then dream about it inna absinthe and opium funk, and then write a review about The Book. Yer review will suck, too.
This absolutely, on the life of all the children whom all the women ever wanted to keep Lanegan away from, doesn’t suck.
Metamodern Sounds In Country Music
Jack Daniels and headphones worthy
I wanna throw a party, invite this guy and Shooter Jennings, have ’em drink shots to figger which is the best modern version of Waylon.
I expect a tie.
Sco-Mule
Legendary concerts, and now we know why
Just great, and hearing Alan Woody again seems a revelation. If Haynes isn’t the best at what he does (rock-blooze-jazz) I don’t know who is better, and it ain’t Bonamassa. And Scofield is my fave modern jazz guitarist, tho’ I love Henderson and Metheny and Luke and, etc.
Rocco DeLuca
Not my stylee
Sounds great, but wimpy and booring, to me – my teenage daughter doesn’t like it either. It’s not the musicianship, singing or general performances; it’s that the songs are un-interesting and nothing grooves
Gentle Stream
David Lindley should produce ’em
Add some Laurel Canyon to a touch of Neil Young and a glossy pop production to some kinda Nordic lyricysm and just listen to it float by until a guitar lick makes you go, “Cool!”
Michael V. reviewed a product.
Feb 28, 2015
Give My Love To London
If you never liked ciggies and booze, you won’t like this
My English friends hate her for some reason, but I can’t get enough, and with some of Cave’s cohorts doing most of the musical work and the Aussie Goth some of the writing, and P-Head’s Utley doing some guitar, well, I wish I was sitting next to her at the bar as she appears to be on the cover. But I’m not, so I’ll just listen to some of her life story here and raise my glass like I just bought her a drink, and then listen to her some more.
‘t Wait Up (For George)
Shooter’s t’killya
Hadda make the purchase limit, needed a $5-sh thang, wish I bought this sooner, it’s country for doin’ shooters of t’killya with extra salt and no lime and warm Lonestar my favorite fat girl.
Feb 28, 2015
Sly and the Family Stone
I hate compilations – I LUV this
If I was inna funk band and I sorta am and have been I would and do insist on coverin’ “Thankyafalettin'” at the least and would wanna cover a bunch more or mebbe everything here even the best-ever cover of “Que Sera” what’ll ever be.
The Best Day
If Thurston Soley Owned SY
This has been my late-night record of choice for the last few months, I listen to it at least weekly, fall deep into it every time. I like the Chelsea Light Moving record, also, don’t miss its screaming punk song, do miss SY, and look forward to more Thurston.
Black Sheets of Rain
I Drown Myself in This
Having read his autobiography recently, I feel I understand this record even more – it truly is excellent, a nascent Sugar feel with an even technically better rhythm section, kind of a poppier Beaster?
Holy Ghosts
Half pretty good, the other just aiight
Surprisingly, I like the orchestral stuff better, Macca seems really into it and the arrangements are interesting; it’s not, BTW, simply orchestral – 3 & 1/2 stars there. The newer material is OK, but that’s all, seems a little dis-engaged in comparison, and lacks intensity, urgency, and drive – 2 &1/2 stars here
Don’t Worry About Me
Joey, we missya
It’s Joey, he’s dead, his music lives, and it this is a great example of what he bruoght to his more famous band; it rocks just as hard but a little more conventionally, and is catchy as hell.
Affliction
Spawned of Ponys
I was/am a The Ponys fan and these guys have that early Ponies vibe, laid-back and kinda nervously dangerous, altho’ I gotta say I hate the band name as this is much more organic than “mutants” makes me think of.
I’m Ready
Seminal Mud
Mud in yer ear! And that’s a good thing. Part of the Johnny Winter-produced three studio albums, it’s as great as Muddy got, and he was the greatest. Band cooks, too.
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