Bob Dylan: “Together Through Life”

“Life is hard,” intones a somber Bob Dylan, two songs into album #33. Damn straight, Bob; times are tough generally, and by the sounds of things they’re not much better even if you’re the Voice of a Generation, universally considered to be the most incalculably influential artist in all of pop music, a living legend [...]

Film Break: “The Soloist”

Finally– a “film break” that’s actually somewhat music-related! My review of The Soloist– the terrific new movie directed by Joe Wright and starring Robert Downey and Jamie Foxx– is posted at CT Movies.

CT Reviews: Andrew Bird; Buddy & Julie Miller

Just a quick note to say that I’ve reviewed two albums from earlier in the year in Christianity Today, and both reviews are now available online. Here’s my abbreviated take on Andrew Bird’s Noble Beast, and here’s Buddy & Julie Miller’s Written in Chalk.
If you’re a CT reader, keep your eyes open for my reviews [...]

Indie Round-Up: Camera Obscura, Art Brut, and I Was a King

Here are three terrific new records that demonstrate just how great– and varied– the indie pop genre can be. The first two are already doing well with the indie set, having won raves from Pitchfork and the like. The third one hasn’t quite caught on yet, and perhaps it never will, but it’s their loss– [...]

Allen Toussaint: “The Bright Mississippi”

Ask any raconteur who’s worth his weight in salt and he’s certain to tell you the same thing: It’s not the story you’re telling that matters so much as how you’re telling it. It’s like in that movie The Aristocrats, where a zillion different comedians tell the very same joke over and over again, each [...]

Booker T. Jones: “Potato Hole”

Don’t let the timetable mislead you: Potato Hole might be Booker T. Jones’ first album in twenty years, but that doesn’t mean he’s spent the last two decades working on it. There’s no mistaking this album for a work of carefully-planned studio presicion or love-borne labor– it’s an album that was recorded quickly, spontaneously, with [...]

Brian Blade: “Mama Rosa”

As a music critic, I always try to evaluate a record within the context of the values and standards of its particular genre; far be it from me to expect a hip-hop record to play by the same rules as a folk record, or, worse yet, to make arbitrary hierarchies in which one style of [...]

Mastodon: “Crack the Skye”

There’s an interesting story at play on Crack the Skye (and no, I’m not talking about its trippy narrative about worm holes and Czarist Russia and the great unknown). But speaking of, let’s deal with that first. Yes, Mastodon has written yet another concept album, this one a surrealist, faux-mystical reflection on death and loss, [...]

Sara Watkins: “Sara Watkins”

There was a time, however brief, when critics and casual fans of Nickel Creek thought that Chris Thile– the closest thing the group had to a true leader– was the mastermind behind the band’s more progressive tendencies– their flirtations with pop and rock, and the oddball cover selections that always popped up in concert; his [...]

What’s the greatest single of all time? (part 3)

Gavin Breeden, the proprietor of Tone Marrow Reviews, proposes that I add Nicke Lowe’s “Cruel to be Kind” to my running list of the all-time great singles, alongside previous entries “Common People” and “Spoonful.” With pop this pure and a hook this strong, it’s tough to argue.