February 16th, 2025
k.d. lang's "Ingénue" Finally Gets An AAA Release—and as a "One-Step" the sonic results are "insane-other worldly great" says me!By: Michael Fremer
A musical and sonic spectacular, k.d. lang's free-flowing, daring explorations of unrequited love/lust and liberation sound today as daringly personal, sometimes painful and always fresh as they did in 1992 when Ingénue was originally released to enthusiastic reviews, commercial success and multiple Grammy nominations and the well-deserved award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Freed from her "country roots" on earlier records, Ingénue was a mix... Read More
February 13th, 2025
Fillmore Street Little Woodstar Composer Sasha Matson's latest album contains a new piece and an early one, substantially revised (includes interviews with producers John Atkinson and Joe Harley)By: Paul Seydor
These two new works, "Fillmore Street" and "Little Wordstar", scored for jazz orchestra and studio orchestra respectively, recall people places of personal significance to the composer and reference ecological themes of climate change, global warming, and endangered species.
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September 3rd, 2023
Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks' 'Orange Crate Art' "Hold(s) Back Time" From the archives: Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks release a misty eyed, warm hearted song cycle of California nostalgiaBy: Michael Fremer
(This review originally appeared in Issue 5/6, Winter 1995/96. A 25th Anniversary double vinyl LP issued by Omnivore with new liner notes and three previously unissued outtakes is currently available—see clickthrough at page bottom).When I was a child, I had a middle-aged second cousin Sophie who lived in far away California. She came to visit one cold New York winter in the late 1950s, bearing crates of tissue wrapped oranges, and jellies and jams from a place with a... Read More
May 14th, 2023
Tatsuro Yamashita's For You, Back on Vinyl For the First Time in 40 Years this "City Pop" classic "sparkles"By: Michael Johnson
One of the most fanatical groups of record collectors to emerge in the past decade are the (primarily western) devotees of a genre of Japanese popular music from the late 1970s and 80s, dubbed retroactively as ‘City Pop.’ City Pop, or in Japanese Shiti poppu (no I am not making that up), comprises a musical collective of soft rock, soul, R&B, funk, and disco artists whose rise in popularity and output mirrors the economic boom of the late 70s that transformed... Read More
December 7th, 2022
Standards And Originals Take Flight on Lori Lieberman's Newest Album truly her finest vocal performances on recordBy: Michael Fremer
Lori Lieberman performs this set of standards without a "net"—no reverb bath, or any kind of cover. Singing directly and closely "on mic" where there's no room for error she delivers her finest vocal performances on record backed by Matt Rollings on keyboards (piano and B3), Lyle Workman on guitars, David Piltch on upright bass and Victor Indrizzo on drums.Lieberman produced the record with Rollings, a player in Lyle Lovett's Large Band... Read More
