// Category Archive for: Music Reviews

Music Review: Part 1, Funeral Parade EP (Reissue)

By Less Lee Moore

Perhaps the only reason that hundreds of copies of Part 1’s 1982 EP Funeral Parade weren’t burned at Southern Baptist churches during the eighties is because there were only 300 of them pressed. Lord knows if I’d heard their vicious, anti-religious lyrics and angular, distorted music back then I would have been an instant fan. Now we can all rejoice because Sacred Bones has reissued a remastered version of Funeral Parade in a deluxe gatefold sleeve. The UK band also reformed in 2013 and did a brief tour of North America for the first time ever this past April.

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Music Review: Ivan & Alyosha, It’s All Just Pretend

By Melissa Bratcher

Seattle’s Ivan & Alyosha make thoughtful and inspiring music that resides at the crossroads of power pop and folk, but that doesn’t explain enough. Their latest, It’s All Just Pretend, is captivating, as well as familiar, but not derivative. It feels like a classic album but refreshingly new. It’s charming, but not twee.

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Music Review: Hannah Miller, Hannah Miller

By Tyler Hodg

Nashville folk-pop singer Hannah Miller has returned with a self-titled album and this time she is channeling a darker, edgier side. This is her third full-length album, and Miller has developed a more mature sound, not that her earlier work was exactly child’s play. The ten new songs (plus an alternate version of an already included track) featured on the album are equally as impressive as her previous efforts, if not better.

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Music Review: Various Artists, Popcorn Exotica

By Melissa Bratcher

Croydon Municipal’s third album of Popcorn tracks, Popcorn Exotica, is another unbelievable confection. “Popcorn” refers to a Belgian club music scene that peaked commercially in the 1970s, and the common thread is the rather sleepy tempo. DJs would sometimes play 45s at 33 RPM to hit the proper beat.

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DVD and Music Review: Jobriath A.D.

By Hanna

Jobriath A.D. tells the story of singer and would-be glam rock star Jobriath’s career and personal life. It focuses on the period when he was professionally active between 1968 and his death in 1983. His story is told nearly entirely from interviews with people who were involved in his life and career at the time or people who were influenced professionally by his work. There is some narration (by Henry Rollins, no less) to tie parts of the interviews together, and a series of animations provide visual interest and make up for the fact that there exists very little actual footage of Jobriath.

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Music Review: Bill Fay, Who Is The Sender?

By Tyler Hodg

Bill Fay released two albums, one in 1970 and the other in 1971, before disappearing into the wind like so many artists have done over the years. Virtually erased from musical history, Fay’s work has since been resurrected, along with his drive to create new music. His second album since his 2012 return, Who Is The Sender? is a reminder that even musicians with his immense caliber of talent are able to slip through the cracks every once in a while.

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Music Review: Allie X, CollXtion I

By Less Lee Moore

There are a lot of singers with impeccable voices who make terrible music. And there are many great songwriters who can’t sing worth a damn. Luckily, Allie X is not plagued with either of these problems.

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Music Review: Marc Almond, The Velvet Trail

By Melissa Bratcher

Marc Almond’s latest, The Velvet Trail, feels like something of a miracle and sounds even better. After his 2010 release, Varieté, Almond intimated that he would no longer record his original material. When producer and songwriter Chris Braide (Lana Del Rey, Britney Spears, Beyoncé) heard this news, it became his mission to change Almond’s mind. Braide composed a trio of instrumental tracks specifically for Almond. Upon hearing them, Marc Almond changed his mind. They worked together long distance: sending files to each other, writing long emails and not speaking on the phone, all to keep their chemistry intact. They didn’t meet until the album was finished.

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Music Review: Roger Taylor, Strange Frontier (Reissue)

By Tyler Hodg

Omnivore Recordings has reissued two previously unreleased CD versions of Roger Taylor’s early solo work—with Fun in Space being the first and Strange Frontier the second—and now it’s easier than ever to revisit or become acquainted with them. The latter, which was Taylor’s sophomore solo album, saw its initial release in 1984.

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Music Review: Roger Taylor, Fun In Space (Reissue)

By Tyler Hodg

Queen drummer Roger Taylor, along with Omnivore Recordings, has dug into the vaults and re-mastered his first solo record, Fun in Space. Initially released on vinyl in 1981, the album was previously only obtainable on CD as part of a ten-CD plus DVD collection titled The Lot, but now, it has been packaged with three bonus tracks (“I Wanna Testify,” “Turn on the TV,” “My Country [Single Version]”) and made available on a single disc. Generally, the album may not be considered a classic per se, but it’s definitely underrated enough to deserve the reissue treatment.

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