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3 days ago | 
stereophile.com | Robert Baird |Phil Brett |Ray Chelstowski
Peter Perrett: The CleansingDomino Records WIGLP543 (LP). 2024. Jamie Perrett, prod.; Barry Grint, eng. Performance ****½Sonics ****The Only Ones formed in 1976, at the dawn of the punk era. The South London quartet never quite fit in, being more Dylan and Velvet Underground than Damned or Pistols. After three good albums and a masterpiece of a single ("Another Girl, Another Planet"), the group split in 1982.
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1 month ago | 
flipboard.com | Phil Brett
What Is Kafkaesque?: The Philosophy of Franz KafkaIt’s difficult to imagine that there was ever a time without the word “Kafkaesque.” Yet the term would have meant nothing at all to anyone alive at …
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1 month ago | 
stereophile.com | Phil Brett |Ray Chelstowski
The Saints: (I'm) StrandedIn the Red. ITR1977 (auditioned as LP). 1977/2024. Rod Coe, prod.; Bill Price, Don Bartley, engs. Performance ****Sonics ***½Something was in the air across the globe in 1976. The stirrings of punk weren't occurring just in the UK and the US; they were happening in Australia, too. Take The Saints. The Brisbane band's debut single, "(I'm) Stranded," was an instant bonafide punk classic.
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2 months ago | 
flipboard.com | Phil Brett
NowSelena Gomez And Benny Blanco Share The Retro Video For Their Suggestive New Song ‘Sunset Blvd’Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco are very much in love, and they have the album to prove it.
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2 months ago | 
stereophile.com | Phil Brett |Ray Chelstowski
The Cure: Songs of a Lost WorldPolydor 7503682 (2 LPs). 2024. Robert Smith, Paul Corkett, prods.; Miles Showell, eng. Performance *****Sonics ****The Cure aren't a band most people turn to when the party needs to get swinging. With an opening track called "Alone" with the refrain "This is the end of every song that we sing," their latest, Songs of the Lost World, isn't likely to change that. The theme of ending appears on many tracks, lending the album a fatalistic tone.
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Oct 11, 2024 | 
stereophile.com | Robert Baird |Phil Brett |Ray Chelstowski
Pearl Jam: Dark MatterRepublic Records 0602465026221 (auditioned on LP). 2024. Andrew Watt, prod.; Marco Sonzini, Paul LaMalfa, Serban Ghenea, engs. Performance *****Sonics *****Eddie Vedder's solo albums were produced by Andrew Watt, who was born a few months before Pearl Jam's Ten was recorded.
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Sep 9, 2024 | 
stereophile.com | Robert Baird |Phil Brett |Ray Chelstowski
David Bowie: Rock'n'Roll StarRCA DBRNRS72 (5CD 1Blu-ray, Book). 2024. Various prods., engs. Performance *****Sonics ***½"Turn and face the strange," Bowie sung on "Changes," which is applicable to this box set, capturing as it does his transition from the folky hippy of Hunky Dory to glam icon Ziggy. As is typically the case with this type of release, this deluxe package is a cross between an archaeological dig and an evolutionary tree.
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Jul 11, 2024 | 
stereophile.com | Larry Birnbaum |Phil Brett |Thomas Conrad
Lizz Wright: ShadowWright, vocals; many othersBlues & Greens 00810069450872 (CD, available as LP). 2024. Chris Bruce, prod.; Ryan Freeland, eng. Performance ****½Sonics ****Lizz Wright's new album recalls the good old days when successful jazz labels bankrolled ambitious projects for big-time singers. Shadow has classy packaging, a large cast of musicians, an established producer, a well-known photographer, fashion designers, and famous guests like Angelique Kidjo and Meshell Ndegeocello.
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May 9, 2024 | 
stereophile.com | Robert Baird |Phil Brett |Ray Chelstowski
John Leventhal: Rumble StripRumbleStrip Records (auditioned as CD). 2024. Leventhal, prod.; Leventhal, Jim Price, Mark Cordell, Gavin Lurssen, engs. Performance ****Sonics ****Across John Leventhal's 45-year career, he has produced records that won close to 20 Grammy Awards, written songs performed by artists from Joe Cocker to Shawn Colvin, and worked in the studio with musicians as varied as Jackson Browne and Johnny Cash.
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Mar 5, 2024 | 
stereophile.com | Phil Brett
There's a famous quote by Lenin, that revolutions cannot stand still; they have to move forward. I'm guessing he wasn't talking about the British punk explosion, but it's applicable. There was a period of time around 1978when that initial Sex Pistols thrill had subsidedwhen I thought it was stalling. The new bands started sounding dull, derivative. In all probability, I just had unreasonable demands: that a band should produce iconic albums weekly.
