Although the Allman Brothers may have officially called it a day in 2014, co-founder and namesake Gregg Allman is still going strong. His last record of original songs came out just four years ago and he continues to hit the road. And Back to Macon, this two CD/DVD set, proves he’s still a top caliber performer. John B. Moorewww.neufutur.com
Minneapolis has one of the most consistently brilliant, yet somehow overlooked music scenes out there. From Prince and Morris Day to The Replacements and Soul Asylum, this Midwest musical hub too often gets glossed over when people start ticking off the list of great U.S. scenes. Rank Strangers are just further proof that the City of Lakes can still pull its weight musically. John B. Moorewww.neufutur.com
It would be easy to dismiss Bitten as yet another cable series piggybacking off of the True Blood, Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf formula. Much like those other shows, it is populated by impossibly pretty small town folk who just happen, in the case of Bitten, to be Werewolves. John B. Moorewww.neufutur.com
The sci-fi (ish) thriller Ex Machina is seemingly simple in its construct: a brilliant techie CEO builds a human-looking robot with advanced artificial intelligence and gets one of his employees to interact with it over a week; but the plot twists are remarkably clever and turns this movie into a wildly creative, tense thriller that plays out in the very last moments. The acting is mostly limited to Oscar Isaac…
The recent inexplicable emo revival has reminded us that there was a lot wrong with music in the early-aughts. But for every band like Simple Plan and New Found Glory, aimed at heartbroken teens clutching lyric journals filled with 7th grade poetry, there were far better bands that knew how to write solid, complex songs of angst and confusion that never really got the accolades they truly deserved – bands…
Unless you were an Indie Rock geek in the ‘90s, obsessed with chasing down the obscure non-commercial bands that could only be found in photocopied zines, you likely have never heard of guitarist Jon Fine. That doesn’t matter; co-founding and playing with Bitch Magnet, Vineland and a handful of other somewhat obscure indie noise bands, Fine is in a unique position so many decades later to tell about what it…
CBGB’s may be dead and gone – the storied club now a John Varvatos high-end fashion boutique – but thanks to the Masters Live series MVD Audio puts out, the grit, noise and spirit of the tiny rock club inspired, continues into another decade. The latest from this series, on vinyl for the first time, comes from the LA metal band Terror and New York Hardcore group H2O. John B. Moorewww.neufutur.com
While the band and label are still opting to describe Bunnygrunt as “Cuddlecore,” I think Power Pop does just fine here as a descriptor. The latest from the St. Louis band, Vol. 4, their sixth album, is brimming with infectiously addictive songs that span anywhere from one-to- seven minutes, but the band really excels when focusing on three-minute sing-alongs like “The Book That I Wrote” and “Frankie is a Killer,”…
It’s been 23 years and 10 records since The Real McKenzies first start out, so there are no surprises here; at this point you know what you’re getting with these Scotch/Canadian punk rockers. It’s been three years since their last record and with another lineup change, but the band still sounds just as solid as they did with their 1995 debut. John B. Moorewww.neufutur.com
The first studio album from New York’s Whitewash is so steeped in hipster cred that of course they had to issue it on cassette tape. Despite that eye-roll inducing move (no one should put an album out on tape in 2015, I don’t care how retro you think you are), the band actually has a powerfully impressive sound to fall back on. John B. Moorewww.neufutur.com
Michael Douglas, long past leading man status, is finding a great second act playing the villain. Beyond the Reach is one of his creepiest turns yet as the bad guy. John B. Moorewww.neufutur.com
When NBC rolled out Welcome to Sweden last March there was little fanfare and little notice from TV critics at the time. Which is a shame, because the series, created and starring Greg Poehler (bother to Amy), is a solid, impressively creative series. John B. Moorewww.neufutur.com
Willie and Merle are no strangers to sharing the recording studio. There was the 1983 Outlaw Country classic Poncho & Lefty, the decent follow up, 1987’s Seashores of Old Mexico and the duo brought in Ray Price for 2007’s Last of the Breed. But Django And Jimmy, (named after the duo’s heroes Django Reinhardt and Jimmie Rodgers) is the twosome’s strongest album since that first, fortuitous record. John B. Moorewww.neufutur.com
The protagonist in first-time novelist Andy Abramowitz’s Thank You, Goodnight has quite a bit in common with his creator. Both men are lawyers in Philadelphia that have seemingly put left their time as musicians in the distant past. The big difference here is that Teddy Tremble, the fictional character, decides to get the band back together, while Abramowitz is using his spare time to launch a new career as a…
I think if you told Appetite for Destruction-era Duff McKagan that one day he’d be a best-selling author, columnist and writing another book offering life advice he’d choke on his Jack Daniels. John B. Moorewww.neufutur.com
Season two of this British import managed to up the tension for the second go-round of this crime drama centering on the murder of an 11-year old boy found on the beach of this small town. The second season focuses on the trial of the alleged murderer – the husband of one of the investigators and a family friend. John B. Moorewww.neufutur.com
The world is crammed with one-hit wonders that justifiably deserve that title; The Knack are not one of those bands. While technically “My Sharona” is their only real “hit,” they continued to churn out one great album after another years after that 1979 radio staple, but frustratingly were never able to make it back up the sales charts again. Thankfully, the Power Pop archeologists at Omnivore Recordings are re-releasing the band’s final…
It’s a little surprising to hear that Faith Healer is actually the alias for Canadian folkie Jessica Jalbert. Her first solo album, Cosmic Troubles is under this new moniker, while still having a softness thanks to Jalbert’s light as air vocals, is complimented nicely with a strong psychedelic pop vibe. John B. Moorewww.neufutur.com
Simple Minds’ sixth studio album, Sparkle in the Rain, was released in 1984, a full year before the band would permanently be wedded to The Breakfast Club movie, a feat that defines the band in the country to this day. But the album was still an impressive collection on its own. John B. Moorewww.neufutur.com
D.C.’s Mittenfields have been pretty under the radar since the release of their 2011 EP, The Fresh Sum, but rather than just taking it easy, it seems the five-piece have spent the time evolving their sound from simple indie rock, drawing in influences like shoegaze and noise pop. The result can be heard all throughout their solid debut full length, Optimists. John B. Moorewww.neufutur.com