CD Reviews

Fordham Road make prog rock cool again with debut CD

Fordham Road make prog rock cool again with debut CD

Fordham Road have just released their eponymous debut album, and it’s loaded with killer material. This prog rock band out of Boston mesh influences like Rush, Genesis, Weather Report and other complex bands with some pop elements here and there. This is the kind of prog rock that could find its way into any listener’s […]

Diamond Edge comes up with strong debut The Edge Of The Stone

Diamond Edge comes up with strong debut The Edge Of The Stone

Do you ever wonder whatever happened to early 1980s tight playing hard rock bands like April Wine, Triumph, Red Rider, and Golden Earring? Most of us aren’t sure either. But, their DNA lives on in numerous local bands whose members came of age during their heyday. Plaistow, New Hampshire based Diamond Edge is one such […]

Roots Of Creation have brilliant fun with Grateful Dub tribute album; Grateful Dead reimagined as reggae

Roots Of Creation have brilliant fun with Grateful Dub tribute album; Grateful Dead reimagined as reggae

Leave it to Maine’s reggae band Roots Of Creation to make a dub tribute album to the music of The Grateful Dead. Capturing the spirit and the talent of the Dead while placing it in the context of reggae music was no mean feat. Roots Of Creation, with some exciting guest stars in tow, have […]

Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards are an acoustic band on the rise with California Calling

Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards are an acoustic band on the rise with California Calling

After a few years of touring nationally and internationally, building their following one brick at a time, Laura Cortese & The Dance Clubs have released their debut album California Calling. Cortese and her Dance Cards take musical forms like folk and Celtic and reinvent them into something fresh, original while occasionally grafting them onto pop […]

The Complaints conjure wide, sweeping soundscapes on Talk To Me

The Complaints conjure wide, sweeping soundscapes on Talk To Me

The Complaints latest CD Talk To Me is loaded with fun, pop-rock ditties. This Providence, Rhode Island-based band plays a kind of 1990s influenced indie rock that makes the most of large acoustic guitar sweeps, emotive keyboard work, and a groove that can smack or simmer underneath a large tuft of upper register magic. “The […]

Matthew Stubbs And The Antiguas make a strong and fiery impression with eponymous debut album

Matthew Stubbs And The Antiguas make a strong and fiery impression with eponymous debut album

Matthew Stubs And The Antiguas have finally released a recorded document of their popular live band. Aside from their Monday night residency at The Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts, MSATA have been dazzling audiences all over New England with their frenzied mix of rock and roll, acid blues, and explosive improvisation. Their eponymous CD finds the […]

GrandEvolution reach higher artistic level with Tell Me Why album

GrandEvolution reach higher artistic level with Tell Me Why album

GrandEvolution’s latest full length in a series of several releases shows their tremendous growth as musicians and songwriters. There is a lifted, lofty, and wide open feeling to all nine tracks on this Tell Me Why album. Vocals and instruments all travel gloriously forward with ease and momentum. Its greatest strength is its fine balance […]

Sugarcones inspire with sweet debut

Sugarcones inspire with sweet debut

A Rhode Island pop rock band fronted by the ubiquitous Malyssa Bellarosa, Sugarcones slap out eight fun tracks and a couple of radio edits on their eponymous debut CD. Leading on guitar as well as vocals, Bellarosa remains an enigmatic centerpiece in these songs that rock out with a unique sound and a tight crispness. […]

The Greg Silva Trio + 1 offer exceptionally good jazz on Her Autumn Sky

The Greg Silva Trio + 1 offer exceptionally good jazz on Her Autumn Sky

The Greg Silva Trio + 1 offers a particularly fine jazz album on their new Her Autumn Sky. Silva’s upright bass continues to drive things along with smooth sensation and understated grace. His tender, plaintive vocal moves through a few numbers with its own je ne sais quoi. Drummer Randy Cloutier gives everything his own […]