THE FIREMAN: ELECTRIC ARGUMENTS (ATO) *** Maybe it's having an alias, but on "Electric Arguments," Paul McCartney sounds as if he's managed to shake off the ex-Beatles yoke for the first time since his earliest solo albums. ...more

January 9, 2009

Aside from the Rays, there wasn't a lot of good news to report this year. Fortunately, there was a lot of good music. ...more

December 26, 2008

It's not self-mythologizing if it really happened. Alejandro Escovedo may have been alternative rock's Zelig for years, barely noticed as he morphed from punk to alt-cowboy to college rock road dog. ...more

July 31, 2008

"22 Dreams" plays more like one long one, winding and twisting, shifting from sharp focus to artful blurring, skirting logic to create a mood that's as undeniable as it is hard to nail down. ...more

July 24, 2008

SANTOGOLD: SANTOGOLD (Downtown) *** If you're looking for something different yet relevant, "Santogold" is it. ...more

July 14, 2008

John Stewart recorded some of pop music's most acclaimed solo albums, helping create a style that came to be called Americana, but he was always best known for writing the Monkees' enduring hit "Daydream Believer." ...more

January 21, 2008