Album Reviews

Joseph Henry Burnett III is not exactly a household name for most people these days, and that’s a shame. Under his T Bone Burnett sobriquet, he’s turned in a lifetime of work that has placed this legendary musician, composer, and producer in the crosshairs of the likes of Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Los Lobos, Robert Plant, and Alison Krauss (to name but a few). He’s also just released a new solo album, The Other Side, that’s one of the best LPs we’ve heard so far this year. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see why both sides of The Other Side belong on your turntable. . .

Pearl Jam’s first studio album in four years, Dark Matter, is chock full of the kind of hard-edge songs that made the band great when they first burst onto the rock scene in the early 1990s. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see if the Dark Matter LP passes audiophile muster. . .

It’s not often you get new titles from three legendary artists of yesteryear like gospel icon Sister Rosetta Tharpe, piano virtuoso Art Tatum, and soul-jazz organ pioneer Brother Jack McDuff all released on the same day. But this year, all three of them are being celebrated on Record Store Day 2024 — this year’s first installment of which happens to fall on this upcoming Saturday, April 20 — with newly unearthed, previously unreleased, multidisc live concert recordings on 180g black vinyl. Read Mark Smotroff’s review of all three of these releases to see which one, or ones, belong on your “must have” RSD 2024 shopping list. . .

In these 21st century times, there is arguably no better person more ideal to helm a 50th Anniversary remix of Deep Purple’s seminal March 1972 hard-rock classic LP Machine Head than Dweezil Zappa, and he’s done just that for the vinyl that’s included in the just-released 50th anniversary Machine Head deluxe box set. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see if Dweezil’s new stereo mix makes the mighty Machine Head even better and stronger on vinyl — and, if so, how he was able to achieve such an aurally dynamic feat. . .

In the circles of soul music fans, Isaac Hayes’ seminal June 1969 LP Hot Buttered Soul is well-known as a landmark recording, an album that helped break down conventions of what a hit soul recording could be. This four-song album originally went gold on the Enterprise label, but Craft Recordings just may have taken Hot Buttered Soul to new aural heights with their recently released AAA Small Batch 180g 1LP edition. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see if the Small Batch version of this seminal soul LP belongs in your collection, STAT. . .

The Move, in their heyday — which was roughly 1967-71 — were quite popular in England and in Europe, despite never quite breaking through in a big way here in the States. Even so, The Move’s reputation has since continued to grow in stature — and their celebrated, hard-to-find sophomore LP, February 1970’s Shazam, has just been reissued by Esoteric Recordings. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see if the Esoteric update of Shazam belongs in your collection and on your turntable. . .

Craft Recordings’ new four-disc 40th anniversary deluxe edition box set celebrating the timeless, self-titled April 1983 debut LP from Violent Femmes, Milwaukee’s pioneering folk-punk trio, has as its centerpiece an AAA version of the original LP along with one additional LP full of demos and another LP with choice of-era live material, plus a bonus 7-inch single. Read Mark Smotroff’s review of this near-undefinable, infectious slab of post-new-wave, post-punk classic combined with a sizable collection of bonus material all adds up to a worthwhile analog spinning-and-listening investment. . .