Cool Spins
Every week, the editors of Mix review new CD and DVD releases from a "sound" perspective. Scroll down for more of this week's reviews, or to search the archives of "Cool Spins" from our Website or from the pages of our print edition.
FEATURED COOL SPINS
CD Review: Exene Cervenka Somewhere Gone (Bloodshot Records)Exene Cervenka, the co-leader (with John Doe) of my favorite punk band, X, shows her poetic side on this solo release. Of course, she has never not been a poet; that’s one of the things that have made X so great: They’re loud and powerful, nasty sometimes, with off-kilter harmonies and rockabilly guitars, but they are never stupid.... |
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CD Review: Smokey Hormel Smokey’s Secret Family (Afro Sambas)It’s not like Smokey Hormel was in any danger of being pigeon-holed. I mean, this superb guitarist has shown in the past that he’s comfortable working in just about any style—hence he’s got a discography that includes Johnny Cash, Beck, k.d. lang, Tom Waits, John Doe, Emmylou Harris, Justin Timberlake and the Dixie Chicks, to name a few.... |
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CD Review: Dex Romweber Duo Featuring Jack White—“Third Man” (Bloodshot)According to the press on this single, Dex Romweber, who with his sister Sara formed the Dex Romweber Duo, has been a major sonic influence on Jack White. It doesn’t seem like a stretch. Romweber has more dark rockabilly soul in his little finger than most of us will ever hear, much less have.... |
BLAIR'S DVD WATCH: Still More Jazz Icons
DVD Review: Various Artists—Jazz Icons Box, Series Four (Reelin’ in the Years/Naxos)
Anyone who’s been reading this column regularly over the past few years knows that I’m a huge fan of Reelin’ in the Years Productions’ Jazz Icons series of DVDs, plucked from rare, unseen and forgotten European television broadcasts from the late ’50s to the very early ’70s. You see, in Europe, people actually revere American jazz—always have—and they treated it seriously by according them respect, paying musicians decent wages for gigs and also by airing concerts on television. Can you imagine such a thing?...
AES 2009: Slate Pro Audio Trigger
Upgrading Studio A at Santa Barbara Sound