1997′s Time Out of Mind found Bob Dylan brooding on death at midnight; Love and Theft, his 43rd album, is much more lively, even joyful. It doesn’t really break any new ground, but that’s not the point. This record is about Dylan cutting loose and celebrating the richness of American music—Dylan swirls together a brew of folk, vaudeville …
Originally published March 6, 2001 on citysearch.com. It’s no longer online there, so I’ve reposted it in full here. Lori Wray’s third album is something of a grab-bag career retrospective, live record and rarities collection all in one. The disc was put together in part to keep a permanent record of its tracks, taken from aging …
Originally published August 16, 2000 on sidewalk.com. It’s no longer online there, so I’ve reposted it in full here. Suicide Commandos, The Commandos Commit Suicide Dance Concert (Garage D’Or) A slice of Minnesota music history, the fresh-from-the-archives Commit Suicide captures the 1978 farewell concert by minor punk legends the Suicide Commandos at the equally legendary Longhorn …
When I told a friend of mine I was reviewing the new Grant Hart record, she frowned sympathetically and said, “Oh, that’s too bad.” I told her, no, it’s a good thing, but I knew why she was so skeptical. Once, Hart was a living legend of punk rock, the co-genius behind Hüsker Dü, one …