Prince says let’s go crazy in 2 different ways
In one of the most improbable reunions of the last few decades, Prince is back with the label that he claims done him so wrong in the '90s that he...
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Lucinda Williams gets political, and takes it personally, on latest
Lucinda Williams opens her 11th studio album since 1979, "Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone" (Thirty Tigers), from a darkened corner, with a stark, acoustic reading of "Compassion." It's...
‘Take Me to the River’ crosses Memphis musical boundaries
In the Memphis music documentary "Take Me to the River," which arrives Friday in Chicago, generations sometimes uneasily merge in the gray area between soul and rap, the past and...
Mavis Staples to be celebrated with star-studded concert
They're a little late with the hometown 75th birthday party for Mavis Staples. But they're making up for the tardiness with a stellar lineup Nov. 19 at the Auditorium Theatre...
Sam Smith at the Riviera: Soul in its lowest key
There's an old saying about great soul singers – or great singers in general – along the lines of, "I'd pay to see him sing the phone book."There is no...
Music provides refuge in Tweedy family’s health crisis
After drumming — and drumming well — on Mavis Staples' "One True Vine" album last year that was produced by his father, Wilco founder Jeff Tweedy, Spencer Tweedy might've been...
Tweedy father-son combo shows how more can be better
Tweedy's "Sukierae" (dBpm Records), the debut album by Wilco singer Jeff Tweedy and his oldest son, 18-year-old Spencer, at first appears to be an unwieldy beast: 20 songs spread across...
Black Keys rise above panic, divorce, popularity
The Black Keys are that rare 21st-century rock band that just keeps ascending. Singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney have been together for more than a decade and have...
Benjamin Booker an earth-shaking upstart
Benjamin Booker's self-titled debut album brims with feral blues-punk songs sung in a raw, grainy voice that sounds like it belongs to a 60-year-old soul survivor rather than a fresh-faced,...
Riot Fest, where the punk comes in all sizes and generations
Hundreds of fans stood shivering in the rain for 75 minutes to listen to two Russian women speak about how they came to be imprisoned for participating in a feminist...