Kevin McKeough

Come On Christmas (Reprise) (star) (star) (star) 1/2 Ever the individualist, Yoakam gives Christmas music an idiosyncratic personal stamp. With a pair of dour original songs as bookends, Yoakam ranges...

Roomful of Blues Roomful of Christmas (Bullseye Blues) (star) (star) (star) Asleep at the Wheel Merry Texas Christmas, Y'all (High Street) (star) (star) 1/2 Holiday music comes with a swinging...

Judy Collins Christmas at the Biltmore Estate (Elektra) (star) (star) RuPaul Ho Ho Ho (Rhino) (star) (star) 1/2 Choose your diva: the '60s folk-pop songbird, or the '90s African-American drag...

Grover Washington Breath of Heaven (Columbia) (star) Various artists Merry Axemas -- A Guitar Christmas (Epic) (star) These instrumental records by the smooth jazz saxophonist and a gallery of guitar...

Laika at the Empty Bottle: At once dripping with tropical sensuality and glowing with the cool beauty of outer space, Laika conjured an intoxicating, otherworldly realm during the British quintet's...

John Hiatt: Depending on the dosage, John Hiatt's knack for goofball humor can either add to his songs' charms or suffocate them, and during the first half of his 90-minute...

Echo and the Bunnymen: There's a significant distinction between dreamy and sleepy, but it eluded the recently reunited Echo and the Bunnymen during the Liverpool band's 90 minute performance at...

Fitzgerald's Halloween: Fred Flintstone, Willie Nelson, and a rainbow-haired clown (bearing a striking resemblance to a prominent local radio disk jockey) all were in the crowd at Fitzgerald's Halloween night,...

Helium The Magic City (Matador) (star) (star) Helium leader Mary Timony comes off as indie-rock's answer to Sarah McLaughlin or Tori Amos on the Boston trio's second full-length record. Like...

You've got your costume. You've carved your pumpkin. To be completely ready for Halloween, though, you need some scary songs. Here are nine spine-tingling recommendations: "Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)" (Concrete...