The Samples - Black and White 2004

With their relaxed, slightly jazzy pop, the Samples were one of the most popular touring bands of the early '90s. After a bad experience with a major label, the band began releasing their own records independently, building support through a grassroots network of fans. Through constant touring, the Samples were able to keep building their network of fans. They were also busy in the studio, recording three albums between 1992 and 1993. With none of their albums deviating from their folky, Sting-meets-the Grateful Dead pop, their albums -- which include 1994's Autopilot, 1996's Outpost, and 1997's Transmissions from the Sea of Tranquility live set -- are virtually indistinguishable from each other. However, none of them are bad; each record has a couple of first-rate songs, showing why they are concert favorites across the country. Here and Somewhere Else followed in 1998 and Sparta was issued in fall 2000. Return to Earth appeared in 2001, and this studio effort included a guest spot from Boyd Tinsley of the Dave Matthews Band on the track "Great Blue Ocean." The three-disc Anthology in Motion, Vol. 1 arrived in 2002, followed by 2003's Seventeen, a stripped-down live set performed before a thankful crowd at Connecticut's Quinnipiac College. The band returned to the studio for 2004's Black & White and 2005's Rehearsing for Life. AMG.

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The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band - Between The Ditches 2012

The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band is a hillbilly country blues trio (Josh Peyton on guitar and roaring vocals, his wife Breezy on washboard, and cousin Aaron Persinger on percussion and drums) out of Indiana with a wonderfully ragged and swampy deep Delta sound that kicks like a mule, and the trio thankfully doesn't deviate much from that core sound on Between the Ditches, produced by Peyton and Paul Mahern and recorded at White Arc Studio in Bloomington, Indiana. Unlike the band's previous albums, though, Between the Ditches wasn't recorded whirlwind live in four or five hours, and represents a sort of refinement for the Big Damn Band in the studio. These guys are a hillbilly blues throwback ensemble, though, and no amount of refinement can really push them off their mark. Peyton's voice still croaks, shouts, and roars, and his unique, kinetic slide guitar playing, whether it's a '30s National guitar, a cigar-box guitar, a Gibson flattop 1929 L2, or an Airline Map electric guitar, still drives and churns like a runaway train. He just sounds clearer, but no less powerful. The songs are shambling, wise, and real, and often deceptively simple, sounding somehow like they come from the century before, even as they are very much a part of this one. Peyton has developed a direct but clever lyrical writing style, wearily proclaiming "It's hard to tell when devils look like angels and angels look like hell" in the fine opening track, "Devils Look Like Angels," and in "Shut the Screen," a breakneck slide guitar romp, he shouts "Shut the screen, it's too damn hot, and them bugs are too damn mean," as his slide lines bounce and blister over Breezy's washboard and Persinger's bucket drum rhythms. This is an American band in the truest sense, hailing from Indiana, singing about life driving and living on the everyday back roads of Indiana in the 21st century, but sounding like they came out of the bayous of Louisiana or the Mississippi Delta the century before. It's a potent and timeless sound, and thankfully studio refinement doesn't hinder it at all. AMG.

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Third Eye Blind - Ursa Major 2009

When Third Eye Blind released Out of the Vein in 2003, they felt like post-grunge relics that refused to acknowledge their time had passed. Six years later, with Ursa Major in tow, they've waited out the fallow time, surfacing just when late-'90s alt rock nostalgia is beginning to bubble. Tellingly, TEB shuck much of the heavy, oppressive sobriety of Out of the Vein, replacing it with a touch of the fizzy, singsong hooks that made their debut a smash success. Without guitarist Kevin Cadogan, these hooks aren't as finely honed, but they're still present, still digging in right underneath the surface, letting Stephan Jenkins get away with such nonsense as "Why can't you be like my Water Pik shower massager/A sweet reliable machine/To tell you the truth I don't feel less alone/A water massager is the purest love I've ever known." Jenkins digs deeper than the attributes of a massage, retaining no small element of the hard-edged social consciousness of Out of the Vein, signaling when it's time for things to get serious by toning down the hooks, turning down the volume, and letting the seriousness of the situation speak for itself. This makes the back half of Ursa Major kind of a self-important drag, almost erasing memories of the first side when Third Eye Blind were once again acting like the band they used to be, so the solution is simple: treat Ursa Major as an EP, forgetting the second half. AMG.

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Widespread Panic - Free Somehow 2008

Another Widespread Panic album, another attempt to transfer the band's live energy onto tape. Free Somehow isn't Widespread's best studio effort to date, nor does it pack the same punch as the band's ever-popular concerts, where extended solos and long-running jams are more likely to illicit dropping jaws than drowsy, nodding heads. Still, this disc is nothing to sleep through, even ifWidespread Panic haven't learned to utilize a studio's amenities as well as Phish or moe. "Boom Boom Boom," "Walk on the Flood," and "Flicker" are fierce tunes, full of enough guitar muscle and saucy strut to make them worthy of repeated listens, although they do sound geared for a live setting.Free Somehow gets intimate, too, most notably with the lilting title track and the steady, elegiac "Dark Day Program." But Widespread Panic don't truly stretch their wings until the album's final stretch, where "Her Dance Needs No Body" takes the listener on an eight-minute stoner's odyssey of rainy-day guitars, horns, sweeping percussion, and orchestrated strings. It's a well-crafted song with movements, interludes, and multiple guitar solos, a cross between the Grateful Dead's "Dark Star" and Guns N' Roses' "November Rain." Here, the band truly works with the studio's capabilities, layering the standout track with instruments and adding a thick, crisp slab of reverb to John Bell's vocals. So while Free Somehow can't quite rival the energy of a Widespread show, it still offers something that those concerts cannot, making the album a worthwhile purchase for most dedicated fans. AMG.

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Gin Blossoms - No Chocolate Cake 2010

Perhaps it’s the curse of Doug Hopkins, but the Gin Blossoms have rarely been able to strike gold on their own, with most of their biggest hits being written by someone outside of the band. First, there was co-founder Hopkins himself, who wrote “Hey Jealousy” and “Found Out About You” before his alcoholism resulting in his dismissal from the group before either song was released. Then there wasMarshall Crenshaw, who co-wrote the band’s first Top 10 hit, “Til I Heart It From You,” in 1995. When the Gin Blossoms returned in 2006 with Major Lodge Victory, they partnered up with the Rembrandts’Danny Wilde, who wrote several of the album’s tracks. Wilde is back on board for No Chocolate Cake, this time in a more active role that finds him producing, co-writing, and playing on most of the album. That’s not meant to diminish the group’s own contributions, which retain much of the spunk from the Gin Blossoms’ mid-‘90s heyday. Robin Wilson’s voice is strong, if a bit nasal at points, and the songs have a familiar heartland hum to them, with Jessie Valenzuela and Scott Johnson filling each one with jangled guitar arpeggios and tasteful solos. None of these tunes can compete with the band’s singles, of course, but that’s not the point, since No Chocolate Cake sets its sights on maintaining the band’s audience rather than reclaiming a spot in the mainstream. AMG.

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The Keith Reid Project - The Common Thread 2008

Although he did not sing or play an instrument, lyricist Keith Reid was a pivotal element to the long-term success of art rock mainstays Procol Harum, teaming with vocalist/composer Gary Brooker to write all of the group's material. Born October 19, 1946, in London, he left school at 15 and soon began writing lyrics, inspired primarily by Bob Dylan. Through Island Records chief Chris Blackwell, Reidwas introduced to R&B impresario Guy Stevens, who in turn introduced him to fledgling composer Brooker in 1966. The two began collaborating, and upon compiling a number of songs set about assembling a band to record their material; with the Procol Harum lineup in place, they first recorded "A Whiter Shade of Pale," which set Reid's surreal lyrics to a Brooker melody lifted from Johann Sebastian Bach's Suite No. 3 in D Major. The single topped the U.K. charts for six weeks in mid-1967, going on to sell over six million copies worldwide; for his efforts, Reid was credited as an official member of the group and he and Brookerjointly wrote all of Procol Harum's material through the band's 1977 demise. Reid then set up his own management firm, Full House, working on a play and relocating to Manhattan in 1986; three years later, Brooker contacted him to discuss reuniting Procol Harum and the group's comeback album,The Prodigal Stranger, was issued in 1991. AMG.

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The Other Ones - The Strange Remain 1999

When the surviving members of the Grateful Dead announced their return, Deadheads and other music lovers around the globe rejoiced. Sure, Jerry Garcia had passed on to another plane of existence, but the strange did, indeed, remain. Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Phil Lesh were joined by piano man Bruce Hornsby, Dave Ellis, Steve Kimock, Mark Karan, and John Molo to form the Other Ones and to headline a tour called the Further Festival. Some members of the media have called the Other Ones the "ultimate Dead cover band," but this group is far from a cover band. the Other Ones' versions of Dead songs are immaculate, and many times they prove to be actually better than the Deadversions. Soaring saxophone, Hornsby's on-target piano, and the other "new" bandmembers add a whole new set of colors to the palette. Kicking the live set off with a medley of "St. Stephen" and "The Eleven," the Other Ones perform flawlessly as they make their way through a set of Dead favorites, from "Jack Straw" to "Corrina" to the bizarre time signature of "Estimated Prophet." It's a real pleasure to hear that one live again, to be sure. Weir delivers the most unusual track with a Zappa-esquestyling, "Only the Strange Remain," before the band pumps its way through "White Wheeled Limousine." Disc two has even more goodies to enjoy, from "Mountains of the Moon" to "Friend of the Devil," "Playing in the Band," and the hottest track on the album, a medley of "China Cat Sunflower" and "I Know You Rider." Garcia's spirit is alive and well, and the Other Ones are the perfect successors to the Grateful Dead empire. Fans can delight in the sheer spirit that comes through by way of this live document. Put on a set of headphones, light some incense, close your eyes, and go to The Other World. AMG.

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Black Dirt Oak - Wawayanda Patent 2013

Wawayanda Patent is difficult to classify. There is clear influence from around the world, from India to Egypt to all across the United States. Sometimes the album sounds like traditional folk, sometimes it’s intensely electronic. Yet with the fusion of so many different musical ideas comes a peculiar psychedelic sound that is unique to Black Dirt Oak, a supergroup consisting of seven musicians from bands such as Pelt, Black Twig Pickers, Pigeons and Rhyton.
Wawayanda Patent begins with “The Real Crow,” a rhythmically ambiguous song that sounds like the beginning of an Indian raga mixed with folksy music from the western United States. The track lulls the listener into a state of relaxation in preparation for what is to come.
The rest of the album builds off of the opening relaxing sound, but with new ideas that make each track unique. “Peeled Egg Cigarette,” is steadier than the first because it adds a continuous guitar line that’s washed over by electronic instruments and soft vocals.
Some songs on the album clash with the overall serene mood, adding interest and intrigue. “Heurequeque,” which is in a slow triple meter, includes intentional feedback, giving a harsher sound to what would otherwise be a very soothing track. The album feels cyclical, ending much like it started with the rhythmically ambiguous “Crowning The Bard.”
Wawayanda Patent is a very unusual album, but one that is worth listening to. Black Dirt Oak is comprised of diverse musicians, but they unite to create a compelling musical composition. Stephanie Zimmerman

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The Fabulous Thunderbirds - On The Verge 2013

Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that a band so often defined by its guitarists takes on a different character once the lead singer -- the only constant in the group since its beginnings in the mid-'70s -- definitively asserts his status as the band's leader, yet the change within the Fabulous Thunderbirdsthat can be heard on On the Verge, their 12th official studio album, is striking. The last time theThunderbirds released a studio album was in 2005, during a stint when the great Austin guitarist Nick Curran was the sparring partner of vocalist and T-Bird linchpin Kim Wilson. In 2013, guitarists Johnny Moeller and Mike Keller, talented axemen both, now support Wilson and they do get a chance to flaunt their gifts on On the Verge, but the focus is firmly on songs and rhythm. It is surely a soul-blues album, often copping the cool, relaxed Memphis groove and reaching down to the gritty funk of Muscle Shoals. This not only gives Wilson room to stretch vocally -- he's supple and sensitive on "Lovin' Time" -- but this means On the Verge is a richer, fuller album than many latter-day Thunderbirds albums, because this isn't just dedicated to slow, swaying seduction, there are wah-wah-fueled workouts, a bit of social protest, some jazzy flourishes, and, yes, a bit of the Texas blues that the T-Birds call their own. But what's striking about On the Verge isn't just the versatility, it's the ease: Kim Wilson doesn't sound desperate to stretch out; he's merely comfortable leading his band toward all the soulful sounds he's loved. The result is a thoroughly satisfying album, a long-delayed but very welcome flipside to the rollicking Painted On. AMG.

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Hot Tuna - Steady As She Goes 2011

Only the second Hot Tuna studio set in 30 years, and the band's first in two decades, the outfit circa 2011 is a decidedly older, wiser, and more laid-back unit than the amped-up boogie-ers responsible for a series of successful albums in the '70s. That's a mixed blessing, though, because the Tunaseem to have lost some of their fire during their long layoff from the studio. Where once Jack Casady's thunderous bass played tag with Jorma Kaukonen's blustery, psychedelic blues guitar lines, the duo -- now fleshed out with mandolin player Barry Mitterhoff and drummer Skoota Warner -- is now content to be a pretty decent but far less distinctive folk, blues, and singer/songwriter act. Casady's forcefully idiosyncratic, almost lead basslines of old are barely audible here, and even though there are flashes where the old intensity is evident, particularly on Kaukonen's "Mourning Interrupted," this is a well-intentioned, totally professional album that lacks bite. A pair of Rev. Gary Davis covers are also reminiscent of days gone by, especially "Mama Let Me Lay It on You" with guest fiddle from producerLarry Campbell (filling in for the deceased Papa John Creach) that rolls through the "Keep on Truckin'" riff and melody. There are some quality songs, such as the melancholy musings of "Second Chances," but this is more like a Kaukonen solo album than a long-awaited return from a once powerful band that mixed acoustic and electric blues into a blistering, often explosive concoction. Recording in Levon Helm's Woodstock studio provides an open, rootsy sound and Campbell keeps the proceedings clean and classy, if somewhat antiseptic compared to the shambling attack Hot Tunafans remember. Kaukonen's patented electric solos evident on the opening "Angel of Darkness" are dramatic and typically blistering, but there aren't enough of those moments. Making matters more frustrating is the choice of material, in particular the humorous yet repetitious by-the-numbers rocking of "If This Is Love." The closing instrumental, "Vicksburg Stomp," returns to the sharp pickin' approach of Hot Tuna's 1970 acoustic debut, perhaps a fitting reminder of the group's early times trying to make their name as something other than a Jefferson Airplane offshoot. There is plenty to enjoy about this unexpected return, and it's encouraging that the Casady/Kaukonen relationship -- both musical and personal -- has persevered for over 50 years. However, it's a disappointing addition to their catalog, particularly after such a long wait. AMG.

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