CD Reviews

The Murderers of Love are built around founder Jaime Muehlhausen, whose San Diego roots date back to the nineties, to days as a coffee shop artist and spots in bands that included the Deadlites. After some time away from music as a graphic designer, the singer/songwriter got back into the music scene in 2017 with […]

One of the most fascinating things about Nena Anderson’s musical journey is her creative unpredictability. Sure, she has blues roots and rock riffs, and the woman excels in the Americana/country genre… but a Christmas album? She smiles when she says, “It’s a jazz record, a vocal jazz record, something I haven’t done in years. But […]

Now for the “something completely different” department, folk songs from the opposite corner of America by Mark Alan Lovewell, who bills himself as a Martha’s Vineyard folksinger. San Diego certainly qualifies as a seafaring town, even one with a history of being a fishing center, so while Lovewell’s CD, With the Fishes, may concern itself […]

If you’re the sort of person who likes your sacred cow carved up and served well done, this is the Christmas album for you! The husband and wife duo of Joe and Jaye MacAskill, who call their musical comedy act Pony Death Ride, present a collection of twisted Yuletide tunes aimed at “people like us, […]

Agency is the new album project by Kilikili, a decidedly different group of songs best classified as alt-jazz from the creative mind of singer/guitar/pianist Lexi Pulido. The eight tracks, available online via download codes, are an intriguing mix of spoken word, smooth jazz grooves with scat-sung hooks, and interesting lyrics that border at times on […]

Organ-specialist Wayne Peet has become a giant in the Los Angeles free-improvising community since the 1980s, when he moved there from Oregon to play with trombonist John Rapson. He’s played with almost everyone from that scene on the West Coast, and, additionally, he’s an in-demand recording engineer for labels like Blue Note, Enja, 9 Winds, […]

Eric Andersen’s seminal 1972 breakthrough, Blue River, is an exquisitely produced album highlighting the songwriter at his best—at a time when the music industry was looking for a new Dylan. This re-mastered version of Blue River is breathtaking throughout, providing all of the sonic clarity and depth to cause this to feel like a first […]

Since before the turn of the century, the Sleepwalkers have been a part of the San Diego roots scene, frequently appearing among the nominees for best roots band at the San Diego Music Awards. With various personnel lineups, the band has shown a remarkable ability to span styles—rockabilly, country, Tex-Mex, blues-rock, and most flavors between. […]

The Desert Line, San Diego natives who recently resettled in their hometown, have been playing Americana music in San Francisco. Their latest CD is a self-titled, NorCal production, and the band for this project is built on the songwriting duo of Jason Phillips and Patricia Pauchnick. Samuel Kaplan-Good on drums and Jeff Krider’s bass guitar […]