Albert S. Crockett’s The Old Waldorf Astoria Bar Book

The acoustic and gritty Bare as Bone, Bright as Blood is the remarkable and unexpected 2020 album by The Pretty Things, who remained the tainted, dark Rock royalty they always were until the very end.

It's more mixing of stylized punk revival and hybridism with left-field musical experimentation and in-the-now pop culture lyrical references on Splinter, the Offspring's seventh full-length. "Never Gonna Find Me," "Long Way Home," and "Lightning Rod" each bristle with overdriven guitars and Dexter Holland's high-pitched bleating; they're somewhat workmanlike, but still roil with that precision fury particular to a veteran band. At the same time, Holland, guitarist Noodles, and bassist Greg Kriesel can't resist returning to the towel-slapping trash humor and mean-spirited loathing that typified past tracks like "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" and "Self Esteem." Lead single "Hit That" talks up baby daddies over a bopping bassline and keyboard right out of a Bloodhound Gang track, while "Spare Me the Details" subverts its lighthearted acoustic strum with foul-mouthed (on the clean version, anyway) attacks on a philandering girlfriend ("I'm not the one who acted like a ho"). "Da Hui" overdrives surf rock while paying homage to hardcore Hawaiian board riders, and "When You're in Prison" ends Splinter with sage advice about protecting your dignity in the clink.

The third album on The Cleveland Orchestra’s label follows the ‘old-new’ pairing of their previous release, showcasing recordings of Prokofiev and Schnittke that cover both pre- and post-pandemic music making.

In this new recording Phantasm make no excuses for arranging some of Bach’s remarkable keyboard music for a consort of viols. Led by director Laurence Dreyfus they go on a conscious mission to uncover the hidden riches concealed behind the more neutral resources of the harpsichord and organ so as to liberate the fascinating characters lurking in the shadows and behind the scenes within Bach’s individual polyphonic lines. In the process of fugal confrontation among three to six musicians, they come face to face with the astounding psychological insights of Bach’s most radical inventions.

Booker T. & the MG's do what they do very well. What they do is present a spare, funky sound in which each instrument, drums (here played by Steve Jordan or James Gadson), bass, guitar, and organ, is heard distinctly, playing medium tempo melodies with slight variations. Precision is a key, and the result, while impressive, is anything but showy. Seventeen years since their last outing, the group exhibits the same qualities and the same limitations it did in its heyday.

The Seven were a rock group from Syracuse, New York. They were a rock group with elements of jazz and funk. This super obscure album from 1970 features funky horns, percussion and tight vocal harmonies along the lines of Chicago, Blood Sweat & Tears, Santana and Rare Earth. Six groovy originals and three covers Heat Wave (Martha & The Vandellas), Tell Her No (The Zombies) and Song For My Father (Horace Silver). An Upstate New York act, the group's roots go back to an outfit called The Upsetters. They were made up of members from Jeff & The Notes and Jimmy Cavallo & The Houserockers, etc.. Guitarist John Latocha left the group and was replaced by Bob Canastraro.

London-based four-piece indie-pop band formed in 1993. Very successful at the peak of Britpop in the mid-90's scoring a debut number one album (knocking Oasis (2)'s (What's The Story) Morning Glory? from the top spot and just missing out on a number one single with "Slight Return" (arguably their most famous song), being kept away by Babylon Zoo's "Spaceman" (featured in a Levi's TV ad). Scott joked that he actually bought a copy of "Spaceman"…