Email Author Mark Keresman

2004 Stories by Mark Keresman

• Vashti Bunyan

  published December 1, 2004

  Those smitten by the altfolk of Devendra Banhart and the sadcore of Low will go batty for Just Another Diamond Day, a reissue of... More >>

• Alison Krauss & Union Station

  published November 24, 2004

  Fiddler/singer Alison Krauss is a phenomenon in that she's a child prodigy (started playing at 5, recording at 14) who's achieved a substantial... More >>

• Hear This

  published November 17, 2004

  As the band name suggests, the Dresden Dolls perform a sort of dressed-up, post-apocalyptic music, devoid of high hopes yet rich in high... More >>

• William Shatner

  published November 17, 2004

  Hey, who ordered the ham on wry? William Shatner, the greatest overactor of our time, returns to recording (you mean you've never heard Capt.... More >>

• Elliott Smith

  published October 20, 2004

  Whatever demons drove him, one thing's for sure: The late Elliott Smith had a gift for masterfully crafting intricately constructed, emotive... More >>

• Hear This

  published October 13, 2004

  For alternarockers the world over, one of the most despised aspects of the pop/rock mainstream was the "singer/songwriter," as that... More >>

• American Music Club

  published October 13, 2004

  American Music Club frontman Mark Eitzel is not a happy fellow these days, not that anyone's ever thought of his work as "party music." The S.F.... More >>

• Elvis Costello & the Imposters|Elvis Costello, London Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas

  published September 22, 2004

  Rock's most protean performer busts not one but two very divergent moves. The Delivery Man encapsulates the best aspects of... More >>

• Knife & Fork

  published September 22, 2004

  Comprised of singer Laurie Hall (Ovarian Trolley, Hallflowers) and keyboard/multi-instrumental whiz Eric Drew Feldman (who has played with or... More >>

• Chuck Prophet

  published September 15, 2004

  For years, the Bay Area's Chuck Prophet has been "utility guitarist" to the alternastars: Aside from membership in Green on Red in the '80s, his... More >>

• Tara Jane O'Neil

  published September 8, 2004

  If this had come out in 1974 instead of '04, Tara Jane O'Neil (ex-Rodan, -Retsin) would no doubt be compared most favorably to U.K. trad-folk... More >>

• The Free Design

  published September 1, 2004

  Beloved by Stereolab and the High Llamas (whose Sean O'Hagan wrote Born Again's liner notes), the Free Design was an NYC group in the late... More >>

• Macha

  published August 18, 2004

  After a cursory listen to the first half of Macha's Forget Tomorrow, the group's first full-length since 1999's See It Another Way,... More >>

• John Frusciante

  published July 21, 2004

  Guitarist John Frusciante's second solo album since reuniting with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Will to Death, just might be one of the... More >>

• Hear This

  published July 14, 2004

  When it comes to bluegrass, either traditional or progressive, Austin's Meat Purveyors are hardly the real deal, not when you can easily... More >>

• Denny Zeitlin

  published July 7, 2004

  File Bay Area resident Denny Zeitlin under "overachiever." Not only is he an ace jazz pianist who in his spare time composed music for... More >>

• Chris von Sneidern

  published June 23, 2004

  Almost every major city has someone like Chris von Sneidern: a die-hard true believer carrying the torch of power pop. Alas, CvS, a fixture in the... More >>

• Jerry Garcia

  published May 26, 2004

  This box set collects all six JG solo studio records, from 1972's Garcia to 1982's Run for the Roses. With the exception of two... More >>

• Dave Brubeck

  published April 21, 2004

  Though dissed by jazz's critical establishment for the unforgivable crime of popularity, pianist/composer Dave Brubeck's Quartet remains one of... More >>

• Mekons

  published March 24, 2004

  One of the aspects distinguishing rock 'n' roll from the pop, country, and jazz of previous generations is that rockers very seldom revisit their... More >>

• Norah Jones

  published March 3, 2004

  You can imagine the collective outcry of jazz snobs when they hear Feels Like Home: "Well, Norah Jones sold out -- we knew she wasn't... More >>

• The Church

  published January 28, 2004

  Way back in the mid-1980s in my hometown of Pittsburgh (when life was cheap), one particular night offered two fairly prestigious shows from two... More >>

• Free Fall

  published January 14, 2004

  Free Fall takes its moniker from the 1962 album of the same name by the Jimmy Giuffre Trio, a jazz band whose influence has grown steadily over... More >>