Album Reviews
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New on Pure Pop Radio: Picking in the Panic Room, Disconnected at Third Man Records, and More
Spins and Reviews 12.7.16 Alan Haber — Pure Pop Radio (Originally posted on 12.07.16) Jacob Panic | Jacob Panic (2016) Picker extraordinaire Jacob Panic traverses his banjo’s fretboard with a sure-footed sense of purpose on five tunes borne from fertile ground rooted in pop and bluegrass. This self-titled EP finds the Baltimore-Maryland singer-songwriter’s multi-instrumentalist clothes,… Continue reading
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Favorite Records of the Year: Stars of 2016
By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio (Originally posted 01.03.17) 2016 was a terrific year for melodic pop music from both new and heritage artists, perhaps the best in recent memory. My list of 28 Favorite Records of the Year from 27 artists–The Stars of 2016–is presented below in random order. It has long been… Continue reading
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New on Pure Pop Radio: Dana Countryman’s Girlville! Sparkles!
Spins and Reviews | (Originally posted 1.10.17) By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio Dana Countryman’s Girlville! New Songs in the Style of Yesterday’s Hits (Teensville) 2017 And now for something completely different? Not completely, actually, because this heartfelt, loving tribute to the sounds of 1960s girl groups shares the same depth of commitment and… Continue reading
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“Just say you believe in me and send me all your love…”
The Weeklings ‘ Studio 2 captivates with Beatlesque charm The Weeklings | Studio 2 | 2016 (Jem Records) A review/essay by Alan Haber Who would ever have thought, who would ever have dreamt that, in the 60 minutes that passed between eight and nine o’clock on Sunday, February 9, 1964, everything, every single hope and… Continue reading
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Seth Swirsky’s Wonderful, Bigger Truth
Spins and Reviews | 8.11.16 | by Alan Haber Seth Swirsky | Circles and Squares Listening to and absorbing and becoming one with the songs contained on Seth Swirsky’s amazing new album Circles and Squares, I turned inward and posed the following question: You know those things in life that just click with you upon a… Continue reading
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No Monkeeing Around, These are Good Times! for Monkees Fans
The ubiquitous they never look at us and say “Hey, hey, you’re the Monkees,” because the Monkees are and always will be Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, Mike Nesmith and the late, great Davy Jones. They can and do, however, say “Hey, hey, the Monkees have a big hit album out” because, hey, hey, that’s the fact,… Continue reading
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Version Vision: Covers in the Key of Bill Lloyd
Bill Lloyd | Lloyd*ering (SypderPop, 2016) Review by Alan Haber It’s easy to be an armchair musician sitting in front of your stereo with the remote in front of you, an ice cold beverage always within reach, and the air instrument of your choice at the ready. Your favorite musician belts out his version of… Continue reading
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A Beautiful Noise
Magical new albums from Brandon Schott, Pop 4 and Vanilla make beautiful noise Review by Alan Haber “It’s a beautiful noise/And it’s a sound that I love/And it fits me as well/As a hand in a glove/Yes it does, yes it does,” Neil Diamond sings on the title song from his 1976 album. These are… Continue reading
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Bill DeMain’s Extended Stay Is a Perfect Vision
Bill DeMain | Extended Stay | 2014 | A review by Alan Haber “Maybe home is nothing more than where you hang your hat,” Bill DeMain sings in the cautiously cheery “Looking for a Place to Live,” the first of six sweetly-realized songs on his brilliant 2014 EP, Extended Stay. Autobiographical in nature and a… Continue reading
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The New Trocaderos: Turn ’em Up to 11!
The New Trocaderos | Frenzy in the Hips | 2015 | A review by Alan Haber They’re either coming at you with the force of a speeding locomotive riding atop a five-alarm fire, or they’re pushing out the beat at a bit of a slower pace with pop music on their minds. Either way, the… Continue reading
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Recent Posts
- Adiós.
- Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation, Spring 2021, Episode Three: The Legal Matters Talk Chapter, Verse and Chorus
- Well Foraged, Three Musicians Talk Chapter and Verse (and Chorus) Tomorrow on Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation
- Found Foraging for Food in the Forest, Three Musicians Find Melody and Harmony Instead. In Conversation Has the Story
- New on Pure Pop Radio 4-14-21: Bill Lloyd Defines Power Pop With Curated Selection
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