Aural Robert

Remembering Three Dog Night

Robert Baird May 12, 2026

All "serious" music fans know pop music is kid's stuff: too simple, too accessible, the embodiment of that cringeworthy moniker "disposable." But pop music is also what keeps the lights on in the music business, selling gobs of streams, merchandise, and concert tickets. And hasn't that always been the case?

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Chess Records Celebrates 75 Years

Robert Baird Mar 31, 2026

Blues giant Howlin' Wolf was recently celebrated with the launch of the Chess 75 Acoustic Sound Series, along with three other deserving blues artists. A collaboration between UME and Analogue Productions, these $40, 180gm LPs were, according to official paperwork, remastered from original analog tapes.

Aural Robert

The Passing of Two Americana Greats: Joe Ely and Raul Malo

Robert Baird Mar 02, 2026

Just before Christmas 2025, American music suffered two irreplaceable losses with the passings of Raul Malo (December 8) and Joe Ely (December 15). While a lot of musicians exist on the artistic and commercial fringes, Malo and Ely were foundational artists, gifted creators and performers who refused to be confined by artistic boundaries.

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Touched-up Beatles and Ringo in Color

Robert Baird Feb 04, 2026

Opinions vary, but like everything connected to The Beatles, charged arguments over Giles Martin's ongoing remastering of, and sonic tinkering with, the band's hallowed recording catalog are unending.

Aural Robert

Shanachie Records' New Vinyl-Reissue Series

Robert Baird Jan 07, 2026

"The term 'sales' is an anachronism. Today, it's about streaming and ancillary income."—Randall Grass, general manager at Shanachie Entertainment.

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High Moon Records reissues Lotti Golden's Motor-Cycle

Robert Baird Dec 08, 2025

Her life became a whirlwind. Taking the train in from Brooklyn to Manhattan to pitch songs and experience the East Village scene, she landed a song-publishing deal at age 14. In 1968, at 18, after a chance meeting in an elevator, a legendary songwriter/record producer was interested in assisting her in making her debut album.

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Madi Diaz, Neko Case & Cécile McLorin Salvant Push Music in New Directions

Robert Baird Nov 05, 2025

Women have undeniably become the most dynamic and vital creative force in music today. Without their good energies and ideas, music, which in the digital age has become more background than art, would be much less interesting and inspiring.

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50 Years of Blues at Antone's

Robert Baird Oct 07, 2025

Left to right: Clifford Antone, Doug Sahm, Albert Collins. (Photo Courtesy of Susan Antone.)

There have been venue owners who have been larger than life—Hilly Kristal (CBGB) and Doug Weston (Troubadour) come to mind—but few live-music club owners have ever lived in and for the music the way that Clifford Antone has.

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Sly Stone, a Great, Recent Musical Loss

Robert Baird Aug 26, 2025

Super fans who dig deeper into a favorite artist's recording catalog eventually come to the crossroads of performance versus sonics. In the case of Sly Stone, who died this past June at age 82, that question has new relevance with the release on CD and vinyl of a "new" Sly and the Family Stone record, The First Family: Live at Winchester Cathedral 1967.

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Bruce Springsteen's Later-Career Back Catalog

Robert Baird Jul 29, 2025

Photo by Danny Clinch

Seeing Bruce Springsteen perform live in the 1970s and early '80s, pre–Born in the U.S.A., could be a life-changing experience. Bruce was the hungry leader of a relentless, turn-on-a-dime R&B band. A burning star streaking across the rock'n'roll sky, he threw his fiery young self into maximum shows full of urgency (to invoke one of his best rhymes) and those wordy, anthemic pleading/strutting urban fairy tales. He was leagues beyond almost everything and everyone else in those days.