© 2024 Hawaiʻi Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Will Hermes

  • Carll's new album gets its name from the military slang for abandoning a mission. But on KMAG YOYO and Other American Stories, the Houston country rocker sounds as committed as ever.
  • Superchunk's new album, Majesty Shredding, fits the textbook definition of indie-rock: the pomp and spectacle of marketplace rock 'n' roll turned inside out to show the seams, revealing the men and women behind the curtain who aren't much different from the rest of us.
  • Lady Gaga's rebellious personality, outrageous fashion sense and outsize way with a chorus have earned her a huge and diverse fan base. Last week, she played three sold-out hometown shows at New York's Madison Square Garden. Critic Will Hermes recently took his niece to one of the concerts.
  • Newsom comes from a great tradition of visionary California oddballs such as Terry Riley and Frank Zappa. Like her forebears, her ambitions run deep and wide. On her new triple-length album, Have One on Me, Newsom taps into myths of the American West and the open road.
  • The group's emergence coincided with a bunch of trends: rock bands influenced by world music, rock bands that dress like preppies and pop-culture phenomena connected in some way to vampires. On Contra, they do more or less the same, with a couple of surprises.
  • Nirvana's Bleach (reissued this month) didn't make much of a splash when it was released in 1989. But with hindsight, the album shows a band clearly hurtling toward greatness. A mere two years later, Nirvana headlined England's Reading Festival; by then, the greatness was obvious.
  • The songs on Revolution come in an impressive variety of arrangements and voices, from quiet, acoustic confessions to rock 'n' roll hollering. They're all convincing, and they make up not just Lambert's best record, but also critic Will Hermes' standing pick for country record of the year.
  • Supergroups have a long tradition in popular music. Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson once joined forces as The Highwaymen. There were the Fania All-Stars, The Four Tenors and Audioslave. Now Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, Jim James and M. Ward, calling themselves Monsters of Folk, have released their debut album.
  • The experimental rock band based in New York draws on early vocal music, modern soul and other sources, defying categorization in the process. According to critic Will Hermes, the band's new album, Bitte Orca, is a breakthrough.
  • Being a Neil Young fan isn't always easy. There have been lean years, puzzling political stances and quite a few less-than-satisfying concept albums. But most fans are determined to stick it out. In many ways, the gargantuan Neil Young Archives, Vol. 1: 1963-1972 is payback.