Van Morrison grew up with Skiffle - yes, at 77 years of age that’s still possible! Skiffle is the precursor to pop music which allowed young musicians in England to learn the ropes of traditional American music, folk, jazz and blues in the 50’s and early 60’s. Skiffle bands played makeshift acoustic instruments, guitars, banjos and washboards, with big smiles and hair slicked back behind the ears. Although it was very popular at the time, the genre was soon swept away by the pop explosion (before the Beatles, John Lennon had his skiffle band, the Quarrymen), but it is remembered as a safe haven for musical learning, and a bygone golden age. More than 20 years ago, Van Morrison honoured skiffle on a live album with two of the genre’s heroes: Lonnie Donegan and Chris Barber (The Skiffle Sessions, live in Belfast). He has now returned to the studio and to the band for Moving On Skiffle, which is like an elixir of youth. The album’s 23 tracks are all covers of songs that belong to American folk and blues heritage. Van Morrison doesn’t claim to revolutionise anything here. Using cheerful, acoustic instruments, he celebrates the eternal youth of songs that will still be sung around campfires 50 years from now. Just as Dylan revisited Sinatra’s repertoire on Shadows In The Night and Fallen Angels in the mid-2010’s, Van Morrison flips through the musical album of his youth, bringing it back with a catchy simplicity and joy. © Stéphane Deschamps/Qobuz

Radiohead's admittedly assumed dilemma: how to push things forward using just the right amounts of the old and the older in order to please both sides of the divide? Taking advantage of their longest running time to date, enough space is provided to quench the thirsts of resolute Bends devotees without losing the adventurous drive or experimentation that eventually got the group into hot water with many of those same listeners. Guitars churn and chime and sound like guitars more often than not; drums are more likely to be played by a human; and discernible verses are more frequently trailed by discernible choruses. So, whether or not the group is to be considered "back," there is a certain return to relatively traditional songcraft. Had the opening "2 + 2 = 5" and "Sit Down. Stand Up." been made two years before, each song's slowly swelling intensity would have plateaued a couple minutes in, functioning as mood pieces without any release; instead, each boils over into its own cathartic tantrum. The spook-filled "Sail to the Moon," one of several songs featuring prominent piano, rivals "Street Spirit" and hovers compellingly without much sense of force carrying it along. Somewhat ironically, minus a handful of the more conventionally structured songs, the album would be almost as fractured, remote, and challenging as Amnesiac. "Backdrifts" and "The Gloaming" feature nervous electronic backdrops, while the emaciated "We Suck Young Blood" is a laggard processional that, save for one outburst, shuffles along uneasily. At nearly an hour in length, this album doesn't unleash the terse blow delivered by its two predecessors. However, despite the fact that it seems more like a bunch of songs on a disc rather than a singular body, its impact is substantial. Regardless of all the debates surrounding the group, Radiohead have entered a second decade of record-making with a surplus of momentum.© Andy Kellman /TiVo

Having delivered their comeback with ease, the Jonas Brothers were faced with a difficult prospect: they needed to keep the good times of Happiness Begins rolling. To that end, they decided to ditch many of the collaborators from that 2019 affair and hire Jon Bellion -- a songwriter/producer known for previous work with Jason Derulo, Justin Bieber, Maroon 5, and Eminem with Rihanna -- as executive producer. Bellion and the Brothers decide to extend the shiny sunniness of Happiness Begins by buttressing the frothy melodies with bright, soulful grooves that split the difference between disco and retro-minded modern revivals. It's a fleet, sleek sound that helps draw attention to the trio's natural effervescence without seeming especially sugary. It does seem tailored for the sunshine, though, particularly a stretch in the second half where the Jonas Brothers sing about "Vacation Eyes," "Summer in the Hamptons," and "Summer Baby," all amounting to a summery EP buried in the middle of an LP. Truth be told, most of The Album sounds as if it was made with relaxation in mind; it's all shimmering soft rock and tempered disco, soundtracks for Montana skies and celebrations. The exceptions to the rule are "Little Bird" and the Bellion duet "Walls," a pair of slower, introspective numbers that end The Album on a curiously dour note, as if the trio decided they'd had too much fun, so they added serious songs as an afterthought.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

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Rust Never Sleeps, its aphoristic title drawn from an intended advertising slogan, was an album of new songs, some of them recorded on Neil Young's 1978 concert tour. His strongest collection since Tonight's the Night, its obvious antecedent was Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home, and, as Dylan did, Young divided his record into acoustic and electric sides while filling his songs with wildly imaginative imagery. The leadoff track, "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)" (repeated in an electric version at album's end as "Hey Hey, My My [Into the Black]" with slightly altered lyrics), is the most concise and knowing description of the entertainment industry ever written; it was followed by "Thrasher," which describes Young's parallel artistic quest in an extended metaphor that also reflected the album's overall theme -- the inevitability of deterioration and the challenge of overcoming it. Young then spent the rest of the album demonstrating that his chief weapons against rusting were his imagination and his daring, creating an archetypal album that encapsulated his many styles on a single disc with great songs -- in particular the remarkable "Powderfinger" -- unlike any he had written before.© William Ruhlmann /TiVo

On his own and as part of the Commodores, by 1992 Lionel Richie amassed more than enough singles for a greatest-hits collection. Unfortunately, this is one of those compilations that, good intentions aside, falls so flat there's not much point in buying it. By trying to cover his solo material, while touching base with his Commodores fans, and adding some new cuts, no part of his career is well represented. For the record, Back to Front lacks "Oh No," "Lady You Bring Me Up," "Ballerina Girl," "You Are," "My Love," "Stuck on You," "Love Will Conquer All," "Se La," and "Dancing on the Ceiling," all Top 40 hits. If Motown had concentrated solely on solo Richie, with another collection of Commodores hits, this could have been a solid, career-topping CD. As it is, it's strong, but hearing such gems as "Still," "Truly," "Say You, Say Me," and "Running With the Night" makes you long to hear the cuts that aren't here. Of the three new songs, "Do It to Me" and "My Destiny" are classic, smooth Richie, but "Love, Oh Love" is very schmaltzy. If you're a casual Lionel Richie fan, this might suffice, but for anyone who truly enjoys pop music, this collection is not worth your money.© Bryan Buss /TiVo

On his own and as part of the Commodores, by 1992 Lionel Richie amassed more than enough singles for a greatest-hits collection. Unfortunately, this is one of those compilations that, good intentions aside, falls so flat there's not much point in buying it. By trying to cover his solo material, while touching base with his Commodores fans, and adding some new cuts, no part of his career is well represented. For the record, Back to Front lacks "Oh No," "Lady You Bring Me Up," "Ballerina Girl," "You Are," "My Love," "Stuck on You," "Love Will Conquer All," "Se La," and "Dancing on the Ceiling," all Top 40 hits. If Motown had concentrated solely on solo Richie, with another collection of Commodores hits, this could have been a solid, career-topping CD. As it is, it's strong, but hearing such gems as "Still," "Truly," "Say You, Say Me," and "Running With the Night" makes you long to hear the cuts that aren't here. Of the three new songs, "Do It to Me" and "My Destiny" are classic, smooth Richie, but "Love, Oh Love" is very schmaltzy. If you're a casual Lionel Richie fan, this might suffice, but for anyone who truly enjoys pop music, this collection is not worth your money.© Bryan Buss /TiVo

Other than being their first platinum-selling album, The Grand Illusion led Styx steadfastly into the domain of AOR rock. Built on the strengths of "Come Sail Away"'s ballad-to-rock metamorphosis, which gained them their second Top Ten hit, and on the high harmonies of newcomer Tommy Shaw throughout "Fooling Yourself," The Grand Illusion introduced Styx to the gates of commercial stardom. The pulverized growl of "Miss America" reveals the group's guitar-savvy approach to six-string rock, while De Young pretentiously struts his singing prowess throughout the title track. Shaw's induction into the band has clearly settled, and his guitar work, along with James Young's, is full and extremely sharp where it matters most. Even the songwriting is more effluent than Crystal Ball, which was released one year earlier, shedding their mystical song motifs for a more audience-pleasing lyric and chord counterpoise. Reaching number six on the album charts, The Grand Illusion was the first to display the gelled accomplishments of both Tommy Shaw and Dennis De Young as a tandem.© Mike DeGagne /TiVo

Swiss-born harmonica player and composer Grégoire Maret is based in New York, and a first-call sideman and collaborator for a wide range of musicians including Pat Metheny, Elton John, Meshell Ndegeocello, Terri Lynne Carrington, and Marcus Miller. French-born pianist Romain Collin attended Boston's Berklee College of Music and stayed. He leads his own trio and plays duo dates with Maret. Guitarist Bill Frisell needs no introduction; he is the aesthetic anchor here as well as the date's supreme colorist.Americana is a love letter from two immigrants to their adopted home. For Maret, that's doubly true: his mother is from Harlem. The program contains original compositions by all three men as well as three covers. The opener is a reading of Mark Knopfler's "Brothers in Arms," and delivers the set's initial surprise: It's played by Maret and Collin. The two ACT labelmates perform this paean of affirmation and commitment as quietly and gently as a lullaby. Frisell's "Small Town" reprises the roots aesthetic the guitarist showcased on albums such as Nashville (1997) and Disfarmer (2009). Initiated in Maret's high-middle register, its melody recalls the music of the Civil War, underscored by the guitarist's use of a banjo alongside his electric six-string. Collin's chord voicings add color, texture, and nuance, drawing the melody's emotion into the open. While the tune's structure is simple, the canny, sensitive interplay is not. Collin's "San Luis Obispo" is a straight-up country tune and he uses an upright piano. Frisell states the melody before winding it out with slippery, single-string statements and impressionistic chord voicings before handing it off to Maret, who takes over and interacts with Collin. The harmonicist's "Back Home" is initiated by Collin with a cascading single-note pattern embellished by fragmentary chords. Maret's lovely yet intensely lonesome chromaticism never plays extra notes; he allows them full voice as guest Clarence Penn's brushed snare adds emphasis. The reading of Jimmy Webb's "Wichita Lineman" begins with an airy statement from Frisell before Maret claims the melody atop Collin's gospel-inflected chords. Frisell strums an acoustic underneath them and embellishes with his Telecaster. All three men alternate in offering small improvisations on the changes and lyric to quietly stunning effect. The set's longest number is a cover of Justin Vernon's "Re: Stacks"; its original version appeared on Bon Iver's stripped-to-the-bone debut For Emma, Forever Ago. Acoustic and electric guitars frame the margins of Collin's gentle yet interrogative piano pulse as Maret makes the lyric melody breathe with long doubled notes. Its movement is leisurely with ghostly reverbed piano hovering around Frisell's strummed changes and single-string lines. The sonic abstractions offered by Collin's Moog Taurus and pump organ continue with the harmonica as a nearly ambient interlude that bleeds over into their joint improvisation "Still." Americana is imbued with warmth and tenderness throughout. It's an endearing portrait of the intimate side of American life. These songs echo collective and individual memories as well as idiosyncratic sense impressions of those that are hoped for.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

"I got to beat these leeches to the punch." That's one of the reasons put forth by Joni Mitchell—an artist famously averse to looking backward, especially at her earliest years as a musician—as to why she compiled this massive collection of the first recordings she ever made. The "leeches," of course, are the bootleggers and other folks seeking to exploit her performances, so, in an approach similar to Neil Young's Archives series, Mitchell's audio biography cuts them off by presenting a set that is both chronological and comprehensive. And, surprisingly for broadcast tapes, demos, and live recordings from more than a half-century ago (but perhaps not so surprising for a collection overseen by the fidelity-conscious Mitchell), the audio quality is consistently superb. While many other artists have undertaken similar vault-clearing expeditions, the sheer fact that Mitchell was willing to revisit the era in which she was very explicitly a folk singer—a label she disliked and quickly pivoted away from creatively—is a real surprise. It's almost as surprising as how good of a folk singer she was! The earliest recordings here, from a Saskatoon AM radio broadcast in 1963 and a 1964 cafe concert in Toronto, are all folk standards like "Nancy Whiskey," "Maids When You're Young Never Wed an Old Man," and "House of the Rising Sun." Mitchell's voice molds itself to the warbly pitch favored by female folk singers of the era (and she even plays a ukulele), but it's clear she's merely trying on a costume, using a pre-built form to copy so she can develop her technical skills. By the time the first Mitchell originals appear on the set—on a tape she made for her mother's birthday in 1965—both her music and her voice have begun to transform, and by the 1967 recordings, the more resonant singing voice associated with her—as well as her affinity for unique guitar tunings—s on full display. In fact, when one radio show host comments "Are you ever in straight tuning?" Mitchell kind of laughs and says "just in one song" like it's the most normal thing in the world. (Mitchell's infamous stage banter—honed so she could tune her guitar between songs without completely losing the audience—is in abundant evidence on this set. There is literally an album's worth of her talking and tuning here, and it's all pretty wonderful.) The early demos and concert performances of songs like "Morning Morgantown," "Night in the City," and, of course, "The Circle Game" and "Both Sides, Now" are revelatory in their own way, and one can hear on these recordings why so many of her contemporaries in the folk scene gravitated toward them and why Mitchell included them on her first three, pre-Blue albums. However, the Mitchell originals that never appeared again are even more interesting. Tracks like "Urge for Going" (which Mitchell calls her "first well-written song") and "Born to Take the Highway" are exceptionally strong pieces of work that show just how high her standards were for her own work. To be sure, this era is the least interesting period in Joni Mitchell's musical career, at least from a creative standpoint, but this installment of Archives is nonetheless a substantial, intriguing, and revelatory set, which bodes quite well for the future of the series. © Jason Ferguson/Qobuz

4 stars out of 5 -- "'Rattling Rose’ lures you in with some traditional acoustic guitar and a driving Americana rhythm, before blooming into a sci-fi carnival breakdown. Noel’s voice sounds as silky as he ever..."© TiVo

Neil Young has never been especially interested in the way the music industry expects artists to operate, preferring to trust his gut rather than fretting about career expectations. It's not hard to imagine Young saying to hell with it and joining a bar band rather than dealing with the annoyances of rock stardom, and he did just that for a while in 1977. That year, he impulsively joined a fledgling band called the Ducks, featuring Bob Mosley of Moby Grape on bass, noted songwriter Jeff Blackburn on guitar, and Johnny Craviotto, who worked with Ry Cooder and Arlo Guthrie, on drums. While Young was the most famous person on board, he was not the leader; all four Ducks took turns singing lead, Mosley and Blackburn wrote most of the songs, and they were content to play bars and clubs in their native Santa Cruz, California, doing two sets a night and charging a three-dollar cover at the door. With someone as famous as Young in the lineup, this could only stay a secret for so long, especially since the Ducks were playing two or three nights a week, and the grand experiment was over in three months, with only a few bootleg tapes to confirm it ever happened. Thankfully, Young obsessively documents his activities, and he had a mobile recording truck tape some Ducks gigs in August 1977. Forty-five years later, he pulled the reels out of his vault and compiled a Ducks album, 2023's High Flyin'. The Ducks were a bar band in the same way NRBQ were a bar band -- their mix of country rock, blues, and tough, straight-ahead rock & roll was rooted in the classics without getting mired in clichés. While they had good, unpretentious fun on-stage, they also had impressive chops and a catalog of fine material, and the energy of seeing a group this good in a funky, intimate setting was not lost on their audiences. Young seems to be having a ball not having to be the star of the show, and his guitar work is excellent, ripping out solos in his unmistakable style but also buzzing along beside Blackburn. He also takes the opportunity to rework some of his classic tunes, with a gutsy tear through "Mr. Soul" a highlight of this set. Mosley and Blackburn's originals are good enough to stand up to comparison to Young's, and Mosley seemingly taught some of the tricks of Moby Grape's glorious harmonies to his fellow Ducks, feeling rougher but no less satisfying. Mosley and Craviotto are a superb rhythm section, too, knowing when to groove and when to push the music into fifth gear. It's a shame the Ducks didn't have the chance to mature and cut a studio album, because they clearly had talent and potential to spare, but there's no shame in being a truly great bar band, and High Flyin' shows the Ducks were something special for just three bucks.© Mark Deming /TiVo

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