Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Augie Meyers, Founding Member of the Sir Douglas Quintet and Texas Tornados, Dies - Best Classic Bands Augie Meyers, a founding member of the Sir Douglas Quintet who later re-teamed with that band's leader Doug Sahm to form the Tejano supergroup Texas Tornados, died on March 7, 2026.

Farewell to the great Augie Meyers, founding member and keyboardist for both the Sir Douglas Quintet and Texas Tornadoes and a genuine Lone Star legend.

Country Joe and the Fish, Electric Music For The Mins and Body

way sharper, weirder, & more outwardly psychedelic (& original) than the debut LPs by the dead, airplane, quicksilver, etc. going by first albums only, country joe & the fish might've seemed like the bay area's freak champs in '67 (though, to be fair, "surrealistic pillow" came out just before).

Albini Sessions (Benefit for Letters Charity), by Fugazi 12 track album

Stop literally everything.

Steve Albini's Fugazi sessions, widely bootlegged and full of lore, now available officially for the first time.

fugazi.bandcamp.com/album/albini...

Reviews: Gorillaz, Bruno Mars, Megan Moroney Plus Bill Callahan, Crooked Fingers, a great Clifton Chenier box and a McCartney soundtrack.

Catching up with new albums by Gorillaz, Bruno Mars, Megan Moroney, Bill Callahan, Crooked Fingers, and a new Clifton Chenier box in my latest newsletter.

Reviews: Gorillaz, Bruno Mars, Megan Moroney Plus Bill Callahan, Crooked Fingers, a great Clifton Chenier box and a McCartney soundtrack.

Catching up with new albums by Gorillaz, Bruno Mars, Megan Moroney, Bill Callahan, Crooked Fingers, and a new Clifton Chenier box in my latest newsletter.

The day the news broke, I got in the car to run an errand, turned on the radio to find “The Magnificent Seven” playing. Only time that song has ever made me cry.

From David Bowie to Fleetwood Mac and Eric Clapton, Mike Vernon’s ear was invaluable to British pop and blues The musician, producer and label head, who has died aged 81, turned his boyhood passion for blues into a hugely impactful career

RIP Mike Vernon, producer of Bowie's first album, among many (& more successful) others: www.theguardian.com/music/2026/m...

Hope you’ve had a very good birthday my friend.

Iron & Wine: Hen’s Teeth Read Stephen Thomas Erlewine’s review of the album.

Over at @pitchfork.com, I review Hen's Teeth, the warm, comforting new album from Iron & Wine.

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YouTube video by Johnny Blue Skies MUTINY AFTER MIDNIGHT

The new Johnny Blue Skies/Sturgill Simpson album Mutiny After Midnight is now up on YouTube, sounding like an LP rip from 78, right down to the runout groove at the end.
(My take after one spin: it's a lot of fun.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKHG...

I'm gonna take my time with my Sturgill thoughts, as anyone should, but the amount of folks already missing how sex - in country music, in a world hell bent on controlling women's bodies and honestly what anyone is doing in the bedroom if it ain't for making babies - is a fuckin act of protest

Iron & Wine: Hen’s Teeth Read Stephen Thomas Erlewine’s review of the album.

Over at @pitchfork.com, I review Hen's Teeth, the warm, comforting new album from Iron & Wine.

Happy to help! Hope it works out.

I’d say it’s worth a shot then—they look good and feel good, and I do think ours was short lived due to user error.

I liked the one we had for about a month or two then it cracked. Could be the household just had too much traffic for it (and was ill equipped to care for it properly).

I interviewed the great Neil Sedaka 10 yrs ago. He was fun. He said Barry Gibb encouraged him to smoke weed to 'open up my mind creatively and take away my inhibitions'. He gamely gave it go but a joint wasn't Neil's speed. 'I'm a boozer. Give me a vodka and a glass of wine at dinner and I'm fine.'

I can’t count the number of times I’ve been told “my body, my choice” when trying to get the kids into the bath.

Neil Sedaka: 14 Essential Songs

I selected 14 essential Neil Sedaka songs for the New York Times, balancing his effervescent early hits with his lush '70s comeback.

I did have “Little Brother” on my shortlist!

I try not to complain about the exclusion of favorite songs from lists like this, especially when they’re assembled by someone as thoughtful and knowledgeable as Tom. And this is a terrific list, but really: you need to hear “Little Brother” sometime, because that is some sublimely messed-up shit.

It’s an absolute classic.

It’s not one of those lyrics I’ve analyzed too much, but it sometimes plays to me like all the colloquial “little girl” lyrics of the 50s-60s

Neil Sedaka: 14 Essential Songs

I selected 14 essential Neil Sedaka songs for the New York Times, balancing his effervescent early hits with his lush '70s comeback.

Neil Sedaka, songwriter and hitmaker over multiple generations, dies at 86 The chipper melodicist was also known for a catalog of '70s hits hits including "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" and "Laughter in the Rain."

Farewell to Neil Sedaka, the consummate pop songwriter and showman responsible for the enduring hits “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” and “Love Will Keep Us Together.” My obit for the LA Times: www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame 2026 Nominees My thoughts on the 17 acts on this year's ballot

My thoughts on the 17 nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026.

A new wrinkle this year: voters MUST vote for seven nominees. In previous years, it was fine to stop at, say, three.

And that's funny, because my appreciation of Tom Jones has increased dramatically in the last year. They do share a certain sense of showmanship that's appealing.

I think that's fair, and I do think I was perhaps a bit dismissive (couldn't resist having his entry rhyme with Hill's). There are times where his cartoonishness delights me, then there are times that it drives me batty.

The divide between rock as music and rock as cultural force is a fascinating one.