When the head of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Neil Portnoy, applauded the Writers’ Union for its successful labor contract negotiations during the February 10th showing of the 50th Grammy Awards, millions of viewers saw a side of the industry rarely put forward.

Always an artist with a good understanding of his craft, Bruce Springsteen once told an interviewer that he sees his live shows as part circus, part dance party and part political rally - an apt description of Magic, his fifteenth studio album

When a noted or celebrated musician passes away, it is perhaps inevitable that their final recording will always be given consideration for reasons beyond the merits of the work.

And if you’re like me, while you may have vaguely heard of the Dixie Chicks before their “notorious” remarks in 2003, you probably weren’t familiar at all with their songs, then relegated almost exclusively to the traditional outlets and audiences for country music.

I get upset when I hear a Black man who knows nothing about Jazz pretend he knows. It's painful to listen to and insulting. Jazz is deeply personal to whatever taste, or whomever artist you choose to favor.

Michael Brecker, a Grammy award-winning saxaphonist whose music spanned both jazz and rock genres, died January 13th in New York city following a two year battle with cancer. He was 57 years old.

A friend of mine recently told me, "Leave it to James to die on Christmas." That pretty much sums up the career of James Joseph Brown Jr. He came in with a bang, and went out in flying colors.

Reviews of Bob Dylan's latest CD and Spike Lee's Inside Man, now on DVD.

Natalie Maines, of the Dixie Chicks (an unfortunate name for a great country group), in England, spoke up a few days before the start of the Iraq war.

"We're old men. We probably all have life insurance," jokes Thom Yorke on the opening night of Radiohead's British tour, looking really rather pleased with himself.

This week, System of a Down are releasing their fifth studio album, Hypnotize, following on from their summer album Mezmerize. The two albums dovetail together effortlessly.

Good Fight ain’t the soundtrack to Riverdance. The new release by The Kissers from Madison, Wisconsin, far-removed from the birthplace of Irish folk rock only by time and space, will nevertheless transport you to when The Pogues rocked the new wave scene in the 1980s.

Hiretsukan is a loud New York hardcore punk band whose lyrics on their latest, End States range from the deeply personal and emotional, sometimes surreally so, to highly charged political and historical matters. f you love blues, jazz, folk, or roots music in any combination and haven’t discovered Otis Taylor, you have missed out on an excellent body of work.

Two artists rarely seen as part of the same music scene released new compact disc albums early this year. Their highly personal and deeply political music bonds them in my mind. Both artists were born a little over 50 years ago, Nanci Griffith in Texas and Bruce Springsteen in New Jersey.

System of a Down totally demolishes the facade of credibility built by right-wing dominance, bullying of the media and repetition of “talking points” fabricated by Bush’s handlers.

Smiling and happy on their Cuban adventure, members of US rock band Audioslave promised to play the loudest, best concert of the band´s history Friday, at Havana´s Tribuna Antimperialista Jose Marti.

A wide range of styles and genres represented by a diverse collection of CDs by Lea DeLaria, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, U2, and Greg MacPherson are reviewed.

James McMurtry and his backup band, the Heartless Bastards, with another guitarist and drummer, started their set at a new music venue in Brooklyn, SouthPaw.

Hate groups are taken their message of racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism to teenagers for recruitment into the white supremacist movement.

From punk to hip hop, recent music offers a mixed bag. Here Political Affairs reviewers give their opinions about several new CDs including Eminiem's Encore, new releases from Submission Hold, Travis Morison, REM, and more.

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