We’ve reach the top ten albums I reviewed in the last five years. It gets more difficult to make these lists as the numbers grow smaller, but here goes.
#10: Yard Act – The Overload (2022)
These post-punkers seemed to come out of nowhere and hit us with multiple sharp singles from their debut. The whole album was witty, biting, and wicked.
#9: King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard – PostDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation (2023)
Part-thrash metal, part-environmental activism record, all great. The title and cover image alone let you know you’re in for a wild time, and King Gizz pull no punches on it.
#8: DITZ – Never Exhale(2025)
A whole post-punk album about tension – a topic that post-punk does very well, as do these Brits. The cover image conveys the sense of the record and, like the music, puts you on edge and keeps you there.
#7: Aaron Frazer – Introducing… (2021)
Stepping out from his main gig with Durand Jones and The Indications, Frazer dropped one of the best soul records of recent memory and probably got a thousand date offers just from the first couple tracks.
#6: Gum / Kenny Ambrose-Smith – Ill Times (2024)
This dynamic Australian duo created a cool, electro / dance-rock record that tackled grief and uncertainty. It made you want another one from them right away. I still do.
Who made the top five? Come back tomorrow. It was a tough call, but I made it.
The final day of the 2026 Austin Psych Fest was the most humid of the three, and easily the most soulful. The festival bumped up all the sets by an hour, presumably to avoid the thunderstorms predicted to roll in around 10pm that night just as the final set was about to end.
As a result, I wasn’t able to get in a disco nap before the festival and trotted my slightly sunburned body to the Far Out Lounge just in time to catch Night Beats play a solid set of psychedelic, fuzzy soul rock. It had been a few years since I’d seen them, and they haven’t lost a step. They still deliver the goods.
Night Beats rocking day beats.
Up next were the funky Dumbo Gets Mad, who had everyone happily dancing in the hot sun without a care. Finding shade is a skill at this festival. You have to claim spots early or rely on the charity of others to squeeze you into a shady space. The occasional breeze elicited happy sighs from the crowds, and it kept hitting at good times during DGM’s set to make dancing all the easier.
No anger here, just fun vibes.
A big crowd had assembled for La Lom, who hit the first note exactly at the start of their set time. The Los Angeles trio played a fun set of instrumental cumbia, rockabilly, and border rock. Everyone was smiling during this set. Couples were dancing and making out. People were cheering their ancestry as La Lom announced the origin of several tracks (“We’re going to play a song from Columbia!”, “This is an old one from Mexico!”).
La Lom shaking hips everywhere.
Trish Toledo was the next artist on the bill, bringing her Latina soul siren vocals to the second stage with her killer backing band. She started with her version of Diana Ross’ “Bad Girls” and proceeded to win and break hearts from there. Everyone was spellbound by the end.
Trish Toledo wrapping everyone around her fingers.
The night, and the festival, ended with the big sounds of Thee Sacred Souls. Much like La Lom and Ms. Toledo’s sets, everyone was buzzing and happy during it. The heat and sun didn’t matter (“It’s like being in a club at 3am,” said lead singer Josh Lane). People all around me were dancing, cheering, smooching, and loving the opportunity to go out with dance grooves to carry them home.
The thunderstorms hit almost an hour later, preventing me from getting to the late night show downtown. That was a bummer, but overall it was a good time and, as always, an excellent blend of genres and bands from all over the map.
And now, my random Festival Awards!
Best set: The Flaming Lips. The sound engineering was top-notch and it was a fun set list. On a personal note, they were one of my late wife’s favorite bands and they played the night before our 29th wedding anniversary, so that was special. I got choked up during “The Golden Path.”
Heaviest set: The Black Angels. Good heavens, the modern versions of the songs from Passover somehow have even more fuzz and weight on them.
Shame on You if You Missed It set: Almost Heaven. They were the second set on the first day and put on a sharp, post-punky / electro-funky set that had a lot of people buzzing by the end of it and wearing their new band shirts over the next two days.
Wildest set: J’cuuzi. Absolutely bonkers and a ton of fun. Crazy costumes, exotic dancers, glam-punk riffs, a spinning chair substituting for a stripper’s pole, and more stuff I’ve forgotten were all crammed into it. They opened the festival and set a high bar for everyone to follow.
Loveliest set: Trish Toledo. This was like a cool breeze refreshing you after a long day. The soul ballads and psychedelic funk sounds were a great addition to the festival. This was another set you’ll kick yourself for missing if you weren’t there.
Sweatiest set: Night Beats. Lead singer and guitarist DannyLee Blackwell’s shirt was soaked enough for him to win a wet t-shirt contest by the end of this. The fuzzy, guitar-roar sounds were sweaty, too. Everyone in the crowd was sweating, at least a bit dehydrated, and yet ready for more by the end.
Happiest set: La Lom. Everyone was dancing and smiling the whole time, including the band. The back-and-forth cheering between La Lom and the crowd reflected how everyone was participating in a big party and not caring about the humidity.
Most Happy to Be There set: New Candys. I didn’t get to see every band at the festival, but of all the ones I did see, the Venetian trio seemed to be the happiest to be there and hanging out with the rowdy crowd and a bit surprised at how many people came to see them.
Trippiest set: Holy Wave. These guys do psych-rock very well and are local favorites. I usually see them in dark venues or at night, but the afternoon sun only seemed to make them sound brighter and dreamier.
Most Shredding in a Set: Ty Segall. There were a few times in his raucous set that he just unloaded a crate full of mega-riffs. How a mosh pit didn’t break out during this is beyond me. It must have been the heat.
Keep your mind open.
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[Thanks to Cheyenne Doerr for the press credentials and support.]
Here’s a cool idea: Get a bunch of electronic music producers and DJs in the same room with some cool guest vocalists and tell them to put their spins on the music of Sun Ra. What do you get? This cool compilation called When There Is No Sun.
Starting with Underground Resistance‘s funky, bumpy take on “When Angels Speak,” the addition of vocals by poet / musician / filmmaker Saul Williams drops you into the groove right away. “When angels speak, they speak of cosmic waves of sound,” Williams says, and you know he’s right. SHE Spells Doom joins up with the Sun Ra Arkestra for a remix of “Somebody Else’s Idea.” The muted, looped horn section provides an interesting groove that seems to cast a long look around the room and invite people into another party at the back.
House music heavyweight Chez Damier teams up with Ben Vedren and poet Anthony Joseph on the “H2H Kora mix” of “The Three Dimensions of Air.” The looping hand percussion beats, bouncing synth notes, and distant trumpet sounds create a hypnotic effect when they combine with Joseph’s vocals. Calibre creates a drum and bass (his specialty) remix of “Chopin.”
Ricardo Villalobos “Earlier Than Late” remix (version 2) of “I Have Forgotten” is a mesmerizing track with odd sounds that resemble something you’d hear in a haunted house movie score if the house had a rave happening in the cemetery next door. Tunde Adebimpe joins Damier and Vedren on the H2H remix of “The Endless Realm.” It’s instantly danceable, as well as enlightening. It’s a house music Zen lesson on the joy of non-attachment.
Underground Resistance and Williams return for their soulful take on “The Outer Darkness.” The first version of Villalobo’s “Earlier Than Late” remix of “I Have Forgotten” bubbles and pops like some kind of sentient ooze. Baris K and poet Abiodun Oyewole‘s riff on “Somebody Else’s Idea” is a house / trip hop / psych-dance track that has a sweet beat throughout the whole thing.
A Guy Called Gerald and poet Mahogany L. Browne‘s version of “Message to Black Youth” is simple and profound, as is Calibre’s ambient remix of “Chopin.” The album ends with the return of SHE Spells Doom’s remix of “Portrait of the Living Sky. It’s a cool house track, with emphasis on the “cool” part. It gives off this feeling of partying outside the dance club with all the cooler people who got rejected at the door.
This is a slick compilation that you can play at your house party, your chill room, or in your car late nights. You’ll want to hear it everywhere.
Keep your mind open.
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JWords —the project of Brooklyn-based producer Jennifer Hernandez—announces her new album, Sound Therapy, out May 8th and presents the lead single, “LUSH.” JWords is known for her production “nodding to both hip-hop’s brawny metronome and more uptempo electronic and dance influences” (Bandcamp). Her career is defined by collaborations, from her work with rapper maassai as the acclaimed duo H31R to her production on Nappy Nina’s 2021 record Double Down. Meanwhile, JWords has built a stylistically broad body of solo work, starting in 2020 with mixtape Sin Señal followed by a string of EPs that climaxed with Sonic Liberation. In the interim, she’s made major strides as a DJ, scoring a monthly residency at The Lot Radio and regularly hosting NTS shows.
Sound Therapy, the follow-up to her 2022 debut solo LP Self-Connection, deals with the troubles and triumphs JWords experienced over the last few years. It gets heavy at times, but the music she’s making now reflects her present circumstances. Instead of building a rollercoaster record based on the traumas of yesteryear, she opted for a confidently Zen approach: “It’s a new era,” she says. “A calmer, chiller, ‘Yeah, I got my shit together’ kind of era.”
Despite the fact that she began as an MC, Sound Therapy marks the first time JWords has been a lead vocalist on her own productions. On today’s single “Lush,” she repeats the phrases “I see me in you” and “I see you in me” over pillowy synths and a crinkly techno backbeat until her words become a mantra.
Growing up Dominican-American in Union City, New Jersey, JWords was a sonic omnivore, devouring the hip-hop and R&B she heard on BET’s Rap City, the Jersey Club that took over the neighborhood, and the Latin music she heard at home. JWords’ music career has been ascendant since she first laid hands on a synth, but her personal life has been less steady, and she fell into a particularly deep rut in her late 20s. Sound Therapy looks back on those years with a sense of tranquility that’s absent in her earlier work. Her subject matter is still serious, but she addresses her trauma without fear or malice, acknowledging that it’s there without giving it the power to define her.
While Sound Therapy marks the first time JWords has been a lead vocalist, it’s her production that shines brightest. Opener “Lotus” contains the type of sparkling synthplay one might expect to find stowed away on a lost Dilla hard drive. “FELT” pummels you with a techno drum line but slowly morphs into a much chiller arrangement of synths. And “LoveCrime” presents an entrancing, oddly shaped structure that JWords somehow finds a way to rap over.
In the end, JWords is grateful for all of the experiences that have brought her to the present moment. She’s seen rock bottom now and never wants to return, but she learned some of life’s most essential lessons there. These days, she’s enjoying her hard-won serenity. She’s got a job teaching kids how to DJ and make electronic music. She’s learned to solder and has plans to create her own style of synth. She’s making her best music, transcending nominal genre boundaries in pursuit of brilliance. She’s calmer. She’s chiller. She’s got her shit together.
This reissue of the 1971 concert film Soul to Soul soundtrack (not to mention the Blu-Ray) is a treasure. It’s packed with jams, grooves, and funk.
“Hi, everybody!” says Tina Turner to start off the concert. After the reply, she says, “We’re gonna go to work now,” and, boy, does she, Ike Turner, and their band ever do it. The title track is a flat-out rocker with Ike Turner’s guitar chugging out a steady riff while Tina sings, “This is where it all came from, the rhythm that will turn you on.” to the Ghanaian crowd who were going bonkers from the first note. “River Deep – Mountain High” has Tina belting out fierce proclamations of love while the band almost struggles to keep up. They then drop a blues classic, “I Smell Trouble,” and Tina’s voice becomes a whole different instrument that probably had everyone in the audience spellbound.
Already off to a blazing start, The Voices of East Harlem come on next with “Run, Shaker Life” and keep the fire burning. Their version of the gospel classics “Choose Your Seat and Set Down” and “Walk All Over Heaven” are lively and exciting. Les McCann and Eddie Harris‘ cover of “The Price You Gotta Pay to Be Free” is so damn groovy that it’s difficult to describe. That Hammond B3 organ, the slick bass, the jazz drums, and the psychedelic guitar all combine to give you quite a thrill.
The Staple Singers next take the stage with one of their classics – “When Will We Be Paid?” “Are You Sure?” is another gospel classic that they deliver with power and love before going into the revival-ready “He’s Alright.”
Santana then comes on with a different sound altogether, but no less energy. “Jungle Strut” has the whole place jumping and Carlos Santana shredding. This live version of “Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen” blends Latin and African rhythms into a wild psych-rock jam. Santana’s guitar sounds great. The mix of this is well-done.
Wilson Pickett comes out to wrap it up with three of his classics: “In the Midnight Hour,” “Funky Broadway,” and “Land of 1,000 Dances.” His horn section earns their pay right away on the first track, sounding funky and triumphant. Pickett gets the crowd singing with him on the second, and by the third he’s practically leading a gospel revival and has the place almost in a riot.
Again, this is a treasure of good stuff. The full concert event was over fourteen hours long. I don’t know if we’ll ever see or hear all of it, but it must have been a great experience judging from this record.
Los Angeles-based musician Lee Lewis presents his new single, “White Flag.” Today’s single marks the first taste of new music from Lewis since his striking reimagining of Nelly Furtado’s “Maneater,” praised by FLOOD as a “stirring, soulful examination of queer Black identity.” “White Flag” is atmospheric, guided by a smooth bassline, and inspired by Bond films. The track is Lewis’ most personal song to date, expressing the built-up resentment when his relationship was reaching its breaking point and finds him declaring “enough is enough.”
“In many ways, ‘White Flag’ serves as the preamble to the slow death of something chaotic and toxic, a moment where self-worth finally begins to outweigh the emotional cat chase,” Lewis reflects. “It marks the point where I start to recognize that love should not cost me myself. In the song the chorus sings ‘I’m waving my white flag.’ It’s me saying, ‘I surrender, you win, I lose, I have to let this go.’ Sonically, it’s my take on Bond music: luxurious, sultry, and powerful. The song sits in the richest part of my voice, allowing it to feel warm, buttery, and intimate. ‘White Flag’ is about surrender, not as defeat, but as self-preservation. It’s the sound of laying down my armor after a battle that took far too much from me.”
Lee Lewis, raised in the historically Black neighborhood of Ladera Heights, discovered his musical talent early. He trained at the Colburn School of Performing Arts and later at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, studying classical voice.
Transitioning to pop music, Lewis overcame the challenge of adapting from classical precision to expressive, varied textures. His emotional delivery, marked by smooth riffs and runs, have captivated listeners and led to sold out shows in Brooklyn and Los Angeles.
As a rising star during a time when Black artists are reclaiming genres they pioneered, Lewis believes Black musicians should freely occupy both mainstream pop and R&B spaces. “I just want to exist in both worlds. Black artists should be accepted in both.”
Soul to Soul, a vibrant and historically significant 1971 concert film — featuring performances by Ike & Tina Turner, Santana, Wilson Pickett, the Staple Singers, Les McCann & Eddie Harris, and the Voices of East Harlem — will be available again on the concert’s 55th anniversary of March 6. Released by Liberation Hall in partnership with Reelin’ In The Years Productions, Soul to Soul will appear for the first time on Blu-ray. Additionally, Soul to Soul: Music from the Original Soundtrack will arrive at retail on vinyl LP, CD & digital on the same date. The film will also be released on DVD.
Pre-order all formats at Bandcamp. Pre-order Blu-ray & DVD at Amazon. Pre-order LP, CD & digital at Amazon.
In February 1971, several dozen African American soul, jazz, and gospel artists embarked on a journey that would change the lives of everyone involved. They traveled from New York City to Ghana, West Africa to take part in a 13-hour concert entitled Soul to Soul. The concert was a celebration of 14 years of Ghana’s independence from British rule. For most of these artists, it would be their first trip to Africa. For the African American musicians, this was a journey about personal roots, the ancestral homeland, history, discovery, loss, pain and joy.
Directed by Academy AwardⓇ winner Denis Sanders and produced by Tom Mosk and Richard Bock, the resulting concert film/documentary had a limited theatrical run in late 1971. In 2004, Reelin’ In The Years Productions President David Peck secured permission for a DVD release from the producer and copyright holder of Soul to Soul. With the help of a clearance specialist, he was able re-clear all the artists seen in the 1971 film.
Now, 20 years later, Soul to Soul will have another chance to connect with audiences via a partnership between Reelin’ In The Years Productions and Liberation Hall. Steve Scoville of Blue H2O Productions restored the original edit by reconstructing each scene using the high quality 2K transfers from the original film elements, which were shot in the 4:3 aspect ratio. The film’s soundtrack has been digitally remastered by Randy Perry.
Above all, Soul to Soul is an electrifying concert film that features its players at the peak of their powers. Over 100,000 Ghanaians attended the celebration of the meeting of the cultures of the two continents. The Ike & Tina Turner Revue, featuring frontwoman Tina furiously shimmying alongside the Ikettes, delivers fiery renditions of “River Deep-Mountain High,” the project’s first digital single; “Soul to Soul,” a cut specifically written for this concert; and a cover of Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” [The latter track appears as a special Blu-ray outtake]. Wilson Pickett, the most popular American artist known to West Africans at the time, took the stage at 4:30 AM to deliver a rousing finale of “In the Midnight Hour,” “Funky Broadway,” and “Land of a 1000 Dances.” Gospel, soul, and R&B family group the Staple Singers were on hand to perform “When Will Be We Paid” and “Are You Sure” just five months before they recorded their legendary hits “I’ll Take You There” and “Respect Yourself.” Pianist Les McCann and tenor saxophonist Eddie Harris introduced many members of the audience to jazz via spirited performances of “The Price You Gotta Pay to Be Free” and “Hey Jorler,” the latter featuring local Ghanaian artist Amoah Azangeo. The Voices of East Harlem, an ensemble featuring young gospel singers, contributed “Run, Shaker Life.”
Santana, with guest percussionist Willie Bobo, was the wild card. The San Francisco group only had one African American member but, paradoxically, given its reliance on Afro-Cuban and other Latin American rhythm constructs, played the most African-sounding music (“Black Magic Woman”/”Gypsy Queen,” “Jungle Strut”) of any of the American guests. In Rob Bowman’s expanded liner notes for the Blu-ray, he quotes musicologist John Collins as stating, “They had a big impact on the local guitarists. The students were really fascinated by what Santana was doing with Latin music and rock… The obvious equation was, if you can unite Latin music with rock, you can do the same with African music. That’s actually what happened.”
Interspersed between these stunning performances, the camera crew followed the American musicians as they visited local villages, met kings, and shared food and dance with the Ghanaian community.
In his August 19, 1971, film review for The New York Times, critic Howard Thompson wrote: “Soul to Soul will hook you. We defy anybody to watch the final half hour of this color documentary of a soul and gospel music concert, performed in Ghana, without tapping a foot. But it is the sea of rapturous black faces, those of the visiting American artists and their Ghana audiences, that makes this movie a haunting experience… Mainly and compactly, the film sticks to the concert, brilliantly evoking the performances and crowd reactions in a flow of closeups and panoramic shots, to the stabbing, pounding pulse of the music.”
CD & DIGITAL TRACKLIST (LIB-2192)
Ike & Tina Turner – 1) “Soul to Soul,” 2) “River Deep-Mountain High,” 3) “I Smell Trouble” | TheVoices of East Harlem – 4) “Run, Shaker Life,” 5) “Choose Your Seat and Set Down”/”Walk All Over God’s Heaven” | Les McCann & Eddie Harris – 6) ”The Price You Gotta Pay to Be Free” | The Staple Singers – 7) “When Will We Be Paid,” 8) “Are You Sure” | 9. “He’s Alright” | Santana – 10) “Jungle Strut,” 11) “Black Magic Woman”/“Gypsy Queen” | Wilson Pickett – 12) “In the Midnight Hour,” 13) “Funky Broadway,” 14) “Land of 1000 Dances”
LP TRACKLIST (LIB-2191):
Due to space limitations, the LP features 10 tracks.
SIDE A: Ike & Tina Turner – 1) “Soul to Soul,” 2) “River Deep-Mountain High” | The Voices of East Harlem – 3) “Run Shaker Life” | The Staple Singers – 4) “When Will We Be Paid,” 5) “Are You Sure,” 6) “He’s Alright”
SIDE B: Santana – 1) “Black Magic Woman”/”Gypsy Woman” | Wilson Pickett – 2) “In the Midnight Hour,” 3) “Funky Broadway,” 4) “Land of 1000 Dances.”
This is always a tough decision, although my number one album of each year tends to arrive early and not leave. This trend continued in 2025.
#5: Sextile – yes, please.
Thrilling electro, sexy bass, erotic lyrics, club bangers, provocative cover, you name it, this album has all of it. It shot up into my top ten of the year as soon as I heard it and was one of the hottest records of 2025.
#4: Lonnie Holley – Tonky
Beautiful, soulful, and powerful, Tonky has soul legend Lonnie Holley encouraging us to all come together in turbulent times, “protest with love,” and embrace our neighbors. This is an album that rings true in any year, but we needed it in 2025.
#3: No Joy – Bugland
I hadn’t heard anything from No Joy in a while, so it was great to hear from them again and with such a good record. It mixes shoegaze with psych and pays tribute to the healing properties of nature and presence. I didn’t realize how much I missed No Joy until hearing this.
#2: DITZ – Never Exhale
These fiery post-punk Brits seemed to come out of nowhere (to this Yank, at least) and unleashed one of the loudest, wildest records of the year. The album is about anxiety and panic, but it never goes completely off the rails. It keeps you on the edge of your seat or helps you burn off aggression, depending on which track you blast.
As soon as I saw that album cover, I knew Death Hilarious was going to be a monster of a record. My gut was right. This is another heavy stunner from Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs in a line of material that has yet to miss. The topics of loss (friends, creative energy, relationships) and satire are biting and empowering. You’ll growl, stomp, and roar along with this record. You’ll laugh at the absurdity of our times with it, and then dive into the mosh pit with glee.
There’s already a lot of good stuff lined up for 2026. Let me know what you’re looking forward to the most!
It’s time for my annual review of my favorite albums of the previous year. Who made the top 25 (or 40+) albums I reviewed? Read on!
#25: GoGo Penguin – Necessary Fictions
This is a solid jazz / prog album full of great beats and slick piano work. It was a pleasant surprise to discover it and this band last year.
#24: Beta Voids – Scrape It Off EP
This is a wonderfully nuts punk EP with songs about women kicking ass, people named Alan, and how much toxic masculinity sucks. A full LP from Beta Voids is in the works, so watch out before they run you over and laugh on the way out of town.
#23: Ric Wilson – America Runs on Disco EP
Speaking of good EPs that came out last year, here’s another. Ric Wilson is still somehow a secret force despite being a top-notch producer, songwriter, rapper, and cheerleader for the overly maligned city Chicago (Don’t believe what you hear. Go spend a couple days there, especially in the summer.). This EP is funky and joyful, which was exactly what we needed when it was released and still need right now.
#22: Bonnie Trash – Mourning You
On the opposite side of the spectrum, here’s an album about grief that’s one of the heaviest records of the year. The lyrics cut deep if you’ve lost a loved one, or even witnessed someone’s grief from afar.
#21: Dusty Rose Gang – A-One from Day One
Just when you thought rock might be taking a vacation for a little while, along comes this quartet to deliver one of the best straight-up rock records of 2025.
