Blog Posts by Dave DiMartino

It's been a long time since musical icon Robbie Robertson has stepped into the big bad world of the contemporary record business--and to say he's been missed would be a significant understatement.

How To Become Clairvoyant, his new album, saw the respected Band founder debut at the highest chart position of his distinguished solo career--and the reviews, from all quarters, uniformly gushed with enthusiasm. And rightly so.

Filled with an impressive array of musicians from all musical spheres--including Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Trent Reznor, Rom Morello and Robert Randolph among others--the album was something of a thematic break for Robertson: It was, unusually for him, surprisingly autobiographical. Additionally, significant collaboration with Clapton, whom Robertson has long known, added some textures and shape that might surprise some longtime listeners. All told, it a bold, sonically adventurous record that marks a highpoint for a career that remains one of the most truly

If rock 'n' roll theoretically glorifies all that is young,sexy and rebellious, it's an odd week for new releases!

Among this week's highlights: A box set celebrating the 40th anniversary of Queen, the 30th anniversary edition of the firstGo-Go's album, and a 4-CD collection of Iggy Pop recordings dating back to1979!

Throw in a few fascinating new releases by Levon Helm andNRBQ, and it's all too clear: Popular music stopped being made in 1981 or so!

That's why, frankly--speaking strictly as a contemporarymusic fan--I'm so into real estate, the bothersome issue of probate, theexciting new fashion trusses being designed in Belgium, and that great new JustinBieber DVD!

And though I won't be exploring it in depth this week,apparently there's a great new DVD covering the complete biography ofKe$ha--from her early days as Billie Holiday's personal assistant, through hermarriage to Beatle John Lennon, to her memorable gig at Woodstock, her briefapprenticeship in Fleetwood Mac, her temporary

With exciting DVDs by rockers Justin Bieber and AC/DC, long awaited returns by the Cars, Christopher Cross and Nazareth, and stellar new recordings by the like of the Wild Beasts and the Wilderness Of Manitoba, this is shaping up to be one heck of a release week!

And all of them are as great as you think they are!

Still, for the life of me, I've had the hardest time taking the Bieber DVD out of the player and focusing on anything else!

But don't let the fact that I've had bothersome leg cramps for nearly 10 days and can barely get off of my couch cloud the issue!

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (DVD)  Like most of us, I stood outside a theatre marquee for nearly 36 hours so I could be assured a spot to see the premiere of Justin Bieber's fabulous new movie--and I'm here to tell you it was completely worth it! Incredibly, one of the teenage girls sitting in front of me during the screening got violently ill--stomach cramps, apparently--during the first 10 minutes of the flick, and her

A fine singer-songwriter with a powerful and emotive voice, Milwaukee's Heidi Spencer creates music that is confident, resonant and--on occasion--bordering on the spiritual.

Her latest album, Under Streetlight Glow, issued by Bella Union Records and credited to Heidi Spencer & the Rare Birds, may well be the perfect starting place to appreciate the delicacy of precisely what she does.

A colorful figure, with a background in film school and film making, Spencer makes music that draws from many hard-to-pin-down sources: One account on her label's website sites previous comparisons to Dolly Parton, Joanna Newsom and Edie Brickell--and while none of those comparisons are completely off the mark, none really do the uniqueness of her talent justice.

Y! Music caught up with the singer in Austin recently at the annual South By Southwest conference and very much liked what we saw and heard. An interesting and colorful person, Spencer sang a pair of emotional tunes, offered up a candid

With the Royal Wedding now over and done, and search engines worldwide buzzing with questions about the intricacies of the British Royal Family, this may not exactly be the best time to be a new artist named King Charles.

But those who want to know more can find out right here.

And what they'll find, in the case of the young and colorful musician named King Charles--aside from a mountain of hair, a host of clever, character-laden songs, and significant wit--is one of the UK's more interesting new artists.

The King--doubtlessly referred to as His Majesty by friends--made some news in his homeland by winning the 2009 International Songwriting Competition; he similarly made news in the States via a very fortunate berth on the Mumford & Sons tour--a highly visible trek that took place just as that British outfit was beginning their unexpected climb to the upper reaches of the American pop charts.

With an EP now available here in the States entitled Alone On The Throne, King Charles

It's a great sign for the music business--at leastcreatively--when the week's best new releases have been produced by artists bothold and new!

It puts to rest that tired old notion that only older andwiser artists with less-than-minimal attention spans can produce full-lengthalbums of significant merit!

It also proves that younger artists can stop playing thosedarn video games--or put down those wacky twittering iPhones--long enough tocreate artistic and compelling works longer than three-minutes in length!

And perhaps most significantly, in today's puzzlingconsumer-driven economy, it provides an up-to-the-minute test case of thatalways charming query: If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, does itmake a noise?

Experts agree: No,not at all! Why do you ask?

Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop)  Few would have expected Seattle's FleetFoxes, of the aggressively arty Sub Pop label, to be releasing one of theyear's most anticipated albums--but lo and behold, here, bearing a

Great new albums by long-established artists, excellentalbums by emerging artists, and nondescript albums by mildly interestingartists with excellent hairstyles make this an album release week to remember!

As a special courtesy to readers purely interested inhair--and admittedly, that includes most of us--I've decided to spare thoseartists with less than compelling hairstyles any mention about that issue in the reviews that follow!

Still, it's important that each artist mentioned hereconsiders the fact that this week we're judging not only the quality of theirmusic, but the degree to which they're well-groomed!

Emmylou Harris: Hard Bargain (Nonesuch)  Well, not togive the game away, but the extremely well-respected Ms. Harris clearly rulesthe roost when it comes to nice-looking hair! Significantly, the quality of hermusic--and especially this new album--renders such judgments inconsequential,since Hard Bargain is one of thisyear's very finest releases! Expertly sung, devoted to

One of the brightest new stars to make a Stateside appearance at this year's South By Southwest festival goes by the unlikely name of Washington.

Megan Washington, to be precise--a sharp, intelligent singer/songwriter who grew up in Papua, New Guinea, moved to Australia, won a few distinguished music awards, and released a captivating and sophisticated album called I Believe You Liar. Her appearance at this year's SXSW coincides with the release of her American debut EP, How To Tame Lions, which serves as a fine sampler of all that makes her appealing.

Her musical background is as varied as her geographical roots: She studied jazz composition at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, then shifted over to pop, joined a few groups, then put together her own band in 2008. Since then, she won the Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition for her song "How To Tame Lions," scored two 2010 ARIA Music Awards (think the Australian Grammys) in the Best Female Artist and Breakthrough Artist