New Reviews for December 8, 2023

Before and After
Reprise
An intimate in-studio acoustic live set that finds Neil Young looking back on his beginnings and middle age.
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Rebel DiamondsEditor's choice
EMI Records / Island
Triumphant best-of set that showcases 20 years of hits from the Las Vegas showmen.
- Neil Z. Yeung
RAT WARSEditor's choice
Loma Vista
The trio traces the vicious circle of trauma and abuse with a furious and wounded blend of industrial, metal, and pop.
- Heather Phares
Sardines
Mello Music Group
Rap
The West Coast rapper and Detroit producer follow their 2017 collaboration with another set of smooth beats and hard rhymes.
- Paul Simpson
AccompanyEditor's choice
Karma Chief
Recorded live in the studio with a band, the Cotton Jones leader embraces an especially dreamy, seductive impressionism on his fifth solo outing.
- Marcy Donelson
Phonox Nights
Facility 4
Steady, mostly midtempo electro-techno and dub-disco explorations from Nina Walsh and the late Andrew Weatherall.
- Paul Simpson
Fabric Presents Sama’ Abdulhadi
Fabric
A propulsive, journey-like mix from the acclaimed Palestinian techno DJ.
- Paul Simpson
Sound PiecesEditor's choice
Moosicus Records
A triple-disc comp assembles the group's 1973 studio albums with a wide-open Radio Bremen broadcast from 1972.
- Thom Jurek
Dueling Banjos
AllMusic Staff Pick - December 8, 2023
January, 1973
Despite the long-term damage this film and the soundtrack's title theme did to bluegrass, the soundtrack stands as one of the best introductions to instrumental bluegrass available. The blistering virtuosity of multi-instrumentalists Eric Weissberg and Marshall Brickman ripple through such traditional numbers as "Shuckin' the Corn," "Little Maggie," and "Mountain Dew" with such fervor and passion, it's hard to believe that all this music is coming from two city slickers.
- Zac Johnson
Favorite Rock Albums
Year In Review