Rainbow Ends is a note-perfect coda to Rhodes' career.

[xrr rating=3.5/5]There are few live documents of Big Star in any incarnation, which for some people only adds to the band’s allure. The Rykodisc release Big Star Live is the only official live recording of the band’s original lineup. Live In Memphisis the second live album documenting the revived Posies-heavy lineup that toured from the early ’90s until Alex Chilton’s …

[xrr rating=4.0/5]I first heard Game Theory via a clock radio in the farmhouse attic where I lived in 1983. Despite the lack of fidelity, from the first listen, I recognized talent. Its chirpy, insistent, jangle-pop stuck. Scott Miller’s earnest, slightly strained vocals, his strong melodic gift, his knack for smart lyrics, witty delivery and self-deprecation won me over. Miller recruited …

[xrr rating=3.0/5]“I told you about the dream/ I felt the blade of panic/ I thought I was schizo/ I thought I was romantic!” An angst-ridden singer blurts this over a brooding minimal guitar riff, getting more and more agitated before a chorus brings succor and release in the form of a catchy hook. This is the pleasure and pain of …

[xrr rating=4.5/5]Few people on the alt-rock scene who got turned on to the Posies in 1993 after the one-two punch of Dear 23 and Frosting On The Beater ever got a chance to hear where it all started. Aside from a handful of fans and some astute ears at Geffen Records, hardly anyone heard Failure upon its debut in 1988, …

[xrr rating=4.0/5]A confession: I know little to nothing of Bob Mould, Hüsker Dü or Sugar. Workbook 25, the re-release of the musician’s debut solo album is the first of his prolific, storied career that I’ve given extensive attention to, but in retrospect, there is probably no better entry point for a new fan. Listening to Workbook 25 is not revelatory, …

[xrr rating=3.0/5]If somebody told you about an album out of ’70s Memphis helmed by producer Jim Dickinson and with a cover by photographer William Eggleston, you might think they were talking about Big Star’s classic Third. But that celebrated album was not the only music brewing along the fertile banks of the Mississippi River. Sid Selvidge’s 1976 album The Cold …

[xrr rating=4.0/5]Examining the status of Townes Van Zandt in the year 2013 is a lot like looking at how people feel today about the television show “Arrested Development.” Very few really gave a crap when they should have during the active years, but now just about everyone seems to be a fan (and claims they were way back when). Omnivore …