I didn’t listen to much new in March; my vacation threw me off my podcast schedule, and I felt like I spent a month just getting that up to speed. But I did listen to a few in March, and way more new music in April. BANG. The Speechless Radio — Care EP: horn-laden, vaguely twee…
Category: opinions about albums
album review: frank turner – tape deck heart
Out now. Frank Turner, man. Frank Turner, like Josh Ritter, wrote a break-up album. It can’t not be a breakup album, when it starts off with the upbeat and playful “Recovery”, a song whose sound is disingenuous, or maybe I mean totally true, to its content. It’s about, well, about recovering — from a broken…
album review: hollis brown – ride on the train
oh the south and the sun never felt so good Sometimes it takes me a while to warm up to albums; and sometimes, I fall in love with them literally from the first notes of the first song. The title track from Hollis Brown’s debut LP, “Ride On The Train”, gives exactly the feeling of…
album review: way to blue – the songs of nick drake
I think that everyone who knows Nick Drake’s music has their own relationship to it; the first time they heard it, the people they think of when they hear one of Drake’s delicate, haunting songs on an ad, in a bar, on a television show. For me, an ex-boyfriend introduced me to Pink Moon, and…
album review: josh ritter – the beast in its tracks
Josh Ritter — The Beast In Its Tracks. Out tomorrow, but streaming on NPR today. I am in awe of Josh Ritter; I have been for many years, because he’s the most literate songwriter working today, and he’s funny and awkward and genius, and he’s probably sincerely a complete charming weirdo, and he smiles on stage like…
two sentence reviews of albums i listened to in february
Two from my buddies at This Is American Music this month, with one (Great Peacock) not quite out yet; I didn’t listen to nearly as much as I wanted to this month, and wrote about even less of what I did hear. I promise March will be improved! I have a lot to catch up…
album review: roger knox – stranger in my land
Roger Knox & the Pine Valley Cosmonauts – Stranger In My Land. Out 2/12, Bloodshot Records. One of the reasons I love Bloodshot Records — besides the fact that they release consistently great records, and also that they love me back, which is all I ask for from a record label — is that they are…
two sentence reviews of albums i listened to in january
A Mad Affair — Retro Honey Pop: the title of this record, from a new-ish Triangle trio, is a pretty good descriptor; it’s noir-y, sultry, rootsy pop, all dominated by Valerie Wood’s gorgeous, enormous voice. Torch songs for the new generation, really, and I’m deeply impressed by this release, which hooks into the current Americana…
album review: goodnight texas – a long life of living
Goodnight, Texas: A Long Life Of Living. Out now, self-released. Goodnight, Texas is a real town. It’s the halfway point between San Francisco, where Avi Vinocur lives, and Chapel Hill, where Patrick Dyer Wolf plays solo and often with the Tender Fruit. A Long Life Of Living sounds like Goodnight, Texas should sound, a bit…
album review: wooden wand – blood oaths of the new blues
Wooden Wand — Blood Oaths Of The New Blues. Out 1/8, Fire Records. One of the only problems I have with Hopscotch is that sometimes, I just get so damned overwhelmed by all my choices that I’m unable to make one at all. This happened last year, on Friday night; I was slumped in a…
brand new kind of photography 