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…
Tag: album reviews
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…
best of: top 25 albums of 2012
I hate making these lists. Everything was good! If it was bad, I didn’t keep it, thus, all the albums in my iTunes from 2012 are excellent! Agggh. But anyway: I contributed to the Speakers In Code list, of course, but this one is mine and ended up getting a hefty end-of-the-list tweak from my SiC list….
two sentence reviews of reasonably new albums i listened to in november
November: through with you. Black Prairie — A Tear In The Eye Is A Wound In The Heart: I don’t know if any of you (actually, this is a lie, I know some of you have) have spent considerable time driving around Southern Minnesota, but it’s the sort of almost-prairie that’s stark and lovely and…
two sentence reviews of new records i listened to in october
I listened to a lot of records in October. Golden Gardens — How Brave The Hunted Wolves: dreamy indie pop from a Seattle duo, this sounds like wind chimes on a lonely porch at twilight. It’s sunrise after a thunderstorm on the beach, the closing credits of a horror movie with a happy ending, goosebumps…
album review: ryan bingham — tomorrowland
Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses — Tomorrowland. Out now, Lost Highway Records. Ryan Bingham, of course, made his name a few years ago when he collaborated on the soundtrack to Crazy Heart with T-Bone Burnett, including Best Original Song “The Weary Kind”. “The Weary Kind” was typical spectacular Bingham: a heartbreaking commentary on how…
brand new kind of photography 