Call for Columnists: Brainy, Artful Generalists, Rejoice!

Short Ends and Leader

Home>Music>Blogs>Sound Affects>Alela Diane

Music | On Screen

SXSW 2009: Interview with Alela Diane (video)

Discuss

Text:A A A

9:01 am

Wednesday, Mar 25, 2009

by Robin Cook

PopMatters’ Robin Cook chats with upcoming neo-folk singer Alela Diane at this year’s SXSW. Diane talks about her guitar skills, upbringing and taste in music.

Matthew Fiander called her new album To Be Still “beautiful and subtly splintered and cathartic in an honestly incomplete way. And it is, finally, that rare kind of album: one worth getting close to.”

Tagged as: alela diane | sxsw

Listening Ahead: Upcoming Music Releases for June 2013

By Matthew Fiander and Arnold Pan

31 May 2013

Get the early word on anticipated new albums by Camera Obscura, Smith Westerns, and Eleanor Friedberger, as well as a listing of June's releases.

Caroline Smith & The Good Night Sleeps: Little Wind

By Steve Horowitz

23 Nov 2011

Smith has a quirky voice with a warble that resembles the freak-folk style of Joanna Newsom and Alela Diane. But while there is something Western about those two singers, Smith’s vocals have a Midwestern, plaintive air.

Alela Diane: Alela Diane & Wild Divine

By Steve Horowitz

7 Apr 2011

As Diane tells it, we dwell in a world of lies, where dreams are unlived. And what happens afterwards is unknowable probably because there is nothing afterwards. Or as she sings on "The Wind", "Death is a hard act to follow."

The Best 60 Albums of 2009

By PopMatters Staff

18 Dec 2009

PopMatters presents our 60 best albums of 2009, highlighted by a bevy of American indie rock juggernauts, the return of a hip-hop master, and a couple of the finest voices on the planet.

More Related Articles

The Best Singer-Songwriter Albums of 2009

Alela Diane: 14 August 2009 - Union Hall, Brooklyn

Alela Diane: To Be Still

Alela Diane - "Dry Grass & Shadows"/"White As Diamonds" (MP3/video)

Comments

Now on PopMatters

Features

Engulfed in Dark Waves: Lycia's 'Cold'

Performer Spotlight: The Women of 20 Feet from Stardom: Judith Hill

Columns

Themanastics: Bees and Birds and Bluths, Oh My...: 'Arrested Development' Season 4

Blogs

Notes from the Road: Mates of State: 15 June 2013 - Hamden, CT

Mixed Media: Shigeto Releases Single "Ringleader" (stream)

Short Ends and Leader: 'Monsters University' and Pixar's Transition from Perfectionists to Product

Sound Affects: The Top 5 'Girly Sound' Tracks from Liz Phair

Moving Pixels: Why Superman Fails As a Video Game Character

Music

Jason Isbell: Southeastern

Hanson: Anthem

Dirty Beaches: Drifters / Love Is the Devil

Eri Yamamoto Trio: Firefly

Children of Bodom: Halo of Blood

Thurston Moore and Loren Connors:The Only Way to Go Is Straight Through

Events

Human Rights Watch Film Festival New York 2013: 'Born This Way' + 'Camera/Woman'

Film

Human Rights Watch Film Festival New York 2013: 'Born This Way' + 'Camera/Woman'

It's Like Two Crazy China Dolls Are Brought to Life in 'Violet & Daisy'

DVDs

'Lore' Is a Coming of Age Story That Dives Into the Sinister

Where Charm Overcomes Cruelty in the West: '3:10 to Yuma'

Books

The Quirks, the Accomplishments, and the What Were We Thinking Moments of 'The Totally Sweet '90s'

Wife Swaps and Pawn Shops: 'The Triumph of Reality TV'

Comics

Don't Stay in School: "Wolverine & the X-Men #31"

The 10 Best/Worst Post Apocalyptic Future Scenarios in Film (Short Ends and Leader)
The 10 Progressive Rock Epics You Need to Hear Now (Features)
Why 'Game of Thrones' Matters (Features)
Kanye West: Yeezus (Reviews)
How Does Superman Shave?: A Discussion with Mythbusters Adam and Jamie (Features)
Black Sabbath: 13 (Reviews)
The Top 10 Movies About Movies of All Time (Short Ends and Leader)
Will Netflix Kill TV? (Features)
Boards of Canada: Tomorrow's Harvest (Reviews)
CONTEST: Neil Gaiman's New Book: 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' (Mixed Media)
Diving for Memories in Neil Gaiman's 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' (Reviews)
Beady Eye: BE (Reviews)
Aaron Sorkin’s Millennial Problem in 'The Newsroom' (Columns)
Vampire Weekend - "Diane Young" (video) (Mixed Media)
I Can't Break 'The Walking Dead' (Moving Pixels)
The Way We Watch Television: 'Sherlock' By the Numbers (Columns)
Megadeth: Super Collider (Reviews)
Hangout Fest 2013: Stevie Wonder Thanks You (Reviews)
"Commiserating Is Underrated in Art": An Interview with Jason Isbell (Features)
Deafheaven: Sunbather (Reviews)

Follow @twitterapi

PM Picks

Announcements

Call for Columnists: Brainy, Artful Generalists, Rejoice!

Call for Papers: The PopMatters Breaking Bad Special Feature Section

Call for Papers: Director Spotlight: Orson Welles

Call for Book Reviewers and Bloggers

Call for Papers: Anachronism in Art - Pros and Cons

Call for Papers: Return to the 36 Chambers: Enter The Wu-Tang, 20 Years Later

Call for Feature Essays About Any Aspect of Popular Culture, Present or Past

Call for Electronic Music Critics and Bloggers

Call for UK-Based DVD and Music Critics

Open Call for Submissions for Popular Flashpoints Series

Call for Blah, Blah Bloggers

Call for DVD Critics and TV Bloggers

Pop Past – It's 'Past', But It's Never 'Over'

Ratings

10 - The Best of the Best

9 - Very Nearly Perfect

8 - Excellent

7 - Damn Good

6 - Good

5 - Average

4 - Unexceptional

3 - Weak

2 - Seriously Flawed

1 - Terrible

© 1999-2013 PopMatters.com. All rights reserved.
PopMatters.com™ and PopMatters™ are trademarks
of PopMatters Media, Inc.

PopMatters is wholly independently owned and operated.
PopMatters is a member of Spin Music, a division of SpinMedia, an advertising network.