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Kevin Morby Gets Back to Basics on 'Sundowner'

On Sundowner, Kevin Morby sings of valleys, broken stars, pale nights, and the midwestern American sun. Most of the time, he's alone with his guitar and a haunting mellotron.
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Music

Creature Comfort's "Woke Up Drunk" Ruminates on Our Second-Guesses (premiere)

A deep reflection on breaking up, Nashville indie rock/Americana outfit Creature Comfort's "Woke Up Drunk" is the most personal track from their new album, Home Team.

Music

Bright Eyes' 'Down in the Weeds' Is a Return to Form and a Statement of Hope

Bright Eyes may not technically be emo, but they are transcendently expressive, beatifically melancholic. Down in the Weeds is just the statement of grounding that we need as a respite from the churning chaos around us.

Music

Brian Cullman Gets Bluesy with "Someday Miss You" (premiere)

Brian Cullman's "Someday Miss You" taps into American roots music, carries it across the Atlantic and back for a sound that is both of the past and present.

Music

The Avett Brothers Go Back-to-Basics with 'The Third Gleam'

For their latest EP, The Third Gleam, the Avett Brothers leave everything behind but their songs and a couple of acoustic guitars, a bass, and a banjo.

Music

The Band of Heathens Find That Life Keeps Getting 'Stranger'

The tracks on the Band of Heathens' Stranger are mostly fun, even when on serious topics, because what other choice is there? We all may have different ideas on how to deal with problems, but we are all in this together.

Music

Blitzen Trapper on the Afterlife, Schizophrenia, Civil Unrest and Our Place in the Cosmos

Influenced by the Tibetan Book of the Dead, Blitzen Trapper's new album Holy Smokes, Future Jokes plumbs the comedic horror of the human condition.

Music

The Cradle's 'Laughing in My Sleep' Is an Off-kilter Reflection of Musical Curiosity

The Cradle's Paco Cathcart has curated a thoughtfully multifarious album. Laughing in My Sleep is an impressive collection of 21 tracks, each unapologetic in their rejection of expectations.

Music

My Morning Jacket's 'The Waterfall II' Can Hypnotize

Whereas My Morning Jacket's The Waterfall contemplated conflict, The Waterfall II identifies healing and personal transformation as the next stage of being.

Music

Ian Wayne's 'Risking Illness' Delivers a Raw, Melodic Gut-punch

Inspired by the death of a loved one, Brooklyn singer-songwriter Ian Wayne's Risking Illness combines somber reflection with beautifully crafted tunes.

Music

Barenaked Ladies Took Chances Like Never Before on 'Maroon' (Track by Track)

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Barenaked Ladies' Maroon, we offer a song by song reflection on why the Canadian group's fifth LP is so triumphant.

Music

Darlingside's Folk-Pop Shimmers and Shines on "Green + Evergreen"

Folk pop's Darlingside share "Green + Evergreen" from the upcoming LP, Fish Pond Fish. As usual, Darlingside sport divinely gorgeous harmonies, so beautiful they really drive the song.

Music

20 Years Ago Barenaked Ladies Found Maturity with 'Maroon'

Released back in September 2000, Maroon saw Barenaked Ladies confronting adulthood and leaving novelty behind.

Music

Brian Cullman Delivers Heartfelt Collaboration With 'Winter Clothes' (album stream + interview)

Journalist Brian Cullman teams with members of Ollabelle for an LP that serves as a testament to his friendship with the late Jimi Zhivago.

Music

Suzzy Roche and Lucy Wainwright Roche Say "I Can Still Hear You" (premiere + interview)

"Lucy's song was written in the dark days of the shutdown. Lucy has a way of inviting people in. I was thrilled when she played it for me," says Suzzy Roche.

Music

The Traditional American Motifs in Bob Dylan's 'Highway 61 Revisited'

Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited is 55 years old this weekend. The middle album of his masterful mid-1960's trilogy saw Dylan saying goodbye to his role as a noble and pure folk spokesman.

Music

Roots Rockers Roanoke Share "Meet Me in the Mountains" As Road Awaits (premiere + interview)

Life during the pandemic just got busier for Roanoke singer-songwriters Taylor Dupuis and Joey Beesley, who are finding more creative ways to get heard while starring in a Goonies-inspired music video with a "mystical '80s rock narrative".

Music

Bruce Springsteen's 'Born to Run' Brought Elegiac Depth and Youthful Romanticism to Heartland Rock

Forty-five years after Born to Run's release, the breakthrough third LP from American music legend Bruce Springsteen has lost none of its passion and promise.

Music

H.C. McEntire Delivers Her Masterpiece with 'Eno Axis'

Born in isolation not so much by outside mandate as by natural inspiration, H.C. McEntire's Eno Axis is a masterwork of deep, spiritual escapism.

Music

Folk Rock's the Brevet Give a Glimmer of Hope With "Blue Coast" (premiere)

Dreamy bits of sunshine find their way through the clouds of dreams dashed and lives on the brink of despair on "Blue Coast" from soulful rockers the Brevet.

Music

The Band's Discontented Third LP, 1970's 'Stage Fright', Represented a World Braving Calamity

Released 50 years ago this month, the Band's Stage Fright remains a marker of cultural unrest not yet remedied.

Music

Arlo McKinley's Confessional Country/Folk Is Superb on 'Die Midwestern'

Country/folk singer-songwriter Arlo McKinley's debut Die Midwestern marries painful honesty with solid melodies and strong arrangements.

Music

Speed the Plough Members Team with Mayssa Jallad for "Rush Hour" (premiere)

Caught in a pandemic, Speed the Plough's Baumgartners turned to a faraway musical friend for a collaboration on "Rush Hour" that speaks to the strife and circumstance of our time.

Music

Jess Cornelius Creates Tautly Constructed Snapshots of Life

Former Teeth & Tongue singer-songwriter Jess Cornelius' Distance is an enrapturing collection of punchy garage-rock, delicate folk, and arty synthpop anthems which examine liminal spaces between us.

Music

Jerry Leger Teams with Moby Grape's Don Stevenson for "Halfway 'Til Gone" (premiere)

Reminiscent of Lee Hazlewood and the Everly Brothers, Jerry Leger's "Halfway 'Til Gone" is available on all streaming platforms on 6 August.

Music

The Beatles' 'Help!' Redefined How Personal Popular Music Could Be 55 Years Ago

Help! is the record on which the Beatles really started to investigate just how much they could get away with. The album was released 55 years ago this week, and it's the kick-off to our new "All Things Reconsidered" series.

Music

Samantha Crain Overcomes Through 'A Small Death'

On A Small Death, Samantha Crain comes through years of struggle, but doesn't just survive. Crain finds a new direction by looking in and doing hard work internally, and then she offers us her path.

Music

The Bacon Brothers Deliver Solemn Statement With "Corona Tune" (premiere + interview)

Written and recorded during the 2020 quarantine, "Corona Tune" exemplifies the Bacon Brothers' ability to speak to the gravity of the present moment.

Music

Counterbalance 23: Bob Dylan - 'Blood on the Tracks'

Bob Dylan makes his third appearance on the Acclaimed Music list with his 1975 album, Blood on the Tracks. Counterbalance’s Eric Klinger and Jason Mendelsohn are planting their stories in the press.

Music

On Bob Dylan's 'Rough and Rowdy Ways' Everything Old Is New Again, Again

Bob Dylan's first album of original material since 2012, Rough and Rowdy Ways, is a suitably grim, brilliant collection of ten songs for our dark times.

Music

Bob Dylan the European

For all his love of American vernacular music in its many forms, Bob Dylan has a deeply European sensibility.

Music

Bob Dylan Says It All on 'Rough and Rowdy Ways'

Bob Dylan returns as prophet, historian, and joker on his latest album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, an unending puzzle with rich content.

Music

Phoebe Bridgers Sublimely Documents the Surreal Present on 'Punisher'

At 25, Phoebe Bridgers is, by all metrics, an artist at the beginning of her career, though Punisher sounds more like the work of a time-tested veteran perfecting a style she's been honing for years.

Music

Fifty Years Ago the Grateful Dead Became the 'Workingman's Dead'

Psychedelic rockers the Grateful Dead changed directions in 1970 and went country with Workingman's Dead, becoming early folk-rock/country-rock pioneers.

Music

Larkin Poe Shove Cock-Rock Out of the Way with 'Self Made Man'

Larkin Poe pack Self Made Man with unadulterated power. The multi-instrumentalist sisters strut their musicality while firmly rooting their sound in Southern rock 'n roll.

Music

Counterbalance 18: Bruce Springsteen - 'Born to Run'

The rock 'n' roll crossfire of Counterbalance returns with a look at Bruce Springsteen’s 1975 epic Born to Run. Strap your hands ’cross their engines!

Music

Teddy Thompson Sings About Love on 'Heartbreaker Please'

Teddy Thompson's Heartbreaker Please raises one's spirits by accepting the end as a new beginning. He's re-joining the world and out looking for love.


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