Bon Iver's 'i,i' Hangs Between Surrealism and Meaning
Justin Vernon's (Bon Iver) lyricism is as cryptic as ever, but the firmness with which he sings his abstractions robs his fourth album of much of its mystery.
20 Aug 2019
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Buster Keaton on a Laptop: Haiku Salut Bring 'The General' Into the 21st Century
British instrumental trio Haiku Salut create a new soundtrack for Buster Keaton's classic 1926 film The General with brilliant and unconventional results.
02 Aug 2019
Folk-pop's Emma Charles Navigates the Complexities of Competing Emotions in "Scorpio" (premiere)
Rising folk-pop artist Emma Charles continues to innovate by interweaving electronic elements into her new single, “Scorpio".
30 Jul 2019
Bibio Goes for a Pastoral Folk Sound on Much of 'Ribbons'
Bibio's Ribbons is a wonderfully immersive album. The subtle melodies need time to bed in before songs gradually come into bloom but when they do the effect is dazzling.
12 Apr 2019
Pretty Ribbons and Lovely Flowers: An Interview with Bibio
For Ribbons, Bibio continues to move away from his defining folktronica sounds and to something increasingly pastoral, revealing to PopMatters what song made him feel palpable heartbreak, why he rarely performs live, and why his new album samples actual cow moos.
Evan Sawdey
Music
08 Apr 2019
Yann Tiersen and the Project of a Lifetime
For an album that is so geographically and linguistically focused, Yann Tiersen's ALL is strangely beautiful when robbed of all its context.
01 Apr 2019
"Hanging Images in Sound": An Interview with David Gray
At the start of his latest tour of Europe, David Gray speaks with PopMatters about his 11th solo album, writing to avoid the obvious, finding the perfect collaborator, and how to avoid "crowing on like a middle-aged man".
28 Mar 2019
David Gray Brings Back the Folktronica on 'Gold in a Brass Age'
The 11th studio album by David Gray finds him returning to the "folktronica" through which he made his name in the late 1990s, with some added twists.
22 Mar 2019
Bibio Creates a Type of Dream Folk with "Curls" (track review)
Bibio broadens out his sound and blends acoustic instruments with electronics to create a gentle form of folktronica on "Curls".
12 Mar 2019
Vesper Wood Brings Emotion, Conviction to "Descend" (premiere)
One half of Kaleida, Christina Wood gives a taste of her mesmerizing first solo album as Vesper Wood.
Jedd Beaudoin
Music
17 Jan 2019
Have Patience: An Interview with Jane Weaver
With a trilogy of striking, multi-genre albums under her belt, a re-release of Jane Weaver's seminal 2014 classic The Silver Globe causes all sorts of reflecting on her own sound, her own legacy, and why she never wants to run a concert from a laptop.
10 Jan 2019
The Beta Band's 'The Three E.P.'s' Is 20 Years Old on a Perfect Reissue
Disregarding a legacy footnoted by a cameo in a film, the Beta Band's collection of The Three E.P.'s is remastered and reissued in celebration of its 20th anniversary and the band's too short career.
21 Nov 2018
Tunng Explore the Strangeness of Humanity on 'Songs You Make at Night'
For all their wonderfully alien sonic elements, Tunng is a band that's human to the core and can interpret the inherent weirdness of life in a way that makes its strangest moments some of its most comforting.
06 Sep 2018
The Flipside #12: David Gray's 'A New Day at Midnight'
Following the massive success of 1999's White Ladder and its mega-hit single "Babylon", David Gray could have taken any number of paths. He chose A New Day at Midnight, and it made all the difference.
25 Apr 2018
Hundred Waters: Communicating
Hundred Waters' third album has many appealing parts, but a core that feels unstable or even nonexistent.
14 Sep 2017
Gordi: Reservoir
Gordi's debut seamlessly blends epic electronic soundscape with intimacy in lyricism and folk sensibilities, even if it pulls a little too often from Justin Vernon’s toolkit.
22 Aug 2017
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