When a long-established musical titan releases a new album, the results can go a number of ways. The best late-career efforts—Dylan’s Time Out of Mind, Bowie’s Blackstar—can be astounding tectonic shifts, illuminating unexplored corners of their creators’ sound while also…
From the Record Crate: David Gray – “White Ladder” (1998)
A great album doesn’t have to make a grand political statement or adhere to some lofty concept. Sometimes a great album is nothing more than a collection of well-written and beautifully produced songs. Few musicians know this better than David…
‘Deacon’ review: serpentwithfeet unleashes his funniest, queerest, most accomplished work to date
A shroud of mystery coats the ethereal minimalist music of serpentwithfeet. As that stage name suggests, the Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter (born Josiah Wise) frequently fixates upon the cosmic, the ancient, the mystical, the macabre. He’s spent his career finding new ways…
‘Collapsed in Sunbeams’ review: Arlo Parks exudes kindness and warmth on rich, dazzling debut
In case you weren’t aware. we’re living in stressful times, and a lot of people are justifiably upset about it. The planet’s been swept by a pandemic, drastic climate change, and any number of deadly -isms, and even as we…
‘So Far No Further’ review: Sweet Soul struggle to find a voice on debut LP
To promote their debut full-length So Far No Further, Sweet Soul created a playlist that currently resides on the SoCal quintet’s Spotify profile. It’s a self-proclaimed “soundtrack” that chronicles the band’s varied influences (and, presumably, what they were listening to…
‘Oh! Pardon tu dormais…’ review: Jane Birkin’s stunning odyssey through love and loss
In 1988, filmmaker Agnès Varda created a lovely, freewheeling docudrama called Jane B. par Agnès V. in honor of friend and collaborator Jane Birkin’s 40th birthday. There’s a moment in the film where Varda compares Birkin’s desire to be a “famous nobody”…
Album Review: Purple Mountains – “Purple Mountains”
David Berman knew a thing or two about weaving lyrical beauty from the frayed threads of heartbreak. As the founder and driving force behind New York indie-folk outfit Silver Jews, the haggard-looking Berman spent twenty years delivering scrappy, deeply-affecting songs…
