Melody Prochet (photo: Diane Sagnier). For more than a decade, Melody Prochet’s songs have drifted through dream logic — language dissolving into texture, emotion refracted through haze. Unclouded, her fourth album as Melody’s Echo Chamber […]
On Kelly Moran’s ‘Mirrors,’ All Is Not What It Seems
(photo: Brian Karlsson) The latest Warp album from the New York composer/pianist Kelly Moran, Don’t Trust Mirrors, is the culmination of six years of work, and it sounds like a definitive career statement. In retrospect, […]
Jazz Upstarts SML Stay Heady On ‘How You Been’
(photo: Charlie Weinemann). At a March Seattle gig, SML generated three epic improvisations of subtle groove science (the second piece even evoked the funky swagger of Average White Band’s “Schoolboy Crush”) and galvanic hypnosis. It […]
Luke Spiller Brings Us ‘the Christmas Song Nobody Asked for’ (But Needed)
A scene from the music video for Luke Spiller’s new Christmas song, a cover of Slade’s 1973 holiday staple, “Merry Xmas Everybody” (Courtesy of The Syndicate) Luke Spiller has had a year of “achievements.” He […]
30 Years Later, ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad’ Reminds Us That There’s Still Work to Be Done
Bruce Springsteen performing at the Beacon Theater in New York City on December 13, 1995. (Credit: Ebet Roberts/Redferns) Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska has been getting a lot of attention lately, with the Scott Cooper-helmed biopic Springsteen: […]
Let It Be Replaced (Again)
The Replacements in 1988. (Credit: Ebet Roberts/Redferns//Getty Images) I bought my first copy of Let It Be when I was 15 and it unlocked my lifelong love of the Replacements. Soon I was hunting down […]
Avetts, Mike Patton Let Freak Flags Fly On Debut LP
The Avett Brothers and Mike Patton (photo: Crackerfarm). Who knew that the Americana ambassadors the Avett Brothers and the thoroughly modern maniac Mike Patton had the same threads woven into their respective freak flags? Scott […]
John Darnielle Dreams Up Another Excellent Album
The Mountain Goats. (Credit: Jillian Clark) John Darnielle has explored “soft rock” and all of its modalities on recent albums. While his lyrical obsessions (survival, breaking free, and more) have persisted since he began recording […]
Anna von Hausswolff Pushes Herself Towards Popular Songwriting on ‘Iconoclasts’
Anna von Hausswolff. (Credit: Philip Svensson) It seemed inevitable that Anna von Hausswolff would make an album inspired by This Mortal Coil, the 4AD collective that covered songs by Gene Clark, Alex Chilton, and more, […]
Chat Pile and Hayden Pedigo Team Up and Get Dirty
Chat Pile and Hayden Pedigo. (Credit: Bayley Hanes) On the surface, and let’s be honest, underneath the surface too, Chat Pile and Hayden Pedigo make unlikely collaborators. The intersection of DIY noise rock and instrumental […]
The Belair Lip Bombs Are Ready to Explode
The Belair Lip Bombs. (Credit: Bridie Fizgerald Pulling back the curtain for a moment, one of the perks of reviewing albums is that when you fall in love with a new album, you have an […]
Brandi Carlile Returns to Herself
Brandi Carlile. (Credit: Collier Schorr) Enviable collaborations with the likes of Elton John and Joni Mitchell have inspired and elevated Brandi Carlile’s musical profile in the last several years. And at this point, the multi-Grammy […]