Folk
Janis Ian on Her Complicated Friendship with Nina Simone and Resisting a Male-Dominated Industry
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | RSS Janis Ian sits down to talk with Kyle Meredith about The Light at the End of the Line, which has been announced to be her final studio album. Related Video The legendary folk songwriter tells us why she is choosing to close this chapter of her career, the public perception of artists after the spotlight has moved on, and leaving easter eggs within the new set that speak to some of her past classics. Ian goes on to discuss writing a song about Nina Simone and their complicated friendship, as well as writing “Resist” as an answer to a male-dominated industry and society. Advertisement Listen to Janis Ian discuss her final studio...
Aldous Harding Announces New Album Warm Chris, Shares “Lawn”: Stream
Aldous Harding has a new album on the way. The New Zealand musician’s fourth studio album, Warm Chris, is out March 25th on 4AD, and lead single “Lawn” is available to stream now. Warm Chris follows Harding’s 2019 album Designer, and, like its predecessor, was produced by English musician John Parish. Harding discussed the making of the record in a statement. “It was recorded in my favorite place on earth — Rockfield Studios with John Parish, H. Hawkline, Steve Rockford, and engineer Joe Jones,” she said. “Listening back, it sounds to me like there’s something completely new happening with my voice. The vocals are tiny. I won’t try to speak about sound too much, because it’s here, and I don’t want to ruin or create a surprise. It reminds me personally/musically of ...
Sufjan Stevens Shares His Favorite and Least Favorite “Albums” of 2021
Long after most music publications shared their Best of 2021 lists (cough cough), Sufjan Stevens has arrived fashionably late to the opinion-dumping party. The musician caused a bit of a stir today by sharing not only his favorite, but also his least favorite albums of the year on his Tumblr blog; Sure, most of his favorite albums didn’t come out in 2021, and most of his least favorite albums aren’t even albums at all, but who’s going to stop him? He’s Sufjan Stevens! Some of the notable highlights from Stevens’ favorites list include Alain Goraguer’s soundtrack to La Planète Sauvage, a.k.a. Fantastic Planet, the wildly trippy 1973 animated sci-fi film. He also took a liking to new age icon Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s 1986 masterpiece, Keyboard Fantasies. As far as more re...
Bob Dylan Gives Our Half-Assed Year a Half-Assed Christmas Light Show
As the neighbor of Bob Dylan, author and journalist Merrill Markoe has become a celebrity reporter of sorts. For over a decade, she’s documented and analyzed the folk singer’s Christmas lights outside his Malibu home, and this year’s interpretation — Markoe’s last ever — has finally arrived. From half-assed string lights to basic plaster nativity scenes, Dylan’s decorations have prompted Markoe to ask one simple question: “What does it mean?” But the task has proven gruesome as the years have gone by. “Because people keep bugging me, here are you-know-who’s Xmas lights. For THE VERY LAST TIME,” Markoe wrote on Twitter. “But I can no longer take the strain of trying to translate such an obscure method of communication. See thread for my LAST interpretation EVER.” This year, Dylan resorted t...
Fleet Foxes Share New Live Album A Very Lonely Solstice: Stream
The official troubadours of winter, Fleet Foxes, have shared a new live album today. Appropriately titled A Very Lonely Solstice, Robin Pecknold and company recorded the 13-track project in December 2020 at the St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn, New York. Originally broadcast as a livestream, the songs on A Very Lonely Solstice spans Fleet Foxes’ entire career across all four of their studio albums, from their early highlights like 2008’s “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” to modern favorites like “Can I Believe You.” The album also includes Pecknold’s renditions of Nina Simone’s “In the Morning” and a rearrangement of the traditional American folk ballad “Silver Dagger.” Now with its proper release, Pecknold says A Very Lonely Solstice “[honors] the loneliness of...
Bon Iver Share New Song “Second Nature” with Nicholas Britell: Stream
Bon Iver and composer Nicholas Britell have teamed up for a new song, “Second Nature.” Listen to it below. “Second Nature” appears in the Adam McKay film Don’t Look Up, in theaters December 10th. The film sees Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence play astronomers who discover a comet is headed directly toward Earth, and must convince the president (Meryl Streep) to do something about it. Bon Iver and Britell’s collaboration seems like a match made in heaven for those who love a good, emotional score. Justin Vernon and company’s brand of folk has inspired the likes of superstars like Taylor Swift, and Britell’s scores for Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk both won Academy Awards. Advertisement Related Video Bon Iver recently announced a Spring 2022 tour in supp...
Top 50 Albums of 2021
Our 2021 Annual Report continues with our Top 50 Albums list. As the year winds down, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2021. You can find it all in one place here. We’re all friends here, so let’s be honest: Most playlists are boring. Corporation-curated playlists are boring, influencer playlists are boring, and the playlist you made for your high school crush became boring the moment you liked someone new. We use them at times — road tripping, studying, or working out — for a pleasant background vibe. But when it comes to prolonged active listening, only an album can demand your full attention. Advertisement That was especially true in 2021. Many workers returned to the office, even as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to teach us new let...
Aimee Mann on Sad Songs, Mental Health, and Queens of The Summer Hotel
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | RSS Aimee Mann catches up with Kyle Meredith to talk about Queens of The Summer Hotel, an album that was written as the musical accompaniment for a planned stage adaptation of the book Girl, Interrupted. Advertisement Related Video The singer-songwriter discusses the heavy subject matter, her own experiences with depression and mental health, dissociation, spending time in a treatment center, and how it all relates to the characters and lyrics within the songs. Mann also tells us about the freeing nature of writing stage music and directing the music towards the Burt Bacharach period of the late-’60s. Elsewhere, she also talks abo...
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Perform “Trouble With My Lover” and “Can’t Let Go” on Colbert: Watch
On Friday (November 19th), Robert Plant and Alison Krauss released Raise the Roof, their long-awaited new collaborative album composed largely of covers made famous by blues, country, folk, and soul pioneers. To celebrate the occasion, the Led Zeppelin frontman and the bluegrass singer stopped by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, playing “Trouble With My Lover” and “Can’t Let Go.” With their band set up remotely in a studio filled with rustic decor, Plant and Krauss’ performance only further testifies to their incredible musical chemistry. On “Trouble With My Lover” — a moody number originally sung by New Orleans blues icon Betty Harris in 1969 — Krauss takes the lead, showing off her powerhouse vocals. “Can’t Let Go,” which was written by Randy Weeks and later covered by Lucin...
Basia Bulat Announces New Album The Garden, Shares Title Track: Stream
Basia Bulat has announced The Garden, a new album that features string quartet reimaginings of 16 songs from her discography. The record is set to hit streaming services February 25th via Street City Records, with physical copies releasing March 25th. To preview the album, Bulat has shared its title track, which you can stream below. While Bulat has been known to play with string instruments (including her go-to autoharp), The Garden beefs up the Canadian folk singer’s past songs with complete arrangements by composers Owen Pallett, Paul Frith, and Zou Zou Robidoux. She co-produced the record with Mark Lawson, known for his work with Arcade Fire and Beirut. In a statement, Bulat said The Garden allowed her to revisit songs whose meanings have changed since she first wro...
Greta Van Fleet, The Swell Season, Dropkick Murphys, and More Tours on Sale This Week
After moving our clocks back an hour this past weekend, some people might be looking forward to holiday preparations. Don’t forget about yourself, however, as there are plenty of intriguing options for tickets going on sale this week, whether it’s indie folk, punk, hip-hop, or hard rock that tickles your fancy. Breakout Michigan rockers Greta Van Fleet are embarking on a headlining world tour, while Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard are reuniting for the 15th anniversary of their breakout film, Once, for a trek that will also feature their music as the indie folk duo The Swell Season. Meanwhile, Chicago rapper Saba is gearing up for his upcoming third album with the “Back Home Tour.” Rounding out this week’s sales are a trio of punk acts at different points in their...
New Video for Leonard Cohen’s “Puppets” Marks Fifth Anniversary of Passing: Watch
It’s hard to believe Leonard Cohen’s been gone for five years, but a new music video seeks to keep the master writer’s memory alive. Director Daniel Askill has just revealed the video for “Puppets,” a song from Cohen’s 2019 posthumous album Thanks for the Dance. Watch the video below. “Puppets” marks the fifth music video from Thanks for the Dance and the second offering from Askill, who also directed “Happens to the Heart.” Cohen’s son Adam served as producer for his father’s last album and worked closely with Askill on its accompanying visuals. “It has been such a gift to have the opportunity to create these visual responses to the music of Leonard Cohen,” Askill said in a statement. “Cohen has an incredible ability to create a bridge between the sublime and the prosaic — the metaph...
