Folk
Skullcrusher Announces New Storm in Summer EP, Shares Title Track: Stream
Helen Ballentine has announced the next project under her Skullcrusher banner. The Storm in Summer EP drops April 9th via Secretly Canadian, and has released the title track as an early preview. The five-track follow-up to her 2020 Skullcrusher EP finds Ballentine reeling from the spotlight after experiencing some unexpected success. As she explained in a statement, “I wrote ‘Storm in Summer’ after releasing the first Skullcrusher EP. Over that summer I thought a lot about what it means to really put myself out there and share something personal. I felt so vulnerable and overwhelmed by the fact that these songs I had written in private were exposed and likely being misinterpreted or disliked. I think the song really tries to communicate these anxieties in a cathartic way whi...
Song of the Week: boygenius Reunite on Julien Baker’s Confessional “Favor”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. While several stories over the past few weeks have reminded us that the entertainment world can still be very much a boys’ club in the worst ways imaginable, on the artistic side of matters, we’ve seen an undeniable shift in the recognition women are finally beginning to receive within the music industry, especially in the rock genre. Studies have shown that young women are not only picking up guitars at the highest rates ever, but they’re actually learning to play them in larger numbers than their male counterparts. No doubt it’s been partl...
Skullcrusher Conjures Vintage Folk on New Single “Song For Nick Drake”: Stream
Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Helen Ballentine records music under the moniker Skullcrusher, but it doesn’t sound like what you might expect it to. She writes dreamy folk songs fit for Secretly Canadian — who fittingly released her debut EP last year — and today she’s back with another slice of such: a standalone single called “Song for Nick Drake”. As the title implies, “Song for Nick Drake” is an ode to the late pastoral legend and the visceral memories his music conjures. “‘Song for Nick Drake’ is about my relationship to the music of Nick Drake,” explained Ballentine in a press release. “It recalls moments in my life that are viscerally intertwined with his music, specifically times spent walking and taking the train. The song is really my homage to music and the times I felt mos...
The Decemberists’ The King Is Dead and the End of the Americana Craze
Editor’s Notes: Consequence has finally been around long enough that so many of the new albums that originally turned us on to music are now celebrating their first milestone anniversaries. As we begin to reflect on these records, you can catch our updated assessments here. The first time I heard Mumford & Sons was at the 37th Telluride Bluegrass Festival. I was 14, had just finished middle school, and was in a band that played shitty covers of Audioslave and Death Cab for Cutie in our drummer’s basement. I wasn’t exactly a music doyen, but I remember everyone around me, even my parents — Telluride had become something of a family pastime — were impressed by the set. There was something undeniably endearing about Marcus Mumford’s gravelly baritone, his black vest (soon to become a stap...
Kenny Wayne Shepherd on Hanging Out with Neil Young and Touring With Van Halen
Kyle Meredith With… Kenny Wayne Shepherd Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Kenny Wayne Shepherd talks with Kyle Meredith about his new live album and DVD, Straight To You. Shepherd discusses the TV appearance that the recording comes from, how sharing vocals affects what he plays, and how he relates to his most notable song, “Blue On Black”. The blues guitarist also relays stories about hanging out with Neil Young and Stephen Stills, touring with Van Halen, and the lasting impression of Eddie Van Halen. We’ve also included a bonus 2017 interview with Shepherd. Kyle Meredith With… is an interview series in which WFPK’s Kyle Meredith speaks to a wide breadth of musicians. Every M...
Kyle Meredith’s Best of 2020 Pt. 3: Jim James, Julien Baker, David Duchovny, and More
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS For all of December, Kyle Meredith is looking back on his favorite moments in 2020. This week, we revisit Jim James discussing the murder of Breona Taylor, Julien Baker dissecting the lies sold through religion, Paul Weller chewing on systematic change, Laura Marling studying psychoanalysis, Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil explaining why he’ll never do a solo record, and actor/novelist/musician David Duchovny wrestling with an environment of perpetual politics. Kyle Meredith With… is an interview series in which WFPK’s Kyle Meredith speaks to a wide breadth of musicians. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Meredith digs deep into the artist’s work ...
Taylor Swift’s evermore Continues the Personal Fable Begun on folklore: Review
The Lowdown: Once again, Taylor Swift was lying when she told us there was “not a lot going on at the moment.” Once again, she’s dropped a carefully curated collection of songs unraveling both her extremely public exterior and deeply personal interior life. And once again, it’s an album that acts as a remarkable exercise in lyricism. It’s not just a worthy follow-up to July’s folklore; it’s a mirror, a companion, and a bookend. Taylor had a few more things to say. The fable wasn’t finished yet. Like folklore, evermore was announced hours before release, framed as a “sister” project to the summer album that gave us the latest reinvention of Taylor Swift and successfully cemented her, even in many previously unconvinced eyes, as one of the strongest songwriters working today. evermore picks ...
Top 50 Songs of 2020
The 2020 edition of our Annual Report continues today with our Top 50 Songs of 2020. If you haven’t already, check out our Top 50 Albums of 2020, which came out earlier in the week. Also, be sure to tune in next week as we begin handing out our annual accolades and continue looking back on the strange year that was 2020. Upon being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame some years ago, Tom Waits said, “We love music, but what we really want is for music to love us back.” Believe it or not, it felt like music did that in 2020. For me, anyway. I know that it’s easy to see the world through pandemic goggles right now or strictly through the lens of racial injustice or political turmoil. Tragedy and frustration that keeps piling on can definitely cloud our vision or color our window on t...
Top 50 Albums of 2020
As we return from Thanksgiving and head into December, our Annual Report will spend the next few weeks looking back upon the strange year that was 2020 and the music, film, and television that came with it. We begin today with our Top 50 Albums of 2020. You’ve heard it from me dozens of times already: 2020 has not been a normal year. And by that, I mean absolutely nothing has been normal. The music world hasn’t been immune, of course. I’ve spent more time cancelling flights and accommodations and trying to get tickets refunded than I actually did watching live music this year. Instragram became a concert venue, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions had no performances, and livestreams (which are pre-taped) seem to be the often-underwhelming future of live music at least for the forseea...
This Is the Kit on the Need for Empathy and Solitude
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS This Is The Kit returns with a new album, Off Off On, and Kate Stables catches up with Kyle Meredith to talk about finding new sounds and playing against the folk genre. Stables also discusses the themes of empathy and the human condition, the… Please click the link below to read the full article. This Is the Kit on the Need for Empathy and Solitude CoS Staff You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Tracy Chapman Makes Rare TV Appearance to Perform “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” on Seth Meyers: Watch
Tracy Chapman very rarely makes TV appearances, but she did so Monday night to remind viewers to vote on Election Day. The 56-year-old songwriter delivered her urgent message via a stirring performance of “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” on Seth Meyers. Watch below. “This is the most important election of our lifetime. It is imperative that everyone vote to restore our democracy,” Chapman remarked prior to the televised broadcast, her first since 2015. In his own statement about Chapman’s performance, Meyers said, “I’ve always thought Tracy Chapman’s music skips your ears and goes straight to your heart. I’m so honored and excited to have her on the show. She’s living proof you can be a great artist while also speaking out for what you believe in.” Editors’ Picks Although Chap...
Feist Covers Cat Stevens’ “Trouble” for Justin Vernon’s For Wisconsin GOTV Campaign: Watch
Leslie Feist has returned with a new live cover of Cat Stevens’ “Trouble”. The performance supports Justin Vernon’s For Wisconsin GOTV initiative. Feist takes a lot of time between projects and has never seemed entirely comfortable in the spotlight. But America’s election is alarming even to reclusive Canadians, and her choice of “Trouble” almost speaks for itself. The track first appeared on Cat Stevens’ third album Mona Bona Jakone (1970), after Stevens had recovered from tuberculosis and a collapsed lung. Lyrics like, “Trouble/ Oh trouble move away/ I have seen your face/ And it’s too much for me today,” speak to that feeling when the slings and arrows of life become overwhelming. It’s a natural fit for the ongoing hell-year of 2020. Feist’s celestial voice is welcom...
