There’s something about the way Lainey Wilson sings that brings to mind the great, weepy country queens of yore. In particular, there’s a trace of Tammy Wynette, whose intimate and wounded delivery could depict a steely façade hiding an unsatisfied interior life or say it all out loud for complete …
Read More »
“Madretierra,” a skipping track from the long-running Afro-Peruvian group Novalima, is transformed into crunchy house by TolinchiLove, Vitu Valera, and Vazdra, who released a hard-headed remix of the song earlier this month. The single is being put out by Nervous Records, which is famous for its connection to seminal Nineties …
Read More »
It’s no great observation, but often the best thing a so-called “bedroom” artist can do is, well, leave the bedroom. Last year, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Deb Never — who’s garnered attention and acclaim for intimate songs that thread the gaps between alt-rock, grunge, and the lo-fi ends of pop and …
Read More »
Solange‘s “Cranes in the Sky” was a triumph of melancholia, but Big Joanie‘s heavy, fuzzy rendition of the tune makes the original sound positively upbeat by comparison. Solange’s single was so good — Rolling Stone dubbed it one of the 50 Best Songs of 2016 when it came out and, …
Read More »
Cass McCombs gets listeners drunk on ceremonial wine with his new standalone track, “The Wine of Lebanon.” The song is a drunken pagan rumination on endings and beginnings, birth and death — using only his hushed voice and a modest collection of instruments, McCombs conjures an otherworldly in-between realm teetering …
Read More »
Arriving the day after Donald Trump told us all we’d all feel better if we just went and shot some bleach into our bodies, here’s a little anti-Trump invective we definitely need right now. Roots-rock icon Lucinda Williams just released Good Souls Better Angels, arguably her best album since her …
Read More »