by C. Familton When news first broke that Neil Young & Crazy Horse were reconvening there was a palpable sense of excitement in the virtual air online yet for many that initial burst of joy quickly turned to apprehension when word seeped out that their first new release was going to be a collection of … Continue reading
New Zealand isn’t generally known for its exponents of americana yet there are a bunch of great bands doing justice to the genre if you dig deep enough. One of them is Christchurch’s The Unfaithful Ways who are about to head out on some national dates in June. They released their debut album Free Rein to great acclaim last … Continue reading
Seattle -based singer songwriter Shannon Stephens has a new album Pull It Together coming out on Asthmatic Kitty right about now. Check out the first single/video Care of You with its gorgeous swooning vocal and super rich and organic sound. She has a ton of great people working with her on the album including duets … Continue reading
Sweden’s Kristian Matsson has a new LP There’s No Leaving Us Now due for release via Dead Oceans/Secretly Canadian on June 12th. It follows his excellent album The Wild Hunt and the equally great EP Sometimes the Blues Is Just A Passing Bird, both from 2010. 1904 (stream/download below) is the first new song to come … Continue reading
by Chris Familton Bob Dylan must surely be the most covered artist of the last forty years so when another compilation of versions of his songs comes along it is easy to dismiss it as another batch of standards reinterpreted. The hook with this one though is twofold. Firstly it is a fantastic cause with … Continue reading
by Chris Familton Kurt Wagner is a unique musician in that he has managed to build a career out of musical understatement. His work carries with it a slight of hand, bursting with subtleties, be it of the lyrical or instrumental kind. He is also quite the unassuming frontman with his white shirt, jeans and … Continue reading
by Chris Familton Pat Capocci had the task of getting the still sparse crowd in the mood for the return to Sydney of Justin Townes Earle. With a wide gulf across the dance-floor between band and audience Capocci and his combo didn’t seem to mind one bit as they fired off song after song of … Continue reading
written by Chris Familton Justin Townes Earle has made a habit of changing it up on each of his three albums. The Good Life found him very much in the traditional country and folk songwriter mould while Harlem River Blues saw him using New York as a source of inspiration. Now Earle has shifted geographically … Continue reading
On Record Store Day, April 21, Nonesuch will release Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions, which includes the original two volumes of Mermaid Avenue (the second re-mastered); a third volume with 17 previously unreleased recordings from those sessions; the 1999 documentary on the sessions, Man in the Sand; and a 48-page booklet with new liner notes by Nora … Continue reading
Taken from the brilliant new album Maraqopa… http://vimeo.com/34849480 Continue reading
written by Chris Familton Those lucky enough to see all three of Kurt Wagner’s manifestations at this year’s Sydney Festival experienced a wonderful insight into his influences, the way he creates his music and how deeply he believes in country music as an art form. As KORT (with singer Cortney Tidwell) he dug into her … Continue reading
M. Ward will release his sixth solo album Wasteland Companion on April 9th. The album was recorded in studios in Portland, Omaha, New York, Los Angeles, Austin and Bristol (UK) and features the talents of Mike Coykendall (percussion, bass), Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb(piano), John Parish (percussion, marimba), Bright Eyes’ Mike Mogis(organ), Susan Sanchez (vocals), She & Him’s Zooey Deschanel(vocals), Jordan Hudson (percussion), Adam Selzer (bass), Nathan “JR” Andersen (piano), Scott McPherson (percussion), Sonic … Continue reading
From the band’s forthcoming album The Lion’s Roar out January 27th. First Aid Kit – March 2012 Australian Tour Monday 12 March – The Famous Spiegeltent, Melbourne – SELLING FAST Presented by Arts Centre Melbourne. More info and tickets: http://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/ Wednesday 14 March – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne – SOLD OUT – Support by The Harpoons Thursday 15 March – The … Continue reading
written by Chris Familton Jolie Holland returns with her fourth studio album and this time she has made a discernible effort to reduce her jazz and folk flavoured americana to simpler structures and cleaner palettes. In many cases the songs benefit from these amendments but they also lose some of what made Holland such an … Continue reading
John Grant performs a devastating version in Iceland of Where Dreams Go To Die from his album Queen of Denmark. If you haven’t checked him out before then that album is an essential listen. Grant first found fame in the totally underrated band The Czars who released six studio albums before imploding around Grant. The … Continue reading
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