No Depression • 21st November 2019

Rachel Grimes Gives Voice to Lost Stories on Folk Opera ‘The Way Forth’

On The Way Forth, Rachel Grimes (formerly of the band Rachel’s) brings her gifts as a pianist and composer to a new folk opera about Kentucky history. As Grimes pored over deeds and other documents from her home state, she mainly noticed what was missing: the accounts of women. Grimes filled in those spaces by inventing Kentucky women who lived from 1775 on and giving them stories. The album alternates between sung and spoken-word pieces, both featuring elegant string arrangements and full instr

Bandcamp Daily • 17th September 2019

Album of the Day: Jenny Hval, “The Practice of Love”

Jenny Hval’s seventh album The Practice of Love is the Norwegian writer-musician’s most accessible work yet, but it doesn’t sacrifice the cerebral complexity she brings to all her projects.

The Quietus • 6th July 2019

Reviews | Julia Holter

In 2011, Julia Holter arrived seemingly armed with wisdom beyond her years. That wisdom translated into her first full-length, Tragedy. A masterful work based on Euripides' Hippolytus, it was an album filled with the sort of vocal layering and echo chamber work that would make Meredith Monk or Alexis O'Hara proud.

The prolific Holter has returned already with Ekstasis (named after the Greek philosophical conception of a state of being outside of onself), her first for the RVNG label, and a more

6th July 2019

https://www.popmatters.com/108161-elizabeth-the-catapult-taller-children-2496056147.html

No Depression • 6th July 2019

A Range of Sounds and Traditions Unite to Prove ‘there is no Other’

Through her banjo virtuosity and strong, clear vocals, Rhiannon Giddens has been continually excavating the African diaspora experience, especially that of the American South. On there is no Other, Giddens collaborates with Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi to tell and retell stories of alienation and belonging. On these songs Giddens primarily plays a fingerpicked fretless minstrel banjo, while Turrisi plays a traditional frame drum and piano. The minstrel banjo and frame drum are

Bandcamp Daily • 31st January 2019

Album of the Day: Julia Kent, “Temporal”

In addition to her solo albums and numerous collaborations, renowned cellist and composer Julia Kent has composed a number of pieces for dance. It is in this experience of designing music specifically for movement that she takes inspiration for her latest album, Temporal. Kent was less inspired by the graceful movements of dance than the simultaneous vulnerability and strength of dancers’ bodies.

Kent’s previous solo record, Asperities, was conceived around the idea of polar opposites, and the

Bandcamp Daily • 10th July 2018

Album of the Day: Various Artists, “1+1=X”

With 10 full years of operation under their belt, Erased Tapes, the label known for their beautiful releases that often join contemporary composition with experimental electronics and ambient textures, has been celebrating for a full year, and 1+1=X is one of the fine results. While compilations are nothing new for Erased Tapes, this release is more of a collaboration than a simple collection of unrelated tracks. Contributing artists recorded their songs in Berlin’s analog Vox-Ton Studio, sharin

Bandcamp Daily • 16th November 2016

Album of the Day: Soft Hair, “Soft Hair”

Arguably, Soft Hair was formed in 2007 when Connan Mockasin and Sam Dust (LA Priest) performed at the same party. Both men were accused of stealing a decorative fiberglass pig belonging to the host, and what was at first animosity between them eventually became fertile ground for creative collaboration. The two recorded their self-titled debut in fits and starts between Dust’s apartment in Nottingham, England and Mockasin’s place in Wellington, New Zealand.

The resulting album is charmingly uno

PopMatters • 28th March 2013

Leonard Cohen: 14 March 2013 - Milwaukee

For Bark, the question isn't whether life's glass is half-full or half-empty; the point is to drink it all in deeply because it's the only glass we get. This is music that celebrates life despite its necessary pains and setbacks.

PopMatters • 14th February 2013

Erin McKeown: 7 February 2013 - Madison, WI

For Bark, the question isn't whether life's glass is half-full or half-empty; the point is to drink it all in deeply because it's the only glass we get. This is music that celebrates life despite its necessary pains and setbacks.

PopMatters • 25th September 2012

Corin Tucker Band: 14 September 2012 - Milwaukee, WI

For Bark, the question isn't whether life's glass is half-full or half-empty; the point is to drink it all in deeply because it's the only glass we get. This is music that celebrates life despite its necessary pains and setbacks.

PopMatters • 9th August 2012

Best Coast: 25 July 2012 - Madison, WI

For Bark, the question isn't whether life's glass is half-full or half-empty; the point is to drink it all in deeply because it's the only glass we get. This is music that celebrates life despite its necessary pains and setbacks.

The Rumpus.net • 10th May 2011

Rumpus Sound Takes: Fierce, Feminist Beats

Not long ago synthpop was something of a boys’ club. The genre’s early days were dominated by male-fronted bands like Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk and The Pet Shop Boys. With the few exceptions, such as Annie Lennox with the The Eurythmics and Siouxsie Sioux with The Banshees, women were often relegated to less prominent roles. Take for example New Order’s Gillian Gilbert, just one of many women who didn’t front such an act. Yet, who can forget the cocktail waitresses of the Human League?

The past f

PopMatters • 6th July 2010

Sia: We Are Born

Eilen Jewell talks about her new single, new album, and politics. The more they try to shut me up and say, 'Just sing your songs, I don't want to hear about your politics,' the more I think, 'Well, I guess I should include my politics in more songs.' Whenever somebody tells me I can't do something, that's what I become interested in doing."

PopMatters • 7th June 2010

My Brightest Diamond: Shark Remixes

For Bark, the question isn't whether life's glass is half-full or half-empty; the point is to drink it all in deeply because it's the only glass we get. This is music that celebrates life despite its necessary pains and setbacks.

PopMatters • 19th May 2010

Maximilian Hecker: I Am Nothing But Emotion No Human Being No Son Never Again Son

For Bark, the question isn't whether life's glass is half-full or half-empty; the point is to drink it all in deeply because it's the only glass we get. This is music that celebrates life despite its necessary pains and setbacks.

PopMatters • 5th May 2010

Stereo Total: Baby Ouh!

For Bark, the question isn't whether life's glass is half-full or half-empty; the point is to drink it all in deeply because it's the only glass we get. This is music that celebrates life despite its necessary pains and setbacks.

PopMatters • 8th April 2010

Jaguar Love: Hologram Jams

For Bark, the question isn't whether life's glass is half-full or half-empty; the point is to drink it all in deeply because it's the only glass we get. This is music that celebrates life despite its necessary pains and setbacks.

PopMatters • 23rd March 2010

Meg Hutchinson: The Living Side

Eilen Jewell talks about her new single, new album, and politics. The more they try to shut me up and say, 'Just sing your songs, I don't want to hear about your politics,' the more I think, 'Well, I guess I should include my politics in more songs.' Whenever somebody tells me I can't do something, that's what I become interested in doing."

PopMatters • 2nd March 2010

Scout Niblett: The Calcination of Scout Niblett

How Much Longer Must I Wait?: Singles and Rarities 1965-1972 is exactly as its titles claims, and its quality makes it even harder to understand how such a powerful talent like Lee Moses could have slipped from sight undetected.

PopMatters • 1st March 2010

Little Boots: Hands

How Much Longer Must I Wait?: Singles and Rarities 1965-1972 is exactly as its titles claims, and its quality makes it even harder to understand how such a powerful talent like Lee Moses could have slipped from sight undetected.

PopMatters • 17th February 2010

Daniel Bjarnason: Processions

How Much Longer Must I Wait?: Singles and Rarities 1965-1972 is exactly as its titles claims, and its quality makes it even harder to understand how such a powerful talent like Lee Moses could have slipped from sight undetected.

PopMatters • 9th November 2009

Tori Amos: Midwinter Graces

How Much Longer Must I Wait?: Singles and Rarities 1965-1972 is exactly as its titles claims, and its quality makes it even harder to understand how such a powerful talent like Lee Moses could have slipped from sight undetected.

PopMatters • 2nd November 2009

Amy Speace: The Killer in Me

For Bark, the question isn't whether life's glass is half-full or half-empty; the point is to drink it all in deeply because it's the only glass we get. This is music that celebrates life despite its necessary pains and setbacks.

DrownedInSound • 22nd June 2019

Twelve Hours Of Drone Is Just The Beginning: DiS Does Big Ears

Every spring since 2009, Knoxville, TN - the Scruffy City - opens for the Big Ears Festival, which showcases a staggering concert lineup rounded out by panel discussions, film events, and art exhibits. With shows in theatres, churches, bars, galleries, visitor’s centers and museums connected by dining and drinking establishments downtown, the festival has become a love letter to its unlikely hometown. Despite such a large number of venues, the organization was excellent, thanks in part to a well