On Its New Album, Superchunk Makes The Downtrodden Sound Upbeat
"I hate music, what is it worth? / Can't bring anyone back to this earth," the band Superchunk sings. It's the kind of sentiment you'd imagine someone blurting out with bitter spontaneity, but it's not...
View ArticleBob Dylan's 'Self Portrait,' Now In Vivid Color
In the late 1960s, it wasn't just that Bob Dylan's music was eagerly anticipated — it was music that millions of people pored over: for pleasure, for confirmation of their own ideas, and for clues as...
View ArticleRobbie Fulks: Exhilarating And Bitter On 'Gone Away Backward'
Robbie Fulks has been recording since the mid-'90s, making music that's difficult to categorize. He's written country songs about how compromised most country music is, and while he's fond of folk and...
View ArticleLucy Schwartz Is In Love With Her Own Voice, And That's OK
The first thing you notice about Lucy Schwartz's Timekeeper is the singer's voice — both her physical voice, which is at once ringing and adroit, and her writer's voice, which is precise yet elusive....
View ArticleDon't Feel Too Bad For Sad-Sack Bob Schneider
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q7Angi3d6g
View ArticleOn 'Days Are Gone,' Three Sisters HAIM It Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TffpkE2GU4
View ArticleTwo Bluegrass Truths From James King And Alan Jackson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s-k8Q_40cA
View Article'The Blow' Puts An Artsy, Electro-Pop Spin On Attraction
Transcript TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. Our rock critic Ken Tucker has a review of the new album, "The Blow" by the music and performance are duo called The Blow which was conceived by its...
View ArticleIt's A Family Affair On Linda Thompson's 'Won't Be Long Now'
Linda Thompson is probably best known for the albums she recorded with her husband Richard Thompson in the '70s and early '80s. They divorced, and Thompson has maintained a sporadic solo career.
View ArticleBrandy Clark Tells The 'Stories' That Are Tough To Hear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCP0y-mbaFo
View ArticleTwo Sides Of Holiday Cheer From Kelly Clarkson, Nick Lowe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMimVRA1hRohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks4xy_HVD9I
View ArticleA Former Girl-Group Singer Goes 'All Or Nothing'
A half-century on, La La Brooks still sings about boys and girls falling in love. At an age when other veterans of first-generation rock movements are thinking about retirement or oldies tours, Brooks...
View ArticleKen Tucker's Top 10 Albums Of 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUqHEzgFRoAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCP0y-mbaFohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUxkZreYiQshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C02bCT6telchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL...
View ArticleRosanne Cash: Seeking A 'Thread' Through Southern History
For the past two decades, Rosanne Cash has lived with her family in Manhattan, but in 2008, she was asked if she wanted to help with a project to restore the childhood home of her father, Johnny Cash,...
View ArticleUneven But Vital, Bruce Springsteen Has 'High Hopes'
High Hopes is a different sort of release for Bruce Springsteen. It features original and cover songs that had been performed live over the years, some never recorded in a studio setting, as well as a...
View ArticleOn 'Hard Working Americans,' Songs For The Ordinary Joe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0yWTr2mGUk
View ArticleDon't Pigeonhole Me, Bro: New Country Albums On The Borderline
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqrktVBto4shttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9gKMU4TJU
View ArticleHangin' Tuff: Eric Church Takes A Chance On 'The Outsiders'
Eric Church is working on a level that few other country artists of his generation can touch. Now, one of the things I mean by that is that Church is willing to take big chances such as "The...
View ArticleLake Street Dive: 'Portraits' Of Heartache
Lake Street Dive is powered by the voice of Rachel Price; it's what hits you first when you listen to this quartet. It's a ringingly clear, strong voice, a sound that's at once beseeching and in...
View ArticleVertical Scratchers: Slashed Chords, Fractured Poetry
The members of Vertical Scratchers don't have to pretend: They are free spirits, making music that is at once tightly composed, whimsical and anarchic.The vocals on a Vertical Scratchers song tend to...
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