The backstory behind Bon Iver's first record, For Emma, Forever Ago is well-known: Musician goes to a hunting cabin in the woods for three months during a Wisconsin winter after separating from his band and his girlfriend. Heartache and angst get channeled into a bunch of songs about heartache and angst, sung in falsetto. Songs [...]
Zaklash: Yesterday, The Washington Post's Dan Zak continued his usually charming "Night Lives" series with a poem about the D.C. chapter of the Guardian Angels. The comments lit up, comparing Zak's verse to that of a 5-year-old and pointing out that he misused the term "flop sweat," though none went after the Angels' boss, New York radio blabber [...]
Bob Dylan’s genius was, in part, due to his ability to write new songs that felt both canonical and contemporary. The same is true of Gillian Welch, whose new album, The Harrow and the Harvest, features 10 new tunes that sound plucked from country-folk history but are timeless in their beauty, simplicity, and emotional depth. [...]
In this recurring weekly–and hopefully soon to be renamed–feature we'll round up leaked songs, new singles, and other musical detritus of all genres as it surfaces on the web. Anyway, let's get on with it.
Franz Ferdinand: "Ulysses"
"Come on, let's get high," sings Alex Kapranos on the lead single from Franz Ferdinand's forthcoming album Tonight, but [...]
For most warm-blooded creatures, a winter sequestered in a cabin in the upper reaches of the Midwest is grounds for hibernation, or at least a Wellbutrin prescription. But for Bon Iver mastermind Justin Vernon, brutal and unforgiving territory is nothing new—he’s a Wisconsin native who’s handy with a hunting rifle. What’s surprising is that someone [...]
