It was a good year to be young and bearded. A good decade, really. The aughts kicked off with the release of O Brother, Where Art Thou?, whose soundtrack opened the eyes of at least one generation to the pleasures of underproduced plucking and simple melodies; and ended with three harbingers of the so-called "indie [...]

HO HO WHO: Sad-sack U.K. indie-folk outfit Slow Club's EP of Christmas songs contains three originals—with titles like "It's Christmas and You're Boring"—and three covers, including two Darlene Love songs, "All Alone at Christmas" and the classic "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," as well as "Silent Night." It's basically a miniature dissertation on how to [...]

Monsters of Folk might seem like an inappropriate moniker for indie darlings Jim James, M. Ward, Conor Oberst, and Oberst collaborator Mike Mogis.
The supergroup kicks off its self-titled debut with a number that might fit more comfortably in the genre of Christian R&B pop: “Sometimes it’s so hard to believe in/But God, I know you [...]

Pomona professor Kevin D.H. Dettmar has an essay in this week’s Chronicle Review, titled “The Discreet Charm of the Bad Voice,” where he argues that listeners find atonal singing uniquely empathetic because it is easy to imitate. Dettmar’s examples are sometimes dubious—Neil Young, John Mayer, and Thom Yorke aren’t exactly the three tenors, but I [...]

The critical buzz around Wilco’s latest, self-titled album has centered on the notion of identity. Some have heralded Wilco (the album) as a reclamation of the insouciance of the band’s early albums, while others—particularly City Paper’s own Aaron Leitko—have described it as a tour of the band’s sonic arc over the last decade. But aside [...]

Steve Kolowich has a full review of Wilco's sold-out show at Wolf Trap last night coming tomorrow; here are some photos to tide you over while you wait. (There's probably some unwritten rule against starting a post about Wilco with anyone but Jeff Tweedy, but so be it—above, guitarist Nels Cline.) Also, my one thought [...]

The full-on rock spectacle that is Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band was on display last night at the 9:30 Club. For me, the transition from quirky Americana to Oberst's special brand of theatrical rock was "Road to Joy's" proclamation "Let's fuck it up boys...make some noise!" from 2004's I'm Wide Awake, It's [...]