Grace Woodroofe: Best of What’s Next

By Ilana Kaplan at 8:45 AM on February 13, 2012

Grace Woodroofe’s voice calls to mind Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone and Etta James—maybe even the weighty, raspiness of Tom Waits. Certainly not a 22-year-old singer/songwriter from Perth, Australia.  read more

2012 Grammy Awards Live Blog

By Bonnie Stiernberg at 2:00 PM on February 12, 2012

We'll be live-blogging the whole thing, from the reunited Beach Boys/Foster the People collaboration (if Brian Wilson plays "Pumped Up Kicks," we'll scream) to all the major awards. Check back here at 8 p.m. EST to follow along.  read more

Sennheiser/Paste Party in Austin Preview: Glen Hansard

By Hilary Saunders at 4:08 PM on February 10, 2012

Hometown: Dublin, Ireland Members: Glen Hansard (guitar, vocals) Album: The Swell Season, Strict Joy (2009) Sennheiser & Paste are teaming up for a three-day party during SXSW. Sennheiser & Paste Present the Stages on Sixth will feature 33 of our favorite bands in Austin, Texas, March 14 to 16. During the 33 days leading up to the event, we’re previewing a different band each day. We hope to see you in Austin—RSVP if you can make it. And don’t worry if you can’t; we’ll be posting video of each performance. Irish troubadour Glen Hansard has his hands and iconic beard...  read more

Hospitality: The Best of What's Next

By Ryan Reed at 8:30 AM on February 10, 2012

Amber Papini just arrived home to her Brooklyn apartment, finally unwinding with a bottle of water and handful of vitamins—after a long day of teaching second graders. Her soft, almost mousey, voice is a tad strained, as if this school day might have been an eventful one.  read more

of Montreal: Pulling Off the Mask

By Geoffrey Himes at 12:34 PM on February 9, 2012

The key track on Paralytic Stalks, the new of Montreal album, is “Ye, Renew the Plaintiff.” This nearly nine-minute epic moves through seven separate sections as if descending through the layers of singer/songwriter Kevin Barnes’ despair.  read more

Sharon Van Etten: Singing With Belief

By Bonnie Stiernberg at 1:46 PM on February 6, 2012

Tramp is a fitting title for this latest effort—“tramp” meaning “vagabond” here and not “loose woman”—as Van Etten recorded it while she was without a permanent residence, instead alternating between touring and crashing with friends.  read more

Best of What's Next: Buxton

By Max Blau at 8:32 AM on February 2, 2012

Buxton is finally garnering attention eight years and three records into its career. The slow build has allowed the band to develop into the evocative Americana-laced six-piece that it is today.  read more

Catching Up With Bahamas' Afie Jurvanen

By Tyler Kane at 12:00 PM on February 1, 2012

Paste caught up with Bahamas' Afie Jurvanen to talk about the new album, playing smaller venues and his upcoming tour.   read more

First Aid Kit: Swedish Americana

By Jay Sweet at 8:51 AM on January 30, 2012

For many, the introduction the Swedish sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg of First Aid Kit came via their YouTube cover of the Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song.”  read more

Cloud Nothings: Beyond The Bedroom

By Max Blau at 9:30 AM on January 28, 2012

“We kind of took it to the extent that you can take it,” Baldi says. “You have to change something. I guess for this one we just made a little more intense.”  read more

Craig Finn: Can't Look Away

By Geoffrey Himes at 4:29 PM on January 25, 2012

When you climb the stairs from the underground Bedford Avenue stop on New York’s L Train, you emerge into a world where everyone is 25, skinny and dressed in black. As you walk Bedford Avenue to the northeast, however, you cross McCarren Park and enter a world where people come in all ages, fashions and misshapen forms.  read more

Catching Up With Company of Thieves

By Adam Vitcavage at 3:37 PM on January 24, 2012

Since we named them a Best of What's Next band last May, Chicago's Company of Thieves have been on the road non-stop in support of Running From a Gamble and have played more shows than they can count. They recently returned to Chicago where they played a New Year's Eve bash with Cage the Elephant and have been enjoying their time off. But Genevieve Schatz and Marc Walloch are itching to get back on the road and the band announced new tour dates for late February through March.  read more

Catching Up With Jim Ward

By Tyler Kane at 12:32 PM on January 24, 2012

Ward — who also fronts the alt-country outfit Sleepercar and was a founding member of At the Drive-In— caught up with Paste yesterday to reflect on Quiet In the Valley, On the Shores the End Begins; his bar, Hope and Anchor, and what he’s excited about in the future.   read more

Ani DiFranco: Asking All The Questions

By Geoffrey Himes at 10:03 AM on January 23, 2012

The first words we hear on Ani DiFranco’s new album, Which Side Are You On? are these: “Every time I open my mouth, I take off my clothes. I’m raw and frostbitten from being exposed.”  read more

Catching Up With Harriet's Alex Casnoff

By Tyler Kane at 1:25 PM on January 20, 2012

Harriet, the band fronted by former Dawes and PAPA pianist Alex Casnoff, is set to release their debut EP on Jan. 31. The band — which is made up of Casnoff, guitarist Adam Gunther, bassist Aaron Folb and drummer Henry Kwapis — came together after Casnoff wrote most of the songs that appear on Tell the Right Story.   read more

Howler: The Best of What's Next

By Tom Lanham at 9:53 AM on January 20, 2012

Jordan Gatesmith is only 19. But the precocious Minneapolis musician has already survived so many failed outfits that he can barely remember their short-lived monikers. “In total, I could say I was in a million groups, because that’s what it felt like,” the tall, angular axeman chortles.  read more

eMusic Editors' Picks: 5 Records We Like This Week

By eMusic Staff at 1:54 PM on January 19, 2012

PROMOTIONAL Our friends at eMusic share some of their favorite albums with us each week. Voyageur Kathleen Edwards A divorce record produced by her new beau, Bon Iver Voyageur was produced by Edwards’s new beau Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) in the wake of her marital split from her longtime guitarist Colin Cripps, making it her “indie rock” record and her “divorce” record. That may be true, but only to a point, and neither gets to the heart of Edwards’s voyage. With a little help, she finds a new companion, and herself as well. Cyrk Cate Le Bon Living on the...  read more

Kathleen Edwards: Making a Left Turn at the Crossroads

By Geoffrey Himes at 12:00 PM on January 18, 2012

At the end of 2009, Kathleen Edwards found herself at a crossroads. Her first three albums had been acclaimed by critics and roots-music fans in both her native Canada and the United States. The lean redhead was proud of those records—proud of their subtle storytelling and unvarnished folk-rock...  read more

The Little Willies: Norah Jones' Country Charm

By Tom Lanham at 10:47 AM on January 11, 2012

She’s not quite sure how it happened. But nine-time Grammy winner Norah Jones swears that she never set out to become the Queen Of Quirky Collaborations.  read more

Best of What's Next: The London Souls

By John Barrett at 9:51 AM on January 6, 2012

The London Souls’ self-titled debut is loaded singable, memorable melodies; rich vocal harmonies; raw, muscular arrangements; and a healthy sense of subtlety.  read more