Music :: Features

Will Hoge

By Valerie Marino at 12:00 AM on January 12, 2004

Will Hoge stands in the middle of the windowless, dorm-sized dressing room, his acoustic guitar slung over his shoulder. It won’t be long before he and his bandmates will be thrust into the spotlight... read more

Angie Aparo's Declaration of Independence

By Steve LaBate at 12:00 AM on January 9, 2004

Head shaved clean and sporting a faded Neil Young & Crazy Horse T-shirt, Angie Aparo ambles about the stage at Chattanooga, Tenn., club Rhythm & Brews... read more

20 Signs of Life From 2003

By Jason Killingsworth at 12:00 AM on January 7, 2004

Consider for a moment the dizzying flood of pop albums that bombarded store shelves this past year, cast overboard from a bloated industry foundering by degrees in its own elaborate waste. Record execs looking for different folks who sound just like The Strokes, Chris Lord-Alge forever polishing the production on some label’s next titanic investment. Another year, another parade of musical cash cows regurgitating the same formulaic crud. We’ve heard it all before. And then, with Fall approaching, Rufus Wainwright arrives like a knight in shining armor (quite literally, if you check the album cover of his latest project, Want... read more

20 Signs of Life From 2003

By Jason Killingsworth at 12:00 AM on January 7, 2004

In the liner notes accompanying Over the Rhine’s gloriously self-indulgent double-disc, OHIO, co-founder Linford Detweiler, writes, “We grew up in small coal mining towns in the Ohio Valley, listening to music that could have only been unearthed in America: Southern Gospel, Country Western and Rock ’n’ Roll. This music fertilized the soil of our early lives. We sit down at the upright piano these days with dirt under our fingernails.” And I suppose that’s what I love about this album. The songs feel gritty and real, unpolished and perfect. Just like people. All the artifice (both musical and emotional) has... read more

20 Signs of Life From 2003

By Jason Killingsworth at 12:00 AM on January 7, 2004

The blonde, frighteningly gorgeous captain of the cheerleading squad isn’t always a superficial ditz; sometimes she’s the fun, well-read, valedictorian of her class as well. But it’s easy to succumb to stereotypes, regardless of how worn-out they may be. The same applies to pop music. When an artist displays a knack for crafting bright, sunny tunes with eminently singable choruses and radio-groomed hooks, I find myself expecting less than brilliance in the lyrics department. Erin McKeown’s Grand offers yet another reminder of what happens when you assume. Armed with prodigious talent on a slew of instruments—guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass, drums,... read more

20 Signs of Life From 2003

By Steve LaBate at 12:00 AM on January 7, 2004

I first saw Drive-By Truckers at Athens, Ga.’s now-defunct Hi-Hat Club in 1998. Even then, their brand of countrified, redneck rock was strangely captivating. The band has since progressed, slowly at first and then rushing headlong with Southern Rock Opera, a concept album based on the tragic Lynyrd Skynyrd story. But Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and company didn’t stop there. Facing trying personal times plagued by divorce, deaths of loved ones and financial struggles, the band members went into the studio and—with the help of David Barbe’s brilliant, tasteful, raw-in-all-the-right-places production—cranked out one of the greatest Southern rock records of... read more

20 Signs of Life From 2003

By Tom Lanham at 12:00 AM on January 7, 2004

One huge tabby, Thumper, sits like a sandbarred tugboat beneath the bed, peeking out between two acoustic guitars. Another curious Calico named Pink strolls the length of the coffee table, poking her head into every stray drinking glass, just to sample each liquid. And their owner—ex-Red-House-Painters/new-Sun-Kil-Moon frontman Mark Kozelek—reclines in his living room chair, watching them with delight and purring over his pampered pets. “A lotta people come in here and they like my cats,” he notes, extricating Pink’s nearly-stuck nose from a water goblet. “And then some people don’t know what to do—if one of the cats wants... read more

20 Signs of Life From 2003

By Tom Lanham at 12:00 AM on January 7, 2004

One huge tabby, Thumper, sits like a sandbarred tugboat beneath the bed, peeking out between two acoustic guitars. Another curious Calico named Pink strolls the length of the coffee table, poking her head into every stray drinking glass, just to sample each liquid. And their owner—ex-Red-House -Painters/new-Sun-Kil-Moon frontman Mark Kozelek—reclines in his living room chair, watching them with delight and purring over his pampered pets. “A lotta people come in here and they like my cats,” he notes, extricating Pink’s nearly-stuck nose from a water goblet. “And then some people don’t know what to do—if one of the cats... read more

Cake And Pie And Other Good Eats

By Josh Jackson at 12:00 AM on January 5, 2004

What food goes best with rock'n'roll? Lisa Loeb and boyfriend Dweezil Zappa cook up a storm at Indigo Girl Emily Saliers' Decatur, Ga. restaurant... read more

By Paste at 12:00 AM on January 1, 2004

Jonathan Richman

By Matt Fink at 12:00 AM on December 31, 2003

Jonathan Richman isn’t your normal interview. Few artists, when approached by a publication, request a phone number so they can call you back whenever the mood strikes... read more

2003 Reader's Poll

By Paste Staff at 12:00 AM on December 23, 2003

Click here to take vote in our 2003 Reader's Poll. Random winner will receive a Paste Records prize pack. read more

Sarah McLachlan

By Brian Baker at 12:00 AM on December 22, 2003

Less than a month from the scheduled release date, Sarah McLachlan holds a copy of the finished master for her new album, Afterglow... read more

The Musical Journey of Matthew Ryan

By Steve LaBate at 12:00 AM on December 22, 2003

Songwriter Matthew Ryan doesn’t pull up in a limo. He doesn’t even get dropped off by a cab. In true rock star fashion, Ryan comes sauntering slowly down the street... read more

Dec 03/Jan 04 Issue

By Paste Staff at 12:00 AM on December 3, 2003

The Dec 03/Jan 04 issue will is now on the newsstand. Pick up a copy at Borders, Barnes & Noble, Tower Records, Books-a-Million or your favorite independent retailer. read more

Delbert McClinton: Candid Recordings

By Lynne Margolis at 12:00 AM on December 1, 2003

For a road warrior like Delbert McClinton, making a live album should be no big thing... read more

Lyric - This Darkness

By Aaron Belz at 12:00 AM on December 1, 2003

I can think of two singers who have written songs in answer to the question, “Why do you wear black?” Morrissey’s famous phrase has become a truism of Goth culture: “I wear black on the outside / Because black is how I feel on the inside” (from the song “Unloveable”). Johnny Cash’s answer in “Man in Black” is far less saturnine: I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down, Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town, I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime, But is there because he’s a victim... read more