Bell X1: Bloodless Coup
My first extended exposure to Bell X1 came in 2008 when a pared-down version of the band played a short, impromptu acoustic set opening for pal and fellow Irishman Glen Hansard’s band the Swell Season. It was just guitar and piano, but the duo won over the crowd — myself included. It was pretty. It was quirky.... read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsDel McCoury and Preservation Hall Jazz Band: American Legacies
The intersection of bluegrass and jazz isn’t exactly a bustling one, but the successful fusions of the past - Bela Fleck’s genre-defying albums, David Grisman’s Dawg music - have placed a heavy emphasis on improvisational interplay and breakneck solos. So the meeting of Dixieland revivalists The Preservation Hall Jazz Band and bluegrass traditionalists The Del McCoury Band is more than a little perplexing and intriguing. Both have had their forays into adventurous musical waters.... read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsVivian Girls: Share The Joy
... read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsAlison Krauss and Union Station: Paper Airplane
If Alison Krauss felt any pressure when she went in to record Paper Airplanes, her follow-up to 2004’s triple Grammy-winning Lonely Runs Both Ways and Raising Sand, her collaboration with Robert Plant — which went on to garner an additional six Grammys – it is impossible to hear it anywhere on the album. Whatever blood, sweat and tears were shed during the creation of this beautifully realized cycle of songs are invisible as each performance comes off as exhilarating, natural and blissfully unforced. In every instance, Paper Airplanes rises to the impossibly high bar set by its predecessors to form... read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsBrett Dennen: Loverboy
California iconoclast Brett Dennen is an anomaly in today’s musical landscape, carving out a niche for himself with his self-titled first album back in 2004 and proceeding to spin out funkily elegant strands of timeless pop that turn on heart, hooks and the total absence of irony. read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsElbow: Build a Rocket Boys!
Like other American listeners, I came late to Elbow, paying little attention to the veteran Manchester band until picking up on the U.K. buzz surrounding their fourth album, 2008’s The Seldom Seen Kid. What was revelatory (to me, at least) about the record was the band’s ability to seamlessly fuse the cerebral and the visceral on irresistible songs like “Grounds for Divorce,” with its psyche-probing lyric resolving into cathartic, wall-rattling power chords, and “The Bones of You,” with its deeply soulful vocal and delectably slinky groove. From Kid, I went backward, discovering gems like “Forget Myself” and “Mexican Standoff” from... read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsDamion Suomi and The Minor Prophets: Go, And Sell All Your Things
... read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsLow: C'mon
The second or third time I listened to “Try to Sleep,” the lead track on Low’s new album, it became lodged in my head for the rest of the day.... read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsTV On The Radio: Nine Types of Light
I imagine, from a creative standpoint, the hardest part of being in TV On The Radio — a band adored due in large part to its innovation — is the insane expectation of always doing something new, the ridiculous imaginary standard of never pulling the same trick twice.... read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsHa Ha Tonka: Death of a Decade
... read more
Found in: Music, Reviews
The 50 Best Movies on Netflix Instant
The 25 Best Movies of 2012 (So…
The 50 Best Movies of 2011
The 30 Best TV Shows on Netflix…
The 50 Best Movies of the Decade…
