James Elkington Wintres Woma (Paradise of Bachelors) When bashful guitar hero Steve Gunn played the Tea Bazaar in fall 2014, a lot of the crowd ended up buzzing about sous guitarist James Elkington, whose electric and lap steel provided endlessly dazzling settings and accents. On Wintres Woma, his solo debut, Elkington sticks to acoustic guitar […]
James Elkington Wintres Woma (Paradise of Bachelors) When bashful guitar hero Steve Gunn played the Tea Bazaar in fall 2014, a lot of the crowd ended up buzzing about sous guitarist James Elkington, whose electric and lap steel provided endlessly dazzling settings and accents. On Wintres Woma, his solo debut, Elkington sticks to acoustic guitar […]
Dan Auerbach Waiting on a Song (Nonesuch) Gotta confess, The Black Keys always felt like a put-on, but Keys guitarist Dan Auerbach is starting to win me over. Last year he produced The Pretenders’ Alone, which was a pleasant surprise, and it’s possible that Auerbach’s other production gigs (Dr. John, Lana Del Rey, Ray LaMontagne) […]
Justin Townes Earle Kids in the Street (New West) Being Steve Earle’s son and Townes Van Zandt’s namesake unfairly provokes expectations of preternatural songwriting gifts. Happily, on Kids in the Street, oft-troubled Justin Townes Earle lives up to his lineage. It kicks off with the Stones-y stomp of “Champagne Corolla”—the band sounds great, horns nestling […]
Juana Molina Halo (Crammed Discs) Starting with her enchanting Segundo album, Juana Molina has cultivated such an indelible style that it might seem confusing if she deviated. Her music comprises repetitive acoustic guitar patterns, wavery keyboard tones, rubbery bass figures and rhythm tracks from homemade sources like hand claps and ticking clocks—and then, there’s Molina’s […]
Devon Sproule The Gold String (Tin Angel) After time in Texas and England, Devon Sproule’s return to central Virginia was rightly celebrated by local fans of the Canada-born, Twin Oaks-raised singer-songwriter. On The Gold String, Sproule weaves stories rich with touching details (“Here we are, curled in the dark / The last two spoons left […]
Kendrick Lamar DAMN. (Aftermath) After the world-beating To Pimp a Butterfly and the casual but satisfying demo album untitled unmastered., anything Kendrick Lamar put out in 2017 would have drawn scrutiny; signs of falling off would have been magnified—even a sequel to Butterfly could have been slammed as predictable, lazy. DAMN. is neither. Released on […]
Sneaks It’s a Myth (Merge) Sneaks is 19-year-old Eva Moolchan. She’s from Washington, D.C., but don’t look for political rage or go-go on It’s a Myth. It’s sinewy, minimal pop you can dance to, albeit briefly—there are 10 songs in 19 minutes. And Moolchan doesn’t sound too bothered about anything—she sounds like ESG doing warm-up […]
Thundercat Drunk (Brainfeeder) Thundercat (né Stephen Bruner) is a top-shelf guest artist, having loaned his six-string bass and falsetto to Kendrick Lamar, Kamasi Washington and Flying Lotus. With his solo albums, Thundercat has also carved out and completely inhabited his own patch of land, creating something distinct and stable within pop’s ever-shifting world. The opening […]
Novella Change of State (Sinderlyn) Perilous are the genres doggedly loyal to form in some way, like the blues or reggae. Just follow the chord progression, or chunk the guitar in a characteristic rhythm—and voilà: doing it. But what percentage of overall attempts to make reggae music have been horrific? Ninety? Novella courts disaster on […]
Spiral Stairs Doris and the Daggers (Domino) After eight years, Scott Kannberg, aka Spiral Stairs, sounds rested and rejuvenated. Doris and the Daggers kicks off with “Dance (Cry Wolf),” a flashing ’80s glam jam. When Kannberg’s baritone comes in like a countrified Ian Curtis, it’s a little startling, and on the chorus he sounds like […]