I’ve always been a huge sucker for the sound of a bowed cello. I think it has something to do with a personality that while appreciative of joy and absurdity, always leans a bit towards the melancholy side of things.
Sure, it’s possible to make a cello sound playful, but it’s at it’s best when [...]

A couple years ago I listened to the album At Rear House by Woods and really didn’t get into the lo-fi world that they were creating.
Then last year, they were back with a slightly different name (Woods Family Creeps) and a couple wrinkles to their sound, and this time my interest was piqued. Their [...]

Are you kidding me?
It seems like with every latest improvisational album from Rune Grammofon, I say to myself, “there’s no way that this can continue any longer.” I keep telling myself that the next release I hear from the label will simply run aground and afoul as it retreads similar ideas from past groups [...]

Although I’ve only reviewed one of her albums over the course of my many years of writing, I’ve always counted myself as a fan of Neko Case. I’ve seen her play live twice (once with a small backing band of only pedal steel and upright bass and another with a full lineup) and she didn’t [...]