Wounded Messenger’s Top 101 Albums of the Decade

I now understand the infatuation that music journalists have with making lists. As pretentious, biased, and personalized as lists are, they’re just as much fun to do. Especially this one, which I won’t purport to be the “best” albums of the decade, only my “favorite” albums of the decade. As for the number, well, I [...]

Mike Doughty – New Album, Duo Tour

The first full week of October 2009 will be an exciting one for Mike Doughty and his fans, as the now-grizzled songwriter unveils his sixth “solo” release and embarks on a 31-date tour with band mate Andrew “Scrap” Livingston. The album, titled Sad Man Happy Man, will be released October 6, and the tour begins [...]

Album Review: Yonder Mountain String Band – The Show

“Out of the Blue,” the strongest song on YMSB’s The Show, leads off the album, and false hopes abound in the song’s galloping rhythm and focused songwriting. The Show quickly becomes a real head-scratcher for YMSB fans with song number two – “Complicated” – which shares more than just a name with the horrible Avril [...]

Album Review: Volcano Choir – Unmap

Unmap is the rare record that excites by premise alone: pair indie-folk king Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) with the equally esoteric Wisconsin post-rock band Collections of Colonies of Bees, and let Vernon’s arresting voice glide over the band’s mesmerizing, cinematic sound collages. That tantalizing prospect doesn’t even begin to describe the music found on Unmap, [...]

Album Review: Sondre Lerche – Heartbeat Radio

Sondre Lerche – I have no idea how to pronounce this guy’s name, but it will come to me eventually because I plan on listening to him for a very long time. A Norwegian musician with an effortless knack for writing strong, symphonic pop songs, Lerche comes across as some kind of all-knowing Anglo-pop savant [...]

Five Spot: Five Album Reviews

Once in a while, I’ll be writing short reviews of things on my hard drive that are probably already old but I haven’t gotten around to. They’ll be very informal and less analytical. The music will be chosen at random, too, so complete disorganization is assured.
Archive – Controlling Crowds – This is the first release [...]

Live Review: Eric Bachmann at Duke Gardens, Durham, NC, July 22, 2009

Near the end of his hour-long set at Duke Gardens, Eric Bachmann appeared to get a little emotional. His voice cracked ever so slightly and his face contorted the way people’s faces do when they’re fighting back tears. As he thanked a few people for helping him “live the dream, which was sometimes a nightmare,” [...]

News Fragments: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Lineup, Sunny Day Real Estate Reunion, Phish Album Announcement, Virgin FreeFest

-San Francisco’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival has announced the initial lineup for the free event, which takes place at Golden Gate Park October 2-4, 2009. The first announced acts look just great, and the lineup includes Okkervil River, Del McCoury Band, Robyn Hitchcock, Aimee Mann, Allen Toussaint, Dr. Dog, Neko Case, Booker T. and the [...]

Live: An Horse and Telekinesis – Chapel Hill, NC, June 18, 2009

Chapel Hill’s Local 506 is one of the darkest, stuffiest clubs in North Carolina. It eats talented bands alive, because they find that playing in a sauna isn’t as easy as they surmised, and the crowds tend to be comprised of relentlessly unenthusiastic, motionless hipsters. Thankfully, there’s a great beer selection.
When a band succeeds [...]

Tennessee Shines at Bonnaroo

Saturday, June 13, from 12-8 p.m. at Bonnaroo’s The Other Tent, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale hosts the Tennessee Shines stage with eight hours of bluegrass from The SteelDrivers, Cherryholmes, the Del McCoury Band and the David Grisman Quintet. Lauderdale will introduce the bands, sit in for some songs and welcome special guests to the stage [...]