Listening is inevitably a subjective process. That said, I do my best to practice suspending or expanding my default filters in order to be more receptive to forms of aesthetic excellence that might not be congruent with my preferences. For […]
As a general rule, I try not to put too much pressure on the turning of the year to bring seismic change. I will wake up on Jan. 1, 2018, and nothing will have changed overnight: I will still be […]
The reason I do this list late in the year is a sentimental one. I like to mull them over, and think about what I was doing, where I was, the colors of their eyes, when I first heard their […]
Put aside the dumpster fire that consumed national news this year, and you have to admit it was actually a pretty good year … for music. After all, artists exist to comment on and respond to the world around them, and […]
Watching King Crimson’s intricate two-hour-and-40-minute concert last month at The Egg in Albany, New York, I could only wonder whether any other rock band touring today could top the eight-man prog juggernaut. King Crimson is an unabashed dynamo with three […]
As the year comes to a close and publications (including No Depression) begin to release their list of favorite albums of the year, many artists are already looking forward to 2018. With the summer tour season completed, the crowdfunding sites […]
My true top ten list this year includes hip-hop and pop records, but for No Depression, I cover mainly Americana-leaning and country music, thus the below list. I am lucky enough to get to review music that is really exciting […]
2017 was a banner year for Americana. Jason Isbell and John Moreland, the genre’s flagbearers, released new albums and many emerging artists produced outstanding debut and sophomore efforts. A look back at 2017 is also laced with sadness upon the […]
This week’s column features Cheryl Pawelski, owner and cofounder of Omnivore Recordings. Not surprisingly, considering her line of work, she’s a fellow music fan who has a wide range of interests. Bill Frater: What got you started in the music […]
Bill C. Malone opens his 2010 book Country Music, U.S.A., stating that country music “defies precise definition, and no term (not even ‘country’) has ever successfully encapsulated its essence” (Malone 2010, 1). In the past century, the ‘country music’ genre has […]
