By Andrew Parks, eMusic Contributor"People still assume I'm a saxophonist firmly footed in the free-jazz world, and that I suddenly tried to do 'the rock thing' with these records," says Colin Stetson, after being asked about the heavier side… more »
By Andy Battaglia, eMusic ContributorAvant-garde saxophonist Colin Stetson's credits as a collaborator include a slew of indie friends — Arcade Fire, Feist, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and TV on the Radio among them — but he's most formidable and… more »
By Andrew Parks, eMusic ContributorColin Stetson has shared a new video that fuses two very different tracks from his upcoming album, New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light. Starting with a blast of air — a nice… more »
By Andrew Parks, eMusic ContributorColin Stetson has confirmed the third and final installment in his New History Warfare trilogy. Due out April 30th through Constellation Records, it features not one but four guest appearances from Stetson's Bon Iver bandmate… more »
By Andrew Parks, eMusic ContributorAnd the runaway success of Bon Iver continues with the fourth single from his self-titled breakthrough album. Now available as as a 12'' and digital release, "Beth / Rest" features a full band version —… more »
By Barry Walters, eMusic ContributorNo one combines sawmill-roar noise, dying-planet sadness and mad-scientist glee with the heartfelt sincerity of The Flaming Lips. In return, the music world writes Wayne Coyne and his fellow Oklahomans a blank creative check, which… more »
By Laura Studarus, eMusic ContributorSome musicians pour blood, sweat and tears into their work, laboring for years — sometimes lifetimes — to produce that one perfect album. Then there's the other group of musicians, the kind whose creativity is… more »
By Jason Diamond, eMusic ContributorEvery Monday I open up my laptop and think to myself that this will be the week when I finally don't find a Tumblr that sucks up a few hours of my life with hilarious posts… more »
By Jason Diamond, eMusic ContributorYou might not be happy about it, but you can't deny that you're pretty much living in Justin Vernon's world. Â The guy can do anything he wants because he's got a Grammy, and he's gonna… more »
By Laura Leebove, Deputy EditorSinger/songwriter Anais Mitchell has devoted much of her last few years to Hadestown, a grandiose folk opera that began as a stage production, which spawned an album with characters voiced by Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, Ani DiFranco, The Low Anthem's Ben Knox Miller and Greg Brown. She's toured it endlessly with a small orchestra and rotating cast of singers (I've seen it three times) and it's a phenomenal project — but it's also so exciting to hear a brand-new set of material from this truly gifted songwriter. Young Man In America isn't a concept album, but thematically it explores relationships between parents and their children — in the opening track "Wilderland" she sings about a mother being a "shelterer" and father as a "shepherder," and in "Young Man" talks about a boy whose father who "didn't give a damn." Young Man ebbs and flows — from the jangly Americana of… more »
By Ashley Melzer, eMusic ContributorIn 2005, Bowerbirds - Phil Moore and Beth Tacular - wrote their first songs while squatting in an abandoned schoolhouse in South Carolina. Two years later, they released Hymns for a Dark Horse, their debut… more »
By Rachael Maddux, eMusic Contributor"Looking back, it was such a dumb idea," Kathleen Edwards sings on her new album, a line that sounds kind of dumb itself when it's typed out, but that in context - between laments for… more »
By Peter Blackstock, eMusic ContributorThe too-obvious shorthands here - given that this album was produced by her new beau Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver) in the wake of her marital split from her longtime guitarist Colin Cripps - is… more »
By eMusic Editorial Staff, eMusic ContributorIt was a year full of surprising breakouts and breathtaking discoveries, with reliable favorites from familiar faces and strong entries from new voices. These are our Top 100 Records of 2011. more »
By eMusic Editorial Staff, eMusic ContributorThe sophomore jinx. It's a trope as old as rock criticism itself: Band rockets out of nowhere and gains a quick, huge, passionate following. They go from playing basements to big stages in Barcelona in… more »
By eMusic Editorial Staff, eMusic ContributorThe 2012 GRAMMY® nominations are in, and frankly, we're thrilled to see nominations for a ton of our all-time favorite artists. Scanning the list is an embarrassment of eMusic riches: Bon Iver? Nominated for Song… more »
By Jayson Greene, Managing EditorAfter the listening session for Watch The Throne, Jay-Z stood up and revealed to the assembled crowd that he and Kanye had recorded, and scrapped, an earlier version of their much-hyped, long-rumored collaborative rap album.… more »
By Jayson Greene, Managing EditorAfter the listening session for Watch The Throne, Jay-Z stood up and revealed to the assembled crowd that he and Kanye had recorded, and scrapped, an earlier version of their much-hyped, long-rumored collaborative rap album.… more »
By Jayson Greene, Managing EditorAfter the listening session for Watch The Throne, Jay-Z stood up and revealed to the assembled crowd that he and Kanye had recorded, and scrapped, an earlier version of their much-hyped, long-rumored collaborative rap album.… more »
By Rachael Maddux, eMusic ContributorIn the three years since Justin Vernon became known beyond the local scenes of Raleigh, North Carolina, and Eau Claire, Wisconsin, three words — cabin, beard, Kanye — have seemingly become requirements in discussing his… more »
By Amanda Petrusich, eMusic ContributorAfter splitting with his former band (DeYarmond Edison, who, after relocating to North Carolina, reformed as Megafaun), Justin Vernon holed up in a remote Wisconsin hunting cabin for four frigid months, recording the tracks that… more »
By J. Edward Keyes, Editor-in-ChiefIn the book of First Timothy, Chapter 1, verse 15, the Apostle Paul wrote: "Here is a trustworthy saying: Christ came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst." Approximately… more »
By Laura Leebove, Deputy EditorBon Iver's Justin Vernon had an eventful 2010 — he AutoTuned his way on to the most important album of the year and released an R&B-leaning record with his side project, Gayngs. But one of… more »
