By John Morthland, eMusic ContributorChurchwood is a blues-rock quintet hailing from Austin, Texas; Churchwood 2, their second album, was released in February of this year, and makes them sound both more and less like a blues band than their… more »
By Douglas Wolk, eMusic ContributorOne of the most thrilling debuts of the year, Parquet Courts' Light Up Gold goes back to the first principles of punk that get forgotten every so often: speed, precision, brains and attitude. The group… more »
By Andy Beta, eMusic ContributorCountry music has created its fair share of superstars, icons and tragic figures, from Brooks & Dunn to Hank Williams to Patsy Cline; charlatans and chanteuses; white-hatted good guys like George Strait and black-clad firebrands… more »
By Lenny Kaye, eMusic ContributorThe Ghost Wolves, a stripped-down guitar/drums duo from Austin, Texas, have a feral take on transgressive rock 'n' roll. Carley Wolf works the distorto strings and Jonathan Konya pounds away at the skins, equal parts… more »
By Mikael Wood, eMusic ContributorLook, we could sidestep the similarities between Sarah Jaffe's new album and last year's Strange Mercy by St. Vincent. At a certain point, though, avoiding the obvious just feels disingenuous. And, besides, Strange Mercy is… more »
By Peter Blackstock, eMusic ContributorAs native Texans living in New York, husband-wife Chris Masterson and Eleanor Whitmore often feel the pull of their home state. They answered the call twice with this record: The title track was written about… more »
By Laura Leebove, Deputy EditorOn Goner Records' website, goofy Austin rocker John Wesley Coleman explains that the donkey is "a symbol of hard work, humor and death," and his latest LP Last Donkey Show covers all of those things. In "A Clown Gave You A Baby," Coleman frantically sings, "A clown gave you a baby/ and you killed it/ A clown gave you a baby/ and you kept on laughing," backed by a playful mix of keyboards, frenzied organs and bright guitars. Download John Wesley Coleman, "A Clown Gave You A Baby" more »
By Nate Patrin, eMusic ContributorTexas-based Gensu Dean is a traditionalist about crate-digging and beat-building. He prefers pure vinyl source material, fed through a SP-1200 - just like back in the peak era of sampling, but fortunately manages to avoid… more »
By John Morthland, eMusic ContributorLet me tell you about Let Me Tell You About the Blues, a series of three-disc packages (several of which are available on eMusic) that attempts to trace the evolution of the music by focusing… more »
By Rachael Maddux, eMusic ContributorSam Beam has been making music as Iron & Wine for nearly a decade now. His earliest records, beginning with 2002's The Creek Drank the Cradle, were quietly potent affairs, steeped in muggy summer air… more »
By John Morthland, eMusic ContributorCertainly there have been greater all-around artists, writers/singers/performers - Hank Williams, Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash are but a few - but George Jones, according to consensus, is the greatest singer country music has ever… more »
By Britt Robson, eMusic ContributorYou can count the people who changed the language of jazz on one hand: Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, (some would include Dizzy Gillespie here) and last, but not least, Ornette Coleman. As happened when Parker, Gillespie,… more »
By James McNair, eMusic Contributor"Why The Courage Of Others?" says Midlake frontman Tim Smith. "I guess because I could use some more courage myself." What Smith lacks in pluck, he clearly doesn't lack in tenacity, however, for he and… more »
By Christopher R. Weingarten, eMusic ContributorPutting their most malicious foot forward, the Jesus Lizard were a festering Texas-sized sore scratched across the sunny demeanor of '90s underground rock. Splattery tales of seedy figures were gurgled out in David Yow's trademark… more »
