Listen Up
Jim Lauderdale
Listen UpJim Lauderdale has been one of Nashville’s most respected songwriters for a long time, but the corporate brass never considered him much of a singer. Oh, sure, he’s performed for years and recorded for Warner Bros., Atlanti...
The Roots
Listen UpThe Roots’ live prowess and artistic versatility have never been fully harnessed on any of the hip-hop band’s several studio albums. Taken together, the records are a chronology of an evolving, maturing group. Still, while ...
Various artists
Listen UpKinky Friedman’s songs are known more for their titles than what the music sounds like. “They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore” and “Get Your Biscuits In the Oven & Your Buns In The Bed” appear in article...
Nudity / Priestess
Listen UpThere are basically two kinds of retro bands — ones that hew closely to the old school, and ones that occasionally flip the script.
Randy Rogers Band
Listen UpEvery decade or so, a new regional renegade comes along to symbolize Texas Music’s swaggering side, a la Jerry Jeff Walker in the 1970s, Robert Earl Keen in the ’80s, and Pat Green in the ’90s. Who will we look back on an...
Sufjan Stevens
Listen UpWriting a definitive Sufjan Stevens review is almost as ambitious as Stevens’ intent to write, record, and release 50 albums themed after each U.S. state. So far, with Michigan and Illinois, the singer-songwriter and multi-in...
Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
Listen UpAnybody who’s ever seen old black-and-white cartoons and paid any attention to the background music understands the joyous appeal of jazz swing, especially its fun, frenetic vibe. Made in the sophisticated American cities whe...
Valient Thorr
Listen UpRemember nü metal, that genre of suck-ass Jock Jam bands like Korn and Godsmack? When they weren’t busy making huge, multi-zippered, idiot-pants fashionable, they were supposedly breathing life into the tired, leathery lungs...
Cex
Listen UpThe pseudonym for songwriter/producer Riyan Kidwell, Cex works from a palette of moody atmospherics; tinny, loud, and occasionally funky drums; and a harmonic swirl of calling-and-responding male and female voices.