Review: ‘Imaginational Anthem Vol. XIII: Songs of Bruce Cockburn’ Brings New Life to Time-Tested Tracks
Compiled by indie star James Toth, this collection is the unlikeliest of tribute albums, recasting Cockburn for a younger, hipper audience.
Kenny Berkowitz
Review: Willie Nelson Breathes New Life into Some Old Favorites on ‘Bluegrass’
Nelson and friends put a bluegrass shine on a dozen of his original compositions on this new studio album.
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Review: Adrian Holovaty’s Playful and Precise ‘Melodic Guitar Music’
Holovaty’s “first proper album” comprises ten instrumentals that celebrate his love for melody, improvisation, Chet Atkins, the Beatles, and Django Reinhardt.
Review: Tom Heyman’s ‘24th Street Blues’ Paints an Unflinching Musical Portrait of San Francisco’s Mission District
Heyman’s real-life character studies are the barflies, bohemians, hustlers, junkies, and unhoused families that line the streets.
Review: Mark Leggett Creates a Timeless World of His Own on ‘Folktown’
Leggett has become a master of tones and textures, of perfectly matching instruments and moods, of using tunings to create distinct, sonically rich backgrounds.
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Review: ‘Rick Deitrick: The Unguitarist’ Documents a Lifetime of Musical Wanderings
Dig into 50 years of other-worldly guitar explorations from this unorthodox instrumentalist
Hiroya Tsukamoto Simplifies His Sound on Another Solo Guitar Outing, ‘Little River Canyon’
Compared to 2021’s ‘Window to the World,’ ‘Little River Canyon’ feels simpler, without the former’s loops or pedals, recorded live in the studio with only one guitar.
Evocative Music from a Unique Instrument on Debashish Bhattacharya’s ‘The Sound of the Soul’
Bhattacharya plays his self-designed chaturangui with equal parts passion and precision on this tribute to his mentor, Ali Akbar Khan
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Powerful Doc Watson Tribute ‘I Am a Pilgrim’ Surprises with Star-Studded Cast of Players
Diverse roster of artists reinforces the wide musical influence of the legendary guitarist.
Deniz Cuylan Returns with More Brightly Colored Cinematic Abstractions on ‘Rings of Juniper’
The soundscapes on ‘Rings of Juniper’ are increasingly complex, their palettes more varied, their themes more ambitious than Cuylan's previous works.
Joe Henry and Friends Collaborate on the Enigmatic but Satisfying ‘All the Eye Can See’
The songs on Joe Henry’s latest album 'All the Eye Can See' refuse to give up their mysteries, the melodies wandering like question marks with the lyrics threading a thin line between knowing and unknowing.
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Veteran Minnesota String Band Trampled by Turtles Is Still Getting Better on ‘Alpenglow’
Alpenglow is Trampled By Turtles' best-sounding album, filled with a sonic richness that keeps these songs driving forward.
The Elijah McLaughlin Ensemble Weaves a Rich Sonic Tapestry on its Second Album
A testimonial to the power of first takes, in-studio improvisation, and the post-pandemic persistence of nature and art.
John Moreland’s ‘Birds in the Ceiling’ Packed with Darkly Powerful Songs
The spareness of Birds in the Ceiling frees John Moreland to dig deeper into the darkness of these songs, to focus on a life where death is the only certainty.
Bluegrass Trio The Slocan Ramblers Breaks New Ground on ‘Up the Hill and Through the Fog’
On Up the Hill and Through the Fog, the Slocan Ramblers make a clean break from their folk-trad past and establishing three distinctive voices to make the group greater than the sum of its parts.
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Joe Robinson Explores New Directions on the Eclectic ‘The Prize’
With his 7th full-length album, The Prize, Joe Robinson is reaching for the biggest prize of all: writing songs that are as good as his guitar playing.
There’s More Light Than Darkness on Mary Gauthier’s ‘Dark Enough to See the Stars’
Dark Enough to See the Stars is what we call a happy album for Mary Gauthier—the happiest album in her career, recorded at the happiest time in her life.
Billy Strings and Terry Barber Pick Their Way Down Memory Lane on ‘Me/And/Dad’
Billy Strings' Me/And/Dad is a happily unlikely outcome for father and son, a chance to record an album rooted so deeply in memory and gratitude, addiction and recovery.
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Mississippi Ghosts Haunt the Deep Blues of Ryan Lee Crosby on ‘Winter Hill Blues’
Winter Hill Blues is Ryan Lee Crosby's strongest work yet, alternating between hard-droning blues on electric guitar and softer, brooding blues on acoustic guitars.
Bluegrass Elder Statesman Peter Rowan Still at the Top of His Craft with ‘Calling You From My Mountain’
There's a lived-in clarity to these songs: Over and over, Rowan bridges the distance between bluegrass tradition and Buddhist practice.
Folk, Jazz, and Classical Meet in Woody Harris’ Return to Recording on ‘Bluish’ and ‘Edgework’
With the EPs Bluish and Edgework, guitarist Woody Harris has released his first new music in 42 years, and it’s a lifetime away from the folk albums he recorded in his 20s.
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Time Reveals Changes in Son House’s Approach on 1964 Recording ‘Forever on My Mind’
The 8 performances on Forever on my Mind, recorded live at Wabash College in 1964, are so different, they force us to rethink everything we know we about him.
Trevor Gordon Hall Crafts Expressive Instrumentals from a Variety of Guitars on ‘This Beautiful Chaos’
Using six guitars—a nylon-string crossover, a baritone, a Portuguese viola amarantina, steel-string acoustics, and an electric—Hall switches between solo and multitracking and different tunings.
Aoife O’Donovan’s ‘Age of Apathy’ is an Introspective Album Completely of Its Time
Aoife O’Donovan's Age of Apathy is a different kind of pandemic album: engaged, ambitious, expansive.
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Paul Thorn’s ‘Never Too Late to Call’ is His Most Stirring Album Yet
There’s no one else like Paul Thorn, a walking contradiction with an honest sense of his shortcomings, an insistent moral compass, and a healthy dose of country funk.