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“I remember recording the tracks, it was about 11 at night, and I felt almost transcendental, as if I was out of my body, singing these words to myself. That’s what these songs are: a confession to my future and past self.” So Nadia Reid introduces her sophomore album Preservation, out now on new British label […]
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[T]he thing about receiving music from other people is this: there is always some grace associated with the transaction.
...moreAs 2016 draws to a close, it is a time for both endings and beginnings. The electric folk of Big Thief is well-suited to such introspective moments—tinged with sepia-toned nostalgia and a shy sweetness that suggests hope for the future. Their gentle, unhurried song “Paul”—off their critically welcomed record Masterpiece—perfects the dual flavors of sweetness and bitterness […]
...moreMaybe growing up with a father who was a Jehovah’s Witness caused Charlyn Marie “Chan” Marshall to develop a sensitivity to the plight of the unlucky and underprivileged. Then again, Marshall, who is widely known by her stage name Cat Power, might also have an artist’s innate empathy and receptiveness to others’ pain—something that we, as a nation, could […]
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She takes a simple story and turns it into something the listener can hold in the palm of their hand.
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I was excited to see the New York Times’s announcement that a regular column by the writer Geoff Dyer called “Reading Life” would be appearing in their weekend Book Review. I was even more intrigued and, somehow, encouraged, when eventually it appeared only three times.
...moreThe most prominent feature of Burn Your Fire For No Witness is the haunting voice of Angel Olsen. The St. Louis-bred singer’s husky tone sounds a bit like Cat Power with an exposed nerve. Though Olsen is only 27 (or thereabouts), throughout her new record she manages to convey a woundedness we might expect to […]
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When I first started listening to Cat Power’s music, I was still with a man I very much loved. He played music, he was a music man, and for four years, I depended on him for all my music.
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