The 10 Best Wilco Songs From Their First Era
Wilco are always full of surprises. Their lineup has changed frequently and reveals a group constantly pushing themselves into uncharted musical territory.
alternative country
Jesse Welles Sounds Assured on the Multidimensional ‘Middle’
Youthful Arkansas native Jesse Welles has been at it for years but moves beyond protest music to the sophisticated alternative country of Middle.
The Devil Makes Three Offer a Spell-binding LP of Loss and Resilience
The Devil Makes Three let listeners lose themselves in song, but not without missing sight of the deeper truths. It’s a compelling and cathartic musical experience.
How One Innovative LP Carved a Dusty Trail to Alternative Country
Don’t Shoot collected country tracks by Los Angeles rockers in the mid-1980s. Cutting edge then, it presents a blueprint for today’s alternative country.
Drive-By Truckers’ Patterson Hood Goes Through the Looking Glass
Drive-By Truckers frontman Patterson Hood’s new solo record is an unsentimental look back at events that shaped him.
Texan Joe Ely Knows Everyone Matters on ‘Love and Freedom’
Joe Ely puts emotional content front and center, whether offering a tale of addiction or a mirthful story of his encounters with a local cop.
Bonnie Prince Billy Finds a Comfortable Home
Bonnie Prince Billy’s The Purple Bird reaches its highest points when Will Oldham finds the joy in life, which feels like its own form of resistance.
Lilly Hiatt Puts Love in Motion on ‘Forever’
Listening to Lilly Hiatt’s Forever, her first album in four years, one can’t help but get swept along in her romantic bliss and the music’s hypnotic pulse.
Lilly Hiatt Celebrates Joy with “Kwik-E-Mart” (Premiere)
The newest single from her forthcoming album, Forever, finds Lilly Hiatt romanticizing gas station snacks and walking around in the cold.
Loose Cattle Scare the Herd with ‘Someone’s Monster’
Country-rockers Loose Cattle’s Someone’s Monster suggests that we may all be somebody else’s demons while the songs imply we might be our own worst enemies.
Kevin Gordon Finds That We Live in ‘The In Between’
Alt-country/Americana artist Kevin Gordon’s The In Between provides evidence for the grandeur of keeping on even when everything seems wrong.
MJ Lenderman Finds the ‘Fireworks’ in Everyday Life
MJ Lenderman creates sounds that somehow cut into his listeners’ heads and hearts, even when the songs’ sonics resemble that of the garage band next door.