Trevor MacLaren

Scott WalkerThe Drift(4AD)From 1967 to 1970, Scott Walker released four records that intersected grand baroque arrangements with morbid undertones, sung in a voice that was a cross between Jacques Brel and Frank Sinatra. These post-Walker Brothers records laid the cult iconography and genius reputation of Walker. By the mid-’70s he entered an exile that lasted […]

Richard SwiftDressed Up for the Letdown(Secretly Canadian)Swift is one more great artist from the last truly original scene: new weird America. The music is unabashedly minstrel-show, but is also very spacey and psychedelic at times. Swift has a way of mixing early McCartney solo work with the melancholy beauty of Elvis Costello’s Imperial Bedroom crossed […]

Jay Bennett and Edward BurchThe Palace at 4 A.M. (Bent Penny)When Jay Bennett said goodbye to Jeff Tweedy, Wilco fans were worried. But Tweedy proved himself; Bennett came out on the losing end. Though the multi-instrumentalist left a void in Wilco, The Palace at 4 A.M. isn’t close to the calibre of any Wilco project. […]

PJ HarveyWhite ChalkIsland/UniversalWhite Chalk is a dark, sparse record that brings a whole new sound to Harvey’s catalogue. Without any distortion and featuring PJ’s vocals in a higher register, the disc is truly beautiful and haunting. White Chalk is the mature acoustic answer to her breakthrough alt-classic Rid of Me. Trevor McLarencategories: Best of the […]

David Murray 4tetWaltz Again Justin TimeOn the follow up to the big band release Gwotet, composer/arranger/ saxophonist David Murray outdoes himself on Waltz Again. Here he doesn’t just compose genius jazz pieces, but also the string arrangements that outline the tracks. The disc is an absolute masterpiece that begins with a 26-minute-plus seven- part composition […]

Indigo GirlsAll That We Let In (Sony)After returning to prominence with 2002’s Become You, the great duo of Emily Saliers and Amy Ray release another great close-to-the-roots folk-rock disc. Where most duos rely on one genius songwriter (Simon and Garfunkel), the Indigo Girls come from different musical ideologies that have made them a leading force […]

VariousStart Your Own Country(Loose Music)Loose Music’s compilation has a great cross-section of Americana. The artists here put the label in the same league as Yep Roc and Eleven Thirty. Some of the highlights include San Francisco’s Two Gallants, sounding a lot like Bright Eyes, as well as Steve Ketchen and The Kingston Hillbillies covering The […]

AIDS WolfThe Lovvers LP (Lovepump United)Atonal noise bands that have risen in the 20 years since Sonic Youth’s masterpiece breakthrough Sister have all been suspect at best. Sure, some like Royal Trux and Blonde Redhead are great, but most are lost in a wash of dissonance. Unlike the artists and composers who evolved from the […]