Trevor MacLaren

Tangle EyeAlan Lomax’s Southern Journey Remixed (Zoe/Rounder)The idea of remixing the legendary field recordings of Alan Lomax is scary, but it works. Tangle Eye takes each track and works it over with a flair that doesn’t strip the initial effect of the songs. Though sacrilegious to all things folk, the mixes are handled well and […]

Swearing at MotoristsLast Night Becomes This Morning(Sonic Unyon) They are called “the two-man Who” by some critics, but that description is a grave injustice to Dayton, Ohio’s Swearing at Motorists. This duo incorporates so much into its sound that it moves beyond the obvious early Who influence. There is power-pop all over the record, but […]

Isobel CampbellMilkwhite Sheets (V2)Before venturing out with Mark Lanegan on the great country ballad-infused Ballad of the Broken Seas, Campbell laid down this superior disc. As with all the records she has made since leaving Belle and Sebastian, Campbell employs a new genre that will take everyone by surprise. Milkwhite Sheets is a British folk […]

ClearlakeAmber(Domino)Clearlake is among the brilliant new guitar bands out of the UK, including British Sea Power and Idlewind. They have come to save a world trapped under the bloated corpses of warhorses like Oasis. Hailing from the English sea town of Hove, Clearlake follows in the steps of Blur and Pulp, but is far more […]

Keb’ Mo’Keep it Simple(Epic/Sony)Keb’ Mo’ has been keepin’ it simple for about the last 20 years, fusing old country-blues with touches of folk and soul while moanin’ the blues on contemporary issues. Keb has always had a modern take on delta blues masters Robert Johnson and Son House (Keb plays a National steel as well) […]

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 […]