Spooky, pop-y, humorous and banjo enthusiast all rolled into one. His true talent is that of arrangement. His songs usually beautifully constructed with a good use of instrumentation.
He has a new tour and an new EP available (stream for free).
Or go and pickup his record Illinois. I dare not to be creeped out - yet mesmerized by the song "John Wayne Gacy, Jr".
I cannot believe it has been seven (SEVEN!) years since the last (proper) Gillian Welch record. Along with her partner David Rawlings, she put out some of the most consistently enjoyable folk/rock records of the last 20 years. Hurry back, G-dub. We miss you
Wilco has put out some pretty cool EPs along with the proper records. At the time, you had to put the CD in your computer to get access to the bonus material. Now they are nice enough to let anyone download them - for free, no less
I have to admit that I didn't like the Avett Brothers latest LP "I and Love and You" when I first heard it. I loved "Emotionalism" and the two Gleam EPs. But after my first spin of I&L&Y, I said to myself, "Not enough banjos! Too many pianos
Wilco has a wealth of unreleased (or under-released) tracks. The holy grail of all of these is from the so-called YHF Engineer's Demos. It is a song called "Cars Can't Escape". It is such a beautiful and heartfelt tune with the apropos YHF era noise coda. But it's not just the haunting lyrics that make this The Song. Listen to the brilliant bass line and the subtle piano. The arrangement is just the perfect accompaniment to this piece. It is hard to imagine why it was not on the album