Colter Wall’s Cover of “Evangelina”
For me, it’s the way it starts. No, I don’t mean the sentimental sashay of an intro, with acoustic guitar and harmonica refracting like heat...
Andy Shauf’s “Halloween Store”
Some songs explode on stage. In the lead-up to seeing Andy Shauf perform at Toronto’s historic Massey Hall, I’d been spending time with his discography, including...
The Durutti Column’s “Otis”
“Otis” begins, as some of the best songs do, unexpectedly. A guitar string reverberates ever so briefly, first plucked and then bent, echoing forth a...
A Bouquet of Songs
I’ve been thinking lately about music as a conversation. For me, that tends to take place internally. When I listen to music by myself, it...
Getting Ready with H.E.R. and SZA
Does getting-ready music define the mood or does the mood define getting-ready music? Either way, it undeniably lays the foundation for the night. In college,...
Bill Callahan’s “Riding for the Feeling”
I’ve done a lot of leaving as an adult. The poetic call it nomadic, the nihilistic call it lost, and I’ve been known to call...
Julie Byrne’s “Melting Grid”
When I first moved back to New York in the early, wintry days of 2018, I was nearly a year into working nights for Pitchfork....
Nilüfer Yanya’s Steely Mask
I’ve been retreating since the start of the new year. Part of it comes down to logistics (I’m moving to another country in just a...
A Barenaked Christmas
Christmas music is a mood best supported by variety rather than entirety. Before streaming services became our de facto listening system, I recall hand-selecting five...
Weyes Blood’s “God Turn Me Into a Flower”
The problem of long covid looks different for everyone who ends up with this unfortunate condition, and many experience overlapping diagnoses. For me, it has...