Charlie Shelton
Articles
Music Review: Wye Oak
In the opening track of Wye Oak’s latest album, Shriek, singer Jenn Wasner finds herself waking up disoriented on a floor as she uses the celestial synths to search for her lost memories.
Music Review: Ryley Walker
Ryley Walker may be new to life as a solo musician, but his debut, All Kinds of You, is nothing short of a sophisticated and intricate arrangement, confidently stamping his bold and unique style of playing. The Chicago guitarist combines avant-garde complexities with a folk aesthetic in an album that speaks to the heart in an evocative way.
Future Islands’ Singles a stunner
Somewhere between the wickedly erratic and the wonderfully euphoric lies the magic of Future Islands.
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Music Review: Future Islands
Future Islands Singles ????1/2 Synth pop
Looking to the past to create a presence
As Hiss Golden Messenger, Michael Taylor leans heavily on American music traditions, but bends them heavily with his own style. When Michael Taylor of Durham’s Hiss Golden Messenger first released Bad Debt in 2010, the soft-spoken, intimate record did not reach a large audience. With most of the record’s supply burned in a warehouse fire during the London riots of 2010, the “lost” LP created a mysterious smoke around the origins of Taylor’s experimental folk project.
Music Review: Lost in the Trees
Lost in the Trees Past Life ???1/2 Alt Rock Ari Picker, leader of Lost in the Trees, is a virtuoso at beautifully weaving his sad and tragic past into his band’s varying shades of majestic music. In the band’s third LP, Past Life, Picker and crew interject vulnerable sentiment similar to previous albums, but this time with a different, progressive lens.
Music Review: Doug Keith
Doug Keith Pony ??? Folk rock Doug Keith certainly seems to know what a good collaboration looks like, most notably as Sharon Van Etten’s traveling guitarist and bassist.
Puppets at play
Puppetry artist and local band craft a new reality together Telling a story can happen in a myriad of different ways. For Bombadil, storytelling usually involves creating a unique world through quirky yet contemplative musical narratives, where two lovers are both cats or somebody is coming to terms with a lonely caterpillar inside of them.
Music Review: Painted Palms
Painted Palms Forever ??? Psych-pop Painted Palms is too high. But sometimes that can be okay, because the band is having fun with it. In their debut album, Forever, the duo of Reese Donohue and Chris Prudhomme float away in the breezy fields of psychedelic pop.
Music Review: The Letter Jackets
The Letter Jackets The Letter Jackets ???1/2 Rock Steeped in a bluegrass formula with a robust rock ‘n’ roll exterior, The Letter Jackets’ self-titled debut is not a pioneered effort, but is a refreshment from a group itching to try something a little out of routine.
Music Review: Mipso
Mipso Dark Holler Pop ???1/2 Bluegrass Mipso needs little introduction in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area, as does the group’s sophomore album Dark Holler Pop.
Column: The band behind the curtain
There is a light rain drizzling over New York City and somewhere in Brooklyn, Arcade Fire is playing, but they don’t want you to know about it.
Music Review: Daniel Bachman
Daniel Bachman Jesus I’m a Sinner Psych folk ???? Deep in the Appalachian woods lies the origins of Daniel Bachman’s mystical fingerpicking.
