Every year is a good year for music. 2025 is no different. Getting the tap on the shoulder to be a contributor to Aquarium Drunkard this past spring meant that I also participated in the 2025 version of AD’s annual Year in Review compilation. Its existence is conclusive evidence of my opening statement. Personally, I’veContinue reading “Favorite Albums of 2025”
Tag Archives: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Stephen Malkmus Series: “Xian Man”
From the perspective of hindsight, March 6, 2020 turned out to be a bad time for Stephen Malkmus to release an album. Within weeks of the record’s release date, Malkmus’s beloved NBA suspended their season, schools in the United States began closing down, and individual states started to shut down bars and restaurants. Travel bansContinue reading “Stephen Malkmus Series: “Xian Man””
Stephen Malkmus Series: “Water and a Seat”
When Matador Record released Stephen Malkmus’s first album in 2001, there was a concerted effort on their part to establish Malkmus as a solo artist and offer this new stage of his career as distinct from Pavement. Most of the contemporary reviews of the album couldn’t help but push this same narrative. Though there’s some quirkinessContinue reading “Stephen Malkmus Series: “Water and a Seat””
A Good Year for Stephen Malkmus
Stephen Malkmus had a good year. It was also a busy one for the singer, songwriter, and guitar deity as it included the launch of a new band, more reunion tour dates with foundational 90s indie band Pavement, high-profile interviews, and the premier of a movie which featured his younger self. What follows are 10Continue reading “A Good Year for Stephen Malkmus”
Papa M’s “I Am Not Lonely with Cricket”
In the latter half of the 1990s, I lived in the greater Los Angeles area, specifically in Venice Beach near the Pacific Ocean. My work was in Santa Monica, so my daily commute was relatively short compared to other Southern Californians. It was also strikingly and stereotypically beautiful. To avoid the traffic of other peopleContinue reading “Papa M’s “I Am Not Lonely with Cricket””
2024 Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN – March 23, 2024
Click here to find all of Recliner Notes’ coverage of 2024 Big Ears Festival. The rain let up at some point on Friday night, so attendees of 2024 Big Ears Festival were spared a second day of soaked clothes and dampened spirits. Because your humble narrator “overran his coverage” for my first day at thisContinue reading “2024 Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN – March 23, 2024”
Son of the Sea
After 2013’s Dream River, Bill Callahan did not release an album of new original compositions for six years until Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest came out in 2019. During that time, Callahan and his wife had their first child, and it impacted Callahan’s mindset in many ways as he told The Creative Independent in 2019:Continue reading “Son of the Sea”
Feather by Feather
From the beginning of Bill Callahan’s career when he recorded under the name Smog until the present releasing music with his given name, Callahan has been signed to the record label Drag City. In the early 2000s, while still using the Smog moniker, Callahan was one of three white male recording artists signed to DragContinue reading “Feather by Feather”
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