"Trend-Bucking PASTE Now Trendy Magazine"

ARRRRGH DIE DIE DIE DIE

"It’s not the mind-blowing masterpiece the critics are so dizzily carping about, but as a milepost of the current state of world electronica it remains strong throughout."

sounds horrible, incidentally? neo-soul as an "in" to modern black music = *barf*

"Absolutely we could and should be stronger there," he says. "And slowly and surely, we are putting our money where our mouth is. We're working on a big feature on [black Atlanta singer-songwriter] India Arie. The whole neo-soul thing seems to be a place where folks in our audience — who, let's just say, don't listen to a lot of music made by black people — can start."

hmmm...this brings to mind another line from "The Classical"

HAHAHAHA! And it's called PASTE!

jesus! a bruce cockburn album as the soundtrack to yr life!

also, it pisses me off when the guy talks about buying a quiet riot album and doesn't even realize that it was a slade cover! geezer rock mag dudes should know shit like that!

featuring:

Jim White
Average White Band
Whitesnake
White Lion
The White Stripes
The Negro Problem
White Zombie
Snow
Paul Anka

That said, that they all picked "Illinois" is cringey.

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, of the hip-hop band the Roots, is the only black person to have a Paste cover. "And I can see where that could be perceived as a plus and a minus," Thompson says.

I really, really want to know why this guy thinks it could be perceived as a plus, rather than a minus or a neutral matter.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! ("admits")

haha man, I don't know - the fact that they feel so guilty about it and realize that they're tastes are totally whitebread is really the issue, and kinda problematic (do they have an "obligation" to publicize "black" music? I don't really think so, but they DO, as critics, have an obligation to have better/wider tastes - heh heh)

Oh, okay then. Thank you, Super-Indie Man.

You know, this might require some elaboration.

Sorry, I shouldn't have said that -- I'm not the fastest poster on ILx.

hott!

Calling Dr. Freud!

-- Hurting (Hurtingchie...), August 16th, 2005 6:17 PM. (later)

Me luv U long time.

You think mashups are "pretty cool" too.

I mean...I don't actually read paste, but is there any reason they shouldn't cover what they like without a bunch of white guys pointing fingers and goin' "Ooh! ooh! White guys!"

I don't actually listen to it much if any (haha although my affection for acoustic guitars is well known) - my beef here is with what smells like orthodoxy: "If x style of music isn't being covered, then y publication is clueless/'white'"etc etc: why? it's been argued, several times, that (say) the Source presents itself as a hiphop magazine, so of course it covers hiphop and shouldn't be asked to broaden its coverage (though most hiphop producers have rather broader tastes, and you'd think that the magazines covering them would be interested in/by that). Paste (say) covers a demographic (white college grads, maybe?) whose tastes they know pretty well: why ought they cover music in which they're not interested? To make guys on internet message boards happy?

It just seems to me that there's a group of magazines, and perhaps a style of coverage, that's the designated "HAW HAW OLD GUYS" school, which response seems to me 1) not a very interesting avenue of debate (all these threads usually do is come off like a room full of white* jazzbos in the mid-fifties showing they're hard by saying "I'm hep") and 2) intrinsically dishonest, for the area-of-coverage reasons cited above

as I say, I don't read Paste. But why non-player hate so bad? It's kinda unseemly to me is all. NB the Source is really just a readily available example here; MixMag could as easily have been invoked, or whatevah.

*mainly

But then on the other other hand, there's this: "We live and die by our tagline — 'Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture,'" -- which is maybe the crux of the problem. It's ye olde white male prerogative rearing its not-dead-yet head. Where the Source and Jockeyslut and even No Depression readily identify themselves as niche magazines aimed at niche audiences in a marketplace that is at least implicitly acknowledged as being much broader than what appears within their own pages, Paste is offering itself as something more, as cultural gatekeepers and arbiters in a broad sense. Now, they obviously don't fully believe that -- how could you, when you acknowledge that your readers don't listen to much "black music"? -- but there's still that self-aggrandizing and (yeah, I know) rockist assertion of the universality of your own niche's principles and aesthetics. It's a tendency people in all niches are prone too, but which members of a cultural majority are able to indulge longer than cultural minorities (including not just racial minorities but also in this case say electronic music, or old-time fiddle music, or music in languages other than English). However shaky or endangered that majority's position as a majority may be.

So yeah, I don't really think the Paste guys are bad guys. Maybe I'll even pitch them some things. I already write for No Depression, I should be able to fit right in. But I think they need to change their tagline -- maybe to "Signs of Life in the Middle" or something.

This last bit is key to me: I understand, and empathise with, outrage over the majority's tendency to think of itself as the default; the naturally-preferable; the real thing. I don't understand why discussion of this hegemony in music is limited entirely to the white majority's marginalization of black culture, since the male majority's marginalization (not to say, except to sometimes say, brutalization) of women permeates all areas of music and, politically and ethically speaking, is only a different flavor of the same urge that posits a white hegemony.

Why is the one of interest to music people, while the other, if considered at all, is met with weak "we can't help it, girls aren't making good records" arguments?

The best thing about Paste is that it killed off Tracks, which was a lousy read and dim marketing prospects to boot. Now that Paste and Harp can fight head on, at least it's a battle worth watching.

The black issue in the article was predictable--not because the AJC writer is African American, but because the descrimination demanded by serving a niche will never be reconcilable with those who think equality trumps all causes. As Gypsy points out, the tagline inspires ridicule on this front, but in our culture it doesn't seem realistic to have a tagline that said something like, "Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture In Our Desired Demographic." Is the desire to serve that demographic inherently bigoted or racist? It's at least an elephant in the marketing department. Anyway, I find that tagline more repulsive from its general pretension more than anything else.

I really wonder what the financials look like for Paste. I very highly doubt that these guys are drinking out of gold mugs.

See, I hear the term "signs of life" not as a universal statement of quality, but as a very particular marketing approach that goes along with the way Starbucks, Landmark art cinemas, etc. position themselves - "better," not "best." Paste pursues the "quality alternative," but doesn't claim to be the final arbiter of what's great and what's not (in fact, I don't find it to be a very judgmental magazine). The tagline seems so of a piece with that positioning that it never occurred to me to be offended by it.

I agree with everyone on this thread who thinks it's silly to diss Paste for knowing their audience. I don't see, say, Blender getting shit for the same thing. Magazines have to know their demographic and target it to survive. The people who read Paste don't care about baile funk, and probably wouldn't even if you played it for them (so forget about just describing it) - so why should Paste cover it?

BTW, lots of Paste hate on this board but the editors are nice guys and they just hiked the rates - I'm surprised more people here aren't pitching to them.

they're so out of touch with the broader public that they can afford to raise their pay rates

hmmmmm

Yes, there is .

I don't agree with john. the source is a genre mag, what is paste's genre? bland mush? and i'm sure paste covers black artists if they are mushy enough.just as the source covers white artists if they are rappy enough. maybe people just have to stop using the super-secret code word "white" when what they really mean is boring and bland.as for me, i perused the latest artists on display in this month's paste on-line and hardly any of them would make me want to pick up the magazine. sure, they feature a token grime act (mountain goats), asnd a token funk musician (bernard sumner), and a token reggae artist (um, some white guy), but the rest: billy corgan on the cover (ugh), malkmus, go-betweens, yoakam, fulks, tracy bonham (see, they like girls if they are mushy enough), shelby lynne (or rootsy and cutesy enough), raveonettes, of montreal, dinosaur jr, embrace, mike doughty, wallflowers, beck, oasis,john prine, joe pernice. see, i don't care that all those people are white, but i do care that most of them are as about as exciting as watching paste dry.their genre is dullsville and i suppose the magazine should be lauded for getting that many dull people together in one mag. they are only missing bob mould and paul westerberg and steve earle. (two of my very favorite very white people are featured in the dvd section though: klaus nomi and bob newhart.) oh, and amos lee and corey harris! (muuuuuuuuuuushy).

AAAAAA battery" may also be an abbreviation for " antiaircraft artillery battery An AAA battery is 44. 5 mm long and 10. 5 mm in diameter, weighing around 11. Output of alkaline batteries in this size is 1. 5 volts, 900 to 1,155 mAh. The battery is also clas (triple A) is also a standard size of dry-cell batteryIn science and technology, a battery is a device that stores energy and makes it available in an electrical form. Although such storage in an electrostatic form is practical in some specialized uses, batteries usually consist of electrochemical devices su.

AAA is also a level of league in minor league baseballBaseball Part of the History of baseball series. Minor leagues are baseball leagues which are at a lower pay level and play in smaller cities and towns than do Major League Baseball. In North America, most but not all of the minor leagues are under the co.

AAA or Aaa is also the highest rating given to financial bondsBonds can refer to: A financial bond (including a Junk bond or a Zero-coupon bond) Barry Bonds A Chemical bond (including the ionic bond, covalent bond, coordinate covalent bond, metallic bond, hydrogen bond, Carbon-carbon bond, Disulfide bond and Glycosi.

i prefer all of these.

I mean, your question seems to imply that a demographic isn't a valid way of constructing genre - our mutual friends at Decibel would disagree I think!

thanks so much ladies and gentlemen

anyhow Eppy sure! but there's such a particular brand of ire directed at this stuff - years ago, you might have heard rock doodz yukkin' it up about magazine covering rap, but every time a magazine wants to cover AAA the "check out the white guys!" cadre of white guys come out of the woodwork, and it's just odd, especially considering how as I say above they're very, very keyed in to monoculture w/r/t race but don't give a rat's about gender (or class, for that matter)

Dude, what ever would I put on my carrots then? I'm glad you lack this power.

It also also seems worth mentioning that there are all sorts of ways that the tastes of the Paste demographic have effects outside of said demographic, because white music nerds have a tendency to form bands, and if said bands have gotten their tastes from Paste, then they go on to make more Pastey music, and get covered in Paste as well as more mass-market publications, and the whole cycle repeats.

"Many of you might be wondering why I'm writing in a magazine filled with bands that I would mostly want to strangle and drown in a mix of battery acid, semi-soft dung and Mountain Dew concentrate..."

(I think Banana has pointed out much that is wise re: other magazines and reception of them. But Paste strikes me as nyurgh, straight up.)

hummus! and you'd like it!

yeah, well, this is what i would like to avoid.

"but I don't think Nellie McKay ought grind out some old-skool death just to make me happy"

i never said anything like this. and i have never heard her, but i would like to.

"I mean, your question seems to imply that a demographic isn't a valid way of constructing genre"

but aaa programmers haven't invented a genre! and neither have Paste! it's just mor for a different generation! people have always created music that fit demographics.

"but there's such a particular brand of ire directed at this stuff"

this is silly. there is enough ire to go around. there hasn't even been that much ire on this thread. i don't hate the people i listed. they are just mushy. and typical. and written about a lot elsewhere!!! they are hardly underrepresented and unheard of.maybe that's where some of the ire comes from. and if you want to be an apologist for a bogus radio format, fine. i say fukka format. i like good music and good magazines and i'll pick on anyone i like! i liked the one issue of harp that i read. and maybe there is some good writing in paste. if i ever see it, i will give it a chance. they don't sell it on my island.

uh, I'm a white guy and I'm happy to bitch about the Source and its lazy journalism, conflicts of interest, and general decline in coverage over the last 10 years or so. I mean, its pretty much a worthless rag now. I wouldn't exactly take them to task for narrowly focusing on their chosen genre, but then their tagline is not some grandiose bullshit like "Signs of Life in Music and Culture" or whatever.

Read The Review! 1. U2 - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
Rapidly approaching their 30th anniversary as a band, and now almost 25 years since the release of their debut, Boy, I can think of few bands who have not only continued to impact popular culture but who also continue to make great recorded music. Undeniably, U2 is one of those bands. If it’s even imaginable, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb may be U2’s best album since The Joshua Tree. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb is a superb album, containing all of U2’s timeless musical and lyrical signatures. Songs about faith and the intimacy of love are couched in sounds that often recall the spaciousness of records like The Unforgettable Fire yet reach back even further to the melodic toughness of their 1983 classic War. From the opening moment of the album when Bono counts down to the power chords of “Vertigo” in Spanish to the cathartic finish of the album’s last song, “Yahweh,” U2 have once again confirmed their place as one of the greatest rock bands of all time…and getting better at it with each new release. You can only say that for a few - if any - rock bands still recording 20 years into their careers.
Read The Review! 2. Jamie Cullum - Twentysomething
Welcome to the shape of jazz to come. He is pianist and singer-songwriter Jamie Cullum, currently one of a handful of “twentysomething” “jazz” artists interpreting pop songs old and new, and writing originals on his own unique terms. With a band that's not afraid to hit the groove or flirt with whimsy, Jamie Cullum is an exciting new talent. He’ll charm you in his Black high-top Converse sneakers, his pixie-ish good looks and his Billy Joel-esque vocals. If any part of the music lover in you enjoys Steely Dan, Norah Jones, Joel and yes, dare I say even the pop side of Harry Connick then Cullum’s album is worth checking out. And if you come to this party favoring the originals of some of the artists Cullum covers like Radiohead and Hendrix and Jeff Buckley, then you might be surprised by Cullum’s confident verve.
Read The Review! 3. Five For Fighting - The Battle For Everything
The Battle For Everything is Five For Fighting's and Ondrasik’s brilliant follow-up to America Town. The production and overall sound of this record count for alot; from the sweeping string arrangements, the rich and resonant piano sound, the well placed guitar effects and the insidious percussion and rhythm. The record is dramatic without being corny. Passionate without being affected. Clearly inspired by the classic rock he grew up listening to, John Ondrasik manages to make the genre sound relevant. This is his 'Tumbleweed Connection' for the 00’s.
Read The Review! 4. Norah Jones - Feels Like Home
I’m sure the question of “what do you do for an encore?” came up to Ms. Jones during the creative process for following up her smash success debut. The answer? Feels Like Home is like Norah's debut album, only better. The arrangements are more musical and fully realized. Her choice of cover songs, by Tom Waits and Townes Van Zandt are high quality. The guest appearance of Dolly Parton on the song “Creepin’ In” is as fun as a hoedown on a Saturday night. And the songwriting contributions from Norah and her bandmates Lee Alexander, Adam Levy, Andrew Burger, Daru Oda, Kevin Brest along with New York based singer-songwriter Richard Julian are top notch, well crafted songs. Perhaps Norah didn't think for a moment about the pressure of the follow-up that became Feels Like Home. It seems like she put her head down and captured on tape (or on a hard drive) what she does best, with excellent results.
Read The Review! 5. Wilco - A Ghost Is Born
Wilco is a difficult yet intelligent band that demands your love and attention. They can be equally frustrating and exhilarating, and are one of the last remaining artistically challenging and interesting American bands. Wilco is the American equivalent to Radiohead; what Thom Yorke and his colleagues have created by continuously exploring, experimenting and challenging traditional pop songwriting structure, Tweedy and his bandmates have also done over their five album career (not including their collaborative efforts with Billy Bragg, the two Mermaid Avenue albums). If Wilco’s last album – the very acclaimed Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, was what OK Computer was to Radiohead, then Ghost is Wilco’s Kid A, a uniquely different variation on Wilco’s musical isolationism but still clearly connected to Wilco’s canon of work and progress.
Read The Review! 6. Citizen Cope - The Clarence Greenwood Project
Drawing on R&B and hip-hop, Cope also draws inspiration from various styles of roots music including blues, folk and reggae. Like many artists, Cope fell victim to record company consolidations after releasing his debut, only to surface on a new label with a stellar supporting studio musician cast that includes Carlos Santana, Me’shell Ndegeocello, and James Poyser on keyboards. The Clarence Gatewood Project has a similar vibe as his debut, however it reveals a more mature sense of musicianship and songwriting. Cope reprises “Sideways,” plus new tunes like the powerful “Bullet and A Target,” “Sons Gonna Rise,” “Hurricane Waters,” “Nite Becomes Day,” and “Pablo Picasso” will have you returning back to this massive collection for repeated listenings.
Read The Review! 7. Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose
Extraordinary songwriting, brilliant production, remarkable performances and a voice that sounds as confident as it did when she debuted 40 years ago in Nashville mark one of the year's best albums from a country legend pushing 70 and produced by one of rock’s alternative hot shots. Loretta Lynn’s collaboration with Jack White of the White Stripes is a union that far exceeds any expectations about the album when it was being produced and recorded and word started circulating in the music world about the project. Van Lear Rose is one of the most distinctive sounding, unique pop records of the last decade.
Read The Review! 8. kd lang - Hymns Of The 49th Parallel
For her debut on the distinguished Nonesuch label, k.d. lang’s new album is filled with songs that she says are “part of her cultural fabric, my Canadian soundtrack.” On Hymns, lang chose to cover songs written by some of her favorite Canadian singers and songwriters including Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn, Leonard Cohen, Ron Sexsmith, Jane Siberry, and Joni Mitchell. k.d.’s vocals are always haunting & emotive and the album’s perfect pacing and arrangements only heighten the fairly straightforward takes on these songs. k.d.’s versions don’t really deviate from the originals, which is not only a testament to the songwriting but also to lang and her band's beautiful presentation of the material on this album.
Read The Review! 9. Mark Knopfler - Shangri-La
Named for the legendary Malibu, California recording studio where it was recorded, Shangri-La is a classic Mark Knopfler album. Including his great body of work with Dire Straits, Knopfler’s signature guitar sound, vocals and intelligent lyrics and songs have made him a favorite artist of XPN listeners and members. Like Richard Thompson and Steve Earle, Knopfler is a superb song "crafter" whose work almost always embodies the highest qualities of popular music.
Read The Review! 10. Keane - Hopes And Fears
The fact that Keane stand on their own, with songs so gorgeously filled with shimmering pop radiance is the reason, why we’ve chosen the band as one of our Artists To Watch for 2004. Songs like “This Is The Last Time,” “Everybody’s Changing,” “Can’t Stop Now,” and “Somewhere Only Know” are dramatic and beautiful. You can hear Keane's driving ambition on every song on the album. Words like “sweeping” and “majestic” are often overused in describing music. For Keane, who stand to match Coldplay song for song for their own distinctive qualities, these words are an appropriate description of a very hot band to watch.
11. Rachael Yamagata - Happenstance
In the mid-90’s Rachael was studying theatre and piano and landed at Northwestern University. She became a member of Bumpus, a funk band that became a mainstay of the local Chicago music scene. She signed a solo deal in 2002 and Happenstance is the result of two years of touring and recording. Songs like “Worn Me Down,” “Be Be My Love,” “Meet Me By The Water” (complete with a musical nod to Rod Stewart), and the undeniable “Letter Read,” are an outstanding handful of the 14 songs on this marvelous debut.
Read The Review! 12. Modest Mouse - Good New For People Who Love Bad News
Good News For People Who Love Bad News is one of the freshest sounding releases of 2004. Lead singer Isaac Brock is full of creative ideas and energy that carries throughout the entire album with charisma and vitality. The album, bouyed by the single "Float On" brought the band to a much deserving, wider audience this year. From Issaquah, Washington and formed in the early Nineties, Modest Mouse were probably the indie-rock band fans would least expect to breakthrough to greater success. The good news about Good News - Modest Mouse's 6th album - is that they made an excellent proper album that flows nicely from song to song with inventive musical changes and arrangements along with Brock's interesting, albeit quirky, lyrics.
Read The Review! 13. Bruce Hornsby - Halcyon Days
It’s been two years since the release of Bruce Hornsby’s Big Swing Face and on his debut for a new label, Columbia Records, Hornsby comes out swinging with 11 great songs. On Halcyon Days, Hornsby is in classic form; it’s a 21st century album that recalls some of his best work. Halcyon Days, is inspired and filled with excellent playing and songwriting from a great artist who has always had a home on XPN.
Read The Review! 14. Mindy Smith - One Moment More
One Moment More is the striking debut album from singer-songwriter Mindy Smith. It's an album filled with intelligent well-crafted songs characteristic of releases by artists like Norah Jones, Alison Krause, Gillian Welch, and Patty Griffin. Drawing on a variety of acoustic genres including country and folk the songs are honest, organic and from-the-heart - a winning combination for any artist to touch listeners regardless of the genre.
Read The Review! 15. Old 97's - Drag It Up
Drag It Up captures the Old 97’s doing what they do best: mixing up rock, country, and psychedelia with the occasional surf guitar riff thrown in for good measure. Recorded on 8 tracks, and mostly live in the studio, Drag It Up is a record sure to satisfy ’97’s fans. The band sounds relaxed and confident. Songs like “The New Kid,” “Won’t Be Home,” “Bloomington,” “Adelaide,” “Friends Forever,” and “Smokers” highlight a collection that sits alongside the ‘97’s previous work as some of their best.
Read The Review! 16. The Finn Brothers - Everyone Is Here
Everyone Is Here is Neil and Tim Finn’s first collaborative studio album in eight years. Throughout their careers, the Finn’s have enjoyed global success alone and together. Between their solo careers, Crowded House, and Split Enz, Neil and Tim Finn have written more than their fair share of classic tunes we have come to love over the years. There is no doubting that Everyone Is Here stands with the best of their work, particularly that of Crowded House. One listen reveals the brilliance of their songwriting and their voices harmonize as good as ever.
Read The Review! 17. Brian Wilson - Smile
The story behind Smile is fairly legendary by now - the masterpiece Beach Boys album that never was, is finally here. The Beach Boys' uncompleted 1967 album Smile has remained the Holy Grail of Brian Wilson’s long, incredible, tortured genius career in pop music. Thirty seven years since its intended release as the follow-up to their classic album Pet Sounds, Smile is very much the groundbreaking art-rock record it was rumored to have been.
Read The Review! 18. Joss Stone - Mind Body And Soul
Just 16 when she released her incredible debut The Soul Sessions, Joss Stone proved she was wise beyond her years and established her as singer of impressible worth. Coming a year after her debut, Mind, Body & Soul is her first album of all original material and doesn't deviate greatly from The Soul Sessions. It may be more of the same, but its a same that works overtime. The album features more fleshed out arrangements and stylistic depth intended to bring her to wider audience. This girl can sing and the songs have thick, deep grooves.
Read The Review! 19. Elvis Costello & The Imposters - The Delivery Man
Elvis Costello’s first album for the Lost Highway label is a roots-rock laden collection of songs inspired by the history and cultural import of the location where it was recorded – mostly in Oxford, Mississippi, but also in Clarksdale, Mississippi and Nashville. Costello - working with his band Steve Nieve on keyboards, bassist Davey Farragher and drummer Pete Thomas – touches down on gospel and soul, sweet ballads and rollicking rock.
Read The Review! 20. Ray Lamontagne - Trouble
Trouble is about as honest and organic a record you’ll hear these days. Like Norah Jones, Ray Lamontagne channels old soul wisdom and has a voice that elicits a beautiful, haunting and otherworldly response from the listener. These are songs of longing, love and desperation. By the end of this excellent collection of ten songs, a spiritual optimism unfolds and you’re hooked on Ray’s singular talents.
Read The Review! 21. REM - Around The Sun
Around The Sun is REM’s first album since their 2001 studio album Reveal. Throughout the 13 songs on their 13th studio album REM have produced a pensive, mid-tempo collection of songs that recalls the lushness of their best records from the 80's like Reckoning, Fables, and Lifes Rich Pageant. The album opens with the gorgeous “Leaving New York,” and continues to engage on songs like “Wanderlust,” “Boy In The Well,” “I Wanted To Be Wrong,” “Electron Blue,” and “High Speed Train.”
Read The Review! 22. Jonatha Brooke - Back In The Circus
Back In The Circus is Ms. Brooke’s fourth solo album and it reveals her at the top of her musical game. It is an intimate, musically mature body of work. Less polished in a production context than her previous efforts, Circus reveals warm keyboards and programming, interesting vocal processing, and cool instrumental sounds. She closes the album with “Eye In The Sky” by the Alan Parsons Project and her exquisite heart-wrenching no-holds-barred performance of that tune completely reinvents the song.
Read The Review! 23. Nellie McKay - Get Away From Me
Nellie McKay’s tin-pan alley-esque social commentaries are draped in comparisons to Doris Day, Randy Newman, Eminem, even Linkin Park and Tom Lehrer. Get Away From Me is a double disc tour-de-force of ideas and songs not always so suitable for radio play (be mindful of that Parental Advisory sticker on the cover) that mines ragtime and jazz with the same fervor as it represents for hip-hop and late night Blossom Dearie ballads. She admittedly wears enough of her influences on her sleeve like Lennon and Dylan and Marlene Dietrich, but clearly about thirty seconds in to this debut you recognize pretty quickly that something extremely unique is going on.
Read The Review! 24. Los Lobos - The Ride
Los Lobos’s latest album pulls together some of the best songs from their back catalogue, throws in a handful of new tunes and features collaborations with some all-time great musicians. Joining Los Lobos are guests with wide-ranging musical styles as eclectic as those of Los Lobos themselves. Highlights include appearences by Tom Waits, Elvis Costello and Richard Thompson to name just a few. After 30 years, Los Lobos have not lost one musical measure of vitality.
Read The Review! 25. Ray Charles - Genius Loves Company
Easily one of the most bittersweet releases of 2004 year due to his passing away this year, Genius Loves Company finds Ray collaborating on duets with Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Van Morrison, James Taylor, Elton John, BB King, Willie Nelson and others. Unlike other "superstar duet" albums, each song finds Ray on equal footing with his singing partner and the result is a highly likable, gentle collection from one of the giants of popular music.
Read The Review! 26. Jem - Finally Woken
Jem Griffiths hails from Cardiff, Wales - home of Tom Jones. If you’re a fan of Beth Orton, Dido, or even The Sundays and Everything But The Girl, you’ll appreciate Jem’s wonderful debut collection of pop-oriented and orchestrated beats. Finally Woken is a fairly straightforward, almost simple collection of beat-heavy pop songs about love and the loss of it. Yet the attraction of the album lies in its unique simplicity, its immediate infectiousness and Jem’s sweet vocals.
Read The Review! 27. Patty Griffin - Impossible Dream
One of the most promising singer-songwriters to emerge from the Boston folk music scene, Patty Griffin has been winning over the hearts and minds of music lovers everywhere since her sparse yet beautiful 1996 debut, Living With Ghosts. Impossible Dreams builds on Griffin's signature sound; gorgeous, longing vocals, and unique, rustic instrumentation. At heart Griffin is a terrific storyteller and uses her songs to create emotionally haunting memories.
Read The Review! 28. Morissey - You Are The Quarry
Morrissey’s first album since 1997’s disappointing Maladjusted is a solid, completely important comeback from the former Smiths' frontman whose music never quite found the level of popularity in the States as it deserved. Morrissey’s rich vocals sound as good as ever. Lyrically, he’s in full and predictable command of his subjects: rallying against Bush and Blair, his critics, organized religion, the politics of sex and loneliness. He’s still crooning, literate, intentionally outrageous and audacious.
Read The Review! 29. Indigo Girls - All That We Let In
All That We Let In, The Indigo Girls' 11th album since their debut in 1987 finds Amy Ray and Emily Salier at the top of their folk-rock singer-songwriter game. Songs like "Perfect World," "Heartache For Everyone," and "Free In You" contain their excellent trademark harmonies and exceptional knack for great hooks and melodies.
Read The Review! 30. Eric Clapton - Me and Mr. Johnson
On his new album, Eric Clapton covers 14 of the 29 songs that legendary bluesman Robert Johnson wrote during his lifetime. Musically stripped down to a primary four piece that includes Clapton on guitars, drummer Steve Gadd, bassist Nathan East and harmonica ace Jerry Portnoy (himself a legendary member of the Muddy Waters Blues Band), Me And Mr Johnson is an inspiring and fun collection of songs that comes a decade after the release of his all-blues covers' collection From The Cradle.
Read The Review! 31. Various Artists - Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon
If you’re a fan of Zevon, you’ll agree that this is a heartfelt collection of songs that confirms his status as one of the truly great – albeit underrated songwriters of our time. Many of the same friends who helped Zevon record 2003's The Wind show up on this great tribute album. Bruce Springsteen (“My Ride’s Here”), Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt (“Poor Poor Pitiful Me”), and Bob Dylan (“Mutineer”) are just a few of the notable contributers.
Read The Review! 32. Steve Earle - The Revolution Starts Now
Just under ten years since Earle's return to recording that followed by a period of drug addiction and prison, Earle gets more prolific and better at his craft. He's also become more outspoken and increasingly politically active. If 2002's Jerusalem was influenced by 9/11, then The Revolution Starts Now was clearly inspired by the war in Iraq and the Presidential election campaign. It's highly doubtful that George W. Bush got a copy of this to play in the Oval Office, however with politically infused songs like " Condi Condi," (a lustful love song written for Condeleeza Rice), "Rich Man's War," and "Home To Houston" Earle managed to capture the sentiment and disillusion of many Americans going in to the election. Hard to believe, but this is one artist whose vision and focus gets wiser and stronger with each new release.
Read The Review! 33. Alison Krauss & Union Station - Lonely Runs Both Ways
Just 14 years old in 1985 when she first signed with Rounder Records, Krauss and her band continue to make sweet, beautiful roots music well deserving of the critical and popular acclaim they have received over the years. Produced by the band and recorded in Nashville, Lonely Runs Both Ways features songs by some of their favorite writers, including Robert Lee Castleman, Sidney & Suzanne Cox, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Mindy Smith, Del McCoury, and Woody Guthrie.
Read The Review! 34. Tom Waits - Real Gone
There are definitely Tom Waits fans who long for the days when he was a gentler, kinder songwriter and performer. But ever since 1983's Swordfishtrombones and the classic followup Rain Dogs, Waits has never looked back. There is nothing conventional about Real Gone either in songwriting, production and even the performances, and with Les Claypool and guitarist Marc Ribot on board there's nothing easy or kind about this record. Real Gone gets high grades for experimentation and provocation; it's equal parts Howlin' Wolf and Captain Beefheart with intense risk-taking and more often than not, great success.
Read The Review! 35. Toots & The Maytals - True Love
One of true architects and legends of reggae, Toots Hibbert & The Maytals are responsible for some of the reggae classics of our time. Taking a page out of Carlos Santana’s playbook in his making of the Grammy award winning Supernatural, Toots gathered a wide range of guest stars for the making of this album. True Love is great from the first song to the last. The collaborations are inspiring and fun; this is definitely a “roll down your windows and sing along” kind of album – and Toots and The Maytals are in rare form.
Read The Review! 36. John Fogerty - Deja Vu All Over Again
Claiming to be re-energized by the 2004 Presidential campaign, the politically focused title track to Fogerty's Deja Vu was indeed deja vu when it came on the radio as it hearkened back to the classic songs he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival (most notably "Have You Ever Heard Seen The Rain"). With guest appearances by Jerry Douglas, Mark Knopfler and drummer Kenny Aronoff, the album has some trademark Fogerty stylings; from swamp-rock and rockabilly to acoustic ballads. Even though some of these songs are below standard fairly by-the-numbers Fogerty songs, he reclaimed some of his musical greatness with this record in addition to being well recieved on the Fall tours with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
Read The Review! 37. Michael McDermott - Ashes
Ashes is McDermott’s best album in a long line of fine records. Songs like “Everything I Got,” “Arm Yourself,” “Hellfire Tonight In The Holyland,” and “Dance With Me,” find Michael in great voice with strong, confident playing from a stellar band. This is a collection of rock and roll – quite simply – at its best. Passionate, committed, great songs, intense playing –it’s all on Michael’s album, Ashes.
Read The Review! 38. Old Crow Medicine Show - Old Crow Medicine Show
Based in Nashville, the Old Crow Medicine Show are a "new school" bluegrass quintet. Meeting in New York, the band travelled across the country together learning to play their instruments and old bluegrass songs eventually busking outside of the Grand Ole Opry before they were invited in to play. OCMS are the band that play the "Wagon Wheel" song, a regularly requested re-interpretation of an unreleased Bob Dylan song. Wagon Wheel is just one example of the group's high energy and informalness in the studio nicely captured by David Rawlings. This one will remind you of a folk revival but with lots of rock and roll energy.
Read The Review! 39. Ben Harper w/ The Blind Boys of Alabama - There Will Be Light
No stranger to the airwaves of XPN, Harper's collaboration with the Blind Boys of Alabama is a match made not only in heaven but in the studio as well. Seven Harper originals sit alongside covers of traditional gospel tunes all wonderfully performed by Harper and the Blind Boys. There Will Be A Light is soul music in the purest form. Literally recorded in two sessions, it has a loose feel yet totally hits all the right grooves.
Read The Review! 40. Carbon Leaf - Indian Summer
Hailing from Richmond, Virginia the five piece Carbon Leaf have been playing their Celtic influenced rock music together since the mid-Nineties to adoring fans, mostly on the East Coast. Since their 1995 debut they've become a successful independent band who have developed an exciting live show in conjunction with their five previous self-released albums. With Indian Summer, the Leaf make the jump from one of America's best unsigned bands to one of America's best newly signed bands as their new album is released on the legendary Vanguard Record label.
Read The Review! 41. David Byrne - Grown Backwards
Always the innovator, yet not really straying from his eccentric, ahead-of-the-curve musical sensibilities, Grown Backwards is Byrne's eigth solo outing since the Talking Heads stopped recording. In addition to the collaboration with the British DJ's X-press 2 on the hot dance floor song " Lazy," Byrne collaborates with the Texas based classical chamber group the Tosca Strings, an operatic duet with Rufus Wainwright and his usual brand of Tropicalismo-meets-New York multiculturalism. Pair this album with the re-release of the classic The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads and you've got a pair of musical bookends from a true icon of pop music.
Read The Review! 42. Sarah Harmer - All Of Our Names
As a female singer-songwriter Harmer sits in the upper tier with newer artists like Jonatha Brooke and Patty Griffin and recalls the warmth and intimacy of Suzanne Vega. She pays special attention to the small details of life and the human experience gives them a universal appeal. All Of Our Names is near perfect acoustic music from an artist near and dear to XPN listeners’ hearts.
Read The Review! 43. Butterfly Boucher - Flutterby
Ms. Boucher's debut is a confident collection of imaginative rock songs. Her vocal style and sound defy categorization; she's got a new wave-ish Australian accent that adds richness to the crafty arrangements on songs like "Soul Back," "Another White Dash," and the perky "Life Is Short."
Read The Review! 44. Joseph Arthur - Our Shadows Will Remain
Our Shadows Will Remain is Arthur's most focused and melodically accessible release to date. In addition to driving rock songs, Shadows is balanced by songs like “Echo Park” and “Failed”, both of which surge with acoustic beauty, and the flavorful beat-laden “Wasted.” Shadows is a truly remarkable album from an underappreciated artist.
Read The Review! 45. Charlotte Martin - On Your Shore
The level of musicianship on Martin’s debut is beyond reproach. Her piano playing is exquisite, melodic and rhythmically engaging. The musical performances on On Your Shore are rich and powerful, the lyrics are ripe with powerful emotion and openness. Her strong & confident vocals match the elegance and strength of the album.
Read The Review! 46. Diana Krall - The Girl In The Other Room
Jazz singer and pianist Diana Krall enters into new territory on this new album interpreting songs by Tom Waits, Chris Smither, Mose Allison, along with songs co-written with her new husband, Elvis Costello. The Costello/Krall songs shine throughout and are emotionally charged and exquisitely performed.
Read The Review! 47. Madeleine Peyroux - Careless Love
Eight years after her she made a bit of a stir with her beautiful album Dreamland, Ms. Peyroux returns with a collection of songs equally as good as her debut. Though born in the States, Peyroux grew up in France and as with her debut she sounds like a sultry chanteuse as much at home covering songs by W.C Handy and Hank Williams as she is with Elliot Smith and Leonard Cohen. With vocal similarities to Billie Holiday, Careless Love is a perfect framing of acoustic blues and ballads, torch songs and jazz classics that is both timeless yet very up to date.
Read The Review! 48. Keb' Mo' - Keep It Simple
Bluesman Keb' Mo's Keep It Simple contains his hallmark blend of smooth, organic rootsy blues and R&B. His slide guitar playing is outstanding as usual and the warm groove of songs like the title song, "Prosperity Blues," " France," and "Let Your Light Shine," result in a stylistically varied classic Keb' Mo' album.
Read The Review! 49. Ben Arnold - Calico
Ben is an honest and earnest songwriter of immense talent whether doing a solo gig with an acoustic guitar, as a member of the Philly super-group 4 Way Street or leading his own highly engaging rock band. Calico is Ben’s debut album for Sci-Fidelity Records, the Boulder, Colorado based record company started by the String Cheese Incident.
Album Art 50. Van Hunt - Van Hunt Buy It!
Van Hunt’s exciting debut will transport you back into the 70’s when funk, soul and R&B were real and gritty. Van Hunt has all the characteristics of a classic album in the making – regardless of the genre. It’s got incredible musicianship, attitude, confidence, excellent songs and Hunt’s sweet soul crooning.

Also, when people call something "too white" on ILx, it often seems to be more a statement about *style* than a statement about a lack of racial equality. (Or a statement about style that's striving to have the rhetorical force of a statement about racial equality.)

pastey-types are fond of saying stuff like this. maybe that's where some of the ire comes from too. this quote is NOT from paste. but all that "last, true, real" shit is built into a pastey worldview. blinkered, parochial, and just plain wrong. i never read this kinda stuff in metal and rap mags. lotsa hyperbole, sure! but metal and rap fans are just happy to dig metal and rap. they don't make these kinda bullshit sweeping statements that read like some sort of plea for sanity in a culture where the great traditions of western culture are being swept away by rebel hordes. fuck them. fuck their petty flag-waving. it's not enough for them to just like something.

Michael I can't buy this: translate that equation over to racial rather than gender lines and see what happens. My point is that there isn't a magazine around whose gender slant is EVER gonna get called out, because for the most part, guys call all the shots & that's just fine with the guys

I don't see a "good music has died" or a "only a few still carry the torch" worldview in Paste, I see an "it's all good" worldview. They'll cover anything that's palatable to their demographic. The message, including that "signs of life" tagline, is that there'll always be something new to check out. (And buy).

the great traditions of western culture are being swept away by rebel hordes.

Dude, the editor isn't Allan Bloom. I've never seen Paste take a strong stand against anything. (Except Ian Penman's writing. And that was a terrible book review.)

Again, not defending or justifying - I'm just surprised that anyone would react this passionately.

uh....never mind.

i am a very passionate person.

I don't want to seem disingenuous here, but I'm not sure what this means, you may have to spell this out for me.

My point is that there isn't a magazine around whose gender slant is EVER gonna get called out, because for the most part, guys call all the shots & that's just fine with the guys

Dude, Rolling Stone, for one (and only one), was called out God knows how many number of times for its condescending women-in-rock and the-year-women-rocked cliches. (Or do you mean called out here, on ILx, rather than in general?)

People raise the "look, if women made more good records/wrote more good reviews, I'd listen/read" argument often, but flip that (this is what I think I origianlly meant when I started the very oblique comment you quote tho I can't really figure it as it ran now - sorry 'bout that) to racial stuff (Paste claiming, here a straw-Paste: "if there were music by black folks that was as good as what we're covering, we'd cover it") and you'll get poxy fuled on ilm inside of five minutes, so great will the hue & cry be. Why is that? Why is a prodominantly white, male group of people thinking about music so keenly interested in magazines' perceived whiteness, but not remotely interested (on the available evidence) in their disproportionate maleness?

YUPPIE!

I'm not saying "aha secret sexists!" but wondering why, again, a bunch of white guys are real hungry to right wrongs in the racial sphere but give up pretty quickly on the gender question!

I don't think so. not here anyway. most recent example I can think of was a thread about Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" and what implications that had as far as the mainstream music industry allowing only one kind of female voice to be heard: the adolescent/sexy kind...

well Shakey I mean maybe it's just me! does it really seem to you that people get called out for sexism as often as they get called out for racism on ilm?

That said, all evidence points to the suckiness of the taste of Paste's editors.

Ed Ward has written some terrific pieces for Paste.

I have to echo that the writing in Paste is very uneven, but there's always at least a few quality pieces worth reading. It's not always enough for me to buy, though, especially with their cover price.

http://www.pastemagazine.com/paste/the-campaign-to-save-paste.html

Paste Needs You!

The global recession has taken its toll on Paste as advertisers have slashed their spending. We are turning to our readers to help bridge the gap. Even a small contribution can make a big difference.

Join 75+ of our favorite artists in the campaign to save Paste and get rare & exclusive tracks as a thank you.

Artists include The Decemberists, Neko Case, She & Him, Cowboy Junkies, Of Montreal, Indigo Girls, Jayhawks, String Cheese Incident, G. Love, Josh Rouse, The Hives, Matthew Sweet, The Avett Brothers, Joe Henry, John Roderick of The Long Winters, Over the Rhine, Bob Mould, Arrested Development, Brandi Carlile, John Doe, Josh Ritter, Marc Broussard and more. We also have a number of goodies (such as signed R.E.M. and Band of Horses posters, an ocean-view cabin on next year's Cayamo cruise, and more) to give to donors in random drawings.

Grown-ups using "goodies"=Dud

I supported the magazine in their last desperate promotion (name your price for a subscription) I did pay, because I love a sampler and I had read them in the past.

The magazine was just so boring though. From a visual and a written perspective, I was interested in the subjects, but it didn't enthuse me at all. The few CDs I listened to weren't bad, but I didn't go out and hunt something down as a result.

When I saw this thread revived, I wondered if I would respond, because for all I know people here have work for them, and I don't really feel like running down people who've done the work that I would have liked to have down if I had done the work required to be one of those people, but the general tone of this (2005) thread was so negative that I feel like defending the magazine.

except it was boring.

oh, wonderful.

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2010/09/paste-magazine-ceases-publication.html

now i'm losing hope that i'll ever get paid for the $$$ i'm owed. when MAGNET pulled this shit the editor stopped responding to emails and i never got my cash.

how is that legal

It's not... and it happens at more magazines than I care to list by name

http://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/system/images/writers/micro/josh-jackson.jpg?1280787155

whiney don't get me started on how DIW shafted me

Don't even get me started on this shit.

When Metal Edge went under, I submitted a complete list of who was owed what, and the bookkeeping department (without my input) decided to pay writers 50 cents on the dollar. I felt really bad about that; now I'm starting to think it was a shocking display of generosity.

I feel for the editors, both for losing a job and for having to string freelancers along on payment for so long.

I obviously have no idea what's going on with this stuff, but why aren't writers paid immediately when the final draft of their stuff is submitted? or, you know, say every week or every two weeks on the same day

No.

Sorry, I misread the sentence--as "aren't writers?" not "why aren't writers?"

Your guess is as good as mine!

markers, alt-weeklies are good about paying right away - or within 2-3 weeks, anyway. (well, most of them are. usually.) magazines are a totally different deal. when i was writing for magnet (and getting paid for it) my checks came MONTHS after the fact. it was kind of like the old days, when you'd mail a check for something that would be sent to you in "4-6 weeks." then it would arrive at the point you'd forgotten it was even coming.

that seems super unjust -- especially since, obviously, magazines are nothing without their writers

this is pretty fucked

ppl that are owed money by paste should hack their website and solicit reader donations for owed moneys imo

is there a US equivalent of a small claims court you can take this to, matos?

i once got paid TWO YEARS after doing some work for a publication - just in time, two months later they folded. i find that this sometimes results in my spending the money three times - on being commissioned, on being published and then whoops, on being paid as well.

According to the link, they are ceasing the print version but continuing online.

Surely that's enough to consider them a going concern, and get paid for previous work?

Considering most writers there were effectively doing it for the <3 Plan B was v diligent about paying writers (and refundung subscriptions) when it went under

I have never read Paste but I assume that the fact ppl here are just talking about getting paid tells its own story?

I submitted a review there a week or three before the Rupture. Hasn't run on the site. Emails to now-former editors met with "we no longer work here, email the head honcho" replies. Emails to head honcho ignored. Wondering whether the thing will run on the site, or what, or if I should just sell it elsewhere. I mean, I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm not getting paid for anything I've written for this magazine one way or the other.

Thoughts?

Sorry, this doesn't answer your question, but did Magnet cease print publication?

I meant Paste, but yeah, MAGNET's out of the print game (for a while now).

Yeah, sorry I wasn't clear. I saw your revive post from 3 weeks back. Was never really into Paste but was a big MAGNET fan in college. To continue a topic you're probably not interested in discussing, any idea when they ceased? Their website doesn't make it clear.

at least two years now? last print issue was a while ago anyway.

i got followed by a twitter spambot whose tweets are all weight loss spam and then one tweet that's "man, there's something about this track!" with a link to a Paste blog post, really cracked me up

was this the worst name for a music magazine in history?