When Gillian Welch last put out an album, John Kerry was running for president and Friends was still on the air. And while an eight-year recording hiatus isn’t unusual for a band on its creative wane, Welch’s first four records—released like clockwork from 1996 through 2003—were almost unanimously praised by critics. No one else on the Americana scene had so seamlessly made music that felt a half-century old yet completely relevant to modern concerns. It was rural American music without the Cracker Barrel kitsch, rooted in tradition but refreshingly new.Her voice, which made Depression-era moonshiners and Old...
No one said growing up would be easy. When the members of Smith Westerns released their self-titled debut, all three were teenagers, leading critics to spend as much time talking about age as they did...
Their name may indicate otherwise, but internal discord has never been a problem for The Civil Wars. When they’re not cracking jokes or singing each other’s praises, Joy Williams and John Paul White...
Middle brothers have a tough lot. The oldest brother gets the freedom and individuality. The youngest brother gets the attention and parental care. The middle brother gets whatever’s left.But the main...
When Amos Lee visited a hospital in his hometown of Philadelphia recently to check on a friend’s ailing mother, something unusual happened. The singer/songwriter, who entertains patients through...
Listening to Wanda Jackson’s searing new Jack White-produced album, The Party Ain’t Over, you’d never imagine she ever had any issues with confidence. The 73-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer...
The way that brother and sister Barbara and Ethan Gruska’s voices work together on songs like “Losers” is oddly the way Paul Simon’s works with the harmony of his own voice.The Gruskas sound like...
A geyser of sticky-sweet, carbonated brown liquid spews forth from the floor. The man who was supposed to be commanding the very stage that just insulted him with Diet Coke—a gift from a fan, no less,...
At Hickory Wind Ranch, not far from downtown Austin, Texas, on a beautiful plot of land, original art hangs on the walls, and a mix of modern and antique furniture gives the place the feel of a high...
Children’s music is the daytime TV of rock ’n’ roll: It’s had its commercial ups and downs, and every so often, a performer achieves crossover success, but mostly it just doesn’t get any respect. The...
There are a handful of core Paste artists that somehow never ended up on the cover of Paste magazine. Chief among those is Gillian Welch. About a year and a half after her 2003 album Soul Journey, we...
Videogames take us places. They do a lot of other things too, of course; they entertain us, challenge us, pit us against one another in brutal competition, tell us stories, let us make music and give...
Robertson Davies once wrote that “The world is full of people whose notion of a satisfactory future is, in fact, a return to the idealized past.” I wholeheartedly lump my naive romantic self into this...
WELCOME BACK What an amazing job on the new Paste magazine! Over the years I’ve loved the day my magazine would arrive in the mailbox; I’d pop in the sampler disc, brew a pot of coffee, and sit for a...
Listen to Jolie Holland’s Pint of Blood in its entirety here. “I can’t believe you’re treating me like all those girls,” Jolie Holland sings early on her fifth album. “All those sweet girls go home to...
I don’t think I like electronica. The emphasis in that statement should be on the word think. Because while I don’t think I like it, in actuality, I do. I love The Knife, I obviously enjoyed...
Last year the Old 97’s released what amounted to a comeback album. The band workshopped the songs on The Grand Theatre Vol. 1 at the titular venue in Dallas and recorded in Austin. Perhaps due to the...
For all of his prolificacy, his repertoire, his universal influence and all the hushed tones surrounding his name, Brian Eno has never really made music for singing. He’s certainly played around with...
Marianne Faithfull’s new album begins with a particularly well-chosen cover. She kicks off Horses and High Heels with the ominous chords and spiritual misgivings of “The Stations,” by The Gutter Twins...
“Grindstones and rhinestones, that made up my life,” Dolly Parton writes on the driving “The Sacrifice,” a dobro-laced song about work ethic and commitment, “but I’ve shined like a diamond through...
When Eric Hilton and Rob Garza came together to form Thievery Corporation in 1995, the two Washington D.C.-based musicians and DJs were breaking new ground. Taking inspiration from British trip-hop...
Director: Michael WinterbottomCinematographer: Ben SmithardStars: Steve Coogan, Rob BrydonStudio/Running Time: IFC Films, 111 min. Two British actor/comedians playing versions of themselves travel the...
Director: André ØvredalWriter: André ØvredalCinematographer: Hallvard Bræin Stars: Otto Jespersen, Glenn Erland Tosterud, Johanna Mørck, Tomas Alf LarsenStudio/Running Time: Magnet Releasing, 90 min....
“Are you going to let them take that dream away from us? Are you going to let them take that away?” — Coach Taylor to the East Dillon Lions, as they move one step closer to State.After a season of so...
True Blood’s biggest weakness has always been the writing, with its strengths being in the characters, aesthetic and world of Bon Temps. That’s what made Season One so damn enjoyable. Despite the fact...
As predicted, it looks like America still puts a lot of value in personality.In the season finale of NBC’s _The Voice, by a very small margin, the country’s votes ushered in the show’s inaugural...
2011 Pulitzer-Prize winner turns the novel on its head You’ve probably heard the old adage, “If you’re one step ahead of the crowd, you’re a genius....
Each week, Paste reviews the most intriguing comic books, graphic novels, graphic memoirs and other illustrated books. Knight and Squire by Paul...
“Memories must be strictly managed,” the doctor tells me. "Unproductive ones must be eliminated. Go to Wonderland.”But my Wonderland is broken. I am Alice. I have been down the rabbit hole, had tea...
I remember the joy of first playing Team Fortress Classic. It was some time back in middle school, and the Half-Life spinoff introduced me to the world of class-based shooters. As I grew older, my...
The last set I got to see my one and only time at the Newport Folk Festival in 2008 was most certainly the best. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings took the main stage, looking out on both the rapt...
Weeks after playing the first “Live at Paste” session in our new offices in Decatur, Ga., The Civil Wars played a nine-song set at the Paste Party in Austin, Texas, during SXSW. You can watch the...