HYPE MACHINE by Bill Wasik In the Indie Rock market, it's less about who you know as it is how long you stay interested. Bands are less defined by the towns they hail from, too, since the blogosphere can make them international, and indidensible--at least until next year's festival. Bill Wasik profiles one such band, the brilliant and intentionally ephemeral Annuals, as they explore the depth of their new success.
THE PEOPLE’S SINGER by Jeff Sharlet Lee Hays, of the folks supergroup the Weavers, was a tragic folk hero of sorts. His populist ambitions—expressed through politically charged lyrics—ran up against the conservative battlement of McCarthyism time and again, and seemed to wear him down. Even as the Weavers scored popular hits, Lee questioned the spoils. As Jeff Sharlet writes, “Lee harbored few illusions about his faith: He knew that the People, like the Lord, could be fickle or mad or mysterious, vengeful or loving or silent—painfully silent—in the face of injustice. The People, Lee’s divine, were only human. Maybe that’s why Lee could almost never get through some solemn labor anthem without a goof, a twist, a joke, sometimes a fable.”
MYSTIC NIGHTS by Sean Wilentz Almost half a century has piled up since Freewheelin', and still too much Dylan isn't enough. Sean Wilentz plays the fly on the wall for Dylan's studio sessions for Blonde on Blonde to explore the "3 A.M. aura" of those songs borne of sometimes grueling but ultimately brilliant all-night sessions, for an album that pretty much deserves its own fiftieth anniversary.
BROWN'S BAND FROM DIXIELAND by Tony Lavorgna and Gary Dumm
COUNTRY MUSIC IN BLACK AND WHITE by Charles Wolfe Toward the end of his career, Louis Armstrong explore what had largely been a quiet love affair with country music, resulting in his swan-song album, Louis "Country & Western" Armstrong and a rare duet with Johnny Cash. Click here to see the audio slideshow and read Mr. Wolfe's essay.
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