Ducktape Saves Lives demolishes the normal review protocol in favor of cheap jokes, extended digressions, and an occasional interesting thought or two. Inspired by long back and forth emails between myself, fellow Twangviller Todd Mathis, and my twin brother Kyle Petersen, Ductape Saves Lives is intend for ‘big’(ger) records where we (and hopefully most Americana fans) […]
Eli’s Favorites of 2015
Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment, Surf Fronted by Chance the Rapper, this Chicago ensemble reminds of how joyful and organic hip hop can be. Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit Dense with words and guitars, Courtney Barnetts’s official debut is a statement record that captures the zeitgeist of 2015. […]
Palmetto Rose, A Playlist
Sometimes a particular song simply doesn’t fit on a mixtape. This playlist was originally intended as a showcase for two songs—Jason Isbell’s “Palmetto Rose†and Sons of Bill’s “Broken Bottles (live)â€. Palmetto Rose just never seemed to work on this one, so I gave it the title spot as a nod to the inspiration. Sons of […]
Eli’s Favorite Records of 2013
2013 was a pretty crazy year for me. Personally, professionally, and music listening habit-wise, it was all over the map. At different points during the year, I obsessed over the back catalogs of The Clash, Emmylou Harris (again), Tom Waits, Kevin Gordon, Superchunk (again), Kanye West (weirdly), Paul Westerberg solo records (again), and finally The Bottle Rockets. […]
Todd Mathis- Don’t Tread On Me….The Whiskey Tango Revue Sessions
“sing a song for six-pence, wonder what that’d buy/ it probably wouldn’t get you far, since the market took a dive/ mmm, mmm” As we head into this labor day weekend of cook-outs, fantasy football drafts, and the far more important beginning of college football season (Go Cocks!), we here at Twangville wanted to highlight […]
Thursday Morning Video- Aoife O’Donovan “Red & White & Blue & Gold”
Ok folks, I got behind the 8 ball a bit on finishing up the full review of the new Aoife O’Donovan (Crooked Still) record. It’s called Fossils and it’s really good. I’ll post a full review sometime in the very near future. In the meantime, here is my favorite song from the record:
Ducktape Saves Lives- Frank Turner’s Recovery
Another entry in our recurring feature, Ducktape Saves Lives demolishes the normal review protocol in favor of cheap jokes, extended digressions, and an occasional interesting thought or two. Inspired by long back and forth emails between myself, fellow Twangviller Todd Mathis, and my twin brother Kyle Petersen, Ductape Saves Lives is intend for ‘big’(ger) records […]
Twangville Presents …. Sarah Borges
On her last record with longtime backing band the Broken Singles, Sarah Borges recorded covers ranging from X to Smokey Robinson to the Lemonheads. As incongruous as it may look written down, Borges has made it sound damn near perfect over the first decade of her music career. Wowing audiences across the country and recording […]
Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell- Old Yellow Moon
“We’ve both grown tired/ Of running from each other/ Here we are/ Darling, here we are”- Rodney Crowell Old Yellow Moon feels lived in. The record feels instantly comfortable, like an old pair of shoes that align perfectly with the arches of your feet. Harris and Crowell’s musical partnership dates back a quarter of century […]
George Glenn Jones (1931-2013)
“I would give anything if I could sing like George Jones. If we could all sound like we wanted to, we’d sound like George Jones.†-Waylon Jennings Growing up in flyover country in the 70’s George Jones represented what I hated so much about country music, particularly with his wife at the time, Tammy Wynette. […]