Twangville

A music blog featuring Alt-Country, Americana, Indie, Rock, Folk & Blues. Est. 2005.

Sturgill Simpson/Metamodern Sounds in Country Music; Todd Begins Looking Back on His “Best of 2014”

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I had not heard of Sturgill Simpson until attending a Gamecock baseball game this past April. It was a cold day (luckily we had box seats) and I was talking with my friend Ryan, who I had invited along. Ryan and I don’t see each other often, but we’re always emailing and exchanging CDs and […]

Mayer’s Picks: The Best of 2014, So Far (the Songs)

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Rubicon, Chris Mills (from the Loud Romantic Records release Alexandria) Mills lulls you in with a lilting melody before unleashing the jaw-dropping emotion of lyrics and voice. The results are heartwrenching. Really Wanna See You, Lydia Loveless (from the Bloodshot Records release Somewhere Else) This is the way rock and roll is supposed to sound: […]

Mayer’s Picks – The Best of 2014, So Far (the Albums)

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The year is off to a strong start and I expect that it will only get better. Here, in no particular order, are some of my favorite releases from the first half of 2014. SOMEWHERE ELSE by LYDIA LOVELESS “Simply bad-ass” is the phrase that overwhelms my thinking every time I give this album a […]

Best Albums of 2013, Official Twangville Editors’ Picks

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Official Twangville Album of 2013: No drumroll necessary, it’s Jason Isbell’s Southeastern with the runaway pick for the official Twangville best album of 2013. This list combines best of year picks from our Twangville authors plus the Readers’ Top 20 which you helped us create. Congrats to all the finalists. Official Twangville Top 20 of […]

Eli’s Favorite Records of 2013

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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. […]

Tom’s Picks: Best of 2013

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Album of the Year: Jason Isbell – Southeastern Jason Isbell is quickly establishing himself as one of the greatest singer/songwriters alive today. He’s cleaned up, remarried, and recording without the 400 Unit (his backing band from the last few years). Southeastern is one of those albums I imagine we’ll look back on some day as […]

Best of 2013 – Chip

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Here is my Top Ten for 2013: Feel free to cast stones and insults if you disagree. 1. Patty Griffin American Kid The combination of Griffin’s vocal elegance along with Luther and Cody Dickinson’s backup, made this album stand above all others. The ethereal duet with Robert Plant was also a high impact song. 2. […]

Readers’ Pick: Best Album of 2013: Willie Nile, “American Ride”

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And so it has been decided. With 270 votes out of a total of 873, Willie Nile‘s “American Ride” beat out Jason Isbell‘s “Southeastern” for the official Twangville readers favorite album of 2013. Thanks to all who participated. We’ll include your picks into our fancy algorithm for the soon to be released official Twangville author […]

Shawn’s Favorites of 2013

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Some years it’s easier than others to pick my favorite albums of the year.  (I’ll refrain from calling them the best since I know there’s a lot of good music I didn’t hear.)  This year wasn’t really one of them; the top 5-6 were still on top of my playlist, some of them for the […]