Snobbin: Beautiful Trash in the Pop Culture Gutter

Kathleen Edwards's new album Total Freedom (Dualtone) is her first album in eight years, but she has not missed a beat. Her songwriting is still warm, evocative, and thoughtful. Wry observations about relationships, character studies, and songs about death and aging set a familiar tone for an album that is realistic yet positive despite the darker subject matter. Not as complex as Voyageur , my favorite record of 2012, it is still a strong contender for my best record list of 2020.  The first single "Options Open" is one of her best both lyrically and musically and capturing doubts similar to those that led her to stop making music and open up her coffee shop, Quitters. The song is both optimistic and realistic and could be as much about career changes as relationships. She sings, "There were some things behind me / An open door I did not close when I was lonely / But I swore I wouldn't go near you with a ten-foot pole / It's not my fault that I wasn't...

10. Two Gallants - The Bloom and the Blight (ATO) Aptly titled, The Bloom and the Bligh t restores Two Gallants to the levels they had reached with their 2007 self-titled release. Faster than that album, and certainly less ponderous than the somber What the Toll Tells , the album rages. More rockers and less slow songs, it recalls their excellent first platter, The Throes , in mood, temperament, and tempo. Two Gallants bring a lot of sound for a two piece, much like the better known Black Keys, but they are more rooted in traditional folk. Here they strip it back. Adam Stephens' vocals are more cracked, but more capable. The guitar and drums appear little more than a call-to-arms. There is little room for tenderness, Two Gallants are here to rock. Their new take on folk traditions spells it out. Dylan isn't doing anything like this in 2012. If you don't like it, go somewhere else. 9. Off! - S/T (Vice) Punk rock super groups don't often work. Yet Of...

That time of year is creeping up again. The leaves are starting to change, the wasps are buzzing by windows, and the temperature has yet to drop. Indian summer lays heavy upon us. Like a veil, it keeps our minds on the summer, even as preparations for fall are made. As the days become shorter and the nights become longer, I change my attitude towards music. Often a complete genre shift is necessary. I begin listening to fall records, which tend to be not so different from my rainy day ones -- the tempos slow, the lyrics tend to be more poetic, if not more suggestive. They recall going back to school, good cups of hot cocoa in darkened kitchens, stretching out in the cool grass, bonfires ablaze; these images help us transition to Winter, when we are so often stuck in the house. Whereas Winter, especially January through March, finds me listening to heavier music, fall is perfect for slow and brooding jams. Literate lyrics and story-tellers mark the change of seasons. Autumnal rec...