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These veterans of home-recording psychedelia relocated from Florida to the Big City a while back, recorded their fourteenth album (in a studio! with a Flaming Lip!), and wrote a book to go with it (excerpted here). Interview by David Nichols
lambchop
A big band of musicians who make an awfully soft sound, yet cut pretty deep. On their new album they continue their journey through country into soul. Brian Glaser goes along for the ride
joel phelps & the downer trio
His third album since Silkworm finds Joel Phelps further deepening his heartbreak music. His songs have such mesmerizing gravity that his bandmates are still in awe. Jay Ruttenberg reports
creedence clearwater revival
Well, who better? Here's a multifaceted portrait of a great band, featuring rare photos by the legendary Baron Wolman, testimonials from Stephen Malkmus and Will Oldham, a story by rock novelist Camden Joy, and a provocative overview by Jay Ruttenberg
songs:ohia
Ohian mastermind Jason Molina's latest kidnap victims are from Scottish bands Arab Strap and Appendix Out; together they've made The Lioness, which Bridget Burns deems a roaring success
ill ease
One-woman band Elizabeth Sharp handcrafts her music from the basics of rock and roll, recording live among echoes. She's also a photographer with a singular vision
punctureviews
Mary Timony's first solo album "beckons with more intimacy than Helium." Also reviewed: Will Oldham, Papas Fritas, Broadcast, Cat Power, Crooked Fingers, Lou Reed, Vue, Giant Sand, Meg Lee Chin, MC5, Mouse on Mars, the For Carnation, the Need, and many more
books
Four biographies in music-Lester Bangs, Patsy Cline, Jonathan Richman, and Woody Guthrie--plus memoirs both collective (Wild Child) and solo (Weird Like Us); the Music USA Rough Guide; fiction; and two poignant photographers
also in this issue:
"last living bluesman" Will Roy Sanders; Cadallaca meet the Backstreet Boys (and we have photos to prove it!); the Go-Betweens record together again;the Cannanes report on a gig to forget; the heavenly voices of Kingsbury Manx