Posts by John Oursler

Before I’d seen Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins perform all of 2006’s Rabbit Fur Coat, I wouldn’t necessarily have considered it a canonical work that merited its own 10th anniversary tour. This wasn’t Rumours or Nevermind or even Garbage’s self-titled (which was recently performed in its entirety to coincide with a 20th anniversary), timeless works […]

2015 – the year in which Sleater-Kinney, Veruca Salt, Babes in Toyland, Garbage and L7 all reunited and toured after lengthy hiatuses. Surely, this female-fronted rock reformation zeitgeist is more than circumstantial; five of the most iconic and influential bands of the last 20 years all getting back together at the same time must signal […]

There’s just no one like Sufjan Stevens making music right now. Who else combines such fundamentally religious doctrine into indie-emo pop, and has crossed over so successfully with the hipster community? He’s a rarity, to be sure, but not in any contrived quest for fame: It is a testament to this earnest hybridization and ingenuity […]

Colin Meloy walked onto the stage at the hallowed Beacon Theater and stood in the spotlight. He started the show on his own, the conspicuous frontman plucking the cords to aptly placed and titled set-opener ‘The Singer Addresses His Audience.” It’s a coy distinction to say it’s his band, but Meloy accepts the responsibility with […]

There’s nothing modern about Brandi Carlile. Her approach to craft, from the homegrown production of her music to the organic accruement of a devoted following, is more akin to the singer-songwriters of generations past (Tori Amos comes to mind). The melancholy-tinged way she croons recalls singers like Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, and her enraptured […]

The lasting impression of the show remains Merchant’s unparalleled vocal prowess and her grounded approach to putting her music out there for audiences. As always, there’s a quiet intensity to her performances, one that stems from the mature subject matter of the songs she sings.