It may be only the end of July, but 2012 has already seen the release of so many fantastic albums that we thought it would be helpful to put together 20 of the records from this year that have blown us away.
Backed by a band of such high caliber, watching Mitchell do this while on stage is a pleasure not to be missed– because if her career is any indication, this may be your only chance to catch these songs in these distinct forms before they transform into entirely new beings.
Mitchell brings an attentive and critical focus, measured with a slight whimsy and caprice that rounds the oftentimes harsh edge of folk music, and delivers a brilliant, entirely cohesive and utterly striking work of art in Young Man In America.
DiFranco's made a record that, while at times inconsistent and frustrating, continues to affirm her impressive songwriting hand and relevance as America’s leading folk singer.
The last thing many would expect from Anaïs Mitchell would be a foray into psychedelic folk rock. This transition period, though, signals that Anaïs Mitchell is not only a voice to watch out for, but to actively pursue.
Hadestown is unlike any other musical you might have seen in the past ten years. It’s not based on the songbook of some famous artist. It’s not an adaptation of yet another well-known Disney movie. Hadestown is in a class of its own, and as such it’s often difficult to describe. Sure, it’s about Orpheus’ descent into the underground to rescue Eurydice from Hades’ grasp, but what makes the show so successful is its employment of ambiguity throughout the whole ordeal.
One would have thought only Joanna Newsom could sound like Joanna Newsom…yet somehow, Anais Mitchell manages to sound like her. Or at least, to take elements of her childlike, nasal voice, and combine them with the much more classically beautiful, neo-folk sounds of Edie Carey or perhaps a more robust Rosie Thomas.
