Apr 16, 2023 Music It’s Okay to Live a Quiet Life by Denison Witmer (Review) Denison Witmer’s new single espouses a quiet life in a suitably hushed manner.
Sep 23, 2022 Music The Upper Air by Fred Baty (Review) These eight songs are effortlessly pretty, weaving delicate guitar melodies together with dreamy atmospherics.
Aug 15, 2022 Best of Opus Music Mount Eerie’s A Crow Looked at Me Confronts the Horror of Death (Review) After all, grief isn’t rational or given to nice, neat organization.
Nov 8, 2020 Music Vanity Metrics by Gianna Lauren (Review) In a more perfect and just world, hushed and heartfelt folk-rock like this would earn all the likes and favorites.
Feb 7, 2018 Music The Honeybear by Hampshire & Foat (Review) This “children fairytale book concept album” is full of enchanting, beguiling music.
Mar 11, 2017 Music Russian Lullabies by Havalina (Review) Two decades after its original release, Havalina’s third album remains as much an unsung masterpiece as ever.
May 23, 2016 Music Slow City by Liz Janes (Review) A wonderfully direct and captivating album, though it’s somewhat hampered by some muddled production.
Apr 23, 2016 Music Settlers by Western Skies Motel (Review) Leave it to a guy from Denmark to compose the perfect soundtrack for driving across the Nebraska prairie.
Apr 3, 2015 Best of Opus Music Sufjan Stevens Sings of Grief, Death, Love & Forgiveness on Carrie & Lowell (Review) Stripped of his usual pomp, Sufjan’s latest explores his relationship with his troubled mother with grace, compassion, and brutal honesty.
Mar 20, 2015 Music Disasters by Carlos Forster (Review) Disasters isn’t just Forster’s most experimental release to date; it’s also one of his best and most emotional.
Sep 3, 2012 Music Soft Wounds by Songs of Green Pheasant (Review) Duncan Sumpner’s first album in five years proves just as beguiling as his earlier releases.
Mar 21, 2011 Music Last of the Country Gentlemen by Josh T. Pearson (Review) Pearson’s songs pull no punches as he chronicles all of the ugly, nasty, and shitty things that bring about a relationship’s end.
Feb 10, 2011 Music Rattle the Windows by Melaena Cadiz (Review) Cadiz’s self-released debut conjures up June Carter Cash and Patsy Cline as much as Joanna Newsom.
Aug 27, 2010 Music All Delighted People EP by Sufjan Stevens (Review) “All Delighted People” contains some of the most ambitious music Sufjan has recorded to date, but it’s still just as heartfelt and poignant as ever.
Jan 28, 2010 Music Sing On In Silhouettes by Crepusculum (Review) Crepusculum’s debut full-length is full of Fred Baty’s deft, intricate guitarwork and beautiful, subtle arrangements.
Jan 11, 2010 Music Wind’s Poem Finds Phil Elverum Rushing Headlong Into the Void (Review) Put simply, Wind’s Poem is the most haunting album I picked up in 2009.
Sep 15, 2007 Music Marching Thru the Wilderness by State Bird (Review) Replete with Christian imagery as far removed from traditional praise and worship music as can be.
Aug 23, 2007 Music Next Door Conversation by Jerry Johansson (Review) The album’s mix of musical traditions from around the world is both improvisational and intimate.
Jul 14, 2007 Music Tuned to Love by The Loose Salute (Review) A batch of homespun, country-inflected ballads that straddle the line between folk and rock musically.
Jun 9, 2007 Music We Walked in Song by The Innocence Mission (Review) The album is dedicated to both of Karen’s parents, and that sense of loss and mourning permeates the album.