Mike Hotter — Metroland

Kurt Vile

by Mike Hotter May 15, 2013

It seems the music critics of the world (i.e. anyone with Internet access) have agreed that this is the Philadelphia rocker Kurt Vile’s magnum opus, some grand summation of the studied and gifted musician’s aesthetic ...

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Dawn McCarthy and Bonnie “Prince” Billy

by Mike Hotter May 2, 2013

Ostensibly a tribute to the Everly Brothers, What the Brothers Sang finds compatriots and kindred spirits in the avant-folk scene, with Dawn McCarthy and Will Oldham delivering an album that should prove deeply enjoyable to ...

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Dr. John

by Mike Hotter July 26, 2012

Shrugged off by some cynics as just a crossover move and a play for cred on the part of the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, Dr. John’s Locked Down is soulful and funky in such an ...

Beachwood Sparks

by Mike Hotter July 26, 2012

One of the first post-grunge bands to pick up on what dudes like Gene Clark and Gram Parsons were putting down (namely, a soulful melding of country, folk and rock that some have dubbed Cosmic ...

Kurt Vile

by Mike Hotter April 27, 2011

Rising out of the Internet’s constant musical maelstrom about three years ago (though he’s been writing songs and playing in bands for many years before), Kurt Vile’s early lo-fi missives drew ...

Cave Singers

by Mike Hotter April 27, 2011

There’s a lot of that classic Pacific Northwestern lonesomeness in the Cave Singers’ music. It’s in both the gray and depressive outlook of most of singer Peter Quirk’s lyrics, ...

Spur

by Mike Hotter August 18, 2010

Storied indie label Drag City has set itself up as a sort of underground version of Rhino Records in recent years, digging through the rock & roll vaults and reissuing albums it deems to be ...