On the 16th album by what once was Nashville’s most fucked-up country band, frontperson/hat enthusiast Kurt Wagner makes the most of Covid distance with a beautiful, if too-brief, experiment in gentleness and guitarlessness.

Returning as a band and finding joy between the covers.

An album that begs to be listened to on a rainy day, its depth and control of empty space the perfect complement for such gray conditions.

A deeply-layered, opaque album.

25) M.I.A. – “Bad Girls” [Interscope] Originally released by M.I.A. as a 2:13 worldbeat experiment on 2010’s Vicki Leekx mixtape, the extended edit of “Bad Girls” blends the jovial tenacity of the younger performer with the alternative pop sheen the songstress has cultivated in the interim 13 months. True, the song centers on M.I.A. getting banged in the front seat …

Rediscover is a series of reviews highlighting past releases that have flown under the radar and now deserve a second look. With the dual benefits of time and familiarity, listeners now generally know what to expect from a Lambchop album. This wasn’t the case in 1994, however, when Kurt Wagner and the band’s first incarnation released its full length debut, …

I asked Kurt Wagner if we could talk about his friend Vic Chesnutt, who committed suicide in 2009, before I started recording our discussion. To be fair, it would be somewhat cathartic for me because Chesnutt was not only an artist I loved and respected, but someone I had interviewed and talked with on the phone on a few occasions. …

[xrr rating=4.25/5]Sweeping strings bordering on the hokey have long been a crucial part of the Lambchop experience. On “If Not I’ll Just Die,” the opening song from Mr. M, they enter as if they’re transplanted from a minor-key bridge that might come later on the band’s 11th album and not during the album intro. But the strings here have a …

Welcome to PLAYLIST. The idea is simple enough: make a playlist (with mix tapes and CDs becoming so unfortunately passé) centered around one artist or band with a deep catalog. There is only one parameter, however. Our charge is to limit our playlist to just one song per album per discography. This time around we decided to pick the best …

Why oh why isn’t Lambchop playing to bigger crowds? Kurt Wagner’s songs have the right blend of aching melodies and sardonic, black humor and he has one of the most distinctive voices in indie music. But mention the name Lambchop and most will give a passing comment on Sheri Lewis and know next to nothing about this Nashville band. The …