John Vanderslice is an American Four-Tracker. He’s declared it on an album(Life and Death of An American Four-Tracker), he’s built a retro recording studio(Tiny Telephone) based on his love of doing things simply and earnestly and he plays each show like a kid playing his newest creation for a group of close friends in his [...]

Besides being the Slurpee Capital of the World, Winnipeg, Manitoba isn’t a city that catches the eye of many Americans. Much like many of the Canadians we meet, it’s nice enough but not exactly memorable.
In fact, the only distinct memory I have from my handful of trips to Winnepeg is nearly driving into parked cars [...]

The problem with Top Ten lists is that you can’t know for sure how much music the dude (or dudette) offering the list actually listened to for the year. Sometimes this makes no difference. Like when Rolling Stone or Spin writers put together their best-of lists, after having had every CD made sent to them [...]