Friends and previous housemates in Michigan might recall my advocacy, during dinner parties and other events, of a certain album. Listening to it twice in its entirety on a recent road trip, I was reminded of the radical relevance of Marvin Gaye’s 1971 creative breakthrough, "What’s Going On." On a…  [more]

“To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by…  [more]

Three icons of Americana music have released new projects this year. Fans of soulful, truthful music made by real human hands owe it to themselves to check out all three. Emmylou Harris /"Hard Bargain" Emmylou Harris has been crafting some of the most beautiful American music since her debut in…  [more]

Pop tart Katy Perry, who started her professional career as a contemporary Christian singer, recently made history as the first female artist to score five No. 1 hits off of a single album. The last album to do that was none other than Michael Jackson’s "Bad." However, nearly a quarter…  [more]

I seem to keep running across laments these days. At least, the idea of lament - what Nicholas Wolterstorff calls “a love song” for what is broken and lost in our world - keeps coming up in various places: summer books meant to be read in fun, old essays from…  [more]