Picking the best folk and Americana records of the year isn't nearly as hard as discarding those great records that just didn't feel right stuck in the category.
Releases by Calexico and DeVotchKa felt far too worldly to pigeonhole as folk or country, for instance, while Blitzen Trapper's fantastic Furr smells more like the Kinks than Neil Young. [Editor's note: That's why we put it on our indie-rock list.] We likewise discarded Shearwater's near-masterpiece Rook, despite the fact that the alb
BY COLE HADDONOn January 26, the world celebrates Australia Day. This week, in honor
of the only country we can think of with its own international holiday, we celebrate ten essentials of Aussie rock.The Living End, "Prisoner of Society": The Living End (pictured) is
Australia's greatest punk-rock band, and "Prisoner of Society" was the
best-selling Aussie single of the '90s. People like to make cracks
about Australia's convict history, but that's where they get their
rebellious nature; "Prisone
