

Named after Scottish poet Robert Burn, Burns Night is an evening beloved by Scots at home and abroad. It is a small comfort in the dark, dank January of the home country. The fact that the upper classes spurned and humiliated him, and his religious elders tormented him for having a libido, has also made him a minor hero of Socialists, atheists, and Libertines across the world, who can be convinced to a meal of haggis washed down with whiskey and poetry. Folk singer Nina Nesbitt prepared for her appearance on the BBC’s Burns Night festivities by giving her reading of “Caledonia.” Continue reading »
We already counted down the 50 Best Cover Songs of 2018 but, inevitably, many of our staff’s personal favorites get left off. So, before we begin scouting for what might become the best cover of 2019, we share the best of the rest, an unranked hodgepodge of worthy covers that only just missed our year-end countdown. Continue reading »
Sorry, Beyoncé; the biggest surprise release of the year might be Al Green’s sudden return after a decade away. Well, not totally away; he still conducts weekly services at his Memphis church and, when I attended, was liberally sprinkling quotes from “Love and Happiness” and “Take Me to the River” into his sermons. Best of all: This Freddy Fender cover sounds like Al hasn’t lost a step. It’s apparently a one-off, but hopefully recording it will whet his appetite to do more. Continue reading »