http://whqr.org en http://whqr.org/post/marc-ribot-isnt-trying-comfort-anyone After six years as a sideman for many soul veterans, <a href="http://www.npr.org/artists/17083894/marc-ribot">Marc Ribot</a> made his name in 1985 with <em>Rain Dogs</em>, the album that marked <a href="http://www.npr.org/artists/15295750/tom-waits">Tom Waits</a>' permanent transition from eccentric singer-songwriter to truly weird singer-songwriter. Ribot has held down straight gigs since then, but his work has tended toward the avant-garde. Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:52:00 +0000 Robert Christgau 35647 at http://whqr.org Marc Ribot Isn't Trying To Comfort Anyone http://whqr.org/post/jonny-fritz-country-jester-gets-personal <p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2_RIg0vZPQ</p> Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:28:00 +0000 Robert Christgau 35386 at http://whqr.org Jonny Fritz: A Country Jester Gets Personal http://whqr.org/post/homeboy-sandman-rapper-leaves-law-behind The bare facts of Homeboy Sandman's back story don't sound very hip-hop: prep school in New Hampshire, Ivy League B.A., even some pieces for The Huffington Post. But, as is often the case with class and race in America, bare facts don't tell the whole story.<p>Sandman's Dominican-born father was a gifted heavyweight who quit boxing to become a lawyer. His Puerto Rican mom graduated from college around the time her son was winning his third scholarship, this time to law school. Wed, 19 Dec 2012 21:06:00 +0000 Robert Christgau 29002 at http://whqr.org Homeboy Sandman: A Rapper Leaves Law Behind http://whqr.org/post/beak-and-claw-trio-shall-synthesize <a href="http://www.npr.org/artists/15121560/sufjan-stevens">Sufjan Stevens</a> is a classically trained singer-songwriter whose recent work has leaned symphonic. <a href="http://www.npr.org/artists/92313933/son-lux">Son Lux</a> is a classically trained beatmaker whose solo albums do indeed evoke luxury. Serengeti is a self-trained rapper who creates voices for a panoply of full-fledged characters who range from scufflers to yuppies. Wed, 23 May 2012 20:30:00 +0000 Robert Christgau 16846 at http://whqr.org By This 'Beak And Claw,' A Trio Shall Synthesize http://whqr.org/post/jeffrey-lewis-cosmic-and-tongue-cheek-dream-songs Jeffrey Lewis is my homeboy. The prolific anti-folk singer-songwriter has lived less than a mile from where I live on the Lower East Side since he was born in 1975. Difference is, I moved to Avenue B as an adult, while he's a native — his dad is a Brooklyn-born motorcycle mechanic who hung with local politicos and musicians.<p>As a hereditary hippie, Lewis has always dug songs that drift off in vaguely Buddhist notions of existential displacement and eternal recurrence. Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:36:00 +0000 Robert Christgau 6067 at http://whqr.org Jeffrey Lewis: Cosmic And Tongue-In-Cheek 'Dream-Songs'