Lucinda Williams, “Stories From a Rock N Roll Heart.” Lucinda Williams had a tough 2020. The 67-year old Grammy-winner lost her home in a tornado and later had a stroke. It impaired her motor skills on her left side, which interfered with her ability to play guitar. Williams has…

Kyle J. Kohner checks in with his own list of the best albums of the year. The conclusion includes Angel Olsen, SWANS, IDER, Otoboke Beaver, Girl Band, Denzel Curry, Ioanna Gika, Megan Thee Stallion, Vagabon, Show Me The Body, The Murder Capital, Devon Welsh, Black Marble, (Sandy) Alex G,…

Clockwise from top left: Angel Olsen, Foals, Sharon Van Etten, Billie Eilish, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, Oh Sees, The Highwomen, Bring Me The Horizon, Gary Clark Jr., and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Well, we’ve made it. The following 10 albums are the best we heard this year.…

Vagabon performs at Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco on March 23, 2017. Staff. Fans who attended Angel Olsen’s concert at the Fox Theater in Oakland two weeks ago and showed up early were treated to a a special performance by opener Vagabon, who invited Olsen onstage for “Every Woman,”…

The release of 2016’s My Woman marked a pivotal moment in Angel Olsen’s musical progression. The record expanded her indie folk roots both instrumentally and lyrically, distinguishing her from many of her contemporaries. Olsen describes the years following that album as a time of reflection and healing. Her fourth…

Boston’s Marissa Nadler has spent the past 18 years developing her unique blend of dream-folk and Southern gothic. With the “slow music” niche she carves with her expressive voice and guitar, the songwriter’s eighth album plunges into unprecedented emotional depths. From the nebulous oil-painted album art to her chilling…

Photos: Steve Carlson OAKLAND — Five albums in, it’s tough to think of Arcade Fire as the indie underdog the Canadian group was for its first few years. When the band rolled through town Saturday, it played not a small club but Oracle Arena, the pinnacle of massive stages…

I simultaneously dread and eagerly anticipate the end of each year and its obligatory best-of selections. This year more than any other I tried to force myself beyond my comfort zone of indie rock and indie pop, with surprisingly pleasant results. My Top 5, listed below in no particular…