Stephen M. Deusner
Pitchfork
Bloomington, IN, United States
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Past articles by Stephen:
Lucero: Should’ve Learned by Now Album Review
The Memphis alt-country lifers return with an endearing and impassioned album about drinking and the many reasons we do it. → Read More
Bridget St. John: From There / To Here
Animated by a sense of endless potential and patchwork charm, a new box set collects the influential British songwriter’s work during a transitional period. → Read More
She & Him: Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson Album Review
Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward’s first album together in six years is a low-stakes set of Beach Boys covers, toggling between merely pleasant and overly precious. → Read More
Pastor Champion: I Just Want to Be a Good Man Album Review
The debut album from the late Oakland pastor is a powerful showcase for his guitar work, his singing, and his ministry. → Read More
Various Artists: Summer of Soul (...Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
The soundtrack to Questlove’s excellent documentary on the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival tells a nuanced story of Black creativity and perseverance at the end of a transformative decade. → Read More
The Band: Cahoots (50th Anniversary Edition) Album Review
Unraveling from the pressure of success and celebrity, the Band moved to a new studio in Woodstock and made their fourth album, a stiff and scattershot record that is somewhat enlivened by a new reissue. → Read More
Various Artists: Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine, Vol. 2 Album Review
A second installment of John Prine covers includes some of the legendary songwriter’s best-known material, illustrating how his legacy—and the definition of Americana—has shifted since 2010. → Read More
Michael Stipe Looks Back On R.E.M.'s 'New Adventures In Hi-Fi' 25 Years Later
Ahead of a new 25th anniversary reissue, Stipe digs deep into the songs on R.E.M.'s final album with drummer Bill Berry. → Read More
Violent Femmes: Why Do Birds Sing? (Deluxe Edition) Album Review
Released in 1991, the Milwaukee trio’s fifth album marked a return to the misfit anthems that had made the Femmes cult heroes in the first place. → Read More
Heartless Bastards: A Beautiful Life Album Review
On its straightforward but deeply felt sixth album, the Ohio rock band positions music itself as a salve against the horrors of the world. → Read More
James McMurtry: The Horses and the Hounds Album Review
On his expertly written 10th album, the Texas storyteller delivers some of his most intense and humane work. → Read More
Various Artists: Country Funk Volume III (1975-1982) Album Review
The third volume of Light in the Attic’s ongoing survey of this largely notional movement puts a new twist on the idea of combining two seemingly incompatible genres in one unruly sound. → Read More
Shirley Collins: Crowlink EP Album Review
Interspersed with birdsong, new age synth, and poetry recitations, a new EP from the English folk singer returns her songs to the elements that inspired them. → Read More
Hiss Golden Messenger: Quietly Blowing It Album Review
Despite its grand scope and good intentions, the latest album from M.C. Taylor is the sound of an artist beginning to repeat himself: lite music for dark times. → Read More
Phosphorescent: The BBC Sessions EP Album Review
A set of intimate, in-studio performances from Matthew Houck’s creative breakthrough in the early 2010s reveals new meaning and intensity in his tough-hearted songs. → Read More
Various Artists / Billy Paul / Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes / The O’ Jays / Dick Jensen / The Intruders / MFSB: Get on Board the Soul Train: The Sound of Philadelphia International Records Vol. 1 Album Review
The new box set examines the early years of Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International Records, a soul-music label that defined its city the way Stax did Memphis and Motown did Detroit. → Read More
Lambchop: Showtunes Album Review
Following a string of albums deconstructing Lambchop’s sound, Kurt Wagner continues to reinvent his band, this time using MIDI-assisted piano melodies to write love songs to music itself. → Read More
Iron & Wine: Archive Series No. 5: Tallahassee Recordings Album Review
Sam Beam’s earliest recordings reveal a songwriter and singer already secure in his eccentricities. Far from sounding tentative, these songs are more like a lost Iron & Wine album. → Read More
Ashley Monroe: Rosegold Album Review
On her least country album to date, the Nashville songwriter flattens out the twang and borrows from pop and hip-hop, to mixed results. → Read More
Bill MacKay / Nathan Bowles: Keys Album Review
The Chicago guitarist and the North Carolina multi-instrumentalist work wonderfully together and channel many spiritual influences with great warmth and ease. → Read More