In 2010, Sufjan Stevens came out of a self-imposed bout of musical silence. In 2011, Iron & Wine releases his first major label statement. What do they have in common? Here is some musical mathematics.

I won't pretend like I trust or respect political art. I think it's inherently suspect. Which is not to say that art cannot have a powerful galvanizing effect on politics, or that it cannot be great art.

It used to be easy to understand the difference between Pop Music and Art Music. Pop Music was awesome (but kind of slight) and Art Music was awesome (but kind of tedious).

Why oh why are our best artists always so contrarian, so complicated?

Will Oldham compiled a list of his favorite music of 2009 for the current issue of Artforum. The best part was his introduction.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Los Angeles Times emeritus pop critic Robert Hilburn. Back when I spent more time writing about music than enabling its makers to make a career at it, Bob was kind enough to invite me to the newspaper's dining hall for a pep talk.