ACL 2024 ~ The Top 20 Albums of the Year

This year, A Closer Listen received thousands of submissions and reviewed hundreds; today our international staff chooses twenty.  Three former chart-toppers appear on this year’s list, while one artist appears for the fifth time, but half are new, while our

ACL 2024 ~ Top Ten Ambient

Approximately 4000 instrumental albums were submitted for review this year, nearly half of them ambient.  To reach the summit is like climbing up the hill on the cover of Hollie Kenniff’s For Forever.  The competition has never been so fierce

ACL 2024 ~ The Year’s Best Packaging

There’s something special about a physical release ~ the package arriving in the mail (or if one is fortunate, purchased from a shoppe); full-sized art to appreciate, liner notes to pore over; the scent of new vinyl, the pops and

Taylor Deupree ~ Sti.ll

Most albums have one lead story; Sti.ll has two.  The first is that the album presents an acoustic ensemble reworking of an electronic classic.  The second is that it comes in an extensive hardcover edition, thanks to greyfade’s brand new FOLIO imprint.