Apr 06, 2016
Music
Kanye West
Who exactly is Kanye West in 2016? Is he the envelope-pushing, genre-defining producer and artist who reshaped hip-hop (including 2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which I still believe to be the best album of the decade so far)? Alternatively, is he the haughty, rant-prone celebrity husband more widely known for his temper than his talent?
More
Apr 06, 2016
Music
Web Exclusive
It has been five years since the release of Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, Explosions in the Sky’s last non-soundtrack album. (Working on the films Prince Avalanche, Lone Survivor, and Manglehorn kept the group plenty busy in the interim.) Now, a full 16 years since the Texas-bred quartet made its debut with How Strange, Innocence, The Wilderness marks a true-to-form refinement of the band’s signature sound.
More
Apr 05, 2016
Music
Weezer
The release of a new Weezer record always seems to cause as much trepidation as it does excitement. Their fans are loyal and often near-exclusive; there’s even a blog dedicated to finding new music that sounds like “old Weezer.”
More
Apr 05, 2016
Music
The Field
Axel Willner’s fifth full-length recording as The Field follows a similar blueprint to 2013’s excellent Cupid’s Head. The Swedish techno luminary’s trademarked looping rhythms and exquisite technical execution are a constant presence, yet The Follower feels more progressive and experimental than anything that’s gone before it.
More
Apr 05, 2016
Music
Web Exclusive
If you’re just now sitting down for your first serving of Dinner, welcome—you’re in for a strange ride. The intrepid Dane’s off-kilter approach to music picks and pulls from across the pop music spectrum (but especially 1980s pop) to mold some of the most magical, sexed-up, and unabashedly weird music you’ll come across. Once you develop a taste, you’ll never give it up.
More
Apr 04, 2016
Music
Web Exclusive
Critics have always had an uneasy relationship with ambition. It’s not that they don’t want artists to push envelopes, just that there’s an invisible fence within which they like to prescribe the act. Go too far and it’s a sprawl, and for fuck’s sake, don’t let a critic smell the ambition on you or you’ll be deemed too clever for your own good.
More
Apr 04, 2016
Music
Web Exclusive
There are few, fortunate artists able to tap into the magic of inter-webs adulation. Occasionally, there’s a musician who can follow through on the promise of a few early, universally-acclaimed singles and translate that to genuine stardom. Here, 19-year-old Norwegian singer Aurora Aksnes makes her musical argument for sustained relevance.
More
Apr 04, 2016
Music
Eric Bachmann
Former Archers of Loaf and Crooked Fingers frontman, Eric Bachmann‘s self-titled album is a personal, moving compilation about life and love with a slight Southern bent.
More
Apr 01, 2016
Music
Web Exclusive
The story of Charles Bradley is a quintessentially American one. As chronicled in the excellent documentary Soul of America, he was down on his luck until he was discovered as a James Brown impersonator, becoming the unlikeliest of stars at age 65. Bradley is now on his third album, Changes, and is backed by The Extraordinaires, who replace The Menahan Street Band.
More
Apr 01, 2016
Music
Web Exclusive
Hot on the heels of last year’s excellent Mutilator Defeated at Last, perhaps the best of their 10 albums to date (16 if you count earlier albums released under the four different names), Thee Oh Sees start off 2016 by doing what they do best.
More