Music
Harsh Ambient Arca
Arca is a pseudonym for Alejandro Ghersi, a Venezuelan DJ/producer based in New York. He specializes in eerie, glitchy, electronic instrumentals that confound ordinary electronica categories.
Lucas Fagen
Music
The Portrait of Karen Carpenter
The Carpenters’ Christmas Portrait is, far and away, without a doubt, quite simply the greatest Christmas album ever recorded.
Music
Carly Rae Jepsen, Antipersona
Carly Rae Jepsen is the emptiest pop diva to have released an album this year, and that’s not an insult.
Music
Grimes, Self-Conscious Art Angel
Put on the new Grimes album and prepare for 50 minutes of squeal.
Music
Beach House Lullaby
The latest two albums from Beach House, 'Depression Cherry' and 'Thank Your Lucky Stars,' were released this year less than two months apart, and good luck trying to distinguish one from the other.
Music
Long Road Outta Compton
Dr. Dre has been coasting on myth for so long that the success of his new album comes as a genuine surprise.
Music
Let's Spend the Weeknd Together
Abel Tesfaye’s new album, Beauty Behind the Madness, cements the former indie/DIY/Internet mystery man’s newfound commercial clout.
Music
Twenty One Pilots: Eclectopop
Twenty One Pilots confound genre lines so exuberantly that even Wikipedia has no idea what to make of them.
Music
Yo La Tengo Mix a Tape
Yo La Tengo have always been a peaceful, lyrical-sounding band, but the fragility level on their new album is something else.
Music
Galantis, Intimacy Machine
A cascading synthesizer shimmers as a nondescript female voice starts whispering various stock phrases. The melody builds a little, there’s a brief pause, then the singer becomes a chipmunk and the synthesizers start blocking out the beat.
Music
Kacey Musgraves, Ouroboros
“I ain’t pageant material,” declares country songbird Kacey Musgraves on the title track to her new album, but the song’s too pretty, too demure, too well-mannered.
Music
Horses, Lake, Trees, Sweat, Hotel, Sun, Bed, Girl, Phone, Birds, Film, Ski Town, Yard, Mountains, Road, Dandelions, Sun Kil Moon
From chirpy beginning to gloomy end, the new Sun Kil Moon album portrays a man in love with the concrete noun.