Music
The Odd Comforts of Alternative Rock
Traditionalism often enables quiet triumphs. Or loud triumphs, if you turn the volume up.
Lucas Fagen
Music
Turning Inward with Robyn, Gazelle Twin, Rosalia, and Low
Four introspective new albums depict the outside world in microcosm.
Music
Bhad Bhabie's Fear of Fame
Bhad Bhabie is our era’s perfect musical antihero: a teenager forced into the spotlight, learning to rap as a survival mechanism.
Music
Janelle Monáe's Political Sex
Monáe’s Dirty Computer is an ambitious, politically outspoken, all-encompassing pop-R&B statement album.
Music
The Pistol Annies, Alone and Together
Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe, and Angaleena Presley are so consistent and prolific, independently and in their supertrio, they elicit hyperbole.
Test 2018 posts
A Compilation of Commercial Christmas Jingles
Enjoy these Christmas recordings while you can, for humming these tunes is forbidden after the new year.
Test 2018 posts
The Protest Music We’ve Been Waiting For
New albums from Superchunk, Noname, Blood Orange, and Tune-Yards strike a blow for the resistance.
Music
How Much Dylan Do We Need?
The Bootleg series once served a useful function, but it has long since tipped over into decadence.
Music
The Latin Invasion in Pop
Thanks to the growing popularity of Latin trap music, Latin pop is having a heyday in the United States.
Test 2018 posts
How to Construct a K-Pop Thrill
With the exception of Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” the American market has been tough for Korean record labels to crack, until now.
Test 2018 posts
Four Takes on the Cover Album
Cover albums reveal something about the evolution of shared taste and cultural memory.
Test 2018 posts
Mitski's Eclectic Emo
The New York folk-punk singer writes short, scary songs with holes and twists and choruses that never repeat, and unexpected endings.