Music
Frank Ocean Four Years Later
Blonde is a consistent, coherent, well-crafted album, but it feels anticlimactic. It’s a retreat.
Frank Ocean
Music
In His New Trio of Releases, Frank Ocean Crafts a Mortal Self-Image
At a time when we swipe through thousands of images a day and cruise through thousands of paintings in an hour at an art fair, it's only the rarest of artworks that we return to again and again.
Music
Bubble Bath: Deconstructing Pazz & Jop
Every year, the Village Voice holds an annual poll, inviting nearly every critic in the biz to vote on the best albums and singles of the given year. Because of its size, it’s generally the best way to measure yearly progress in pop music: the numbers actually mean something. The thing is huge; 493
Music
Thinking About Frank Ocean
CHICAGO — In the summer of 2011, back before his blown-up image started selling thousands of records, I discovered Frank Ocean while looking through a batch of new releases, through a then-mysterious single called “Novacane.” First I was drawn in by the lyrics, with their Kubrick references, subtle
Music
Fagen's Critical Catalogue (September 2012)
This month, reviews of Flo Rida, Ab-Soul, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Purity Ring, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Blood on the Dance Floor, Frank Ocean, and Lee Brice.
Music
Fagen's Critical Catalogue (Mar 2012)
This week, reviews of Dr. Dog, Mohsen Namjoo, Rodrigo y Gabriela & C.U.B.A., Sia Tolno, Lana Del Rey, Clams Casino, Leonard Cohen, Snow Patrol and more.