Music
The Electronic Symphonies of Video Game Scores
I haven’t played the game Death Stranding, but I know one thing: The score, composed by Ludvig Forssell for prepared piano, synthesizer, and found percussion, is beautiful.
Music
Art
Under Lockdown and Quarantine, China’s Punk Rock Bands Are Taking the Mosh Pit Online
With venues shuttered in the wake of the COVID-19 “coronavirus” outbreak, China’s indie musicians are live-streaming shows and organizing “bedroom” festivals.
Music
Remembering Patrick Cowley, Pioneer of Dance Music and Occasional Composer of Porn Soundtracks
Melding psychedelia with disco at a fast tempo, Cowley helped refine a new music genre, "Hi-NRG,” which seemed ideal to enhance the hot and sweaty vibe of San Francisco’s gay clubs.
Music
The Marvelous Variety of Straightforward Rap
Fans and critics will tell you that 2019 was a lousy year for consensus in rap.
Music
Jpegmafia, Isolated in His Own Head
The more you listen to All My Heroes Are Cornballs, the more it teaches you how to listen.
Music
Burial, a Legend of Electronica, Reasserts His Relevance
Tunes 2011-2019 suggests that Burial has not, like many musical geniuses, lost his way but rather deepened his singular sound and its capacity to reflect modern social and psychological angst.
Music
Big Thief's Haunting Musical Dreamworld
The Brooklyn folk-rock band’s two 2019 albums invent an imagined environment with its own internal logic, a densely wooded forest with strange, benevolent creatures lurking in the shadows.
Music
New Takes on Christmas Music
You wouldn't know it from listening to the same old hits on Christmas radio, but every year a flood of new Christmas music hits the market.
Music
Taylor Swift's Lover Surprises With Its Calm
Even on Swift's most dramatic songs there’s an underlying calm to Lover, a sense of gratitude and relief at having made it this far.
Music
Four Approaches to Sonic Immersion
When the world encroaches, aural blankets are comforting, but they can also function as weapons.
Music
An Explosion of Alternative Noise
Tired of contemporary pop’s mild spareness, craving music packed tight with crunch? These are four the noisiest albums rock albums around.
Music
R.I.P. Ric Ocasek, Icon of Blankness
Whenever the chugging intro to “Just What I Needed” or “My Best Friend’s Girl” plays, fans of adolescent drama pump their fists and say yeah.