When news came down the pipeline that Jay-Z Jay Z JAY-Z was gearing up for a new studio album, 4:44, the reception was rather muted. Once again opting to partner with a major corporation (Sprint) – 2013’s Magna Carta Holy Grail arrived in July of that year with a Samsung sponsorship – 4:44 felt like the logical conclusion to his […]
Monthly Archives: June 2017
The Obama Years: The Best Albums from 2009-2016
There were a lot of great things about Barack Obama’s presidency, and the music that came during his time in office is just one small yet everlasting reminder of his time at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. These are the best albums that came out between the time of his inauguration and the time he left office, […]
The Best Albums + Songs of 2017.5
With honorable mentions to Alison Crutchfield, Arca, Beth Ditto, Big Thief, Charli XCX, The Courtneys, Dua Lipa, Drake, Future, Future Islands, Harry Styles, Hater, Jay Som, Johnny Jewel, Jens Lekman, Julie Byrne, Mac DeMarco, The Menzingers, Priests, Sampha, (Sandy) Alex G, Sorority Noise, Spoon, Slowdive, Stormzy, Syd, SZA, Tennis, TOPS, and Young Thug, there can […]
“Do U Love Me” is another winner for Young Thug
Young Thug’s “singing album,” Beautiful Thugger Girls, is not a country album, despite what you may have heard. Yes, the excellent opening track “Family Don’t Matter” carries with it traces of country, but the album largely adheres to the hues he played with on Jeffery cuts “Wyclef Jean” and “Kanye West,” as well as his More Life collaboration “Ice Melts.”
Lorde paints a masterpiece on “The Louvre”
From the beginning, Lorde has shown a deft ability to wring the drama, the poetry out of the smallest moments. Her new album, Melodrama, arrived this morning and is a masterful extension of the bedroom pop she made on her star making debut Pure Heroine.
LIV makes good on their potential with “Heaven”
Perhaps it has to do with outsized expectations, or artists struggling to find a common musical vocabulary, but supergroups most always are more exciting on paper than on record. So it was with trepidation I took the news last year that Swedish pop heavyweights Lykke Li, Miike Snow and Peter, Bjorn and John had recorded an […]
Phoenix rides off into the sunset on “Goodbye Soleil”
Phoenix returns in two days with Ti Amo, their first new album since Bankrupt! (2013). The album has been preceded by three singles, the title-track, lead single “J-Boy,” and now the whimsical, spiraling “Goodbye Soleil.”
Torres reaches out on her stunning new single “Skim”
Torres has often toed the line between being introspective and throwing her arms around the world. Her music feels deeply personal, but Torres builds skyscrapers of sound around them to the point where her tracks become public record.
Carly Rae Jepsen aims straight for the heart on “Cut To The Feeling”
While Emotion didn’t make Carly Rae Jepsen the world’s biggest pop star, it positioned as her as one of our best. She has hardly slowed down since, with last year seeing the release of the b-sides of collection Emotion: Side B, and now she’s back with another song from the Emotion sessions, “Cut To The Feeling,” which is […]
Arcade Fire dust off their dancing shoes on “Everything Now”
After teasing something for the past week, Arcade Fire are back with a new song titled “Everything Now.” The title-track from their forthcoming studio album, “Now” fuses Reflektor‘s rhythms with Funeral‘s scope in creating a new sound for the band.
