Review: Houndmouth, ‘Little Neon Limelight’
For its second album, the Indiana roots-rock band expands on its youthful devotion to shaggy, swinging, big-screen storytelling.
Category: Music Reviews
Review: Inventions, ‘Maze Of Woods’
Explosions In The Sky guitarist Mark Smith and Eluvium’s Matthew Cooper make natural collaborators. On their second album as Inventions, they craft head-nodding, vaguely unsettling music together.
Worth The Wait: The Transcendent Groove Of D’Angelo’s ‘Black Messiah’
There’s usually reason to be apprehensive when an artist spends years in the workshop on a single set of songs. But nearly 15 years after Voodoo, the R&B singer still makes tricky music sound easy.
Wu-Tang’s Fabulous Fabulist Returns
Ghostface Killah’s new 36 Seasons is a concept album with a big cast. It stars his Tony Starks alter ego in dense action scenes.
Angel Olsen: A Voice Of Confounding Power
Olsen has often been called a folk singer, but Ken Tucker says her new album — her first with a backing band — takes her music into an unclassifiable realm.
Vertical Scratchers: Slashed Chords, Fractured Poetry
Daughter of Everything is a superb pop album with one foot in the past and another in the future.
Lake Street Dive: ‘Portraits’ Of Heartache
The band prides itself on technique over originality, but is nonetheless passionate about its craft.
Before He Joined Congress, A South African Janitor’s Disco Past
Penny Penny put down his broom and picked up a mic for his 1994 debut, now reissued.
Angélique Kidjo Shouts Out Africa’s Women With Funk And Fire
Kidjo’s latest album, Eve, started when she was swept into a group of singing women in Kenya. She then took her music to Benin, traveling its width and breadth and recording nine different choral groups to back up her own lead vocals.
On ‘Hard Working Americans,’ Songs For The Ordinary Joe
Todd Snider, Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools and Duane Trucks perform in a new band that specializes in covering working-class songs.
Lafayette Gilchrist: An Old Soul, At Ease In A Modern World
On Gilchrist’s The View From Here, go-go dance beats inform his piano the same way freight-train boogie-woogie does.
Uneven But Vital, Bruce Springsteen Has ‘High Hopes’
His 18th album is a mixed-bag assortment of covers and originals brimming with undimmed eagerness.
Luscious Jackson Hits A Sweet Spot With New Children’s Album
After more than a decade apart, the ’90s band reconvened for a new album, Magic Hour. But along with it, the trio — all mothers — released a children’s album called Baby DJ. Reviewer Stefan Shepherd says Baby DJ played a role in Luscious Jackson getting back together.
A Bumper Crop Of Classical Box Sets
It’s been a banner year for classical box sets. Deceptive Cadence hosts Anastasia Tsioulcas and Tom Huizenga tell us why and choose a few of their favorites.
William Parker’s Abstract Grooves Collected In Box Set
With six concerts spread over eight discs, Wood Flute Songs documents the bassist’s exhaustive and creative live output.
27 Years Ago, Keith Jarrett Was A One-Man Band
In 1986, the iconic jazz pianist experimented with drums, bass and electric guitar in his home studio. Decades later, he’s finally released the tapes. Reviewer Banning Eyre says that on No End, Jarrett seems to cherish rediscovering a side of his younger self.
After Ailing, A Favorite Conductor Stages His Comeback
Live at Carnegie Hall captures a riveting experience with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and a beloved conductor, James Levine, who has been plagued with a variety of medical troubles.
Will The Real Llewyn Davis Please Stand Up?
Dave Van Ronk’s autobiography inspired Joel and Ethan Coen’s new movie about a ’60s folksinger. Though he died in 2002, a new anthology ought to help give Van Ronk a long-needed boost.
Two Sides Of Holiday Cheer From Kelly Clarkson, Nick Lowe
Whether glossy and heartfelt (Clarkson’s Wrapped in Red) or earnest and playful (Lowe’s Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection for All the Family), these albums can help conjure a holiday mood in the month before Christmas.
Latyrx: Still Deft And Defiant After Two Decades
The oratorical alt-rap duo featuring Lateef the Truth Speaker and Lyrics Born returns with a follow-up to 1996’s The Album. The new record demonstrates that the two are as capable as ever of illustrating the musicality of hip-hop.