The first song on Lucinda Williams’ new record, “Let’s Get the Band Back Together,” is a frail hymn of possibility in the guise of a sweetly silly rocker. The genius of Stories From a Rock […]
12 Rods: If We Stayed Alive
Like so many other rock acts snapped up by the majors during the back half of the ’90s, 12 Rods’ contract was supposed to accelerate their already heady velocity. Less than three years after their […]
Sweeping Promises: Good Living Is Coming For You
Over more than a decade and a half dozen aliases, Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug have bled the past dry, mining just about every vein of indie rock down to the bedrock. As fixtures of […]
The Idol: Music From the HBO Original Series
If you would like to listen to the music from the first season of The Idol—HBO’s infamous, incendiary show about a young female pop star as told through the eyes of its creators, Sam Levinson […]
The Alchemist: Flying High EP
The Alchemist has churned out steely boom-bap and psychedelic loops for icons across three generations of hip-hop and helped pioneer the one-producer/one-rapper mixtape wave of the 2010s. He’s Eminem’s tour DJ, worked on the score […]
John Carroll Kirby: Blowout
To immerse yourself in John Carroll Kirby’s mischievous amalgam of jazz, funk, and Herbie Hancock-indebted synth-soul is to enter a world of endless iteration. The songs on the Los Angeles-based pianist’s studio albums often feel […]
Chester Watson: Fish Don’t Climb Trees
Chester Watson wants to understand his place in the cosmos. The producer and rapper’s new age boom-bap evokes sleepwalking with its narcoleptic rhythms and restless motion; even in the disorienting unreality of dreams, he is […]
Veeze: Ganger
Sometimes the ease with which Veeze raps makes it seem like he’s not even trying. When he’s beside more emotive emcees—like on the three-man weave “Making a Mess” with Pooh Shiesty and BIG30 or the […]
Hayden Pedigo: The Happiest Times I Ever Ignored
John Fahey occupies a paradoxical position in American life. Born and raised in suburban Washington, D.C., his music invokes a kind of a kind of localism by way of the folk, blues, jazz, and country […]
Pat Metheny: Dream Box
First popularized by Chicago jazz singer Judy Roberts and recently resurrected on a compilation of obscure yacht-rock gems, Russ Long’s 1982 composition “Never Was Love” is a fascinating document of its time: as catchy and […]
Key Glock: Glockoma 2 (Deluxe)
With the tragic death of Young Dolph in 2021, the Memphis rapper Key Glock lost not only a close artistic collaborator, but a beloved family member and the single-most influential figure in his career. But […]
Lush: Spooky
For a too-brief moment, Lush were the platonic ideal of an underground college band turning their dreams into a career. Emma Anderson and Miki Berenyi had channeled their careers as teen fanzine publishers and avid […]