Pop Spotlight

Depeche Mode had nearly finished their fourth full decade and 14th full-length before a Martin Gore-Dave Gahan cowrite finally made an album. That was “You Move,” a throbbing bit of tossed-off electro pop nestled near […]

Munich’s Ilian Tape label is a family affair. Its founders are brothers Dario and Marco Zenker, and dance music runs in their blood: Their aunt, Dorle Zenker, ran the iconic nightclub Ultraschall, ground zero for the city’s […]

The word yian, or yàn (燕), refers to a swallow, the migratory harbinger of spring that in Chinese culture appears often in maobi paintings, children’s songs, girls’ names, and superstitions. In her largely self-produced debut full-length, YIAN, Lucinda […]

In the mid 2010s Yo Gotti’s label CMG stood for “Cocaine Muzik Group,” until 50 Cent told him that the name was “too harsh” and would scare people off—which I took to mean potential investors and fans. […]

Aly & AJ occupy a space on the hazy fringe of the pop mainstream. As survivors of the Radio Disney machine of the 2000s, they’re showbiz lifers, entertainers who are eager to try on new […]

Few artists have maximized the direct-to-consumer possibilities of YouTube like RXK Nephew. Where other artists are bound by contractual obligations and release schedules, the Rochester, New York rapper took an accelerationist approach, delivering an erratic stream of […]

After 50 years as one of the biggest bands in the world, there’s something charming in the way that U2 keeps acting like they have something to prove. We all watched how actors, artists, and […]

Tei Shi’s first two albums wore their love for 1980s and ’90s pop and R&B on their sleeves. Moving from sugary, Britney-inflected pop to glistening ballads, the artist born Valerie Teicher synthesized her influences into […]

Ali Farka Touré lived life on his own terms. Hailing from a noble lineage, he overcame his family’s disapproval to become a musician, and as a young boy taught himself to play the njerkle (single-string guitar), njarka […]

Driving across West Texas can feel a little like piloting a Mars rover: life signs minimal save for the stray prairie dog, an endless sky suffocating overhead. The cities of Amarillo and Lubbock appear like […]

Many people have a defining moment of their childhood; for M83’s Anthony Gonzalez, childhood seems like the defining moment of his life. Each album since 2008’s John Hughes-inspired Saturdays=Youth has communed with a specific set of nostalgic […]

Doug Paisley’s records have always evoked big, broad rivers, drifting across the Earth without hurry. His smooth country songs are doing ancient work, asking questions of love and death and doubt; these are not fleeting […]