“I’m ready to leave L.A., and I want you to come,” Lana Del Rey sings on her latest album Chemtrails Over the Country Club. “Eighty miles north or south will do.” It’s an escapist fantasy the pop singer has entertained before: stealing away from the City of Angels in a …
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Every decade should kick off with a Paul McCartney one-man-band album — and this one needs it more than most. McCartney III carries on his tradition of homemade solo records, in the mode of his acoustic 1970 debut and his 1980 synth-pop oddity McCartney II. Like its two predecessors, it’s …
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Purple Rain may be Prince‘s biggest-selling and arguably best album, but 1999 was his most pivotal. After releasing four scandalously excellent records of erotic R&B, he put some pants on, toned down the Lothario act, and rebranded himself as a pop savant, and the record’s synthy crossover bids like “Delirious” …
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Celine Dion didn’t really have much need for a “comeback.” She is one of the biggest-selling artists of all time, has been hailed as one of the greatest, most versatile voices in history and for years reigned supreme over Las Vegas as its highest-paid act. Not a single wedding or …
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In 2008 Phil Elverum, still solidifying his new musical identity after dissolving his lo-fi band the Microphones, first teamed up with Canadian indie-rocker Julie Doiron for the joint LP Lost Wisdom. Roughly ten years later, the duo is back with a stunning sequel of sorts, Lost Wisdom Pt. 2. Much …
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When a new artist is coming off a massive Number One breakout hit, the burning question is always whether or not they can shake that multi-platinum devil off their back and prove they have something more to say that can keep our attention. With Lil Nas X that’s an especially …
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Van Morrison’s past half-decade or so of recorded work has been as mystifying and fascinating as it’s been uneven. Unlike most of his 70’s singer-songwriter contemporaries, the 73 year-old’s output has only increased with age. The singer has sprinkled occasional moments of brilliance (see 2016’s Keep Me Singing) amongst a …
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In late May, 1968, the Beatles convened at guitarist George Harrison’s English country home with an extraordinary body of raw materials for their next album. The so-called “Esher demos” — 27 songs taped on Harrison’s four-track machine — were at once stark and full, solo acoustic blueprints already outfitted with …
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The “Te Bote” remix, by Nio Garcia, Casper Magico, Darrell, Bad Bunny, Nicky Jam and Ozuna, is one of the most indispensable songs released this year in any genre — a hit in both old-fashioned media like radio as well as the warp-speed world of YouTube, where it has more …
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No one expected the rambunctious rap collective Odd Future to spawn a great soft-soul outfit, but that’s exactly what the Internet, fronted mostly by Odd Future alumna Syd, have become. Hive Mind, the group’s 4th LP, is its most polished, full of tranquil, yearning Quiet Storm and light-footed, live-band funk. …
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