Peter Bjorn & John | Darker Days
You know things are getting rough when even Peter, Bjorn and John are bummed. After all, these Swedish indie-popsters are the guys who scored their biggest hit on these...
Bob Moses | Battle Lines
Countless electronica duos write good music. Far fewer know how to write good songs. Bob Moses clearly don't have that problem. But there's no big mystery behind it. The...
Ty Segall | Fudge Sandwich
Ty Segall is not wasting time. His or yours. The prolific Los Angeles garage-rocker has been especially productive this year — he's already released five albums, including one with his...
The Monkees | Christmas Party
You don't have to be a Yuletide believer to get into this holiday offering from surviving Monkees Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork. But it would help if...
Nao | Saturn
Everybody can't be a chart-topping pop singer. Nor should they. The music world also needs its share of auteurs, eccentrics, iconoclasts, rule-breakers and free-spirited musical individualists. Which is pretty...
The Struts | Young & Dangerous
You know what they say: There are no coincidences. And when it comes to the timing of this album, they're right. In what can only be described as one...
John Legend | A Legendary Christmas
Goodwill toward men is a fine thing. But honestly, sometimes it's hard to extend that feeling to John Legend. Not that he doesn't deserve it; dude is clearly on...
Robyn | Honey
Life turns a lot of folks hard and bitter. It does not make most people soft and sweet. Good thing Robyn is not like most people. In the eight...
David Crosby | Here If You Listen
"I've been thinking about dying and how to do it well," David Crosby croons with surprising sweetness a few songs into Here If You Listen. Well, fair enough, I...
Cloud Nothings | Last Building Burning
Fast and loud and hard are good. Fast and loud and hard and creative and smart are way better. And better is exactly what you get on Last Building...
Autogramm | What R U Waiting 4?
Musical genres come and go. In fact, some come and go more than once. Anyone who lived through the relentless and brutal ska resurgences of our recent past can...
Thom Yorke | Suspiria vs. John Carpenter | Halloween
How do you make a great horror-movie soundtrack? The same way you make a great horror movie: By finding new ways to terrify the bejeesus out of people while...
Queen | Bohemian Rhapsody: Original Soundtrack
Queen are the champions, my friends. Especially when it comes to milking their back catalogue. Just look at the numbers: The band made 15 studio albums with singer Freddie...
Dave Davies | Decade
You think your brother makes life difficult? Be glad you're not Dave Davies. The underappreciated Kinks guitarist had to spend decades toiling in the shadow of brother Ray, who...
Jason Isbell | Live From the Ryman & Amanda Shires | To The Sunset
I remember the first time I saw Jason Isbell play. It was in a dive bar in Austin about 15 years ago, when he had just started playing guitar...
