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Rodney Crowell ruminates on his past with poetic poignancy on the new Close Ties
Few songwriters are able to revisit their past with as much poetic effectiveness as Rodney Crowell, a roots master who regularly reflects on his early days—whether growing up in Texas or arriving in...
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On Raw Rock Fury Ecstatic Vision blend MC5-style riffs with Beefheart freak...
As far as groove-driven heavy psych bands go, Philly’s Ecstatic Vision, right down to their grandiloquent name, ain’t necessarily cracking any mold. But then again, who says they’re trying to?…
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Kneebody blend rhythmic muscularity and lyric tenderness on their new album...
Muscular quintet Kneebody have spent more than a decade pushing against the limitations of jazz, forging an instrumental approach distinguished by high-level improvisation and a bruising ensemble...
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Regina Spektor’s recent Remember Us to Life features a new meditative posture
Since her chirpy single “Fidelity” from Begin to Hope became an unlikely earworm in 2007, Regina Spektor has been beloved by the cultural cognoscenti and celebrities alike, even though she hasn’t a...
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R&B chameleons They. borrow from scattered pop sources in their quest to get...
Blog posts about rising LA R&B duo They. tend to reference the genre they label themselves with on some of their Soundcloud uploads—“grunge&b.”—but otherwise describe them in quite different...
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Jay Som’s infatuation with Carly Rae Jepsen’s purist pop is a sign of her...
Melina Duterte is loosening up. In 2016, under her Jay Som moniker, she released the compilation Turn Into, a collection of songs from the past few years that earnestly bounces between fuzzed-out...
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Australian sound artist Lawrence English responds to a troubled world on...
On his bracing new album Cruel Optimism (Room40) veteran Australian sound artist Lawrence English subtly erases boundaries between ambient drift and industrial roar, forging aqueous instrumentals that...
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Kurt Wagner’s Lambchop gets electronic on the recent album FLOTUS
It’s a bit strange to hear the drowsy, conversational singing of Kurt Wagner dipped in alien AutoTune effects on Lambchop’s recent album FLOTUS (Merge), but nearly every record in the band’s...
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Pontiak finesse their heady stoner-rock grooves and hypnotic vocal harmonies...
Virginia trio Pontiak—brothers Jennings, Van, and Lain Carney—have spent years developing and refining a particular strain of groove-based hard rock, their indelible, fuzzed-out guitar riffs cycling...
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Local indie hip-hop label Closed Sessions took a gamble in 2016 that paid off
Closed Sessions cofounders Alex Fruchter and Michael Kolar went into 2016 viewing it as a make-or-break year. Well, not only did the young hip-hop imprint put out two full-lengths that helped define...
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A Bite of Szechuan adds to an undersung neighborhood dining scene
Chef Dingguo Cheng turns out uncompromising Chinese food in West Rogers Park. There was a feast of epic proportions under way a few weekends ago at the then month-old A Bite of Szechuan. At the center...
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The movie that made heroin fun gets a sequel for a less heroin-friendly time
T2: Trainspotting reunites the Edinburgh junkies from the beloved British black comedy. Cook up and tie off—T2, the long-awaited sequel to Danny Boyle's British black comedy Trainspotting, opens this...
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On the new Heartless, Pallbearer add rock heroics to their mournful doom
The consensus on Pallbearer’s new third album, Heartless (Profound Lore), seems to be that the Arkansas doom-metal quartet have finally unmasked themselves as a prog band. But even if you’re one of...
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Veteran Detroit DJ and producer K-Hand still knows how to make electronic...
If the brass behind the Grammys really wanted their Bee Gees tribute to be an uproarious sensation rather than a limp nonstory, they should have ditched Little Big Town for Detroit DJ and producer...
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On Rheia the flexible Oathbreaker blend shoegaze, black metal, and postpunk
Belgian quartet Oathbreaker have dribbled all over the metallic map in their three full-length albums, the most recent of which, Rheia, came out last fall on Deathwish. There’s something for everyone...
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Ukrainian group DakhaBrakha update the traditional folk sounds of their homeland
Since forming more than a decade ago, this energetic, highly theatrical combo from Ukraine have focused on translating the traditional polyphonic vocal tradition of their homeland for a global...
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Bizarre minimalist duo Sleaford Mods add some melody to their verbal assault
If Nottingham’s Sleaford Mods have anything that might be considered a breakout single it’s “Jobseeker,” a track that landed them on the BBC’s Later . . . With Jools Holland in 2015. The...
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Gabriella Cohen delivers a nonchalant breakup album couched in classic pop...
The first time I listened to Australian singer-guitarist Gabriella Cohen’s Full Closure and No Details (Captured Tracks), I was drawn in by the nonchalance of her performance, but as the songs rolled...
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The CSO’s MusicNow series salutes the late Pierre Boulez
Masterful composer, conductor, and thinker Pierre Boulez died in January 2016 at the age of 91 after decades of revolutionizing classical music and propelling it to radical new extremes. As a...
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New York MC A Boogie Wit da Hoodie embraces rap’s pop present
Bronx rapper Artist Dubose, better known as A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, became one of the biggest acts to emerge from NYC last year in part because he was willing to shrug off the city’s imposing hip-hop...
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