Toro Y Moi: Anything in Return
Toro Y Moi reminds me of a Portlandia character. read more
Foxygen: We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic
The sooner you fumble your way through the unruly title of Foxygen’s latest LP, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic, the sooner you can get to the music, which is quite the opposite—immediately familiar and relatively easy to navigate. read more
Erin McKeown: Manifestra
With a louche saunter and a thick, descending ripple of horn punctuations, Erin McKeown opens her first self-released album with a high-ironic colonic that skewers double-dealing public servants with their flaccid protest “If nobody knows, tell me what’s the crime?” read more
Free Energy: Love Sign
"Don't wanna talk now," sings Free Energy frontman Paul Sprangers on "Time Goes On," engulfed in bar-rock guitar crunch, echoed by solar-eclipse harmonies. read more
Christopher Owens: Lysandre
Christopher Owens can’t outrun his backstory: Born into the Children of God cult and hauled to proselytize across Asia and Western Europe before fleeing as a teen and dead-ending in Texas. read more
Holopaw: Academy Songs Volume 1
I can remember twice when I experienced snow in Florida. read more
A$AP Rocky: Long. Live. A$AP
When RCA threw $3 million behind A$AP Rocky, it wasn’t just investing in the Harlem rapper. read more
Sean Lennon: Alter Egos
Sean Lennon may be on to something here. read more
Yo La Tengo: Fade
What a gross prospect that a 30-years-going (and at least 20-years-miraculous) band like Hoboken’s finest have to contend with critical acclaim, that tempestuous thing that doubts itself every so often when a band simmers for too long. read more
The Living Sisters: Run for Cover EP
It’s an inspired idea: Rather than tackle Doris Day’s “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)” for their new Run for Cover EP, the Living Sisters decided to take on Sly & the Family Stone’s cover of that 1956 smash. read more
Pere Ubu: Lady From Shanghai
When Pere Ubu released The Modern Dance in 1978, they were lightyears ahead of their time. read more
T.I.: Trouble Man: Heavy is the Head
Two winters ago, T.I. went away on a parole violation. His parting gift: No Mercy, an overstaffed slog that wasted Kanye West and Scarface in the first 10 minutes alone. read more
Chief Keef: Finally Rich
In his still-infantile rap career, Chief Keef's backstory has been as crucial (if not more crucial) to his high-profile status than his actual, you know, music. read more
Big Boi: Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors
Big Boi’s second album, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors has all the hallmarks of a bad record, and yet we want to be soft on it more than most artists’ failures. read more
Bill Mallonee: Amber Waves
Between his tenure with legendary Athens, Ga., band Vigilantes of Love and his long-running solo career, Bill Mallonee has released a whopping 50 albums. read more
Bikini Kill: Bikini Kill EP
There’s two kinds of canons: influence and product read more
Massive Attack: Blue Lines Reissue
We weren’t listening to Blue Lines in 1991. read more
Green Day: Tre!
There are very few bands—if any—whose music is good enough to justify three full-length studio albums in one calendar year. And as they've proven over the course of their bloated 2012 triple-album saga, Green Day are clearly not that band. read more
Bruno Mars: Unorthodox Jukebox
Bruno Mars is instantly puppy-dog lovable, and that's probably his biggest weakness as an R&B hit-making phenom. read more
Alicia Keys: Girl on Fire
With a few carefully considered piano notes, “De Novo Adagio” reminds fans of soul diva Alicia Keys’ classical roots and sets the stage for an album that reaches beyond obvious anthems (“Empire State of Mind,” “Fallin’”) for a new urbanity, offering a variety of moods, notions, even introspection. read more
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