Blue Smoke contains plenty of evidence that Parton can still write songs full of imagination, humor, and history.
Posthumous albums are usually artifacts mostly for loyal fans, but Michael Jackson wasn’t your usual pop star.
Agalloch’s fifth album, The Serpent & the Sphere, is an entrancing, inter-dimensional construction zone.
Nikki Nack is the result of warring emotions and priorities, with Tune-Yards railing against the world while simultaneously celebrating its fluorescent beauty.
The New Classic showcases an artist who’s still in the process of figuring out who she wants to be.
This is some of Kelis’s subtlest, most organic-sounding work. If only there was more of her in it.
Hendra sounds like an adult contemporary/folk crossover album that could have been released in 1976.
The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett is a roughshod batch of breakup songs too fragile to support the conceptual weight of its title.
Out Among the Stars is a reminder of how easy Johnny Cash made it all look even when he was slumping.
Kiss Me Once continues an impressive streak of ruthlessly addictive dance music that dates at least as far back as 2001.
The duo employs the vintage sounds of the 1970s and storytelling beats of Blaxploitation movies.
Oxymoron feels a bit like a Scarface fan living in a Godfather world.
Have Fun with God is a featureless expanse of echoing congas, with Callahan occasionally rising from the depths to sing something.