We weren’t sure if Madonna could surprise us anymore. Until she did.
Never an especially technical rapper, Khalifa doesn’t take his game up on Rolling Papers.
The album abandons the ambient syncopation and experimentalism of Living Thing in favor of energetic, straight-to-the-point melodies.
Belong showcases a young band operating at an impressive level of cohesion and consistency.
Safari Disco Club is a definite breakthrough for Yelle, though it lacks for distinct leadership.
The 1000 Softcore Tourist People Club often sounds like the soundtrack to a video game we’re not allowed to play.
Mind Bokeh is fluid and formless, committing to pop structure and melodies one moment only to eschew them the next.
“Stolen Dog” effectively balances ambient and trance atmospheres.
The cute-to-ick ratio is significantly more favorable than it was last time around.
Even for a band that specializes in making gray-scaled musical monoliths, True Widow could benefit from the occasional pop of color.
Vices & Virtues is arena music at its most inane.
If this is supposed to be ammunition in the battle for crowning hip-hop’s queen, then it isn’t a war worth winning.
I Remember Me makes tepid improvements on Jennifer Hudson’s self-titled debut.
Collins has enlisted a fine lineup of collaborators to ensure that Losing Sleep sounds modern.
Violence is a hook on 101, which attempts to recast Keren Ann as a fiercer, more forceful presence.
Burke doesn’t do much to explore his new rumbly, teddy bear-style delivery, but the deep tones of his voice still make it an interesting instrument.
At heart, the album is a lyrical manifestation of the messages of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and modern minds like Michael Eric Dyson and Cornel West.
The Strokes aren’t the same band you fell in love with 10 years ago.
Cockburn’s musicianship remains cheerfully complex despite moments of verbal sterility.
Hotel Shampoo neatly channeling all of Rhys’s wonderful eccentricities into an intelligent pop record.
I’ve been fairly immune to Gossip’s infectious dance-punk, but with her new solo EP, singer Beth Ditto has put me completely under her spell.