We weren’t sure if Madonna could surprise us anymore. Until she did.
Bear breathes new life into a long-hibernating genre.
Yo La Tengo knows exactly how hard and in what direction to push.
Susana Baca’s Seis Poemas presents summery South American pop stripped down to its elements.
Prejudice? No! Ignorance? No! Bigotry? No! Illiteracy? A tad.
Arrangement is often a difficult listen because of Hawthorne’s inferior vocal performances.
Notwithstanding what it might sound like, A Fine Frenzy isn’t the title of some post-punk Brit band festooned in Hot Topic pinstripes.
If W.K.’s aim was to prove once and for all his capabilities beyond the insistent plinking of a single note, then mission accomplished.
Everything is connected in Tarantino’s world, bound by his religious sense of devotion to films and the music that goes with them.
Still a little dry at times, Curse Your Branches is saved by its attempts at lightness and levity.
There simply isn’t anything here that speaks to what has made Drive-By Truckers one of the smartest, most nuanced acts of the last decade.
Colbie Caillat’s music is so banal and nondescript that even the most lovesick listener will be hard-pressed to feel moved.
The New Voice lives more contently in the midtempo numbers that allow her to sink into the grooves.
American Classic finds Nelson sounding as soulful and youthful as he has in years.
Imogen Heap makes music that is, in a sense, contradictory.
He may be capable of more, but Big Dreams & High Hopes certainly isn’t bad for what it is.
Lyrically, Light is an album concerned with spiritual struggle, but it’s rarely insightful.
These songs are icy ballads striving for breathy mystery.
Gather, Form & Fly brings renewed energy to a sub-genre that nearly collapsed under two years’ worth of Fleet Foxes hype.
Mew is not as thoughtful or smart as they think they are, but the force of their conviction is inspiring.
Hayden Thorpe and his three bandmates may be the most elegant sounding wild beasts in pop music.