Finding a Home with Tom Waits
When the light hits the music just right, Tom Waits’ body of work unlocks and reveals itself: to be at home anywhere is to be at home nowhere at all.
Music Features
‘Louder Than You Think’: The Improbable Origins of Pavement
Louder Than You Think documents the early origins of indie rock’s Pavement through the cracked life and times of the band’s first drummer, Gary Young.
Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’ Subverts Being Trapped in a Glass Castle
For her 1989 album, Taylor Swift wrote breakup songs that cleverly conveyed to fans she had personal freedom even from within her glass castle.
12 Compositions to Introduce You to Classical Music Post-1950
Classical and compositional music have continued to thrive in the 20th and 21st centuries, reaching new heights of dissonance and beauty.
Warhaus Is the Music of Maarten Devoldere’s Subconscious
For Warhaus’ latest LP, Karaoke Moon, Belgian songwriter Maarten Devoldere (Balthazar) delved into his subconscious with some hypnotic assistance.
Carminho Expresses Her Passion for Life Through Song
For Portuguese singer Carminho, fado is more than a genre of music; it’s a language through which she expresses her spiritual growth.
20 Music Videos of the 1980s That Have Aged Well
In this installment of our retrospective of 1980s music videos, we focus on 20 promos that have, remarkably, stood the test of time.
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MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of November 2024
In November’s best metal, the Body corrode all sound, Defeated Sanity balance immediacy and complexity, and Djevel relish the Scandinavian black metal spirit.
The Blood Brothers’ ‘Crimes’ Retains Its Malevolent Relevance
The Blood Brothers Crimes is a pitch-black satire and critique of its time showing how little has changed. It would be depressing if the music weren’t thrilling.
The Dismemberment Plan’s Pre-millennial Tension: ‘Emergency & I’ at 25
Post-punk band the Dismemberment Plan’s Emergency & I is a landmark about loneliness, confusion, and isolation and how to bounce back from them.
Digging Deeper with Denver Emo Band A Place For Owls
Denver’s A Place For Owls discuss their new album, their relationship to emo, and the dual forces of suffering and hope in life and creative work.
The Rhythmic Remembrances of Fred Thomas
Fred Thomas: “Attention spans are so short now. Records need a story to stand out from the rest. There is a deep intentionality in this record for me.”