John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s ‘Two Virgins’ at 55: Still Telling Naked Truths
John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Two Virgins inspired so much ire and distaste back in the day that we can take this opportunity to see what all the fuss was about.
Pop Past
Riot Grrrl Classic Bikini Kill’s ‘Pussy Whipped’ at 30
Bikini Kill’s biting 1993 opus Pussy Whipped was the centerpiece of the riot grrrl movement, an uninhibited, game-changing punk album by dissident young women.
Putting the Eyebrows on It: Frank Zappa’s ‘The Yellow Shark’ at 30
The orchestral music of Frank Zappa is required listening for any fan of 20th-century classical music, and The Yellow Shark is the best place to start.
Raps From the Golden Age: Jungle Brothers’ Straight Out the Jungle at 35
Jungle Brothers’ 35-year-old Straight Out the Jungle shows cerebral rapping, experimentation, and African rhythms. It was the first Native Tongues hip-hop LP.
15 Years of Mogwai’s ‘The Hawk Is Howling’
The Hawk Is Howling is full of signature moments when Mogwai explore complex combinations of moods from bright to dark, soft to heavy, and sensual to horrific.
The Fragmented Quality of Boards of Canada’s ‘Music Has the Right to Children’
Boards of Canada’s Music Has the Right to Children is murky, burned, and melted. It sounds like 1980s synth, disco, new age, and new wave heard through a wall.
‘Chutes Too Narrow’ Remains the Shins’ Defining Work 20 Years Later
The Shins’ Chutes Too Narrow is one of the defining albums of the indie rock era when the genre grew alongside independent, online publications and hipsterism.
The Afghan Whigs’ ‘Gentlemen’ Retains Its Punishing Allure at 30
Greg Dulli’s lyrics are part of the enduring power of the Afghan Whigs’ Gentlemen, which diverges from the misogyny of the 1970s rock and the emo that followed.
Traffic’s Free-Flowing British Soul Masterpiece at 55
No British album better synthesized the warmth, energy, and funkiness of New Orleans R&B, Southern soul, and rock better than Traffic’s 1968 self-titled LP.
Explosions in the Sky’s ‘The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place’ at 20
The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place is Explosions in the Sky’s most acclaimed album, establishing themselves as figureheads of epic, instrumental post-rock.
Coheed and Cambria’s ‘In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3’ at 20
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 set the template for nerdy Coheed and Cambria’s future releases. It remains a fan favorite and one of their best.
If You’ve Got Soul: Christina Aguilera’s 2006 Masterwork ‘Back to Basics’
A tribute and aural love letter to her husband and her Black musical heroes and heroines, Christina Aguilera’s Back to Basics still attracts an equal amount of disciples and denigrators.