Water From Your Eyes Glance at Stardom with ‘Everyone’s Crushed’
Water From Your Eyes traffic between experimental music of the krautrock period of the late 1960s and early 1970s and today’s feminine pop sensibility.
art rock
Vampire Weekend’s ‘Modern Vampires of the City’ at 10
Vampire Weekend’s Modern Vampires of the City is very much a studio creation in the 21st-century sense, born from many months of sweat and obsession behind computer screens.
Ramones and Devo: Sonic Reduction as Resistance
Ramones’ Ramones uses reduction as a means to end, to bring rock back to its roots, whereas Devo’s Q: Are We Not Men? uses reduction as the end itself to mirror society’s decline.
The Lemon Twigs’ ‘Everything Harmony’ Wades Deep Into the Mid-1970s
On Everything Harmony the Lemon Twigs echo and even improve on their 1970s influences with such skill and spirit that they demand we take them seriously.
Talking Heads’ ‘Speaking in Tongues’ at 40
Speaking in Tongues captures Talking Heads at the zenith of their funk freakout and just before a big gray suit would change everything. It’s an art-pop funk masterpiece.
Mike Keneally’s New LP Is a Typically Odd Twist on Lockdown Albums
Mike Keneally has released his first album in nearly seven years. He discusses how he managed to eke out a startlingly coherent solo record during the pandemic.
Maggie, What Have We Done: Pink Floyd’s ‘The Final Cut’ at 40
The final album of the Roger Waters Pink Floyd era is a difficult, challenging meditation on war and death. The Final Cut is undeniably ambitious and moving.
Graham Coxon’s Memoir ‘Verse, Chorus, Monster!’ Sees Beyond the Blur
Graham Coxon could have made his memoir Verse, Chorus, Monster! a Blur / Britpop tell-all, but he wraps up honest observations in a lovely, conversational tone.
Gorillaz Push Boundaries on the Wildly Inventive ‘Cracker Island’
Gorillaz’s Cracker Island includes Stevie Nicks and reggaeton star Bad Bunny on an unrestrained set of dystopian songs with Damon Albarn’s melodic gift.
John Cale Collaborates with Contemporary Artists on ‘MERCY’
John Cale enlists Weyes Blood, Sylvan Esso, and Animal Collective to create a dark, unsettling new LP, MERCY, combining darkness with beauty on a knife edge.
Young Fathers Are Back and Getting ‘Heavy Heavy’
Young Fathers declare their awareness of what’s going on but take it a step further. Heavy Heavy urges the audience to do the heavy lifting and “have fun”.