A-ha’s Debut ‘Hunting High and Low’ Gets a Vinyl Deluxe Edition
Norwegian synthpop trio a-ha’s not-quite-classic 1985 debut Hunting High and Low is once again reissued in expanded form, this time on vinyl.
new wave
The 15 Best New Order Songs
New Order’s danceable rhythms and quick, clean melodies inspired a slew of paler imitators then and a new onslaught of dance-punk bands in the past few decades.
New Order’s ‘Low-Life (Definitive Edition)’ Isn’t Quite Definitive
New Order’s Low-Life is a masterstroke of synthpop glory, but keep your expectations of the word “definitive” nice and low for this set.
Marshall Crenshaw’s Romantic Pop Marvel ‘Mary Jean & 9 Others’ at 35
Hard to find and largely overlooked, Mary Jean & 9 Others‘ romantic pop innocence outshines some of Marshall Crenshaw’s best-known work. Crenshaw discusses the record.
The Weeknd’s ‘Dawn FM’ Carries the Weight of Party Hauntology
In Dawn FM, the Weeknd carries the weight of party hauntology, which explores how our cultural past haunts the present and future and mourns what never comes.
All Things Reconsidered/Between the Grooves/Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Music/Music Features/Pop Past
The B-52’s and Their Unique First Album (Between the Grooves)
We dance this mess around, get out our lava lamps, and explore why the B-52’s 1979 debut album is one of the best pop records ever made.
‘Talking Heads: 77’ Pointed to the Future 45 Years Ago
Talking Heads: 77‘s power-pop short song format sounded familiar, but those herky-jerky rhythms, eccentric melodies, and strained yelping vocals led to New Wave.
‘The Best of Roxy Music’ Gets a Vinyl Re-Issue
As this vinyl reissue of Roxy Music’s 2001 compilation makes clear, the only thing cooler than Roxy Mark II was Roxy Mark I.
Blondie’s Career Given Epic Tribute in ‘Against the Odds 1974-1982’
No group combined the rebellious, enterprising ambition of the punk movement with the grand and performative nature of major pop superstardom like Blondie did.
Love and Unhappiness Go Arm in Arm: Elvis Costello’s ‘Imperial Bedroom’ at 40
Elvis Costello’s Imperial Bedroom is a shape-shifting masterpiece of chamber-pop, folk, bursts of punk rage, Beatlesesque earworms, jazz-leaning future standards, and bits of pysch rock.
Love in a Void: Romance and Fear in the Songs of New Wave’s Romeo Void
San Francisco’s new wave band Romeo Void exists in a curious interstice between the social context of the early ‘80s while being wholly prescient of our era of #MeToo.
Buried in These Hands For Years: Thomas Dolby’s ‘The Golden Age of Wireless’ Turns 40
Thomas Dolby’s 40-year-old debut The Golden Age of Wireless is a definitive synthpop album that raises many questions but only answers a few of them.