Dark-Pop Queen CXLOE and Her ‘Shiny New Thing’
CXLOE’s Shiny New Thing is hook-forward pop music, an unrelenting collection of emoto-bangers, and an arch response to a clueless music executive.
music feature
What Wilco’s ‘Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’ Got Right About Music Streaming
Wilco’s net-streaming experiment with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was part of the utopian promise for technology’s future, and it worked.
What Taylor Swift, BTS, and Stromae Can Teach Us About Mental Health
Taylor Swift, BTS, and Stromae are at the frontlines of de-stigmatizing mental health challenges as something so relatable that they can make a hit song about it.
K-Pop: Who Gets Canceled and Why
You can tell what bedevils a society by whom its members try to forcibly remove from the spotlight. In K-Pop, here’s who gets canceled and why.
For the Love of the Crappy Cassette Tape
The peculiar technology of the lo-fi, crappy cassette tape exemplifies the inherent contradictions of popular music better than any other medium.
Immersed in America: The Creation of Elvis Presley
We know how Elvis Presley’s story reflects on American history, its music and mythology, but how did America help to create Elvis?
Madonna’s Celebration Tour: A Forward-Thinking Retrospective
As much as Madonna’s Celebration Tour is a meditation on her mortality, it is also a love letter to her core LGBTQIA+ audience whose loyalty has never wavered.
15 Jazz Albums for People Not Sure They Like Jazz
These 15 jazz albums for people not sure they like jazz provide a gateway to a style or artist – an invitation to enter and hopefully emerge wanting more.
Blink-182’s ‘Untitled’ Showed Foresight We Could Only See in Hindsight
It’s easy to see how untitled‘s themes acted as a harbinger of the years to come for Blink-182. There’s longing and yearning; a distance that can’t be crossed.
The Legacy of Caetano Veloso’s Masterpiece ‘Transa’
Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso’s most celebrated work, Transa, still resonates with audiences young and old 50 years later.
Beyond The Incredible String Band: Seven Songs by Mike Heron
Mike Heron went his own way to take a holiday from the Incredible String Band, known for its folk roots, and experimented with rock. Here are seven of his best songs.
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Revisiting Cotton Mather’s Classic ‘Kontiki’ 25 Years on with Robert Harrison
Cotton Mather’s Kontiki sports almost relentless invention, vitality, toughness, brightness, and irrepressible exuberance—a powder keg full of the joy of making music.