Nickel Creek Repeat Themselves Anew on ‘Celebrants’
Celebrants finds Nickel Creek returning after nearly a decade. Sean and Sara Watkins tell PopMatters about finding creativity in repetition and their ambitious new album.
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The 10 Best Early Billy Bragg Songs
In his first records, Billy Bragg slashes and burns his way through the political and personal struggles of early adulthood with youth’s passion and idealism.
Depeche Mode’s ‘Songs of Faith and Devotion’ at 30
While 1993’s Songs of Faith and Devotion is rightfully recognized as one of Depeche Mode’s best, the experience came close to being their last as a group.
Purling Hiss Take the Piss Out of Mainstream Rock on ‘Drag on Girard’
Purling Hiss’ Drag on Girard carries on a long-standing tradition of revisiting and updating the garage rock canon to extend its legacies to the next level.
North Mississippi Allstars Sail Onward for Peace & Harmony in San Francisco
North Mississippi Allstars have been on a roll with their past three albums, blending vintage blues, modern psychedelia, and socially conscious vibes with dance party jams.
The Black Watch Mate Britpop Melancholy with California Brightness on ‘Future Strangers’
The Black Watch’s Future Strangers is a collection of Britpop-influenced love-and-loss songs that abound in buoyant musical assurance and well-honed craft.
Liza Minnelli Hung Up Her Feather Boa and Sequins for ‘Gently’
Gently is, in Liza Minnelli’s own words, a “make-out” album. The 1996 record reaches for the kind of rueful, ruminative romance found in a smoky bar.
100 gecs Mine Cultural Maximalism in ‘10000 Gecs’
100 gecs’ 10000 Gecs succeeds as a cultural correlative, an audial reflection of modern-day life, as much as, perhaps more than, a purely aesthetic offering.
Mats Gustafsson and Joachim Nordwall Bend the Avant-Garde to Their Will
Experimentalists Mats Gustafsson and Joachim Nordwall have united to create an album that, even by their compartmentalized standards, is pretty out there.
Tom Waits’ ‘Closing Time’ and the Myth of the Eponymous Debut Album
Tom Waits’ Closing Time serves as the “Swim at Your Own Risk” sign hanging above his musical swimming pool. There’s a whole world waiting beneath that water.
10 Songs That Will Make You Love U2
If you don’t finish this article with a newfound love of U2, at the very least, maybe you’ll leave with a newly-earned respect for the lads.
Liturgy’s ‘93696’ Delivers Ecstasy, Physicality, and Intellectual Endeavor
Already noted for their determination to challenge themselves and their listeners, Liturgy’s 93696 shows them refusing to settle for less when more is possible.
