Naked Eyes’ 1983 Debut Delivers Sincerity in an Ironic World
Naked Eyes’ 1983 debut, Burning Bridges, is a good album for reflecting on our ironic modern world, as it can’t help but wax nostalgic for the sincerity of the past.
All Things Reconsidered
Wolf Parade’s 2005 Debut Is Still a Revelation
Montreal band Wolf Parade’s haphazard formation and instant momentum yielded their most captivating work, including what would become their defining anthem.Â
The Brilliant Eartha Kitt Is “Miss Kitt” to You
Eartha Kitt’s best recordings from the 1950s represent the bedrock of her career and deliver a charming respite from a world in turmoil. Miss Kitt, to You is a revelation.
Music/All Things Reconsidered/Feature Sub Head/Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Music Features/Pop Past
“Only Dogs Have Their Day”: Son Volt’s ‘Trace’ at 30
Thirty years later, we can finally hear the songs that Son Volt’s Jay Farrar wrote without the alt-country baggage critics perpetuated to the point of cliché.
Michael Jackson’s ‘HIStory’ Still Defies History
Thirty years on, Michael Jackson’s HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I is among the most ambitious and personal pop statements of the 1990s, born from pressure, transformed into autobiography, and forever in our History.
Music/All Things Reconsidered/Feature Sub Head/Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Music Features/Pop Past
Constantines’ ‘Tournament of Hearts’ Is Their Secret Success
Constantines are Canadian, but they understand the death of the American Dream, with their quiet, dignified stories of working-class struggles.
The New Pornographers’ ‘Twin Cinema’ Is Still Captivating 20 Years Later
The New Pornographers took their power pop to another level on Twin Cinema, with Carl Newman’s impeccable songwriting and all three vocalists dialed in.
Music/All Things Reconsidered/Feature Sub Head/Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Music Features/Pop Past
Bruce Springsteen’s Extraordinary ‘Born to Run’ at 50
Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run is one of the great rock albums; it showcases youthful idealism’s shortcomings while keeping one enraptured with its false promises.
Culture/All Things Reconsidered/Fashion/Feature Sub Head/Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Music/Music Features
Louisville Punk’s Defiance of Violent Conformity
Punk’s rooted, regional, and defiantly local identities made scenes like Louisville punk essential and life-affirming during the violently conformist Reagan years.
Kate Bush Taught Pop How to Dream with ‘Hounds of Love’
If Kate Bush’s The Dreaming is a hellscape of bizarre fragmentation and nightmarish beauty, Hounds of Love teaches pop how to dream and capture those contradictions in sound.
How a Decaying Monstrosity Powered Tame Impala’s ‘Currents’
The “gigantic, derelict, empty, silent monolith” sparked Tame Impala’s imagination while composing one of the most memorable albums of the 2010s.
Music/All Things Reconsidered/Feature Sub Head/Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Music Features/Pop Past
Before Darkness Descends: Elliott Smith’s Self-Titled at 30
Elliott Smith’s self-titled sophomore album marks the beginning of his solo career in earnest, and it remains one of the finest indie records of the 1990s.