The Unmentionable Whiteness of ‘Americanaland’
John Milward’s new history of Americana puts the mixed genre at the corner of country and rock while slighting race and the music’s Black roots and performers.
music criticism
James Baldwin Digs Into the Roots of American Music
James Baldwin’s writing about music illuminates the significance of racial slavery for all American music.
No One Asked Ian Brennan to “Show Me Don’t Tell Me” and It Shows
I had to take numerous breaks while reading Silenced by Sound. Ian Brennan’s self-righteous clairvoyance would just not stop beating me over the head.
On IDLES’ Danceable Relatable Battle Hymns
It is not in IDLES’ oft-derided lyrics but in their visceral performances that they connect with listeners.
24-Carat Black’s ‘Ghetto’ Is the Most Sampled Album Never Heard
33 1/3 book 24-Carat Black's Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth, is a refreshing outlier in the series in that it's about an influential yet barely known album.
‘Switched on Pop’ Schools the Academy
The first book from Switched on Pop hosts Charlie Harding and Nate Sloan leans into the podcast's academic tendencies, as it makes the case for music fans to take all music a bit more seriously.
‘When I Get Home’, ‘Astroworld’, and the Problem with Place-Based Authenticity
Lucky for you, philistine listener and reader, we critics are here to make your listening experience truly authentic by bringing you into the "back to their roots" covenant of artistic judgment.
By the Book: ‘A Hidden Landscape Once a Week’
In this excerpt of a history of the UK music press, A Hidden Landscape Once a Week, Tony Stewart recalls his time as writer and deputy editor at NME (1971-85) — the strengths and pleasures of teamwork and the vital role of the visual in the energies of a rock paper.
Jessica Hopper’s ‘Night Moves’: Prose Poetry for the Punk Rock Masses
Jessica Hopper's Night Moves is a dozen thorny roses for the city that keeps blowing its windy-ness beneath her darkly comic wings.
‘Playing Changes’ and the Enduring Strength of Jazz
Nate Chinen's treatise on the subject of jazz in the 21st century, Playing Changes, is erudite, passionate, and downright inspiring.
Aretha Franklin: Context, Intersectionality, and the Rock Canon
Viewing Aretha Franklin's work through a focus on race, gender, and other categories of analysis can challenge us to do the same with all music, acknowledging how multiple points of oppression and privilege impact the production, consumption, and reception of a wide range of music.