On IDLES’ Danceable Relatable Battle Hymns
It is not in IDLES' oft-derided lyrics but in their visceral performances that they connect with listeners.
music criticism
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.
Robert Christgau’s ‘Is It Still Good to Ya?’
Robert Christgau is the rare critic who can write insightfully and passionately about a sweaty performance by a popular Congolese soukous band and a magisterial show by Senegal's Youssou N'Dour. That magic is captured in his latest anthology, Is It Still Good to Ya?
Reactionary Rockism: The Dangerous Obsession with “Authenticity” in Indie Rock
We should take seriously indie rock trends driven by nostalgia— the revival of white rock forms, the whitewashing of disco and yacht rock, and the rise of normcore—as what they are: conservative gestures flying under the radar in a climate of poptimist reappraisal.
Chuck Eddy’s ‘Terminated for Reasons of Taste’ Reads Like an Eclectic Spotify Mix on Shuffle
Reading Eddy's latest is like listening to a good record store clerk: no judgment, no arrogance, just a pure love of music and some honest opinion.