The Auteurs’ New Box Set Neatly Slims Down Their Legacy
While Luke Haines’ morbid British rock outfit is happy as a cult act, this box set, repackaging their 2014 reissues, makes a case for the Auteurs’ greatness.
music review
Miley Cyrus’ ‘Endless Summer Vacation’ is Calming and Understated
What makes Miley Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation a full-circle experience is her newfound sense of self and accepting the more chaotic parts of herself.
Booker T. & the M.G.’s Defined Themselves with ‘Green Onions’
Soul/funk group Booker T. & the M.G.’s might have stumbled onto their best song with “Green Onions”, but this album defined the entire Stax Records sound.
Eyelids Channel Vintage Indie Rock on ‘A Colossal Waste of Light’
Eyelids channel Big Star, 1980s art-jangle like Let’s Active, vintage R.E.M., 1990s-toned indie guitar pop, and even a little grunge on A Colossal Waste of Light.
‘The Collected Works of Neutral Milk Hotel’ Are Newly Re-Issued
Essentially a re-issue of a 2011 box set with Neutral Milk Hotel’s recorded work, their legacy remains unparalleled even if there’s not much new to exhume.
New Ali Farka Touré Music Surfaces on Star-Studded ‘Voyageur’
Voyageur is as complete and wondrous an album as anything Ali Farka Touré put out during his lifetime, in no small part due to the work of his son, Vieux.
Altın Gün’s ‘Aşk’ Is a Satisfying Return to Classic Anatolian Rock
The new Altın Gün album Aşk makes it clear where they are headed: back to their retro roots, bringing forth the sounds of classic 1970s Anatolian rock.
Umphrey’s McGee Get into the Mystic in Petaluma
Any band that can keep it together for 25 years is to be commended, and Umphrey’s McGee have largely done it the old-fashioned way.
ZG Smith Prefers Living a Life of Mystery As a ‘Nighttime Animal’
ZG Smith’s indie folk EP, Nighttime Animal, sonically recreates the mystery of what it feels like to be present in the moment when everything seems strange.
Erik Hall Creates Minimalist Compositions with Warm Beauty on ‘Canto Ostinato’
Composer and multi-instrumentalist Erik Hall shares his second installment of a trilogy with a tribute to Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt on Canto Ostinato.
U.S. Girls ‘Bless This Mess’ Embraces Materiality, Creativity, and Dance Grooves
In Bless This Mess, U.S. Girls identify funk and R&B grooves as conduits for the very pulse of life. It’s brilliantly conceived and executed.
Weval Quantum Leap Down Memory Lane in the Cerebral Dance of ‘Remember’
Weval pore beats and static all over the melodies on their dense textural new album, Remember, which only highlights how melodic it really is.
