The Best Jazz of 2018

The definition of "jazz" has never been broader, and the music has never been brighter. Two PopMatters critics pick their favorites in four modern jazz categories.

                                      
Music
    
        Thumbscrew Prove They Are Bigger Than Any One Star-Player on 'Ours / Theirs'
    
Will Layman

        09 Aug 2018
    
Music
    
        Overlooked Jazz Gems of 2016
    
Will Layman

        30 Jan 2017
    
Music
    
        Living By Lanterns: New Myth / Old Science
    
John Garratt

        04 Feb 2013

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Thumbscrew Prove They Are Bigger Than Any One Star-Player on 'Ours / Theirs'

Overlooked Jazz Gems of 2016

Living By Lanterns: New Myth / Old Science

Daniel Romano's 'How Ill Thy World Is Ordered' Is His Ninth LP of 2020 and It's Glorious

'All In: The Fight for Democracy' Spotlights America's Current Voting Restrictions as Jim Crow 2.0

Tobin Sprout Goes Americana on 'Empty Horses'

The Cradle's 'Laughing in My Sleep' Is an Off-kilter Reflection of Musical Curiosity

Shirley Collins' 'Heart's Ease' Affirms Her Musical Prowess

Deradoorian's 'Find the Sun' Turns Disquiet Into Transcendence

Vigdis Hjorth's 'Long Live the Post Horn!' Breathes Life into Bureaucratic Anxiety

My Morning Jacket's 'The Waterfall II' Can Hypnotize

'Transgender Street Legend Vol. 2' Finds Left at London "At My Peak and Still Rising"

The Dance of Male Forms in Denis' 'Beau travail'

Ignorance, Fear, and Democracy in America

On Bruce Springsteen's Music in Film and TV

Democratizing Our Data: A Manifesto (excerpt)

Composer Ilan Eshkeri Discusses His Soundtrack for the 'Ghost of Tsushima' Game

Love and Cinema: The Ruinous Lives in Żuławski's L'important c'est d'aimer

What 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' Gets Right (and Wrong) About America