I was in the minority who believed that Leonard Cohen’s You Want it Darker was a stronger end-of-life album than David Bowie’s Blackstar in 2016, and I stand by that opinion now. Deep, dark,…
Album Review: DJ Shadow – “Our Pathetic Age”
DJ Shadow is one of the indisputable masters of electronic music. His 1996 breakout Endtroducing….. is still a landmark in creative sampling, a dizzyingly dense collage of esoteric musical refer…
Album Review: Neil Young & Crazy Horse – “Colorado”
The return of the weirdest classic rock n’ roller and his toughest, wildest band, together for the first time in seven years, should be a cause for celebration. Even if Crazy Horse’s long-running guit…
Album Review: Big Thief – “Two Hands”
Perhaps the most heroic feat of this album is that it’s the second universally acclaimed album from Big Thief this year. That might not have been much of a feat in the 60s, when Dylan, Stone…
Album Review: Danny Brown – “uknowhatimsayin¿”
With dark and rumbling production matched against Danny Brown’s high and reedy voice, his last trilogy of albums have been compelling to say the least. Atrocity Exhibition, released in 2016 to gr…
Album Review: Tinariwen – “Amadjar”
Almost uniquely for any band around the world, Tinariwen’s background story is even more interesting than their music, which is not at all to disparage their gripping variation on Saharan desert blues…
Album Review: Sleater-Kinney – “The Center Won’t Hold”
Sleater-Kinney made a great album (Call the Doctor) before drummer Janet Weiss came on board and it’s likely that they could make several more, despite her announced departure in July. Yet losing one …