Album Review: Fidlar – “Almost Free”

The third outing of the brash skate-punk outfit Fidlar is a definitive step into a more commercial and polished sound, but they may have stepped just a bit too far. The usual semi-juvenile arrogance and gleeful sneer that comes with…

Album Review: Marianne Faithfull – “Negative Capability”

On her twenty-first studio album, the living legend Marianne Faithfull revisits a bit of the past, looks at the present, and imagines a future—all in the frank, slightly fatalistic manner of the best European artists. For most of her career,…

Album Review: Cloud Nothings – “Last Building Burning”

The sixth album from Cloud Nothings doesn’t so much wash over you as hit you like a drink in the face. It’s bracing and quick—but not rushed, or half-done, and not abrasive or unlistenable. The overall sensation of the album…

Album Review: Kurt Vile – “Bottle It In”

Kurt Vile’s latest release, Bottle It In, can be summarized in two words: it’s fine. It’s all fine, and definitely serviceable but it feels a bit like a placeholder. You want a Kurt Vile album? Here’s a Kurt Vile album.…

Album Review: Christine and the Queens – “Chris”

The new release from Héloïse Letissier, otherwise known as Christine and the Queens, is an easy, romantic and strong progression from her first record in 2015. Letissier has described her first album, Chaleur humaine (self-titled for the English release), as…

Album Review: Willie Nelson – “My Way”

68 albums into his career, Willie Nelson can do whatever he wants. On My Way, his second album of 2018, all he wants to do is sing the classics and pay tribute to his old friend Frank Sinatra. In an interview…

Album Review: Waxahatchee – “Great Thunder”

Arriving after her 2017 LP, Out in the Storm, Katie Crutchfield’s new release as Waxahatchee plays like an extended comedown from that last album. While Storm was full-bodied and full of high-spirited, agitated rock and noise, the Great Thunder EP…