First Listen: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, 'The Tourist'
Five albums and a dozen years into its career, Alec Ounsworth's band shimmers, seethes and twitches in appealing new ways.
Music Reviews
Tift Merritt Mixes Quirky Metaphors And Folk Sounds On 'Stitch Of The World'
Acoustic guitar and the occasional faint cry of a pedal steel guitar frame Merritt's vocals on her new album. Rock Critic Ken Tucker has a review.
Songs We Love: King Woman, 'Shame'
One of our most ancient creation stories holds that God created mankind in his image. But what of woman? Kristina Esfandiari leads King Woman in this doom-rock reckoning.
Pharmakon's 'No Natural Order' Is An Abrasive Call To Eradicate Control
"Our existence is chance by nature," Pharmakon's Margaret Chardiet says of her new industrial noise track. "No better than a hog or slab of stone. Just cells in a virus."
Songs We Love: Sevdaliza, 'Amandine Insensible'
The Iranian-born, Netherlands-based singer questions how women are viewed in a video for the surreal and sweeping trip-hop jam.
First Listen: Ryan Adams, 'Prisoner'
In many ways, Adams' 16th album feels like a retreat: to self-reflection, to primal emotions, and to a tense, rootsy sound that recalls Bruce Springsteen.
'Jumpin' At The Woodside' Catches Count Basie And His Band Honing Their Art
A new sampler features live cuts of Count Basie's band in New York from 1938 to 1940. Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead says Jumpin' at the Woodside is full of "pretty terrific" music.
Songs We Love: Ruthie Foster, 'Joy Comes Back'
Foster's easy-rocking slice of gospel soul is shot through with Derek Trucks' blissful slide guitar and tapping high heels recorded on her old church floor.
Songs We Love: Sunny Sweeney, 'Bottle By My Bed'
Country singer Sunny Sweeney's frank and personal ballad wrestles with the desire for motherhood while recognizing how a female musician's lifestyle can look to a harried mom.
First Listen: Alison Krauss, 'Windy City'
Krauss' first solo album since 1999 shows off her intelligence and good humor in versions of classic songs that are delightfully down to earth.