On 'The Weight Of These Wings,' Miranda Lambert Improvises A Life
With a new double album, the country star stands at the center of her own story. Insistently personal and empathetic, it's her most cohesive release yet.
Music Reviews
First Listen: Gillian Welch, 'Boots No. 1 The Official Revival Bootleg'
Welch and partner David Rawlings sift through their musical archives and select 21 tracks that document their early- to mid-'90s rise, before they emerged as leaders of an ascendant Americana scene.
First Listen: Jay Daniel, 'Broken Knowz'
One of Detroit dance music's freshest talents carries on the city's legacy of electronic funk, while finding new ways to reinvigorate it.
First Listen: Highly Suspect, 'The Boy Who Died Wolf'
An unexpected Grammy nominee earlier this year, the Cape Cod band fine-tunes its retro-grunge attack into something far more dynamic, soulful and alluring.
Music Review: 'We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service,' A Tribe Called Quest
The new album from A Tribe Called Quest is the group's first in 18 years. We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service, was recorded before the death of founding member Phife Dawg last March and was just released this month.
The Deceptively Simple Sound Of Scott And Charlene's Wedding
Mid-Thirties Single Scene, the new album by the Australian group Scott and Charlene's Wedding, describes the thoughts and actions of a character who has just turned 34. Critic Ken Tucker has a review.
A Tribe Called Quest Stands United, One Last Time
Two decades after splitting up, the pioneering rap crew released its final album Friday. We Got It from Here mines sounds from across hip-hop's history, but the content is bracingly of the moment.
First Listen: D∆WN, 'Redemption'
As electronic dance music continues to experiment, D∆WN stands apart by making challenging pop music with soul. Redemption radiates defiance in its celebration of the self.
First Listen: Thee Oh Sees, 'An Odd Entrances'
The prolific psych-rock band's newest album — its second in only three months — traffics in alternately jittery and hypnotic jams.
First Listen: Pink Martini, 'Je Dis Oui!'
To take in the band's ninth album is to experience a globetrotting victory lap across eight different languages, all tackled with cosmopolitan sophistication and the playfulness of pop.