Music Reviews

Critic Ken Tucker reviews new music by the British punk band The Mekons and the American country-rock band The Mavericks. Both groups have recorded new songs that were inspired by recent news events.

Maxwell creates an atmosphere of free-floating sensuality on his new album. Critic Ken Tucker says the record is "dreamy and roomy enough to accommodate a wide array of emotions."

Much of the music on Cray's new album stems from a year he spent teaching at the University of Nevada in Reno. Critic Kevin Whitehead says Outside In is a reminder of the power of open spaces.

Will Hermes reviews a second album by The Avalanches that was 16 years in the making called Wildflower.

The young singer-songwriter has described herself as "half-Japanese, half-American, but not fully either." Critic Ken Tucker says her fourth album, Puberty 2, has an impressively wide range of sounds.