Music Reviews

Deap Lips is a collaboration between Deap Vally and members of The Flaming Lips. Its debut, Blam, is "a psychedelic dream with jagged edges," perfect for quarantine listening, our critic writes.

Music & Culture

Deap Lips' Debut Is An Interstellar Excursion For The Quarantined Mind

6:39pm April 06, 2020

by Meredith Ochs

The combination of the Flaming Lips' sprawling musical palette and Deap Vally's raunchy guitar glam is a psychedelic dream that will take your brain on a journey while your body is in isolation.

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Mixing Colours is Roger and Brian Eno's first release as a duo.

Music & Culture

Roger And Brian Eno's First Album Together Comes At The Perfect Time

4:22pm March 31, 2020

by Tom Moon

Brothers Brian and Roger Eno have spent decades making music separately, but Mixing Colours is their first release as a duo. Tom Moon writes that its ambient calm offers sanctuary for these times.

Music & Culture

Jazz Guitarist Jeff Parker Crosses Musical Genres On 'Suite For Max Brown'

1:43pm March 25, 2020

by Kevin Whitehead

Parker's breezy new album, which mixes live music with vintage synthesizers, draws on R&B, early hip-hop, droning electronica, jazz-funk, Afropop and flailing '60s-rock solos.

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Music & Culture

K-Pop Band BTS Proves Its Skill And Influence On 'Map Of The Soul: 7'

2:30pm March 16, 2020

by Ken Tucker

BTS' new record features songs that vary from grandly dramatic to impishly playful. The album's been a near-instant hit, selling over 2 million copies in its first two hours of release in South Korea.

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Kassa Overall calls himself a "backpack jazz producer." He recorded his new album I Think I'm Good by capturing free-form jazz exploration and then chopping the recordings on his laptop.

Music & Culture

On 'I Think I'm Good,' Kassa Overall Expands The Realm Of Jazz/Hip-Hop Fusion

5:20pm March 10, 2020

by Tom Moon

Kassa Overall calls himself a "backpack jazz producer": a combination of jazz musician, rapper and bedroom producer. His latest album captures the evolving sound of hip-hop/jazz fusion.

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Music & Culture

Best Coast Achieves A New, More Poignant Power On 'Almost Tomorrow'

2:08pm March 09, 2020

by Ken Tucker

Singer-songwriter-guitarist Bethany Cosentino opens up about sobriety on a propulsive new album with musical partner Bobb Bruno. Almost Tomorrow is Best Coast's first record in five years.

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When recording her latest album Color Theory, Sophie Allison used everything from floppy disk samples, to drum machines, to bubble sound effects to create the sound she wanted.

Music & Culture

Soccer Mommy On 'Color Theory': 'I Want To Keep Growing Until I Hit The Ceiling'

5:03pm March 05, 2020

Ahead of the release of her new album Color Theory, Soccer Mommy's Sophie Allison spoke with NPR's Audie Cornish about her songwriting process, her '90s inspirations and her career ambitions.

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Pat Metheny's latest album From This Place features the same lyrical guitar work that he has been known for while also exploring new cinematic sounds.

Music & Culture

Pat Metheny's Lyricism Still Shines On Cinematic Album 'From This Place'

4:20pm March 04, 2020

by Tom Moon

A consistent force in jazz guitar since 1976, Metheny continues to search for new ground on his latest album, which he calls a "culmination."

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Stephen Malkmus' new album, Traditional Techniques, is out March 6.

Music & Culture

Stephen Malkmus Cracks A Sonic Code, Putting The '90s Behind Him

10:21am March 04, 2020

by Matthew Perpetua

Still "the guy from Pavement" to many, Malkmus may have finally escaped his own shadow on Traditional Techniques, a new album with a bold creative constraint.

Music & Culture

Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt Is Understated And Nuanced On 'The Art Of Intimacy, Vol. 1'

2:38pm March 02, 2020

by Kevin Whitehead

Though Pelt can certainly play uptempo with a lot of fire, he also loves to play ballads, including a batch of obscure ones. A new album showcases his more introspective side.

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