Music

Music & Culture

Taylor Swift Pushes Further Into Electro-Pop With 'Reputation'

2:28pm November 13, 2017

by Ken Tucker

Swift brings together pulsing drumbeats, surging keyboards and multi-tracked vocals on her new album. The result is a record that mixes passion and emotion with careful control.

Queue Listen Now

Brandi Carlile's By The Way, I Forgive You comes out Feb. 16.

Music & Culture

Songs We Love: Brandi Carlile, 'The Joke'

1:01pm November 13, 2017

by Ann Powers

The country-rock aria, from Carlile's new album, is dedicated to the delicate boys and striving girls born into – and, she insists, destined to triumph over – a divisive time.

A still from Bad History Month's video for "A Warm Recollection."

Music & Culture

Bad History Month's 'Warm Recollection' Of Love And Death

12:00pm November 13, 2017

by Marissa Lorusso

Songwriter Sean Bean says "A Warm Recollection," from the band's new album Dead And Loving It, is about "the high stakes of living life in the face of certain death."

CyHi The Prynce's No Dope On Sundays is out Nov. 17.

Music & Culture

First Listen: CyHi The Prynce, 'No Dope On Sundays'

10:52am November 13, 2017

by Rodney Carmichael

The Atlanta rapper's long-gestating debut album portrays a person at ease with their many, and divergent, aspects — here, CyHi tells the stories behind a breakout album.

Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile's Lotta Sea Lice is out now via Matador Records.

Music & Culture

Guest DJs: Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile

10:41am November 13, 2017

by Bob Boilen

Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile just released an intercontinental collaboration that's full of humor and guitar picking. Now Kurt and Courtney pick the songs they love in a Guest DJ conversation.

Queue Listen Now

Charlotte Gainsbourg's Rest is out Nov. 17.

Music & Culture

First Listen: Charlotte Gainsbourg, 'Rest'

10:38am November 13, 2017

by Jason Heller

The French singer (and actor) has made her first album in 7 years — a testament to the power of immaculate, effortless-sounding pop songcraft, even in the face of loss.

Irma Thomas (shown performing in 2008) is known as the "sweet soul queen of New Orleans."

Music & Culture

Shocking Omissions: Irma Thomas, 'Wish Someone Would Care'

10:00am November 13, 2017

by Alison Fensterstock

Thomas' 1964 album is not the usual entry point into her work for newer fans — but it's the album that introduced the local hitmaker to the world at large.

Rene "Residente" Perez performs onstage at Univision and Fusion host RiseUp AS ONE on October 15, 2016. The artist is nominated nine times at the 2017 Latin Grammys.

Music & Culture

A 2017 Latin Grammy Preview From 'Alt.Latino'

5:52pm November 12, 2017

A look ahead at the 18th annual Latin Grammy Awards.

Taylor Swift performing on Saturday Night Live, Nov. 11.

Music & Culture

Taylor Swift, New And Old, Returns To 'Saturday Night Live'

11:12am November 12, 2017

by Sidney Madden

Across two performances the pop star presented two, not entirely conflicting, personas — the one she's currently cultivating and the one she's harvested for years.

iLe's debut album, iLevitable, is available now.

Music & Culture

iLe Sings Her Grandmother's Songs And Speaks Out Through Her Music

7:52am November 12, 2017

The singer, who used to perform with her brothers, the hip-hop duo Calle 13, has now struck out on her own as iLe. She speaks with Lulu Garcia-Navarro about her debut album, iLevitable.