Culture | Music

CULTURE  |  MUSIC

James Blake - James Blake

London producer James Blake’s self-titled debut album has relegated everything else in my music library to second-class status for the past month, but for an album I’ve listened to 60 times it...


CULTURE  |  MUSIC

Cut Copy - Zonoscope

Cut Copy’s dazzling sophomore LP, In Ghost Colours, performed an impressive tightrope act—capturing all the euphoria and all the irresistible kinetic energy of new-wave dance rock without any of...


CULTURE  |  MUSIC

Deerhoof - Deerhoof vs. Evil

In the battle of Deerhoof vs. Evil, their 11th studio album, the art-rock quartet again challenges pop conventions with convincing results. Wrought with signature dark tones, layered guitars and...


CULTURE  |  MUSIC

Talib Kweli - Gutter Rainbows

Talib Kweli, the Afro-centric lyrical mastermind who rose to prominence alongside Mos Def with 1998’s Black Star, isn’t a prolific rapper by any means. He releases a new album every few years,...


CULTURE  |  MUSIC

Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean

Sam Beam moved to Warner Brothers in last October, which makes Kiss Each Other Clean his first major-label release. That’s traditionally been an important line of artistic demarcation for indie...


CULTURE  |  MUSIC

Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde

Smith Westerns were sort of interesting two years ago. Blogs were talking about them anyway, with unironic enthusiasm for a group of teenagers making some pretty good singles with “aw, shucks”...


CULTURE  |  MUSIC

Cake - Showroom of Compassion

Not every band can claim that they produced a decade-defining anthem that remains relevant 15 years later, but Cake’s 1996 hit “The Distance” seized the airwaves, inspiring spliced movie montages...