Faux Ferocious Pretty Groovy (Burger) When this Tennessee quartet played a C’ville house party back in 2012, they absolutely tore it up—apologies if you were there and I yowled in […]
Cass McCombs Tip of the Sphere (ANTI-) The opener of Tip of the Sphere is an interesting mongrel—half Irish folk mantra, half space rock, and ending with three minutes of […]
DAWN New Breed (Young Action) Danity Kane veteran Dawn Richard has forged a reputation as an R&B iconoclast, collaborating with Dirty Projectors and working on Adult Swim. Here she puts […]
Tallies S/T (Kanine) Tallies kicks off with a frosty amalgam of ‘80s and ‘90s atmospheric alt rock—the Bunnymen and The Cran- berries come to mind—and when “Mother” follows up somewhere […]
Before 2018 completely disappears in our rear-view mirrors, here’s a recap of some box sets released last year that weren’t The Beatles’ White Album or Bob Dylan’s Blood on the […]
As always, there are too many albums I didn’t hear in 2018, but here are 10 favorites in roughly chronological order. Khruangbin Con Todo El Mundo (Dead Oceans) This was […]
Ella Mai Ella Mai (10 Summers) Ella Mai declares emotion “a roller coaster” in a brief introductory snippet, spoken in a fetching British accent. And if her full-length debut feels […]
Vince Staples FM! (Def Jam) Long Beach rapper Vince Staples’ third album is 22 minutes long—sadly. Staples sounds great, his humor veering from malevolent to nerdy on a dime; producer […]
Kurt Vile Bottle It In (Matador) Caveat: I was a big fan of Kurt Vile’s 2013 album Wakin on a Pretty Daze until I went to his show and watched […]
Prince Piano & a Microphone 1983 (Warner Bros.) In case you somehow missed it, the first posthumous release from Prince’s storied vault is out—the mere fact of which gives a […]