Music
New discs from James Brandon Lewis and Vijay Iyer merit serious attention from admirers of improvised music.
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev imagines an Afro-Punk duo whose edgy look and aggressive sound offer a way of addressing timely issues around race and representation.
Egon Wellesz’s Weimar era critique of the cruelty of nations that are victorious in war still rings hauntingly true.
A welcome addition to Scottish percussionist Colin Currie’s endlessly fascinating discography – as well as to Austrian maverick HK Gruber’s.
If this is your first Bluebeard’s Castle, Susanna Mälkki’s recording makes for a fine, occasionally inspired, introduction.
Chronicling Stankonia is an engaging read, one that adroitly balances rigorous academic research with a deeply personal narrative about Black life and art in the post-Civil Rights Era in the South.
“I don’t work the system anymore, except as a last resort: I aim instead to bypass it. The better I have gotten at circumventing gatekeepers, the more successful my writing career has been.”
Free from the stress of leading a major-label band on the road, Mark Sandman could always return home to Hypnosonics, an alternate vehicle for his elastic vision.
Nothing that guitarist Pat Metheny had done previously hinted at this sprawling 1981 masterpiece.
This is one of the best traditional big band records you’ll hear this year, or maybe this decade.
Design Review: The Look of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games