Intimacy, whether physical or emotional, is continually challenged in Julia Jacklin’s Pre Pleasure.
Alex Szeptycki
Rock Album Review: Superorganism’s “World Wide Pop” — The Power of Collective Eccentricity
In World Wide Pop, the London pop collective looks for peace in the digital cosmos, despite intimations of coming oblivion.
Rock Album Review: The War on Drugs — Sticking to the Straightforward
The album is not so much a step forward as a distillation of what The War on Drugs has always done well.
Rock Album Review: “Gold-Diggers Sound” — Lulling to the Max
Leon Bridges is the master of soft sensual tones, particularly when he intermingles the romantic and the steamy.
Book Review: “Chronicling Stankonia: The Rise of the Hip-Hop South” — the Brilliance of OutKast
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.
Music Appreciation: Exit Daft Punk
Few bands have shown themselves to be as infectious about their art — and for so long.
Rock Album Review: Viagra Boys’ “Welfare Jazz” — Macho Bluster, Satirized
On Welfare Jazz, Viagra Boys succeed through their skillful manipulation of pure bombast, spurred on by haywire grooves as well as plenty of oversized personality.
Album Review: “Man on the Moon III: The Chosen” — Kid Cudi Finds Himself, Again
Occasional slip-ups shouldn’t obscure appreciation of Kid Cudi’s fantastic vocal performance.
Pop Review: Jean Dawson’s “Pixel Bath” — Awash in Riches
Jean Dawson’s Pixel Bath is one of the most exciting releases I’ve heard this year.
Pop Review: Gorillaz’s Exhilarating “Song Machine”
Song Machine rejuvenates the band’s core identity; it is the best music Gorillaz has made in a decade.