Moby: “Wait for Me”

The cover of Moby’s latest album, Wait for Me, is quite unlike any of his previous album covers. It differs from most of his album artwork in that it’s one of the rare Moby cover images that doesn’t prominently feature the artist’s own bald, bespectacled head. In that regard, it bears a superficial similarity to [...]

Wilco: “Wilco (The Album)”

When a fifteen year-old band decides to make their seventh studio LP a self-titled affair, it’s time to sit up and pay attention: They’re trying to tell you something. Often, the self-titled album is meant to serve as a sort of statement of identity, a way for the band to say, “This is who we [...]

The King of Pop

“If you remember Michael Jackson as a weirdo you didn’t know him. There was a long, beautiful, groundbreaking career before all that.” –Journalist Toure, via Twitter
“May we stop making idols of and then destroying our celebrities soon.” –Beth Maynard, via Twitter
My friend Gavin Breeden has an eloquent tribute, saying it as well as I ever [...]

On Repeat: Mos Def

It may turn out that Mos Def is only capable of releasing one really great album every ten years– and I’d almost be okay with that. As it stands, he’s already released two of ‘em, and that’s two more great albums than most artists release in their entire career. In 1999, just a year after [...]

Regina Spektor: “Far”

At this point, there’s probably not much point trying to tie Regina Spektor’s career to a strict, straightforward narrative arc. On the surface, hers might seem like a common enough story: The artist cranks out a few cult records in relative obscurity, attracts major label attention with her breakthrough Soviet Kitsch, then steps into the [...]

The Eels: “Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire”

The titles say it all. In 2005, Mark Everett—or E, as he prefers being called—released an album under his Eels banner called Blinking Lights and Other Revelations, and it was exactly what its grandiose title suggested: An album that was both epic and revelatory, a sprawling double-discer in which our grizzled hero confronted head-on the [...]

Dinosaur Jr.: “Farm”

When Dinosaur Jr. released Beyond in 2007, it may not have qualified as a full-fledged event, but it was at least a pretty big deal– one of those rare albums that is automatically something special for the mere fact that it exists, to say nothing of the actual music. After all, when the band split [...]

Joe Lovano: “Folk Art”

Jazz music is essentially an African-American folk art form– or at least that’s what Joe Lovano says, explaining the title and concept behind his latest Blue Note release. Truthfully, you can enjoy the music perfectly well without giving its thematic thrust a second thought, but if you’re curious, I think what Lovano means is something [...]

The Best So Far (2009 at the Halfway Point)

I’ve reviewed a lot of records this year– maybe more than in any previous year– and we’re just about halfway to the listmaking season, so now seems like as good a time as any to reflect on the finest albums of the year– or at least, the ones that have spent the most time in [...]

Dirty Projectors: “Bitte Orca”

This isn’t the first we’ve heard from the Dirty Projectors in 2009: Earlier this year, Dave Longstreth’s art-pop trio appeared with David Byrne on a selection from the Dark was the Night compilation. Now, just days after the release of full-length Bitte Orca, the band is once again gearing up for an appearance with Byrne, [...]