Thinking about the history of the Black Lips, it was probably always just a matter of time before the band flicked their hair grease onto some corn pone. Specialists in raucous, retro rock ‘n’ roll as raw as fingertips ravaged … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Sing in a World That’s Falling Apart

For her sophomore full-length release, FKA twigs strips her music down to a fragile, spindly framework. Five years after the English musician delivered the mind-spinning debut LP1, she offers Magdalene, which retains the sense of relentless innovation and pushes further … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Magdalene

I don’t believe there’s another current performer who’s simultaneously otherworldly and vehemently down-to-earth in quite the same way as Angel Olsen. Part of the equation is fairly easy to work out. Olsen specializes in melding spare, airy music with words that … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — All Mirrors

Cat Power convinced me I might be wrong, or maybe just short-sighted. In the past, I’ve enjoyed certain songs from Lana Del Rey (usually the expected culprits), but I didn’t consider her an artist of real significance, someone who demanded … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Norman Fucking Rockwell

If No Cities to Love, the 2015 comeback album from Sleater-Kinney, was an assurance that the beloved group could reemergence from a decade-long hiatus with their roaring power and vibrant creativity intact, then The Center Won’t Hold is the provocative … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — The Center Won’t Hold

Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough? is the third full-length release from the L.A.-based band Bleached, and I think it might be their first recording that truly shows off their talent. Prior outings have been imbued with a thrilling, devil-may-care … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough?

The new Black Keys album, Let’s Rock, is their first in a decade without Danger Mouse behind the board. For four straight records, the noted studio maestro named after a cartoon rodent spy served as producer or co-producer for the … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Let’s Rock

Over ten years has passed since the release of Consolers of the Lonely, the album from the the Raconteurs that is the direct predecessor of their latest, Help Us Stranger. Any reasonable music fan might have wondered if the band … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Help Us Stranger

It starts with the guitar, a jackhammer line joined by a propulsive rhythm section beat. And then lead singer Marisa Dabice starts singing, her voice fierce and fragile at the same time as she delivers lyrics about a toxic relationship: “Who … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Patience

Designer, the third album from New Zealander Aldous Harding, is so luxurious in its beauty that listening to it is like sinking into a cushion so soft it defies the laws of physics. And yet it’s not precisely right to … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Designer