Carl Wilson
Music
How Aretha Franklin Created “Respect”The story of the greatest cover song of all time and the quintessential empowerment anthem.
Music
Lori McKenna Is Back to Wreck YouThe acclaimed country songwriter may have broken your heart without you even knowing. On The Tree, she’s returned to do it again.
Music
Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s New Album Is Like the Satisfying Finale of a Prestige DramaEven if the Carters’ series already hit its peak.
Music
Bonfire of the VanitiesOn his beautiful, troubling new album, Kanye West plays with fire and denies he’s getting burned.
Music
Weave My Disgust Into FameA remarkable 25th-anniversary box set chronicles how a middle-class young woman recording alone in her bedroom changed rock ’n’ roll.
Music
On Her Debut Album, Cardi B Takes Rap History, Flips It, and Reverses ItWhere others see contradictions, she sees only opportunities.
Music
Mount Eerie’s Haunting New Album Explores the Stages of Grief That Come After “Acceptance”The singer-songwriter’s album about his wife’s death became his most successful in years. His latest chronicles the aftermath.
Music
Kendrick Lamar’s Black Panther Album Is Rich With Meaning You Can Only Appreciate After the MovieThe soundtrack and the film each flesh out the other’s themes, making the other stronger.
Music
The Grammys Once Again Took the Sharpest Voices for GrantedWhy should artists like Kendrick Lamar even continue to show up?
Music
On Reputation, the “Old Taylor” Is Dead, but the New One Isn’t Quite Ready to Come to the PhoneTaylor Swift’s ungainly, intermittently brilliant new album finds the former child star making art out of her growing pains.
Music
Life After CoolOn LCD Soundsystem’s new album, James Murphy’s mock midlife crisis becomes a genuine subdued panic—and makes for some of his most mature music yet.
Wide Angle
Nico, 1988 Makes the Case for the Slice-of-Life Music BiopicThe most revealing films about musicians often capture them at a moment away from the spotlight.
Music
Drake’s Scorpion Is a Savvy Bit of PR Management With a Side of BeefThe 90-minute album manages to be more succinct than Views without saying much.
Music
How Courtney Barnett Taught Me to Listen to the New Album From Courtney BarnettThe singer-songwriter’s sophomore LP requires its audience to take a different approach.
Music
Black and White and Pynk All OverFiles on Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer, from one critic’s random access memory.
Music
Taylor Swift Left a Blank Space in Country Music. Could Kacey Musgraves Fill It?Meanwhile, Ashley McBryde has the perfect album for fans missing the old Musgraves.
Music
Lucy Dacus’ History in the MakingOn her sophomore album, Historian, the indie singer-songwriter shows she’s as thoughtful about following through as she is about openers.
Music
On Man of the Woods, Justin Timberlake Sets Out to Say Something and Ends Up Saying Nothing at AllThe Super Bowl entertainer is an expert song-and-dance man, but in his recent work, he risks becoming nothing more than his own tribute act.
Television
Crazy ExegesisOn Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, mental illness and musical deconstruction go hand in hand.
The Music Club
The Music Club, 2017Entry 9: The problem with country music’s shift from bro country toward beau country.
The Music Club
The Music Club, 2017Entry 1: This year marked the end of empowering diva pop and the rise of mumbling men. Could playlists of “sonic wallpaper” really be next?
Music
On Their New Albums, Björk and U2 Offer Utopian Visions for Dystopian TimesBut their approaches, and their degrees of success, vary widely.