Ryan Reed
Kevin Barnes’ twentieth LP is organic, often psychedelic, and occasionally intense.
4d
The indie-rock kings’ eleventh album is a song cycle that frequently rivals the most poignant and electrifying peaks of their breakout era of the 2000s.
5d
The most exciting moments on the Beatle’s twentieth solo album are adventurous yet reflective, and he strikes that sweet spot many times.
1w
On his second solo album, the Radiohead guitarist quilts together the kind of percolating arrangements that define many of his band’s best songs.
2w
For Chicago polymath Angel Marcloid, it seems like our perception of genre is merely a distraction.
1mo
Rarely have a producer and band been more suited for each other, with David Newfeld’s knack for microscopic sonic drama amplifying the wide-eyed, open-armed wonder baked into their music.
1mo
The Chicago band's second album evokes the a nostalgic ache of a childhood bicycle, the escapist vision of a hot-air balloon, a classical piano, a string quartet, and the heart-tugging ruckus of a sweaty indie-rock quartet screaming their heads off.
1mo
The TV On The Radio frontman delivers a focused, raw collection of songs with Thee Black Boltz.
1y
With her latest album, Poppy delivers her most cohesive set of tracks to date.
1y
The Cure is still firing on all cylinders 16 years after their last full-length album.
1y
On their second album in 10 months, The Smile delivers glorious sonic chaos.
1y
Radiohead leader's latest project finds its own compelling arc as a front-to-back album.
2y
Gold-Diggers Sound is yet another graceful, often captivating deviation from the retro path most critics probably expected him to stick with.
4y
You can always feel the humanity behind Black Midi’s mad scientist experiments.
5y
With A Moon Shaped Pool, Radiohead have resumed the greatest winning streak in modern popular music. Not by flaunting any new tricks—just by delivering their normal quota of catharsis.
10y
The Life of Pablo is a fucking mess—the scattered, contradictory work of an icon straining to keep up with his own brilliant pace.
10y
Individ maintains that energy and precision throughout its 40 minutes—adhering strictly to the band’s core approach, offsetting a lack of surprise with sheer sturdiness.
11y
For all her bratty star power, Charli XCX’s purest magic lies in the intimate—not the irreverent.
11y
Subdued but rarely sullen, heartbroken yet resilient, Ghost Stories is musical comfort food. And no matter the sonic landscape, that’s what Coldplay do best.
11y
Overall, Turn Blue is a darker, less linear album—a logical curveball following that Grammy-winning LP’s eager-to-please charm.
12y
Ultimately, Yeezus is the least likable album Kanye’s ever made.
12y
Stories Don’t End is crisper and more overdubbed, sprawling a tad where the first two albums flowed seamlessly. This is their most intricate music to date, full of colorful detours and surprising instrumental flavors
13y
Just like FutureSex before it, this innovative, sonically dazzling album sounds like it was beamed in from several years in the future—2020 sounds about right.
13y
Like most Banhart albums, Mala is often easier to admire fondly than truly love, particularly when the maestro leans closest to his freak-folk roots
13y
With the assistance of Nico Muhly (indie-rock’s go-to orchestral whiz) and prog-rock vocalist Arnór Dan Arnarson, Arnalds has given his songs a much-needed jolt of emotional color.
13y