Category: Music

Welcome to What I Listened to Last Week, a column where I document the albums and (occasionally) singles that find their way into my ears every seven or so days. This past week was an embarrassment of riches for new ...

There’s been a lot of consternation about the disruptions the COVID-19 pandemic has caused for the film industry but spare a thought for the musicians as well. Venues shuttering across the country meant that artists couldn’t tour behind new albums, ...

To say presidents dominate our pop culture is an understatement. We often take for granted how ingrained they are in the American psyche and our comedic outlets, even when they epitomize the dull tepidness of Gerald Ford or George H.W. ...

  What’s the weirdest movie you can think of being nominated for Best Picture? I don’t mean weird as in David Lynch weird, I mean weird as in “why on Earth would the Academy nominate this movie” for Best Picture ...

On February 19th, The Hold Steady released their eighth studio album, Open Door Policy. This may not be a big deal to you. But I can assure you that there are some people for whom this is a VERY big ...

2020… I mean, what do you say? Between the coronavirus pandemic, nationwide protests, and a long, drawn out presidential election, the country practically lived through an entire verse of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” in only twelve months. And while ...

Phoebe Bridgers released her new album, Punisher, earlier than expected on Thursday, June 18th. “I’m not pushing the record until things go back to ‘normal,’ because I don’t think they should,” Bridgers said in a tweet that also included a ...

“I Want You to Love Me,” the opening track of Fetch the Bolt Cutters, Fiona Apple’s fifth studio album, begins with a digital fake out. A chintzy drum machine and minimalist keyboard line take up the first twenty or so ...

When I became single again a few months ago, I warned my co-editors that there was a non-zero chance I’d get back into “frat rap”, as I had been a bit infamous for a few years prior. Turns out, it ...

Durand Jones and the Indications lay down some soulful jams at The Birchmere (Photo credit: The Birchmere)I already expressed this opinion in my Top 30 Songs of 2019 countdown (will I ever get done with my Best Albums of 2019 ...

Billie Eilish is nominated in all general categories…can she pull off a historic sweep? (Photo Credit: Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Take yourself back to 2010: A 20-year old Taylor Swift has just won the Grammy Award ...

How high, and how often, does Vampire Weekend make the list? (Photo by Ross Gilmore/WireImage) Life has gotten busy for your friendly neighborhood The Postrider EIC, and I haven’t had as much time to write in the back half of ...

  What intrigued me most about seeing The Raconteurs perform at The Anthem was the prospect of observing Jack White — my favorite artist and a man whose solo show I’ve seen three times — operate as part of a ...

If one trend has defined the last few years of indie rock, it’s been the rise of the under-25-year-old female singer/songwriter. From Snail Mail to Julien Baker to Soccer Mommy to Phoebe Bridgers to Lucy Dacus, the genre is chock ...

  One thing the youth of today, and certainly the youth of the future, will never understand is how many random magazines used to end up in people’s homes. I don’t know much about the magazine industry, but the way ...

(Photo on the left by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, Right by Ross Gillmore/WireImage) The other day, a coworker of mine posted this preview of Vampire Weekend’s new album Father of the Bride by Mikael Wood in a slack channel, and I gave ...

There’s a part in Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back), Jeff Tweedy’s excellent memoir released last year, where he discusses Wilco’s collaboration with Billy Bragg on the Mermaid Avenue albums, a trilogy of records featuring the two artists playing ...

It’s probably not fair to think of Jenny Lewis as a “child star turned musician” anymore. After all, she made that pivot over twenty years ago when she formed Rilo Kiley, a perennially underrated indie band responsible for one of ...

Do a quick Google Images search of Julia Jacklin and you’ll find an Aussie in her late twenties, frizzy-haired, and dressed in plaid mini skirts. She’s often captured staring blankly into the camera, stationed sometimes before flora, sometimes in tackily ...

I know that there’s supposed to be an infinite number of universes containing an infinite number of possibilities, but I refuse to believe that there is any timeline in which Sharon Van Etten is not a rock star. There’s no ...

As is the case with most live televised events these days, last year’s Grammys were met with a combination of disappointment and outrage. The disappointment came from the generally underwhelming nature of the night, which featured too many performances by ...

I know what you’re thinking: it’s almost February, isn’t it a little late for another best of 2018 list? And you’re right! Pitchfork, Stereogum, and all of those other big outlets beat me to the punch by almost three months. ...