Album Reviews
- Various Artists
Quality Control: Control the Streets, Vol. 1
The Atlanta label home to Migos, Lil Yachty, and a squad of up-and-coming rappers showcases their year on top with a 30-song victory lap of minor-key flexers and foamy delights.
- Thurston Moore
- Charles Hayward
Improvisations
There is chemistry between the Sonic Youth guitarist and the This Heat drummer, but their collaborative album feels more like mood pieces for skronk heads and completists only.
- Lil Baby
Too Hard
The Atlanta rapper is slowly coming into his own as a Young Thug disciple with an intrinsic tunefulness and strong storytelling that is marred by the undistinguished Quality Control production.
- Palta
Universel
The latest from prolific Danish producer Natal Zaks is a short album of blissed-out, ambient textures, but is no less immersive thanks to his deft sense of world-building.
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The 15 Lyrics That Defined 2017
The year through the lens of our favorite artists’ pens
The Best Music Videos of 2017
From Björk’s crystal wonderland to Fever Ray’s S&M tea party to Migos’ snowy epic, the 20 most eye-popping visuals of the year
Explore Stereolab’s Dots And Loops in 5 Minutes
The British-French band Stereolab was somehow of its time and from another time altogether. On their fifth album, 1997’s Dots and Loops, Stereolab synthesized their retro-musical mastery and brainy ambition in a newly seamless way, creating a dreamy, detail-rich triumph that channels the vibes of the ’90s while hinting at something more futuristic.
More Recent Reviews
- Chief Keef
Dedication
Balancing his characteristic humor with newfound vulnerability, Keef’s latest is a worthy capstone to a prolific year in which the Chicago rapper has resurrected his reputation and career.
- Chris Stapleton
From a Room: Volume 1 / Volume 2
Nashville institution Chris Stapleton followed his 2015 breakthrough with two new albums this year. They showcase his omnivorous approach to country music in all its dignified melancholy.
- Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection of Music From the Arab World
A new compilation from Habibi Funk records highlights the old and interweaving sounds of Algerian coladera, Lebanese AOR, Egyptian disco, Moroccan funk and more.
- Ceramic TL
- Ipek Gorgun
Perfect Lung
On his latest LP, the producer Ceramic TL (aka Egyptrixx) collaborates with Turkish composer Ipek Gorgun on another heady investigation of the global environmental crisis.