The Highwomen come steeped in history — a history they rewrite, literally and figuratively. Their name, and the title track of their terrific self-titled debut, alludes to “The Highwayman,” Jimmy Webb’s 1977 song-turned-hit signature of the Highwaymen, the Eighties supergroup of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson. …
Read More »
In 2016, singer-songwriter Omar Banos went viral when he posted a video of himself playing a slide-guitar version of Santo and Johnny’s 1958 surf instrumental classic “Sleepwalk.” Recording under the moniker Cuco, the Mexican-American artist maintained the buzz by releasing his own psychedelia-soaked love ballads; sung in Spanglish, and underscored …
Read More »
The Black Keys, Let’s Rock” **** The Raconteurs, Help Us Stranger **** If rock is dead, that memo did not reach Nashville, where these albums were recorded. And Detroit – the Raconteurs’ real home, where singer-guitarists Jack White and Brendan Benson each grew up in the local garage-punk ruckus – …
Read More »
Chicago r&b poet Jamila Woods generated her first major who is she?! moment beside Chance the Rapper in the “Sunday Candy” video by Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment; her LP debut HEAVN answered that question a year later with a personal set of gospel-tinged rap-soul hybrids. Her new Legacy! …
Read More »
On their debut Antidotes, produced by TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek, Foals stepped from their stalls with shifty post-punk grooves, kinetic percussion, and nervous, sulky vibes. By 2013, with Holy Fire, they smoothed and super-sized their sound with production from U2 vets Flood and Alan Moulder. Their latest LP …
Read More »
After a month that found one movie star revealing thoughts about committing a hate crime and, not long after, a soap opera star allegedly fabricating another, it shouldn’t come down to Kiari Kendrell Cephus to try to save Black History Month. But here we are. For his first solo album, …
Read More »
“We pray to the God/ of collateral children,” sings Rosanne Cash in her verse of “8 Gods of Harlem,” a standout on her 14th studio album that enlists Kris Kristofferson and Elvis Costello as co-writers, each singing a verse in a narrative constellation involving a young man’s death. The song …
Read More »
Earlier this week, the Spanish flamenco artist Rosalía could be seen standing on top of an ATV, singing and appearing to cry during a live-streamed album release show. As the 25-year-old’s mascara began to run, one of her dancers revved the vehicle’s engine to add percussive zing to a stark, …
Read More »
Not much changes in Mudhoney’s world, and that’s a good thing. Three decades after they helped kick-start grunge with their lumbering, gritty guitar riffs and frontman Mark Arm’s sardonic snarls, they simply sound like a better, defter, maybe even snottier version of their younger selves on their 10th album. They …
Read More »
Though his star shone brightest in the Clinton era, Dave Matthews doesn’t seem too interested in indulging much Nineties nostalgia. His first album in six years features just a few of DMB’s least-attractive jam-funk impulses: “Can’t Stop” rides a rote groove and sentiment (“I’m like a junkie for you, babe”), …
Read More »