Music

The rap duo Armand Hammer.

Armand Hammer’s Guide Through History’s Underbelly Armand Hammer’s Guide Through History’s Underbelly

The New York rap duo’s searing songs shed light on outrages around the globe.

Apr 21, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Kearse

Arlo Parks

Songs of Hope and Isolation Songs of Hope and Isolation

Arlo Parks’s consoling pop music is tailor-made for our fraught and lonely moment. 

Apr 7, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Julyssa Lopez

Pharoah Sanders’s Grand Return

Pharoah Sanders’s Grand Return Pharoah Sanders’s Grand Return

A new collaboration with electronic producer Floating Points has led to a modern-day masterpiece for the jazz master.

Mar 30, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Marcus J. Moore

Daphne Brooks

How Black Women Musicians Defined What We Call Culture How Black Women Musicians Defined What We Call Culture

A conversation with Daphne Brooks about her new book Liner Notes for the Revolution, a “counterhistory of popular music criticism.”

Mar 15, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Nawal Arjini

Glenn Gould

In the Vicinity of Genius In the Vicinity of Genius

How a friendship with Glenn Gould created an unlikely cultural critic.

Mar 12, 2021 / Jeet Heer

Billie Holiday

How Many Movies About Billie Holiday Does it Take… How Many Movies About Billie Holiday Does it Take…

to capture her immense contribution to music? Apparently more than three.

Mar 11, 2021 / Ethan Iverson

Playboi Carti in LA

Playboi Carti, Rap Iconoclast Playboi Carti, Rap Iconoclast

His recent album Whole Lotta Red boasts not just rockstar appeal but a sense of self-discovery and experimentation.

Mar 2, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Kearse

The Music We Made in Lockdown

The Music We Made in Lockdown The Music We Made in Lockdown

On the artists who found new sounds in our collective solitude.

Feb 17, 2021 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu

Kali Uchis’s Fearless Latinx Pop

Kali Uchis’s Fearless Latinx Pop Kali Uchis’s Fearless Latinx Pop

The bilingual, bicultural songs and sounds of Sin Miedo is a daring leap forward.

Feb 10, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Julyssa Lopez

Sophie

I Wish We Could Be Dancing to Sophie I Wish We Could Be Dancing to Sophie

It’s an added cruelty that we cannot mourn the loss of the avant-pop icon properly.

Feb 4, 2021 / Annie Howard

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