Album Reviews

• 

  The C.I.A. Work with Anxious Precision on 'Surgery Channel'

  PUBLISHED Jan 23, 2023

  If there were ever a record whose title lines up perfectly with the sonics found within, it's Surgery Channel. The sophomore record from De...

• 

  Mac DeMarco's 'Five Easy Hot Dogs' Has Chill Beats to Study/Relax To

  PUBLISHED Jan 19, 2023

  Back in 2017, Mac DeMarco led the Colbert band in a lavish, horn-filled rendition of "One Another," in which the velvet-voiced DeMarco soun...

• 

  Atsuko Chiba Are Fluid and Furious on 'Water, It Feels Like It's Growing'

  PUBLISHED Jan 18, 2023

  Atsuko Chiba's latest album demands, but also harmoniously rewards, repeat listens. The Montreal five-piece's third full-length, Water, It...

• 

  Kali Malone's 'Does Spring Hide Its Joy' Is a Beacon of Possibility

  PUBLISHED Jan 18, 2023

  For Colorado native Kali Malone, finding the right tuning and harmony is a way of life. At 16, she met Swedish composer Ellen Arkbro at a N...

• 

  July Talk Look to the Future on 'Remember Never Before'

  PUBLISHED Jan 17, 2023

  Somehow, it's already been a decade since July Talk broke out with their self-titled debut LP. Dominated by bombastic bluesy-riffs and the...

• 

  Belle and Sebastian Sound Best When They're Themselves on 'Late Developers'

  PUBLISHED Jan 12, 2023

  Belle and Sebastian have entered the workmanlike era of their career. They haven't released a truly essential album since 2006's The Life P...

• 

  Julia Wolf Is in Her Bildungsroman Bag on 'Good Thing We Stayed'

  PUBLISHED Jan 12, 2023

  The year was 2010. Drake released the Kanye co-write "Find Your Love" — a very obvious leftover from the cutting room floor of 808s and Hea...

• 

  Rozi Plain's 'Prize' Is Full of Careful Thrills

  PUBLISHED Jan 11, 2023

  Some music is worth more than the sum of its parts. Rozi Plain's fifth album strips her synthetic folk style down to its bare essentials, r...