Electronic music duo Daft Punk release one of the year’s most anticipated albums in Random Access Memories, their fourth full-length and first since 2005′s Human After All. The duo are noted for their patience between releases, and hearing the vastness that is Random Access Memories makes that approach entirely understandable. This is a jam-packed, 74-minute [...]

The National are a group with no pressure to change. Matt Berninger’s deeply somber baritone seems right at home over the band’s current arsenal of guitar-driven murmurs and narrative deadpans about societal disappointment and lost loves, and they have churned out quality albums like clockwork since their 2001 self-titled debut. Their sixth, Trouble Will Find [...]

With Volume 3, the duo of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward return with fourteen more sugary-sweet folk-pop confections. She & Him’s third volume continues to flaunt their authentic replication of sun-drenched ‘60s easy-listening. Deschanel has earned plenty of criticism for her quirky acting portrayals, which some find tiresome and repetitive, but it’s hard to deny [...]

On their third album, Vampire Weekend continue to progress from the collegiate prep-friendly Afro-pop revivalism of their 2008 eponymous debut into something more expansive. The Paul Simon influence is still there, but gone is the constant comparing to specific tracks of the Graceland ilk. This is no longer a band whose success is contingent on [...]

When I first heard of Lady Lamb the Beekeeper about four years ago I went looking for an album, but no proper record existed. It seemed inevitable she would get around to it, which she has, and at the time I looked forward to that for two reasons: First, because I hoped after listening to [...]

For a man capable of anything, there is a whole lot of nothing going on with this record. That’s not to say that there is not immense talent being presented, or that Nick Cave’s poetry has fallen off. On the latter point he may have improved, at least to my taste, becoming a bit less [...]

Bruno Mars is a different sort of pop star. It’s hard to define him strictly as being a “pop star” because he seems to command a higher level of respect, even though that is exactly what he is. It may only be an illusion then, brought on by his penchant to be a bit different [...]

The sisters Quin have seemed to struggle to find the right balance between cutesy pop and emotional indie. Their latest volley is a lot like 2009’s Sainthood, but punchier and perhaps a bit more confident. They have been engaged in this balancing act for well over a decade now, and with their seventh studio album [...]

I’m going to be completely honest with you off the top: The expectation here is that this will sound like every other Dropkick Murphys album, which is something they can get away with because nobody else is really making celtic punk party music. It’s a surprisingly strong niche for one with so little room, where [...]

Thom Yorke is a genius, or maybe just a bit odd. Not quite as odd as he looks, but odd enough to consistently surprise with the musical decisions he makes. About the only thing you can be sure of going into a new release– no matter what band he is playing with– is that your [...]