Sia’s incessant belting on new album gets tiresome
Album of the Week Sia “1,000 Forms of Fear” ★½ Australian pop singer-songwriter Sia’s singing has always been full of ululations and melisma, but on hits like 2010’s “You’ve Changed” and...
View ArticleBleachers’ new album leaves even more to be ‘Desired’
Albums of the Week Bleachers “Strange Desire” ★★★ From this moment on, anyone who refers to Jack Antonoff merely as Lena Dunham’s boyfriend or as the other guy in fun....
View ArticleJenny Lewis’ ‘The Voyager’ a big production
Albums of the Week Jenny Lewis “The Voyager” ★★½ The former Rilo Kiley frontwoman’s ’70s yacht-rock homages can feel overstuffed, even when short. Like later Elvis Costello, she’ll throw in...
View Article‘One’ too many for ‘Idol’ winner Caleb Johnson
Downloads of the Week Caleb Johnson “Only One” ★ ½ The 23-year-old “American Idol” Season 13 winner sings like a Chris Cornell-worshiping ham. This machine-tooled power ballad from Johnson’s debut...
View ArticleNew Orleans crooner Benjamin Booker brings the blues
Downloads of the Week Benjamin Booker “Chippewa” ★★★ This blues-rock wunderkind from New Orleans shows he’s worth the hype on his self-titled debut album. “Chippewa,” in particular, combines the...
View ArticleAriana Grande releases forgettable sophomore album
Albums of the Week Ariana Grande “My Everything” ★★ On her second album, ex-Nickelodeon-turned-pop/R&B star Grande is big-voiced, supple sounding and given serviceable, or worse, material. Big Sean...
View ArticleMaroon 5’s latest album is a snooze
Albums of the Week Maroon 5 “V” ★½ It’s not hard to see that Maroon 5 is hunting for another “Moves Like Jagger.” Their fifth album, “V,” is packed with...
View ArticleLeonard Cohen a young 80 with new album ‘Popular Problems’
Albums of the Week Leonard Cohen “Popular Problems” ★★★ Eighty years old as of Sunday, Leonard Cohen still tours like a college-age punk rocker and writes songs like, well, an 80-year-old...
View ArticleJessie J tries too hard on new album
Album of the week Jessie J “Sweet Talker” ★★½ If there’s one thing that American music lovers learned this summer, it’s that Jessie J can sing. But just because she...
View ArticleWhy Aretha Franklin might be losing respect
Albums of the Week Aretha Franklin “Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics” ★ Once upon a time Aretha Franklin was the greatest singer on earth. On this covers album,...
View ArticleTheophilus London and Kanye West ‘Can’t Stop’
Downloads of the Week Theophilus London “Can’t Stop” featuring Kanye West ★★★½ There’s no point in having Kanye be executive producer of your album if you don’t have him drop...
View ArticleBob Dylan surprisingly succeeds with Sinatra cover album
Album of the Week Bob Dylan “Shadows in the Night” ★★★ Dylan singing songs Sinatra did could have been 10 kinds of awful, but on the long-anticipated (or should that...
View ArticleEd Sheeran gets the Pharrell treatment on new single
Downloads of the week The Afghan Whigs “These Sticks” ★★★½ Back in the ’90s, Cincinnati’s Afghan Whigs represented the creepier side of alternative-rock, and the new album “Do to the Beast” (the band’s...
View ArticleBeyonce’s sultry voice shows what ‘Dreams’ are made of
Downloads of the week Boots feat. Beyoncé “Dreams” ★★★ For those who didn’t stay up and read the credits on the night Beyoncé’s self-titled album was released in December, Boots is the mysterious...
View ArticleUsher’s latest teases his upcoming album
Album of the week Tune-Yards “Nikki Nack” ★★★ “Let’s not pretend that the world around us isn’t falling,” Merrill Garbus — a k a Tune-Yards — croons on “Look Around,” from her third album. Her music...
View ArticleMichael Jackson is back with ‘new’ tunes
Albums of the week Michael Jackson “Xscape” ★½ It’s worth remembering that, during the last 30 years of his life, Michael Jackson only released six full albums. That emphasis on quality control has...
View ArticleThe Roots rule with emotionally eclectic 11th album
Albums of the Week The Roots “. . . And Then You Shoot Your Cousin” ★★★ They may play with Jimmy Fallon every weeknight, but the Roots’ albums follow no course other than their own. This one, their...
View ArticleMiranda Lambert shows her range in fifth studio album
Albums of the Week Miranda Lambert “Platinum” ★★★½ Nashville star Lambert’s fifth album is her most ostentatiously wide-ranging. It’s also long (16 songs, and an hour) and therefore doesn’t pack the...
View ArticleNew Jack White solo album is a clutter step
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRbnAxrS3EM&feature=kp Album of the Week JACK WHITE “Lazaretto” ★★ FOR a man who made his mark on the world with albums recorded in a few days featuring little more...
View ArticleWith Ed’s new album, there’s not much cheerin’ for Sheeran
Album of the Week Ed Sheeran “X” ★½ He’s back, and this time, it’s lots more Mr. Nice Guy. Despite occasional attempts to move his acoustic-pop sound forward into a funkier direction, Ed Sheeran’s...
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