The best pop songs are about more than their surface allures — the hook, the voice, maybe the lyric. The best pop songs are bound up both in simplicity and mystery, bringing you over a ridge to these stunning emotional vistas, even as you are still trying to get theRead More

by Mark Saleski Call me easily amused, by I’m a sucker for a girl who accompanies herself at the piano by whackin’ a chair with a drumstick. That was how Regina Spektor sang the sassy “Poor Little Rich Boy.” One hand for piano chords, the other for abusing a woodenRead More

by Tom Johnson This spunky singer, 19 years old at the time, was a lot smarter and had a much more mature ear than her age indicated. You May Also Like: Chairmen of the Board – Greatest Hits (1973): Forgotten Series

The last week of July was an occasion of joy and pain for the folk-rock group America. Two days after founding ex-member Dan Peek passed away at the age of 60, America released their first album since 2007’s return-to-form Here And Now. You May Also Like: Stephen Stills & JudyRead More

He sings something like Bob Dylan, plays guitar something like Mark Knopfler, but doesn’t fall into easy mimicry of either. Credit a long journey to get here You May Also Like: No related posts.

There’s a specificity to this song, by Austin, Texas-based roots rocker Eric Hisaw, that pulls you all the way into the story. You May Also Like: Eric Clapton, “Motherless Child” from ‘From the Cradle’ (1994): One Track Mind

One day back in 1996, I was on my way to work and heard this terrific song … about a kid playing in the backyard? Refusing to wear a shirt? Huh?! You May Also Like: Joe Jackson’s Rain underscored a complete modern-era return to form

There are these moments, throughout the fiery emotional aftermath of “Ashes Ashes,” where Katie Costello gives herself over to the lyric, and the sound is like a hot wind rushing past and out into the world. You May Also Like: No related posts.

Annie Dressner’s voice has a twilight poignancy, this majestic loneliness, and nowhere on her forthcoming release Strangers Who Knew Each Others Names is that more true than on its title track. You May Also Like: No related posts.

by Tom Johnson Sarah McLachlan’s angelic voice is reason enough to check out this new album. It’s certainly not to hear anything particularly new: Afterglow was just more of what Sarah does so well. The most powerful segments of the album arrived early on, with the more up-tempo material providingRead More