This year’s rock and pop list is a heady mix of the old (Paul Simon, Lindsey Buckingham) and the new (the Black Keys, Death Cab for Cutie). You May Also Like: ‘Journey: Worlds Apart,’ by Nick DeRiso (2023): Books

The Black Keys return with a grimy, fast-moving rock number that gasses up the deep-blues atmosphere of their breakout release Brothers. You May Also Like: The Black Keys Hit Upon the Right Rootsy Mix With ‘Brothers’ Why the Black Keys’ ‘El Camino’ Was More Continuation Than Breakthrough

by Tom Johnson Every genre seems to get reinvented every so often. Jazz had its renewal a few years back, and now the blues seems to be burbling under again, beginning into the early 2000s with the success of the White Stripes. But the White Stripes got nuthin’ on thisRead More

Checking in with our thoughts on a few of tonight’s winners from the 2011 Grammy Awards, including the Black Keys — the top-rated Something Else! Reviews record from last year — as well as Buddy Guy, Neil Young, Stanley Clarke, Paul McCartney and Mavis Staples, among others. Click through theRead More

Photo by Pieter M Van Hattem by Mark Saleski I have no doubt that a lot of Bob Dylan fans will be incensed at what I’m about to admit, but here we go: if you don’t count his first Greatest Hits collection (which I inherited from my sister), the firstRead More

by Something Else Reviews Over the last few weeks, this merry band of music lovers has offered its varied take on the Year That Was. Now, we winnow it all down. First to go were the personal obsessions (Mark: Mary Halvorson; Pico: Greg Ward’s Fitted Shards), and other worthy entriesRead More

by Tom Johnson Every year I start out thinking that I have a feeling what album is going to ride high on my year end list, and more often than not I’m surprised by so many other things that the album in question may not even register. This year’s victimRead More

by Nick DeRiso For me, the traditional year-ending Top 10 list has a more utilitarian standard: Which albums did I add to my permanent rotation? See, it’s the rarest of rare items that actually becomes a member of the collection. That’s the kind of standout recording we’ll be talking aboutRead More

We begin this series by covering the kind of music most music critics cover when making lists: the Great Mainstream.

Things could be looking up for Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. by Pico It’s been a whole three months since we last discussed a batch of sparkling new releases that are targeted for wider audiences. That’s such a long span that a few of the half dozen records yakked aboutRead More