When Taylor Swift released nine vinyl editions of her album “Folklore” in 2020, Tylor Hammers, a fan in Florida, took notice. But it wasn’t until “Midnights” two years later that he became a true collector, scouring the internet and retail shops for every variation of her albums he could find — spending about $1,000 in […]
Read MoreTag: Pop and Rock Music
Taylor Swift and Beyoncé Avoided a Collision on the Charts. (Again.)
In February, Taylor Swift took the stage at the Grammy Awards to accept the prize for best pop vocal album. After dutifully thanking the Recording Academy and her fans, she got down to business: “My brand-new album comes out April 19,” she said, in a surprise announcement revealing “The Tortured Poets Department.” It was a […]
Read MoreHow Khruangbin’s Sound Became the New Mood Music
I worry that the word “vibes” is overused, but in what follows it is unavoidable: The band Khruangbin, a trio from Houston, has become so popular that there now exists an entire subgenre of music broadly known as “Khruangbin vibes.” If you have walked into a relatively hip coffee shop in a major or even […]
Read MoreJoJo Siwa Tries to Grow Up With ‘Karma,’ Her New Single
JoJo Siwa drives a car covered in her own face. Actually, the child star turned children’s entertainer drives a couple. On a Thursday afternoon in late March, it’s a Tesla Model X wrapped in a patchwork of her blond, ponytail-topped head complete with a signature hair bow. The tire rims are a kaleidoscope of cotton […]
Read MoreHow Ozempic Turned a 1974 Hit Into an Inescapable Jingle
In February 2023, David Paton, guitar case in hand, strode across the most famous pedestrian walkway in rock history and into London’s Abbey Road Studios. Paton was no stranger to the rooms where the Beatles changed the course of popular music: His 1970s pop-rock band Pilot recorded two albums there. In his second life, as […]
Read MoreJohn Sinclair, 82, Dies; Counterculture Activist Who Led a ‘Guitar Army’
John Sinclair, a counterculture activist whose nearly 10-year prison sentence for sharing joints with an undercover police officer was cut short after John Lennon and Yoko Ono sang about his plight at a protest rally, died on Tuesday in Detroit. He was 82. His publicist, Matt Lee, said the cause of his death, in a […]
Read MoreBeyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ Settles the Score With Haters — and With History
Beyoncé released a genre-bending country album, “Cowboy Carter,” last week. After listening to it in all the requisite settings — on a walk, in a car and on a plane — I finally understand what Beyoncé, a notoriously enigmatic pop star, wants to say to the world. She wants to be more than popular. She […]
Read More‘Cowboy Carter’ Review: Beyoncé’s Country Is America. Every Bit of It.
The first song on “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé’s not-exactly-country album, makes a pre-emptive strike. “It’s a lot of talking going on while I sing my song,” she observes in “Ameriican Requiem” over guitar strums and electric sitar, adding, “It’s a lot of chatter in here.” That’s an acknowledgment that a pop superstar’s job now extends well […]
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