Nas’ King’s Disease Reintroduces the Legend to a New Generation | Review
The Lowdown: In 2018, Queensbridge-bred lyricist Nas released his 12th studio album, NASIR. In being a collaborative effort with Kanye West, this LP was...
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November 30, 2020
Miley Cyrus’ Plastic Hearts Lovingly Mashes Up Rawk Influences | Review
The Lowdown: For her post-divorce album, Plastic Hearts, Miley Cyrus deploys big synth energy in full ’80s-rawk drag. Over six uneven albums, Cyrus has...
September 14, 2020
YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s Top Hints at a Next Level | Review
The Lowdown: Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has become home to some of the most fertile “breeding grounds” in the hip-hop industry. Considered a small city...
September 11, 2020
The Flaming Lips Return to Earth on Devastatingly Beautiful American Head | Review
The Lowdown: Looking back now, it feels safe to say that the ’10s represent something of a lost decade in the long, strange journey...
Album Reviews
Artist of the Month Awich’s Partition EP Flaunts the Rapper’s Talent and Resolve | Review
The Lowdown: Trying to sum up the complex existence of Japanese rapper Awich is a losing game, but here are some basics: Born Akiko...
The Chicks’ Gaslighter Galvanizes The Trio’s Long-Awaited Return | Review
The Lowdown: The most infamous act in country music, The Chicks (formerly known as the Dixie Chicks), stopped releasing new music 14 years ago,...
Pop Smoke’s Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon Secures the Late Rapper’s Legacy | Review
The Lowdown: Last summer, at a congested intersection in Flatbush, the hip-hop rule book was left to smolder in a fiery, steel mesh garbage...
Bob Dylan’s Rough and Rowdy Ways Plays It Too Tame | Review
The Lowdown: “I’m a man of contradictions/ I’m a man of many moods,” Bob Dylan muses on the single “I Contain Multitudes”. Yeah, no...
Classic Hootie & the Blowfish – Cracked Rear View | Album Reviews
Wren Graves looks back 25 years later at how roots rock band Hootie & the Blowfish conquered grunge and alternative rock with their album...
Review: BTS – BTS World: Original Soundtrack
The Lowdown: What’s a boy band to do once they’ve basically conquered the world? Invent and uncover even more world, of course. That’s exactly...
Review: Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Bandana |
The Lowdown: The hip-hop scene has never been more diverse than in 2019. Tyler, the Creator broadened the genre’s scope with his heartfelt masterpiece,...
Mark Mulcahy – The Gus | Album Review
The Lowdown: Near the end of a 2017 article for Powell’s detailing a playlist inspired by his novel Lincoln in the Bardo, author George...
The Who – Tommy | Classic Album Review
“Listen to Tommy with a candle burning, and you’ll see your entire future.” — Almost Famous I don’t know how my sister Hilary got...