In The Number Ones, I’m reviewing every single #1 single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, starting with the chart’s beginning, in 1958, and working my way up into the present. In 2005, computer screens around the world lit up with the image of a goofy-looking kid doing an even goofier chair-dance to […]
Strange Ranger – “She’s On Fire”
Philly’s Strange Ranger have announced a new album, Pure Music, which follows their 2021 No Light In Heaven mixtape and 2019’s Remembering The Rockets. Out July 21, Pure Music features the previously released “Rain So Hard” and the official lead single, the percussive “She’s On Fire,” which is out today with a video directed by […]
Anna St. Louis – “Better Days”
Last month, Anna St. Louis announced a new album, In The Air, the follow-up to her 2018 debut If Only There Was A River. She shared the lead single “Phone” from it at the time, and today she’s back with another new song, “Better Days.” “While ‘Better Days’ may have tones of sadness it’s really […]
Soviet Kitsch Turns 20
Discovery stories don’t get much more indicative of an artist’s talent than the one that producer Gordon Raphael tells about Regina Spektor. Raphael says he first heard Spektor play at a studio in the East Village, after being encouraged to meet up by mutual friend and drummer Alan Bezozi. “I said hello, and she smiled, […]
Westerman – “A Lens Turning”
This week, Westerman is releasing his sophomore album, An Inbuilt Fault, the follow-up to his 2020 debut Your Hero Is Not Dead. He started rolling it out slowly last fall with “Idol; RE-run” and officially announced it back in February with “CSI: Petralona,” and then “Take” followed. Today, he’s back with one last advance preview […]
Alan Palomo – “Nudista Mundial ’89” (Feat. Mac DeMarco)
We are coming up on eight years since Vega Intl. Night School, the last album Alan Palomo released as Neon Indian. In the interim, all he’s given us is 2019’s “Toyota Man,” a pro-immigrant protest song that saw Palomo singing entirely in Spanish for the first time. But lately Palomo has been teasing new music […]
King Krule Announces 2023 Tour Dates
Archy Marshall is releasing a new King Krule album, Space Heavy, at the beginning of June. A few weeks ago, he shared its lead single “Seaforth” and a few weeks before that he handed out some flexi-discs at a run of live shows that featured even more new songs. Now, he’s announced an extensive tour […]
The Number Ones: Pink’s “So What”
In The Number Ones, I’m reviewing every single #1 single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, starting with the chart’s beginning, in 1958, and working my way up into the present. Does Pink count as a rock star? The term “rock star” has been basically meaningless for as long as I can remember, […]
Watch Caroline Polachek Bring Out Charli XCX, Weyes Blood, & Sudan Archives In LA
Caroline Polachek performed at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Saturday night, and she brought along some special guests. Charli XCX came out to perform her remix of the Desire, I Want To Turn Into You single “Welcome To My Island,” which she also did at Coachella. Echoing Charli’s back-up dancers at the festival, […]
Jenn Grant & Bahamas – “All Of This Time”
“All Of This Time” is a new duet between Halifax singer-songwriter Jenn Grant and her Toronto-based peer Bahamas, aka Afie Jurvanen, from Grant’s upcoming album Champagne Problems. The song is a slow, sparse, waltzing love ballad that feels almost timeless in its approach. Here’s what Grant has to say about it: It was so wonderful […]