The smash pop hit “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes was released in August of 1963, the same year and month as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The streets of America were electric with strife and passion, with Blacks and other minorities yearning to demolish the dream of some nebulous, far away Shangri-La, demanding its creation at home, straight away. With a glamourous, dreamy aesthetic and bold, harmonious sound, a trio of nightingales from Spanish Harlem—sisters Ronnie and Estelle, along with their...

As 2021 comes to a close, I'm sure I speak for plenty of us when I say, music was a big driving factor of keeping me calm and optimistic in the midst of *gestures vaguely." Madonna said it best, "Music, makes the people come together. Yeah!" Here's our list of some of the best releases this year.  Aimee Mann Queens of the Summer Hotel In 2018, Aimee Mann set out to write the music for a theatrical adaptation of Girl, Interrupted, Susanna Kaysen’s bestselling memoir about her time...

As a seasoned performer, Diana Ross definitely knows her strengths, and Thank You, her 25th studio album (her first since 2006), reflects this throughout its 13 tracks. Classic R&B spreads positivity on the title song, “In Your Heart,” and “All Is Well,” while softer ballads like “Just In Case,” and “Count On Me” soothe and reassure with twinkling piano. It’s the upbeat dance numbers, though—“If The World Just Danced,” “Let’s Do It,” and “Tomorrow”—that are just waiting for clubs to reopen worldwide. Miss Ross is feeling very...

AIMEE MANN Queens of the Summer Hotel (SuperEgo Records) In 2018, Aimee Mann set out to write the music for a theatrical adaptation of Girl, Interrupted, Susanna Kaysen’s bestselling memoir about her time in a psychiatric hospital. While the pandemic put plans for the musical on hold, many of those songs landed on Queens of the Summer Hotel, sung from the perspectives of different characters. Mann paints these portraits with her signature wry wit and reflective wisdom, touching on such serious topics as suicide (“Suicide Is Murder”) and...

  When you think of seminal all-female rock and roll bands, the chances of The Go-Go’s being the first group to come to mind are high. Their 1981 album Beauty and the Beat, featuring iconic tracks “Our Lips Are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat”, spent six weeks at the top of the Billboard charts and resides comfortably on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. Drummer Gina Schock left Baltimore for LA to make it big, joining The Go-Go’s in 1979. Almost forty years...

It is difficult, if not impossible, to pin down exactly who Annie Clark, also known as St. Vincent, truly is. That’s because, with each new album, she transforms into a new version of herself. At the time of her 2017 Grammy-winning record Masseduction, for instance, St. Vincent was a neon-hot, futuristic dominatrix, dressed in pink latex and fixated on power. Now, as she tours in support of the glittery, gritty, glam-rock Daddy’s Home, she sports leather jackets, bell-bottomed jumpsuits, and a bad wig, creating a...

A Norah Jones Christmas album: it’s such an obvious idea that it’s hard to believe it hasn’t happened until now! But Jones just released her first-ever holiday disc, I Dream of Christmas, last month. Her voice is uniquely suited to Christmas songs; indeed, the press release that accompanied the album aptly described her as “a steady voice of warmth and reassurance for nearly 20 years.” And who couldn’t use a little warmth and reassurance during the holiday season? Norah Jones burst onto the popular music scene...

While the late Karen Black is known more for her acclaimed 1960s/1970s acting career in films including Five Easy Pieces and Nashville, she was also a prolific singer/songwriter. Several of Black’s studio recordings and demos are now seeing the light of day thanks to Cass McCombs, who compiled and co-produced this collection over the course of three years. The 17 tracks display Black’s high, clear vocal range (think early Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell) as well as her penchant for storytelling, often about love, relationships,...

Zooey Deschanel and Ingrid Michaelson have cast their votes in the great “When Is It Too Early to Listen to Christmas Music” debate with a new song and adorable music video featuring animated, felted bunnies full of holiday cheer and cozy vibes. The song, “Merry Christmas, Happy New Year” was written by Ingrid Michaelson and features Zooey Deschanel in a sweet and festive duet about being in love in winter and beyond. Both singers are no strangers to holiday music, Deschanel recorded A Very She &...

Boyfriend, the New Orleans-based multi-hyphenate musician who has written with Big Freedia, Charli XCX, and Pussy Riot, is notorious for her theatrical live shows. Decked out in rollers and vintage lingerie, Boyfriend coined the term "rap-cabaret" to best describe the vibe. Burlesque, aerial silk performers, drinking Monster Energy out of martini glasses, set pieces, crowdsurfing -- what could be a more natural step for such an interactive performer than... radio? Boyfriend partnered with Amazing Radio, a British radio station founded in 2007, dedicated to exposure for...