In the December 1960 issue of Arts and Architecture, the critic Dore Ashton described the peculiar experience of encountering Ad Reinhardt’s “black paintings”—a series of 60 x 60” canvases that appear monochrome, but that reveal subtle, multicolored geometries upon close… Read More
When Avalon Emerson and her girlfriend made a cross-country road trip from Los Angeles to New York this summer, they shot a set of impromptu videos that neatly encapsulate Emerson’s musical choices and mixing style: kinetic, evocative, and deeply personal.… Read More
During his brief, glorious early ’70s peak, it seemed that Marc Bolan could send seismic tremors through the universe with delectable nonchalance. He switched from Tolkien-esque freak folk to Chuck Berry boogie in the span of an album. On a… Read More
The best thing about Sam Prekop’s solo electronic music is the way that it leaves space for the listener. Across three albums—2010’s Old Punch Card, 2015’s The Republic, and now Comma—the Sea and Cake frontman has used modular synthesizers to… Read More
For Chaz Bear and Adrian Mojica, rhythm is a bridge capable of spanning geography, styles, and even generations. Oakland’s Bear, an indie veteran and chillwave pioneer best known as Toro y Moi, has been making music since the mid ’00s;… Read More
In a scene that typically moves at a relentless pace, Zora Jones is an artist of slow, microscopic precision. Before the pandemic shuttered nightclubs around the world, the Austrian-born DJ, producer, and visual artist was living a nomadic lifestyle with… Read More
The Swedish pianist, violinist, and composer David Wenngren seems to regard minimalism less as a classical tradition than as an ascetic dare. In Library Tapes, which has been his solo project with a host of revolving collaborators since the early… Read More
Tricky has always worn his bruised heart on his sleeve. His brilliantly desolate debut album, Maxinquaye, was inspired by his mother, who died when he was four years old, and a song like “Strugglin’” laid bare in excruciating detail his… Read More
A pop diva is poorer without her remixes. Madonna’s dance remixes span Shep Pettibone’s kinetic “Express Yourself” rework to Stuart Price’s revitalizing overhaul of her discography on ’00s tours. Whitney Houston’s club versions brought extra oomph to a joyous NYC… Read More
Few artists are as adept at fusing electronic music’s warmth and coldness as Kelly Lee Owens. What makes Owens’ work so distinctive is her equal proficiency as a songwriter and producer; her vocals are as confident and captivating as her… Read More