Issue 100

All Hour Cymbals should not, by any metric, be a successful record: with a mess of instruments and styles ever, the band refuses to be contained by any one stylistic trapping. Somehow, Yeasayer forms an identity of their own without ever grasping at the familiar or the cookie-cutter. Read more.

White Sugar is a delight from beginning to the end: a traditional blues album that rips, shreds, and tears its way from one track to the next in intimate songs that feel as crafted for low-down bars as they do for giant stadiums under Joanne Shaw Taylor’s gentle leadership. Read more.

Isaac Hayes’ Black Moses is the perfect example of a self-indulgent record that accidentally paved the way for generations of music going forward. It’s long, draining, and ground-breaking work. Read more.

McMorrow’s debut record feels like a Bon Iver knockoff, complete with falsetto, but it works because of McMorrow’s pop sensibilities and tremendous storytelling skills — not to mention his airy production. Read more.

Their blues origins were lost in all the hubbub about The Black Keys’ recent alt-rock records, but Chulahoma captures it in a way that none of their earlier records good. The Black Keys’ collection of Junior Kimbrough covers is both a fantastic tribute and a wonderful listen. Read more.