As time has gone on, music has splintered further into sub-genres. Technology has allowed anyone with the inclination to make and release an album, and it’s also easier for music fans to focus their attention on a single obscure sub-genre. It’s possible that someone’s making great music in their room, and the rest of the world won’t find out until fifty years later.
As well as the cultural dominance of hip hop, the 2010s has seen mainstream pop music be taken seriously and flourish. It’s not surprising people have gravitated towards escapism in this decade of environmental concerns and Donald Trump as President of the United States.
Wolf Alice Album Reviews
Wolf Alice started in 2010 as an acoustic duo when singer Ellie Rowsell and guitarist Joff Oddie met on an internet forum. They added drummer Joel Amey and bassist Theo...
Julien Baker Album Reviews
Julien Baker grew up in Tennessee, attending Church and learning on her father's guitar. She played in bands named Star Killer and Forrister, before she recorded demos that didn't fit...
Big Thief Album Reviews
Indie folk and Americana band Big Thief are based in Brooklyn, but their sound recalls the rustic feel of The Band, Gillian Welch, and Neil Young. Along with songwriter, guitarist,...
Burna Boy Album Reviews
Nigeria’s Burna Boy was born Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu. He’s connected with Nigerian musical royalty – his grandfather once managed Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti. His star is on the rise. He’s...
Charly Bliss Album Reviews
Siblings Eva and Sam Hendricks grew up in Westport, Connecticut. Eva Hendricks dabbled in musical theatre and sang jingles for commercials. In 2011 Eva Hendricks, vocalist and guitarist, recorded an...
Brandy Clark Album Reviews
Brandy Clark was born in Morton, Washington, a small logging town. She grew up enamoured with country music, naming the Patsy Cline movie Sweet Dreams as a particularly vivid influence....
Lucy Dacus Album Reviews
From Richmond, Virginia, Lucy Dacus is the daughter of a music teacher. She was raised in a Christian family, and her grappling with faith - a fervent believer in her...
Richard Dawson Album Reviews
Newcastle Upon Tyne’s errant folkie Richard Dawson is prolific, releasing a deluge of material as a solo artist, in collaborations like Hen Ogledd, and under the alter-ego Eyeballs. His rough-hewn...
Lana Del Rey Album Reviews
When Lana Del Rey emerged with the viral single ‘Video Games’ in 2011, she wasn’t someone who I expected to enjoy a long career. ‘Video Games’ had a unique atmosphere,...
Glass Beach Album Reviews
In the heady days of the 1990s, it felt like Beck was the apex of post-modern innovation, blurring the lines between genres on projects like Odelay. Los Angeles band Glass Beach...
Gob Nation Album Reviews (The Tubs, Joanna Gruesome, Ex-Vöid et al)
Gob Nation are a South London-based group of musicians who live in a former care home and play in different band configurations. The bands trace their origins to the 2010s...
Ariana Grande Album Reviews
Ariana Grande-Butera was born in Boca Raton, Florida to an Italian-American heritage. She started her career in musicals and as an actor, appearing on the teen series Victorious. She transitioned...
HAIM Album Reviews
A trio of sisters from California, HAIM take their name from Este, Danielle, and Alana's surname. The group grew up playing in a cover band, Rockinhaim, with their parents; their father...
Julia Holter Album Reviews
Julia Holter was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was young. She studied music at The University of Michigan, earning a degree in composition. Inspired...
Jason Isbell Album Reviews
Jason Isbell joined Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley as a guitarist and vocalist in acclaimed Southern Rock band, The Drive-By Truckers, in 2002. He contributed songs like ‘Outfit’, which details...
Japanese Breakfast Album Reviews
Michelle Zauner was born in South Korea and started her music career with Philadelphia emo band Little Big League. She took a hiatus from Little Big League to care for...
The Japanese House Album Reviews
IntroductionThe Japanese House Album ReviewsGood at FallingIn The End it Always DoesBest Japanese House Songs Introduction Amber Bain’s big break came in 2012 when she was introduced to The 1975’s...
Carly Rae Jepsen Album Reviews
Carly Rae Jepsen placed third on Canadian Idol in 2007, performing songs by Janis Ian and Rickie Lee Jones. She made a likeable coffee-shop pop album in 2008, which was...
Little Simz Album Reviews
Little Simz is a London-based rapper, singer, and actor with Nigerian heritage. She became a public figure in her mid-teens; in 2010 she appeared in the TV series Spirit Warriors and...
L’Rain Album Reviews
Brooklyn's Taja Cheek comes from a family entwined in the music business – her grandfather ran a jazz club and her father worked in record label marketing. Like Sade, L'Rain...
Mitski Album Reviews
Mitski Miyawaki was born in Japan to an American father and Japanese mother. She studied at Purchase College’s Conservatory of Music, during which she self-released her first two albums, 2012's...
Mdou Moctar Album Reviews
Born in a nomad camp, Niger’s Mdou Moctar first came to prominence after the release of his debut album, 2008’s Anar. Its songs were hugely popular throughout the Sahel region of...
Janelle Monáe Album Reviews
Janelle Monáe Robinson is an intimidatingly talented auteur. As a musician, she's a capable singer, rapper, songwriter, producer, and dancer, as well as a record label owner. She also makes...
Rae Morris Album Reviews
Rachel Ann Morris took the stage name Rae Morris, a strange choice given that she shares her handle with a well-known Australian makeup artist. She was born in the seaside...
Kacey Musgraves Album Reviews
Born in Texas, a year before fellow country star Taylor Swift, Kacey Musgraves has followed a markedly different musical path. Swift is the golden girl, whose albums go to number...
Kate NV Album Reviews
Moscow-based artist Kate NV was born Eaterina Shilonosova in Kazan, Russia's fifth largest city. She's a woman of many talents - she also serves as vocalist for the post-punk band...
Angel Olsen Album Reviews
Singer-songwriter Angel Olsen hails from St. Louis Missouri, where she was raised by a foster family. Because of the age difference between herself and her foster family, she often wondered...
Natalie Prass Album Reviews
Natalie Prass was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up in Richmond, Virginia. She went to Berklee College of Music and served as a keyboardist in Jenny Lewis’ backing band....
Real Lies Album Reviews
The sophisticated monologues of London electronic duo Real Lies have an obvious precedent. It’s hard not to compare them with 1980s synth pop-duo The Pet Shop Boys. Among other similarities...
Dawn Richard Album Reviews
Dawn Richard was born in New Orleans, of Louisiana Creole and Haitian descent. Her family moved to Baltimore after they were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Richard's father was the percussionist...
Porter Robinson Album Reviews
Porter Weston Robinson grew up in Chapel Hill, a town in North Carolina that also produced James Taylor, George Hamilton IV, and Ben Folds Five. The son of an attorney, Robinson...
Rosalía Album Reviews
Rosalía Vila Tobella was raised in a small town in northern Barcelona, Spain. She was singing with her father at the age of 7, although she mostly listened to music...
Taylor Swift Album Reviews
When I started this site, I wouldn’t have considered reviewing a country-pop teenage starlet, but Taylor Swift has enjoyed a phenomenally successful career where she’s transcended genre boundaries. Named after...
SZA Album Reviews
Solána Imani Rowe was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up with a Christian mother and a Muslim father. She studied marine biology at the University of Delaware, dropping...
Tirzah Album Reviews
As a teenager, Tirzah Mastin was on the path to becoming a classically trained harpist. Attending music school, she found more joy in the songs she created with classmate Mica...
tricot Album Reviews
Math-rock band tricot formed in Kyoto in 2010, releasing their debut album in 2013. Tricot spent time as an all-female trio, but drummer Yuusuke Yoshida was added in 2017. Yoshida...
Tyler, The Creator Album Reviews
Tyler Gregory Okonma, better known as Tyler, the Creator, has enjoyed a rapid career evolution over the last decade. He's of Igbo ancestry on his father's side. He started as...
Vampire Weekend Album Reviews
Ezra Koenig and drummer Chris Tomson started playing together in a rap collaboration named "L'Homme Run" while attending Columbia University. The pair were interested in punk and African music and...
Jessie Ware Album Reviews
Jessie Ware is the UK’s most likeable mainstream pop star. I struggle with mega-sellers like Adele and Ed Sheeran, but Ware’s low-key personality is adorable. She packed her 2012 debut...
The Weather Station Album Reviews
Tamara Lindeman, also known as Tamara Hope, was a notable actor before she became a musician. She grew up in a family of pilots and was a licensed snowboarding teacher...
Jamila Woods Album Reviews
Chicago's Jamila Woods is a recording artist and writer. She graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in Africana Studies and Theater & Performance Studies. Her poetry has been featured...
Charli XCX Album Reviews
Charlotte Emma Aitchison took her stage name from her teenage MSN Messenger handle. Of part Indian heritage, Aitchison experiences sound-to-colour synaesthesia, where she sees sounds as colours - a phenomenon shared...
The 1975 Album Reviews
The 1975 formed as a high school band in Wilmslow, Cheshire, where a council worker organised frequent gigs for teenagers. Vocalist and guitarist Matty Healy, the son of prominent actors,...
2010s Miscellany
This page collects album reviews for 2010s artists for whom I've only reviewed one or two albums. In 2018 I started covering new albums regularly, so this page leans heavily...
Read about the discographies of musical acts from the 1960s to the present day. Browse this site's review archives or enjoy these random selections:
I add new blog posts to this website every week. Browse the archives or enjoy these random selections:
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