2024
'They Let Us Go Totally Crazy': John Stanier Looks Back on Helmet's Weird, Wonderful 'Betty' at 30 (Substack)
Kamasi Washington Wants to Remain Unstoppable (New York Times)
How the Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt Became a Chronicler of Black Jazz History (New York Times)
Review: Shabaka, Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace (Pitchfork)
Review: Alice Coltrane, The Carnegie Hall Concert (Pitchfork)
Black Pop Artists Have Long Gone Country. Here’s a Brief History (New York Times)
A Tale of Two Sonnys — a multi-part deep dive into the work of Sonny Sharrock (Substack)
The terror and the beauty of spiritual jazz (Substack)
Is André 3000 in His Jazz Era? (NPR Music)
2023
Best of 2023 round-up (DFSBP)
Dischord Records album guide (Shfl)
Hardcore Punk Is Looking (and Sounding) Different Now (New York Times)
Abdul Wadud’s Cosmic Cello Music Gets Another Moment in the Sun (New York Times)
Christian McBride, Revered in Jazz, Is Playing the Long Game (New York Times)
How Demilich’s Only Album Became a Death Metal Cult Classic (Bandcamp)
Sunday Review: The Tony Williams Lifetime’s ‘Emergency!’ (Pitchfork)
2022
Best of 2022 round-up (DFSBP)
Blast Rites: The 10 Best Metal Albums of 2022 (SPIN)
Chat Pile on Redneck Lake Culture, Forgotten Grunge-Era Relics and Wretched Oklahoma History (SPIN)
jaimie branch interview (Pioneer Works Broadcast)
Blast Rites: September 2022 metal roundup (SPIN)
For the Saxophonist Zoh Amba, Free Jazz Is Gospel (New York Times)
Kane Brown Didn’t Fit the Country Music Mold. So He Made His Own. (New York Times)
With “Shiki,” Sigh Add Traditional Japanese Instruments to Their Metal Melee (Bandcamp)
Rex: The ‘90s Indie Originals Return (Tidal)
Sunday Review: Booker Little’s ‘Out Front’ (Pitchfork)
Meet the Drummer Who’s Covering Entire Led Zeppelin Shows on YouTube (Rolling Stone)
Inside hate5six, the YouTube Channel That’s Bringing Hardcore to the Masses (Rolling Stone)
Meshuggah’s ‘Immutable’ Mission (Rolling Stone)
2021
Hear How Alice Coltrane Turned Tragedy Into Musical Triumph (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums podcast)
Carcass Wrote the Blueprint for Death-Metal Extremity. Now They Just Want to Write a Great Song (Rolling Stone)
How Avant-Guitar Godfather Sonny Sharrock Reconciled Terror and Beauty (Rolling Stone)
Greg Fox profile (Monheim Triennale)
Descendents Finally Tell Their Punk-Rock Origin Story (Rolling Stone)
Matt Sweeney and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s Duo Strengthens With Age on ‘Superwolves’ (Rolling Stone)
‘Kids Being Kids’: Slint Look Back on ‘Spiderland’ at 30 (Rolling Stone)
Saxophone Legends Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp Are Still Pushing Jazz Forward (Rolling Stone)
Herbie Hancock on Chick Corea: “He Always Wanted to Share Whatever He Had” (Rolling Stone)
How Milford Graves Reawakened the Spirit of the Drum (Rolling Stone)
John Lurie on His New Cult-TV Adventure and Why He Misses Anthony Bourdain (Rolling Stone)
2020
6 Paths Through Jazz in 2020: Year-End Album Roundup (Rolling Stone)
“Good Steely Dan Takes”: A Chat With the Man Behind the Funniest Rock Fan Account on Twitter (Rolling Stone)
“Songs of Catharsis” playlist (Rolling Stone)
‘He Made the World Bigger’: Inside John Zorn’s Jazz-Metal Multiverse (Rolling Stone)
Looking Back at Herbie Hancock’s Jazz-Funk Masterpiece ‘Head Hunters’ (Rolling Stone)
That Time Hal Willner Paired Leonard Cohen With Sonny Rollins (Rolling Stone)
When We Celebrate John Coltrane, We Celebrate McCoy Tyner, Too (Rolling Stone)
McCoy Tyner obituary (Rolling Stone)
How Black Sabbath Made Heavy Metal Swing (Rolling Stone)
Hear Corrosion of Conformity Drummer’s Previously Unreleased Song With Righteous Fool (Rolling Stone)
‘One Foot in and One Foot Out’: Remembering Death-Metal Drum Trailblazer Sean Reinert (Rolling Stone)
How Neil Peart's Perfectionism Set Him Free (Rolling Stone)
2019
The Many Sounds of Jazz in 2019: A Listener’s Guide (Rolling Stone)
Van Morrison's Essential Albums (Rolling Stone)
Musicians on Musicians: Ringo Starr and Dave Grohl (Rolling Stone)
Bill Bruford on His Ups and Downs With Yes and King Crimson, Life After Retirement (Rolling Stone)
King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man" (Rolling Stone)
Part 1: Inside Prog's Big Bang
Part 2: 50 Years in the Life of a Gamechanging Song
Iron Maiden's Legacy of the Beast Tour Is the Pinnacle of Heavy-Metal Escapism (Rolling Stone)
Avant-Garde Legend Anthony Braxton on His 'Trans-Idiomatic' Improv Odyssey (Rolling Stone)
Jazz Drum Great Andrew Cyrille Revels in Collaboration at Lifetime Achievement Show (Rolling Stone)
Heavy-Metal Auteur Trevor William Church Keeps It in the Family (Rolling Stone)
Pioneering Rock Writer Ellen Sander on the Joy and Terror of the Sixties Scene (Rolling Stone)
The Crimson King Seeks a New Court [Robert Fripp profile] (Rolling Stone)
The Art Ensemble of Chicago on the Past and Future of Their 'Great Black Music' (Rolling Stone)
Death Metal Is Officially Classic Rock (Rolling Stone)
Offbeat Rock Trailblazers King’s X Get a Book Worthy of Their Unique Saga (Rolling Stone)
How La Dispute Turn Real-Life Tragedy Into Post-Hardcore Poetry (Rolling Stone)
Brooklyn Anti-Fascist Metal Fest Was a Beacon for a Troubled Scene (Rolling Stone)
Winter Jazzfest 2019: 10 Best Things We Saw (Rolling Stone)
Jawbox Talk First Tour in More Than 20 Years: ‘This Year Made Sense’ (Rolling Stone)
Song You Need to Know: Krallice, "Wolf" (Rolling Stone)
2018
Best of 2018: Digest (DFSBP)
The Band's Essential Albums (Rolling Stone)
20 Best Jazz Albums of 2018 (Rolling Stone)
Jazz Is Dance Music Again (Rolling Stone)
Van Morrison's 'Astral Weeks' Sideman Looks Back: 'I Was Lucky to Be There' (Rolling Stone)
Farewell, Frank Mullen: Suffocation's Death Metal Maestro Goes Out on Top (Rolling Stone)
Review: Rush (Rolling Stone)
Review: Peter Brötzmann and Heather Leigh (Rolling Stone)
Review: Charles Mingus (Rolling Stone)
'The Right Church': Why Clutch Endure (Rolling Stone)
Review: Esperanza Spalding (Rolling Stone)
Review: Tyshawn Sorey (Rolling Stone)
New Doc 'Fire Music' Sets the Record Straight on Free Jazz (Rolling Stone)
Review: Cécile McLorin Salvant (Rolling Stone)
Will Oldham: My Life in 15 Songs (Rolling Stone)
Niche Metal Podcast 'Radical Research' Represents the Best Kind of Online Fandom (Rolling Stone)
Review: Voivod (Rolling Stone)
Total Hardcore and Total Doom: Why Eyehategod Are One of America's Greatest Live Bands (Rolling Stone)
Review: Wayne Shorter (Rolling Stone)
Killing Joke at 40: Why These Trailblazing Veterans Are Still in Their Prime (Rolling Stone)
Review: Clutch (Rolling Stone)
Anthony Braxton’s Big Ideas: Why ‘Forces in Motion’ Is an Essential American Music Book (Rolling Stone)
Live Review: 2018 Newport Jazz Festival (Rolling Stone)
Review: Charles Lloyd and the Marvels + Lucinda Williams (Rolling Stone)
Review: John Coltrane (Rolling Stone)
"Morbid Angel's 'Covenant': How the Band's Major Label Debut Raised the Bar for Extreme Metal" (Rolling Stone)
Review: Kamasi Washington (Rolling Stone)
"Enormity of song: 40 Watt Sun live at Saint Vitus" (DFSBP)
"You go and you play: On Paul Motian's limitless jazz" (DFSBP)
"Cecil Taylor: Remembering the Ultimate Piano Radical" (Rolling Stone)
"The fuchsia-colored awning: What Cecil Taylor taught me" (DFSBP)
Feature: Dan Weiss's Starebaby (New York Times)
"Voyages: Tim Berne's Snakeoil and the art of the musical journey" (DFSBP)
2017
Feature: John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra (Rolling Stone)
"Magic in the method: The Art Ensemble of Chicago live in New York" (DFSBP)
Review: Vijay Iyer (Rolling Stone)
"Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt: My 10 Favorite Metal Albums" (Rolling Stone)
"Infinity again: On Fushitsusha's radical songmaking" (DFSBP)
"Aiming for forever: Krisiun's steady climb to greatness in the face of Metal Myopia" (DFSBP)
"Black Sabbath's Bill Ward: My 10 Favorite Metal Albums" (Rolling Stone)
Interview: Bill Ward (Rolling Stone)
The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time [select blurbs] (Rolling Stone)
"The wandering healer: Peter Brötzmann live with Heather Leigh" (DFSBP)
"Swedish death metal pt. 2" (DFSBP)
"Slipping into the past: The eerie pull of 'I Called Him Morgan'" (DFSBP)
"'His work was play': Celebrating Ornette, then, now, always" (DFSBP)
Feature: Obituary (Rolling Stone)
John Coltrane's Interstellar Space at 50: Legacy of a Free-Jazz Masterpiece (Rolling Stone)
2016
List: 10 Crucial LPs From the Living Legends of Jazz (GQ Style)
Feature: Crowbar (Rolling Stone)
Interview: Dean Ween (Rolling Stone)
Interview: Maynard James Keenan (Rolling Stone)
Live review: Yusuf / Cat Stevens (Rolling Stone)
Interview: Rage Against the Machine's Tim Commerford (Rolling Stone)
Feature: Descendents (Rolling Stone)
Interview: Robert Glasper (Rolling Stone)
Review: The Snails (Rolling Stone)
2015
"10 Things We Learned From Rush's Michael Moore Interview" (Rolling Stone)
Interview: Maynard James Keenan (Rolling Stone)
Interview: Milford Graves (Red Bull Music Academy)
Feature: Slint's Britt Walford (Modern Drummer)
Interview: Antonio Sanchez, re: his Birdman score (Time Out New York)
"How to Get Into: Led Zeppelin" (GQ)
"How to Get Into: Black Sabbath" (GQ)
Interview: Jason Moran, re: the Village Vanguard's 80th anniversary (Time Out New York)
Interview: System Dialing Records, re: a new album featuring Ornette Coleman (Time Out New York)
2014
Review: Antemasque (Wondering Sound)
Interview: Julian Casablancas and Karen O (Time Out New York)
Commentary: Aaron Freeman (NPR)
Profile: Serpentine Path (Bandcamp)
Live preview: Future Islands (Time Out New York)
Profile: Bikini Kill (Bandcamp)
Profile: Chicago Underground Duo (Bandcamp)
Interview: Will Scharf of Craw (Noisey)
Profile: The Young Mothers / Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (Bandcamp)
Heavy Metal Be-Bop: Andrew Hock (Noisey)
Review: Demilich (Pitchfork)
2013
Best of 2013 (DFSBP)
My Year in Music (PItchfork)
Review: Black Flag (Pitchfork)
2013: A Year in Death Metal (Noisey)
Review: Motörhead (Pitchfork)
Review: Carcass (Pitchfork)
Review: Gorguts (Pitchfork)
Feature: Lightning Bolt's Brian Chippendale (Modern Drummer)
Review: Black Sabbath (Pitchfork)
Interview: Adrian Sherwood (Red Bull)
Review: Black Host (Pitchfork)
Feature: NYC Metal (Time Out NY)
List: The 100 Greatest Drummers of Alternative Music [various entries] (Spin)
Interview: Giorgio Moroder (Red Bull)
NYC Jazz/Metal (Red Bull Music Academy)
Review: James Salter (Time Out NY)
Preview: RVIVR (Time Out NY)
Review: Kvelertak (PItchfork)
Preview: Ravi Coltrane (TONY)
Review: Miles Davis (Pitchfork)
Preview: Wayne Shorter (TONY)
Preview: David Virelles and Continuum (TONY)
2012
Best of 2012 (Top 50, plus) (DFSBP)
Review: Charles Mingus (Pitchfork)
Dimples: Learning to love Henry Threadgill's Zooid (DFSBP)
"Steve Shelton: 5 Key Performances" (Modern Drummer)
"Ween Albums From Worst to Best" (Stereogum)
Review: Neurosis (Pitchfork)
Go see the world: David S. Ware and ELEW (DFSBP)
Interview: Billy Corgan (TONY)
"Jesus Lizard Albums From Worst to Best" (Stereogum)
Interview: Corin Tucker (TONY)
Feature: How to Dress Well (FADER)
Profile: Savages (FADER)
Profile: Julia Holter (FADER)
Review: Serpentine Path (Pitchfork)
Review: Frank Ocean (TONY)
Interview: James Hetfield (TONY)
Profile: Japandroids (TONY)
Revew: Corrosion of Conformity (Pitchfork)
Profile: Steve Lehman (TONY)
Live review: Maryland Deathfest (Spin)
Review: Moss Icon (Pitchfork)
Profile: The Billy Hart Quartet (TONY)
Review: Unsane (Pitchfork)
Review: Loincloth (Pitchfork)
2011
Top 10 of 2011 (TONY), plus annotations, jazz-only list and honorable mentions
Review: Cynic (Pitchfork)
Live review: Frank Ocean (TONY)
Review: Void (PItchfork)
Interview: Lou Reed and Lars Ulrich (GQ)
Profile: Kieran Hebden, Steve Reid and Mats Gustafsson (FADER)
Review: Miles Davis Quintet (Pitchfork)
Profile: Peter Brötzmann (TONY)
Interview (re: Ween): Jesse Eisenberg (Spin)
Live review: The Big 4 (TONY)
Preview: Neil Young (TONY)
2010
Interview: Nicki Minaj (TONY)
Profile: Francis and the Lights (TONY)
Top 10 of 2010 (TONY), plus annotations, jazz-only list
2009
Interview: Henry Threadgill (The Wire)
Live review: Heaven & Hell (TONY)
Top 10 of 2009 (TONY)
Top 10 of the decade (TONY)
Earlier
Mixtape: Bobby Few (Destination: Out)
Review: Evan Parker (AllMusic)
/////
From the blog:
The floating world: Goodbye, Paul Motian
In praise of Obituary: Forgoing the space race
Math? Rock!: A Math-Rock Mixtape