After spending years as the butt of jokes and releasing increasingly abstract and difficult albums, Icelandic singing maven Bjork has recorded a new disc that is more immediate than anything she’s done in a decade but maintains the avant-garde experimentation that so often made her a punch line. Continue reading
Ten years after they peaked with the multi-platinum, Grammy-winning “Tha Crossroads,” the members of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony hope to regenerate their career with a brand-new disc, “Strength & Loyalty.” To cinch this comeback, the group called in favors from a string of star guests and first-rank producers. Continue reading
In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, Soundbytes’ David Hyland examines the career of Irish music legend Van Morrison. Continue reading
Four decades after they created the template for punk rock, the ’60s combo the Stooges have reunited with frontman Iggy Pop for a brand-new album. Find out if the results are worth the wait. Continue reading
Canadian drama-rock outfit Arcade Fire have answered the lofty expectations of the indie-rock world with a new album every bit as epic as their much-loved debut. It’s a darker effort, but just as powerful. Continue reading
Industrial-rock icons Nine Inch Nails might have reclaimed much of their original fire with their last album, but the group’s new DVD captures the mechanized experience of them live but with little feeling that human artistry is involved. Continue reading
With a new album already in the can, singer-songwriter Sam Beam, aka Iron & Wine, decided to debut most of it at a one-off performance Milwaukee’s Pabst Theater on Thursday night. Continue reading
It wasn’t purple, but the tropical rain that soaked Prince and all of those inside Miami’s Dolphin Stadium on Sunday night was an unintended and probably unwelcome special effect for the Super Bowl Halftime show. Continue reading
Showcasing plenty of all-star support, the new “solo album” by Timbaland was likely designed to demonstrate the range of pop music’s most-in-demand producer as well as his sway among the industry’s elite. Instead, the disc illuminates his creative weaknesses. Continue reading
Singer Norah Jones might once have daydreamed of becoming Billie Holiday, but her new album signals a desire to be a ’70s-model singer-songwriter and not just a dark-haired chanteuse. Continue reading
Soundbytes Music Column 