Lorde’s Sea Change in Modern Pop, The Open Heart Of 2017 — Do you remember being 19? What do you remember about it? What made it 19 for you? The parties? A new relationship, a difficult breakup? How many nights did you spend with music and booze that throbbed together, and how much of those nights did you spend feeling lonely with…

A playlist experiment teaches me why Jack White is so blue — Monday, 4:40 pm I’ve been listening to the same playlist for two days straight. It is not a long playlist. There are six songs and the whole thing runs about sixteen minutes. The White Stripes are my favorite band. If you say something is your favorite enough times over enough years you start…

There is a nameless green just before Commonwealth Avenue crosses Charlesgate in Boston. …

White Denim seems intent on robbing me of my good faith. I’ve held on so long, hoping for the greatness I know they’re capable of. I don’t want to believe that they’ve become just another Black Keys copy, another band that took all of their blues cues from the White…

Lucius is a band about contrasts. The pouty indie rock guitar riffs contrast with the synth-washed backdrops. The mellow, crooning verses contrast with the effervescent, soaring choruses. The danceable beats contrast with the country-tinged vocals, and the vocals tie everything together by rising, potent and authoritative, above the whole ensemble. …

What’s left to say about Kendrick Lamar? After two great independent albums he made his major label debut with Good Kid M.A.A.D. City, a massive concept album that skyrocketed to become the vanguard of modern hip-hop. Then he went and topped it with the masterful, revolutionary To Pimp a Butterfly…

Hardcore music’s not-so-wide cultural divide — There is a genre that is unique among modern popular music. It is louder and harsher than music as we knew it for most of the 20th century. It is founded on strong, repetitive 4/4 bass lines that drive simple rhythm sections. It focuses less on melody and more on…

Why are superheroes still around if critics are so sick of seeing them? — I’ve only ever been truly frustrated with my friend Joe once. Among a group of friends, we saw “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” a film promising to be even more ridiculous than its record-smashing predecessor. If “Iron Man 3” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” were any indication, “Ultron” would be…

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD I can remember the times before I knew anything about criticism or cinema, and it was enough just to watch “Star Wars.” Look at those pod racers fly by! Look at those adorable Ewoks take down stormtroopers! Look at how spry Yoda is in this one! But…