Music

"I don't care much about music. What I like is sounds." — Dizzy Gillespie

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  Mind-Boggling Lyrical Complexity: On Daniel Levin Becker’s “What’s Good: Notes on Rap and Language”

  Aaron Peck reviews Daniel Levin Becker’s “What’s Good: Notes on Rap and Language.”

  Aaron PeckAug 8, 2022

  • Cultural Studies

  • Music

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  “Cats Are Indescribably Wonderful, Shostakovich’s Fugues Less So”: On Elizabeth Wilson’s “Playing with Fire: The Story of Maria Yudina, Pianist in Stalin’s Russia”

  Tim Riley reviews Elizabeth Wilson’s new biography “Playing with Fire: The Story of Maria Yudina, Pianist in Stalin’s Russia.”

  Tim RileyAug 4, 2022

  • Biography & Autobiography

  • Music

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  Who Killed Orchestral Music?

  Tom Teicholz turns his ear to “The War on Music: Reclaiming the 20th Century” by John Mauceri.

  Tom TeicholzJun 29, 2022

  • Music

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  Debuting During a Pandemic: A Conversation with Coco Reilly

  Justin Gautreau talks with Coco Reilly about her self-titled debut album.

  Justin GautreauJun 19, 2022

  • Music

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  We Are Not Alone: A Conversation with Stephan Jenkins

  Justin Gautreau speaks to Stephan Jenkins, frontman of Third Eye Blind, about writing and composing under quarantine.

  Justin GautreauMay 18, 2022

  • Music

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  Fiddling Around, “Middling Age”: A Conversation with Tim Kasher

  Justin Gautreau speaks to Tim Kasher about making a new album during a global pandemic.

  Justin GautreauApr 19, 2022

  • Music

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  What Custom Had Strictly Divided: On Kira Thurman’s “Singing Like Germans: Black Musicians in the Land of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms”

  A richly detailed history of the African American legacy in European orchestral music.

  Olivia GiovettiFeb 7, 2022

  • Music

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  Real Life Rock Top 10: January 2022

  LARB presents the January installment of “Real Life Rock Top 10,” a monthly column by cultural critic Greil Marcus.

  Greil MarcusJan 28, 2022

  • Music

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  Who Needs a “National” Music?: On Joseph Horowitz’s “Dvořák’s Prophecy: And the Vexed Fate of Black Classical Music”

  Horowitz’s book brims with detailed examples but its larger argument is unconvincing.

  Tim RileyJan 28, 2022

  • Music

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  Let It Be Known: Grieving Through Adele

  Kathryn Lofton explores what it means to grieve through the complexity of popular music.

  Kathryn LoftonJan 10, 2022

  • Music

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  Junkyard Dragon: The Rolling Stones at SoFi Stadium

  Sometimes our critic hates the Rolling Stones so much that she thinks she must secretly love them.

  Gina ArnoldDec 26, 2021

  • Music

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  Real Life Rock Top 10: December 2021

  LARB presents the December 2021 installment of “Real Life Rock Top 10,” a monthly column by cultural critic Greil Marcus.

  Greil MarcusDec 24, 2021

  • Music