Ken Tucker
Ken Tucker reviews rock, country, hip-hop and pop music for Fresh Air. He is a cultural critic who has been the editor-at-large at Entertainment Weekly, and a film critic for New York Magazine. His work has won two National Magazine Awards and two ASCAP-Deems Taylor Awards. He has written book reviews for The New York Times Book Review and other publications.
Tucker is the author of Scarface Nation: The Ultimate Gangster Movie and Kissing Bill O'Reilly, Roasting Miss Piggy: 100 Things to Love and Hate About Television.
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The 86-year-old country star reflects on the passage of time on his new album. Ride Me Back Home is a lively, restless collection that contains solid new material and a keen sense of self-scholarship.
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Springsteen replaces the E Street Band with string sections, oboes and French horns on his new solo album, which draws inspiration from the Southern California pop of the late '60s and early '70s.
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In their recent releases, Nick Lowe (along with Los Straitjackets) and Wreckless Eric have created new music that connects to old music without maudlin nostalgia or huffy defensiveness.
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The band's longest album to date is so polished you may not initially take in all the emotion roiling beneath its surface. Father of the Bride introduces new themes and a new ambition.
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The R&B group recorded in Philadelphia in the early '70s, but their debut is only just being released. The album is all over the map, but its passion and bristling intelligence is noteworthy.
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Singer, rapper and dancer Lizzo has been playing the flute since she was in junior high. The diverse set of songs on her new album showcase an immensely ambitious — and talented — artist.
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The Mekons are first-generation British punk rockers who've moved through an array of genres over the decades. Their most recent album was recorded in a studio just outside Joshua Tree National Park.
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The 17-year-old California singer-songwriter's album, When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? keeps listeners guessing. Her frame of reference is vast — ranging from glam rock to folk music.
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The former co-leader of the Aussie band The Go-Betweens reflects on success and failure on his latest solo album. Critic Ken Tucker says Inferno is proof of Forster's credentials as a pop musician.
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Blanton makes folk-based music that prizes wordplay and has an antic sense of humor. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the personal is always political on her new album.