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 band, which began as a tribute to the The Foggy Mountain Boys, won a Grammy for their debut album in 2015. Critic Ken Tucker says the Earls' new record, Rattle & Roar, lives up to its title.
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Critic Ken Tucker reviews new music by the British punk band The Mekons and the American country-rock band The Mavericks. Both groups have recorded new songs that were inspired by recent news events.
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Maxwell creates an atmosphere of free-floating sensuality on his new album. Critic Ken Tucker says the record is "dreamy and roomy enough to accommodate a wide array of emotions."
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The young singer-songwriter has described herself as "half-Japanese, half-American, but not fully either." Critic Ken Tucker says her fourth album, Puberty 2, has an impressively wide range of sounds.
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The singer-songwriter brings a fluid sense of musical boundaries to her first major-label album. Critic Ken Tucker says Hero features "very good, state-of-the-art pop country" music.
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Singer-songwriter Glaspy plays a variety of instruments, but concentrates mainly on guitar on her new album. Critic Ken Tucker says Emotions and Math blends complexity with "deceptive directness."
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Bell, who had his first hit in 1961 with the song "You Don't Miss Your Water," brings his trademark compassion and tenderness to his new album. Critic Ken Tucker calls This Is Where I Live a triumph.
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Simon blends his trademark wordplay with unique rhythms and exotic instruments on his new album. Critic Ken Tucker calls it a daring record that can be appreciated on a number of levels.
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Musician Laurel Sprengelmeyer — aka Little Scream — refers to prayer, devotion, heaven and Satan on her new album. Critic Ken Tucker calls Cult Following a "testament to desire and endurance."
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Will Toledo, the singer-songwriter who performs under the name Car Seat Headrest, is ambitious and passionate on his new album. Critic Ken Tucker says the record will make you want to sing along.