Give A Gift
MOST RECENT ARTICLES BY:

Nitsuh Abebe

  1. radio vulture
    Yes, Fiona Apple’s SXSW Performances Really Have Been Mind-blowingA critic bears witness to a genuinely staggering level of emotional sensitivity.
  2. radio vulture
    Buzz Rappers Thrive at SXSWAction Bronson and Mr. Mothafuckin exQuire get over — plus word-of-mouth raves for Fiona Apple, Titus Andronicus … and Carson Daly.
  3. The Perfect Anti-SXSW Band: Future of the LeftA little punk attitude leavens the atmosphere of monetization.
  4. radio vulture
    Bruce Springsteen’s Stump SpeechWith a little editing, the lyrics of Wrecking Ball add up to a stem-winder fit for a political convention.
  5. radio vulture
    Estelle, Robert Glasper, and the Inescapable Chris BrownNew albums by the British soul singer and American pianist-turned-bandleader. Plus, why Brown is the Monsanto of R&B.
  6. Björk’s Big BangDon’t be frightened, says the Icelandic singer turned professor of science and musicology. Even that gravity harp won’t kill you.
  7. radio vulture
    Whitney Houston and the Burden of PerfectionA career with two halves.
  8. Ring the AlarmNoisy Brooklyn duo Sleigh Bells return with a dreamy, speaker-blowing second album.
  9. radio vulture
    Carnegie, Rockefeller, Carter? Jay-Z’s American DreamCultural horse-trading at star-studded Carnegie Hall concerts.
  10. radio vulture
    Prinzhorn Dance School: The Beauty of Obsessive, Barking English PeopleThe most wonderfully beady-eyed band in recent memory puts out a great second album.
  11. radio vulture
    Lana Del Rey: Lurching Toward VegasThe polarizing singer’s debut album reviewed.
  12. radio vulture
    Why Does America Love Skrillex?How an electronic dance music producer crossed over to massive festival crowds, the Grammys, and Kanye West.
  13. radio vulture
    Listen to 50 of Nitsuh Abebe’s Favorite Songs of 2011A year-end sampler, available on Spotify.
  14. The Year in PopAway from the reinvigorated mainstream charts, icy chanteuses, avant-garde rappers, and old-school punks made exotic sounds.
  15. Last DanceThe triumph of the mainstream.
  16. Everyone Loves AdeleCarrying the torch for old-fashioned hitmaking.
  17. radio vulture
    Explaining the Kanye Snub, and Other Thoughts on the Grammy NominationsSome notes on notable nominees, both the obvious and the sudden new Grammy darlings.
  18. Nonstop Pop MachinesRihanna keeps making music so you’ll not stop thinking about her; Drake, because he can’t stop thinking about himself.
  19. radio vulture
    Lost in Dream-Pop: Shimmering New Music From King Krule and Bradford CoxA London teenager and a Georgia indie-rock leader find a common sound.
  20. Superhero Rap: Jay-Z and Kanye West Live at MSGKicking over buildings, snapping necks.
  21. Take a WalkLou Reed and Metallica grunt, grind, and bellow out an album.
  22. radio vulture
    How Coldplay Became Possibly the First Band to Be Humanized by a Concept AlbumThe charming theatricality of ‘Mylo Xyloto’ actually brings Coldplay’s mid-tempo pomp uplift down to earth.
  23. They Struck a ChordSonic Youth’s impossible domestic ideal.
  24. Indie Grown-UpsAre Wilco and Feist our adult contemporary music?
  25. PigsongMatthew Herbert makes music out of unlikely things—pork, beans, parliament—to make a point.
  26. radio vulture
    Radiohead in New York: Meet the BeatlesThe economics of being huge in 2011.
  27. radio vulture
    Farewell, R.E.M.: Ranking the Band’s AlbumsA band so great, and then so solid, that it’s hard to say which records are their best and worst.
  28. Sentimental EducationBlink-182 evoke nostalgic memories of late-nineties teen life—but now that they’ve grown up, do we still want to friend them?
  29. Whistler’s MomentHappy-go-lucky plays well in hard-luck times.
  30. radio vulture
    It’s the Indie-Rock Time of Year: Five Great Albums to Check OutReviews of new work from Ladytron, Wild Flag, Das Racist, St. Vincent, and Girls.
  31. radio vulture
    Male Bonding and the Timely Return of Guitar NoiseA reaction to the pristine sweatlessness of today’s indie rock bands is emerging.
  32. radio vulture
    The Rise of Dress-up and the Fall of Pop at MTV’s Video Music AwardsMusic becomes meaningless without your Twitter jokes.
  33. radio vulture
    The Weeknd: Skeezy David Lynch of R&BThe mysterious Canadian R&B project cements its sordid aesthetic with creepy new mixtape Thursday.
  34. Ethnic HumorDas Racist is done answering questions.
  35. radio vulture
    Watch the Throne: Uneasy Heads Wear Gaudy CrownsThe new album from Kanye West and Jay-Z is equal parts tiresome and fascinating.
  36. Slow Jams for the Otherwise ArtyThe quirky mash-up of indie musicians and R&B style.
  37. PBR&B Ten PackA primer of genre-bender records combining R&B with an indie affect.
  38. radio vulture
    Amy Winehouse’s Intelligent SoulWhat’s worth remembering about Winehouse is that she really could be wickedly good at using her brain and her expertise to create music that really worked.
  39. Past DueSimon Reynolds’s Retromania looks back at a pop culture that has, for years now, done nothing but look back.
  40. radio vulture
    Fiery Furnaces Separate Heart and Head on New Solo AlbumsEleanor Friedberger’s ‘Last Summer’ is a charming pop scrapbook; brother Matthew is working through an eight-album series that sounds like technical research.
  41. We Must Be SuperstarsIn defense of pop (and maybe narcissism, too).
  42. radio vulture
    Shabazz Palaces: Steely, Brilliant Hip-Hop MysticismRemember Digable Planets? Old head Ishmael Butler has made one of the best records of the year with his new group.
  43. radio vulture
    Bon Iver’s Indie Soft-Rock: Transcendent or Torpid?On wanting just a little more from Justin Vernon.
  44. radio vulture
    Kreayshawn Is the Latest Controversial White RapperTwenty-one-year-old female Oakland rapper goes viral, quickly attracts beef.
  45. Beyoncé Settles DownHer latest album, 4, is the aural equivalent of a charming white picket fence in the suburbs.
  46. radio vulture
    What’s Really Wrong With the GrammysThe elimination of 31 award categories has sparked protests. Here’s why the cuts make sense.
  47. Where’s the Beef?The flimsy fury of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way.
  48. Flack Is WackHow scolds encourage immoral rhymes.
  49. radio vulture
    Gang Gang Dance’s Pop Science-FictionThe Manhattan band creates amalgamations of cultures, moods, and technologies that haven’t yet intermingled, but look and sound like they’ve existed for decades.
  50. radio vulture
    Tyler, the Creator: Visionary Rapper or Obnoxious Teenager?The second album from the ringleader of hip-hop crew Odd Future is fascinating, infuriating, brilliant, stupid, and more.
More Articles