Ken Tucker
Stories
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On 'Tracks II,' Springsteen shares a host of lost albums -- and a new part of himself
At its best, this capacious grab-bag of 83 songs, some dating back to the 1980s, yields not just good music, but songs that seem unlike anything else Springsteen has ever done.
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Willie Nelson and Ken Pomeroy make beautiful music for tumultuous times
On Cruel Joke, Pomeroy, age 22, sings with an acoustic twang about farms and cowboys. The 92-year-old Nelson's Oh What a Beautiful World is an album of covers of songs by Rodney Crowell.
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Remembering Pere Ubu's David Thomas, a frontman who preserved chaos
Thomas' April 23 death at age 71 brings to a close one of the most significant avant-garde experiments ever conducted within the confines of pop music. Rock critic Ken Tucker reflects on his legacy.
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With 'Luther,' Kendrick Lamar stakes his claim as a great hip-hop ballad singer
Lamar's duet with SZA samples Luther Vandross' 1982 hit "If This World Were Mine." The song was written by Marvin Gaye, who himself recorded it in 1967 as a duet with Tammi Terrell.
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Albums by Lucy Dacus and Jeffrey Lewis show the range of confessional songwriting
Dacus mixes confession and intimacy on Forever is a Feeling. The EVEN MORE Freewheelin' Jeffrey Lewis nods to Dylan's early New York City folkie days, with a great song about the pain of existence.
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New songs by Teddy Swims, Benjamin Booker and Neil Young let loose with big emotions
Rock critic Ken Tucker recommends three songs that are recent additions to his playlist: "Are You Even Real," by Swims; "Same Kind of Lonely," by Booker; and "big change," by Young.
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Ringo Starr radiates confidence and ease on the country album 'Look Up'
The rhythmic sense that made Ringo a great rock drummer guides his vocals here. The result is relaxed authority that usually only a genius like Willie Nelson or Ray Charles can make sound so easy.
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Women hit-makers brought aggression and vulnerability to pop music in 2024
The year in pop pivoted around a trio of artists — Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan — whose music hinged upon assertions of creative ambition and admissions of romantic weakness.
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Holiday offerings by Ben Folds and others offer devout takes on the season
Rock critic Ken Tucker picks his favorite new Christmas songs, including "Christmas Time Rhyme," by Ben Folds; "Glow," by Little Big Town; and "Maybe this Christmas," by Jason Kelce and Stevie Nicks.
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Country songs by Dwight Yoakam, Maren Morris and Shawna Thompson blend old and new
Yoakam has recorded a harmonious new duet with Post Malone. Morris is stretching beyond country's borders. And Thompson — half of the duo Thompson Square — looks back to the roots of honky-tonk.