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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From 18-year-old Olivia Rodrigo to 83-year-old Peter Stampfel, critic Ken Tucker says the music he most enjoyed in 2021 was recorded by artists who were either very young or quite old. -
Jade Jackson and Aubrie Sellers are singer-songwriters who each had a solo career before getting together. Their debut album showcases a new sound that neither of them had ever achieved individually.
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A new 5-disc reissue of the 1970 and 1971 albums Sunflower and Surf's Up reveals the Beach Boys at a crossroads, having moved beyond surf-music pop hits, and shooting for more mainstream success.
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Pere Ubu leader David Thomas remixed two of his favorite Ubu albums, 1998's Pennsylvania and 2002's St. Arkansas, saying that the remixes are so substantial, they amount to being two new albums.
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Best known for her roles in films like Five Easy Pieces and Easy Rider, Black, who died in 2013, also recorded music in the 1970s. A new album highlights some of her strongest work.
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Critic Ken Tucker compiled his list of 2021 summer songs while traveling on vacation. His picks are "Brutal," by Olivia Rodrigo; "Transparent Soul," by Willow; and "Be Sweet," by Japanese Breakfast.
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Six years before his death in 2016, Prince recorded — but did not release — Welcome 2 America. Who knows why Prince opted to hide it away in 2010; this album's sound is very much of-the-moment.
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The Murlocs are a side project of sorts to King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, where Ambrose Kenny-Smith and guitarist Cook Craig join other musicians to amalgamate all different styles of pop.
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It's a quandary many musicians face: Create material that explores new territory or give variations of the same? Tom Jones, Jackson Browne and John Mayer each answer that question in new releases.
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Chrissie Hynde sings Bob Dylan and Shannon McNally performs songs associated with country singer Waylon Jennings. They both use the structures the men built to create their own rich emotional spaces.
