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  Van Halen, 'A Different Kind of Truth' (Interscope)

  February 7, 2012 – I was 13 in 1984. More to the point, I was 13 during 1984. It's hard to overstate the impact of Van Halen being the biggest band on the planet at that critical moment of an impressionable suburban adolescent's cognitive and social development. …
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  Porcelain Raft, 'Strange Weekend' (Secretly Canadian)

  January 24, 2012 – It's a little too early for chillwave nostalgia. So how do we hashtag the bands who are staunchly holding on to the remnants of glo-fi? Those who continue to build upon reverbed fuzz, lazy guitar strums, and brooding, noncommittal synth drones that linger beyond the end of one song and into the next? …
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  Robot Hive/Exodus!

  January 5, 2012 –  …
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• The Internet, 'Purple Naked Ladies' (Sony Red)

  December 20, 2011 – This slippery debut from Odd Future's Syd the Kyd and Matt Martians embarks on a journey into Twilight Zone pop, with a lovelorn story arc that transitions from giddy crushing ("They Say") to it's-over melancholia ("The Garden"). Syd's voice, tempered with light vibrato, is reservedly sensual, and deepens the album's textures, which are psychedelic, loose, yet technically proficient. …
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• Asher Roth, 'Pabst and Jazz' (Self-released)

  December 20, 2011 – "First of all, don't ever say a fuckin' thing about the homie / Call a favor in and leave your dyke mother very lonely." That threat comes courtesy of Action Bronson, an uncompromising New York City rapper who appears on "Choices" -- and helps signal the possible rehabilitation of preppy-styled white rapper Asher Roth. …
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• Anthony Hamilton, 'Back to Love' (RCA)

  December 16, 2011 – The heyday of soul sincerity minus the corn is long over, but Anthony Hamilton nevertheless generates disarming warmth while straddling the thin line between traditionalism and timelessness. This churchy-not-preachy Charlotte, North Carolina-raised, Harlem-based crooner is a master at grown-man's R&B because his humility runs as deep as his dignity. …
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• Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa, 'Mac & Devin Go to High School: Music From and Inspired by the Movie' (Atlantic)

  December 15, 2011 – Over 12 tracks and 36 smoke breaks, Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg incinerate enough chronic to convince themselves they really are the two oldest high school students since Andrea Zuckerman. Throw reality out the El Camino window. Instead, we have this Atlantic Records-assembled blue dream, with the pop-savvy stoners goofing off like their generation's Cheech & Chong (they wish). …
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  50 Cent, 'The Big 10' (Self-released)

  December 14, 2011 – Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson was King of the World — once. It was a simpler time. George W. Bush was still president. Dr. Dre still produced records occasionally. And successful commercial rappers were bullet-scarred warriors, or at least had the good sense to pretend they were. Auto-Tune...skinny jeans...rapping about your feelings... …
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  The Roots, 'undun' (Def Jam)

  December 6, 2011 – Does anyone still consider the Roots to be harbingers of a kinder, gentler, more approachable iteration of hip-hop? …
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  Amy Winehouse, 'Lioness: Hidden Treasures' (Island)

  December 6, 2011 – Sorrow for Amy Winehouse was a boon long before it became a burden. Like her foremothers — Billie Holiday, Etta James, Ronnie Spector — the notoriously stage-shy singer could conceal searing tragedy beneath a cocksure veneer, letting her voice crack at crucial moments, but never enough to undermine her ferocity. …
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