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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Country singer Ella Langley, the Swedish dance-music star Robyn, and singer-songwriter Allison Russell each have a take on sorrow and discontent that yields vivid, even inspiring music.
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Much of our image of Dylan derives from his early protest music, but Robert Polito's book makes the argument that the most recent 30 years of Dylan's career have been just as creative as the first 30. -
Moroney's album arrives as a new kind of music from Big Pink: The Georgia-born singer/songwriter spins out tales of romantic revenge with a smooth fluency that's a stark contrasts to her raspy drawl.
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A former microbiologist and Golden Gloves boxer, Wilson is also one of the more distinctive new sounds in country. He's broken through not with huge record sales but via viral clips on social media.
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Whether you're anxiously awaiting Christmas or already wishing the holidays would be over, here's a selection of music that lets you know you're not alone.
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These love songs — Neko Case's "Oh, Neglect...," Valerie June's "Runnin' and Searchin'" and Olivia Dean's "Man I Need" — each express a refreshingly realistic ambivalence toward romance.
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Smith's debut album ushered in a new era of rock and roll. Critic Ken Tucker reviews the new anniversary edition of Horses, plus we listen back to Terry Gross' 1996 and 2010 interviews with Smith.
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Swift's previous albums focused on the love she yearned for. The dozen songs on her latest release combine to form a picture of true love found, tested and proven strong.
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In 1973, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, then struggling musicians, released an album that inspired Mick Fleetwood to invite them to join his band. Buckingham Nicks has just been remastered.
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Big Thief has a new album, as does Zach Top, a young country singer with roots in old country. And the Icelandic-Chinese singer Laufey brings a classical-music and jazz influence to her pop songs.
