Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Styling with Styler
Tech house star Max Styler, one of our favorite DJs, is fresh from Lollapalooza and out with a new EP, I Don’t Think I Can Stop. Missed him at Lollapalooza? He’s touring all over the world – even right here in the good old U.S. of A.
Carousing with Kimiko
Actress and voiceover artist Kimiko Glenn (Orange Is the New Black, Baby Shark, Disney’s KIFF), performing as KIMIKO, is out with her debut EP, Modern Dance. The title video sums up her not-puttin’-up-with-it attitude.
Freaking with The Frogs
Milwaukee’s The Frogs released their breakthrough album My Daughter The Broad 30 years ago, in the golden age of grunge-weird. Magnet called it “one of the funniest albums ever made.” Foreign Leisure Records is re-releasing it in expanded 2-LP form on September 11, 2026. “Only listen if you can handle scatological and taboo subjects without wincing,” says the press release. OK, go!
Slamming with Slambovia!
The new live album from The Slambovian Circus of Dreams kicks butt. Never heard of ’em? We have, since way back when they were called the even-longer Gandalf Murphy & the Slambovian Circus of Dreams. Check out the whole 2024 concert from a band my boss loves, available at Bandcamp.
Studying with Mark Knopfler
Out now: Mark Knopfler – Volume 2: The Solo Career (Part 1), a book-length study of the early solo career (post-Dire Straits) of guitarist extraordinaire Mark Knopfler.
Finding Your Roots with Bruce Cockburn
The Blood of Others is the new album from Bruce Cockburn on which he performs songs that influenced him, “from the gospel and blues records he heard as a child in Ottawa to the folk clubs and coffeehouses where he first found his voice.” The tracks range from the well-known (“God Bless the Child,” Elvis Presley’s “That All Right”) to gospel, traditional blues, and music from his other native sons and daughters of Canada. It’s out October 16, 2026 on Sunset Boulevard Records.
Cockburn is on a U.S.-Canada tour this summer and fall.
Aging with Gilbert O’Sullivan
You’ve probably heard the old hit “Alone Again (Naturally).” Did you know it was by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan? Well, he’s back with his 21st album, On the Record. It includes the single “Growing Old Disgracefully” and 12 other new songs, including a duet with Andrea Corr of The Corrs.
Starting up with Jimmy Buffet
Want to know how Jimmy Buffet got started? Then you need this new documentary.
