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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The 23-year-old Southern blues rocker strikes out on his own with a soulful new album produced Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. The record is a real beauty — and a turning-point for King.
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Blessed with a Kentucky croon and a gift for storytelling, Childers offers a slice of country life on his recent album, with songs about marriage, life on the road and the school bus he took as a kid.
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Lana Del Rey's Norman F****** Rockwell! topped Tucker's list of the best albums of the year, with Lizzo and Billie Eilish running a close second and third.
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Singer Darius Rucker and his band have released their first new record in more than a decade. Imperfect Circle is a well-made and frequently thoughtful album, enhanced by Rucker's warm, buttery tones.
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Few rappers have been as entertaining to listen to this year as DaBaby. In the often hyper-masculine context of hip-hop, his new album proves he's not afraid to be goofy.
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Country music has take a turn towards pop of late, but Pardi's new album goes back to the genre's roots, with a collection of excellent honky-tonk songs — many of which are about booze.
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The new album by the Alabama Shakes lead singer mixes autobiography with an exploration of different musical styles. Listening to Jaime is like discovering Howard as an artist all over again.
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Burns is known for finding fresh takes on big topics, but his new eight-part PBS series about country music treads a well-worn path, leaning heavily on the biggest stars and the most obvious ideas. -
In the last decade, Del Rey released recordings that expanded our understanding of L.A. pop music. The singer/songwriter's new album is like a series of earthquakes, rendered with supreme confidence.
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Cleaver, one of the leaders of Wussy, sings about joy, pain, sorrow and regret on Send Aid. The resulting album stands with the best of anything Cleaver has ever done.
