The Beths have written some of the best power-pop in recent years. The band from Auckland, New Zealand — consisting of Liz Stokes (vocals/guitar), Jonathan Pierce (guitar), Ben Sinclair (bass) and Tristan Deck (drums) — has so far put out three albums of perfectly crafted, insanely catchy guitar music, headed up by Stokes’ conversational and introspective lyricism. It’s been a …

About a decade ago, West Coast rap producer DJ Mustard discovered the UK R&B singer Ella Mai and signed her to his 10 Summers imprint. Ella Mai worked with Mustard on her 2018 debut single “Boo’d Up,” an absolutely gorgeous song that became a slow-building international hit. Ella Mai and Mustard have continued to work together since then, and he …

DJ Khaled! He the best music! Khaled is a fundamentally silly figure, and his whole approach of rounding up extremely famous people to appear on songs together does not hit the way that it once did. These days, he seems to mostly exist to put out corporate-branded slop like his terrible Smurfs song. But Khaled apparently still has the ability …

Last night, pop-punkers Blink-182 kicked off their Missionary Impossible Tour with Alkaline Trio at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida. Not only did they perform a mix of old classics and new songs from their catalogue, according to setlist.fm, they played a bunch of rarities.

Earlier this year, the big-deal dance producer Fred again.. and the long-established London grime star Skepta got together, joining forces with streamer PlaqueBoyMax to release a single called “Victory Lap.” That song was a massive hit, reaching #4 on the UK singles chart, Skepta’s best-ever showing. A random-ass group of rappers — Denzel Curry, That Mexican OT, D Double E, …

On Valentine’s Day, Frog shared 1000 Variations On The Same Song, our Album Of The Week. Now the prolific New York duo is already announcing its followup, The Count.

Almost exactly one year ago, newly minted pop star Sabrina Carpenter released Short N’ Sweet, her sixth album but her real-deal breakout. Now, she’s already back with another one. Carpenter has already gone through a cover-art mini-controversy around her new record Man’s Best Friend, and “Manchild,” the record’s one advance single, debuted at #1. Today, the whole album is out, …

In the FromSoftware action RPG Elden Ring, you play as an anonymous, mute character belonging to a caste known as the Tarnished. You’re set loose in the Lands Between, a blighted world that has fallen into chaos. Your mission is to restore the Golden Order and become Elden Lord. In the beginning, you’re a weakling, with poor stats and worse …

Alabama Shakes are a band again. The group essentially went on hiatus in 2017, and leader Brittany Howard went on to a successful solo career. Late last year, though, Howard reunited with her old bandmates Heath Fogg and Zac Cockrell to play a surprise set at a Tuscaloosa benefit. (Former drummer Steve Johnson, whose child abuse charges were dismissed in …

Funkmaster Flex’s longstanding Hot 97 show is coming to an end. The Bronx-native DJ and rapper has been hosting it since 1992, and he announced via Twitter that the final one will happen on Labor Day (Sept. 1).