“Bad Monkey” original series soundtrack, celebrating the music of Tom Petty. The gift and curse of a genius like William Shakespeare’s is that the bard’s work is always being reimagined. So you get “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” set amid a roller derby, a robotic Lady Macbeth or Hamlet delivering…

The best albums of 2022 include Amanda Shires, Mitski, Shinedown, Jack White, Sharon Van Etten, Luke Combs, Blackpink, Broken Bells, Lamb of God, Bad Omens, Noah Cyrus, Kevin Morby, Freedy Johnston and Zach Bryan. Welcome back! Or, if this is your first click into our list of the best…

Sharon Van Etten, “We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong.” The last couple of years must have been dark for Sharon Van Etten if her new album, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong, is any indication. Pre-pandemic, it seemed like everything was coming up Sharon. In 2016, she acted…

“Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono.” I’m convinced one of the reasons the aliens refuse to make contact is our species’ hot takes about Yoko Ono. Any sufficiently advanced civilization would certainly appreciate Ono’s boundary-breaking work, and the fact that she’s blamed for everything from the breakup of the…

Rachel Goodman’s top alt-rock and alt-pop songs of 2021. L to R; Row 1: Paul McCartney and Phoebe Bridgers; Maxïmo Park; Kings of Leon; Black Country, New Road; Wet Leg, The War on Drugs. Row 2: BC Camplight, Cannons, Strand of Oaks, Hovvdy, Ladyhawke, Fences, Sea Wolf, Courtney Barnett.…

The Strokes perform at Outside Lands in San Francisco on Oct. 29, 2021. Adam Pardee/STAFF and courtesy. SAN FRANCISCO — Indie rock band The Strokes’ set at Outside Lands got off to a rough start, then it stayed rough for an uncomfortably long time. The Strokes. The band started…

Known for fidgety experimentalism and crabby lyrics, San Jose’s Xiu Xiu would not win a lifetime achievement award for cheerfulness. Nevertheless, the group has often channeled a certain joy of noise. Unbound by genre, Xiu Xiu unwinds nervous energy, creating songs that land halfway between accessible and off-putting. On…

Kyle J. Kohner checks in with his own list of the best albums of the year. The second part includes Thom Yorke, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Sharon Van Etten, Lana Del Rey, A.A. Bondy, Injury Reserve, TEEN, Nilüfer Yanya, Field Medic, Kate Tempest, FONTAINES D.C., TR/ST, Boy…

Rachel Goodman’s favorite alt-rock and alt-pop songs of the year for 2019 include The Dandy Warhols, The Knocks, Nilüfer Yanya, Strand of Oaks, Sharon Van Etten, Better Oblivion Community Center, Kirin J. Callinan, Mikal Cronin, The New Pornographers, Jenny Lewis and Cigarettes After Sex. Rounding up my favorite songs…

Clockwise from top left: Angel Olsen, Foals, Sharon Van Etten, Billie Eilish, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, Oh Sees, The Highwomen, Bring Me The Horizon, Gary Clark Jr., and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Well, we’ve made it. The following 10 albums are the best we heard this year.…