Ken Tucker

The Texas-raised singer connects to R&B music from the past — and challenges himself to give it an updated sound — in his new album. Critic Ken Tucker says Bridges' album packs an emotional punch.

The young singer and songwriter lets his voice soar on his debut album, Ratchet. Rock critic Ken Tucker says it's one of the year's most striking collections, full of energy and optimism.

The Welsh band's name is a play on that of singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom. Ken Tucker likens the group's second album to a high-wire act accompanied by "furiously strummed punk-rock guitar chords."

The Nashville songwriter has written countless hits for other artists. Critic Ken Tucker says that Stapleton's debut solo album showcases a wide range of musical styles with a distinctive sound.

McKay's new album My Weekly Reader is a collection of covers of songs made famous in the 1960s. The range of material is wide — from the Beatles' "If I Fell" to Frank Zappa's "Hungry Freaks, Daddy."

Over the course of Sound & Color, Alabama Shakes messes with what had already, after its first album, become its signature sound. Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker has this review.

Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker says the album is one of Yoakam's most stylistically diverse.

Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker says The Mountain Goats' concept album about pro wrestling is filled with a remarkable range of melodies and moods.

Fresh Air music critic Ken Tucker says the rapper's second album has an excitingly adventurous sound.

Barnett just released her first full album called Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. Critic Ken Tucker says she somehow manages to infuse with a freshness rare in any songwriter.

Carlile has been releasing albums for the past 10 years, and Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker says her new one, called The Firewatcher's Daughter, is her best yet.

Complicated Game demonstrates a new range of style and subject matter for McMurtry.

Given the content of the songs, the title Wake seems, in part, to refer to an awakening Struthers has had about who she is, what she wants to do, and how she wants to sound.

In the band's latest album Mono, Malo demonstrates how he likes to make music that confounds the usual expectations of what a country hit-maker can do.

The singer-songwriter usually follows in the story-song tradition of his forebears Townes Van Zant and Guy Clark. But in Happy Prisoner he brings enthusiastic curiosity to covers of bluegrass greats.

Few bands re-form with their power as intact as Sleater-Kinney have; fewer still brag about their power, and make the claim something more than a brag.

Ty Segall's new EP comes on two 7-inch discs that double as a pair of 3-D glasses.

Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker says Black Messiah is as adventurous as any fan could hope for.

Making new sounds while staying mindful of the past is a common theme in the Fresh Air music critic's year-end list.

Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker says that one of the best books he's ever read about punk rock is a new memoir by Viv Albertine.