Tom Moon

The thumbnail summary already circulating for Beck's 12th full-length album goes like this: It's a sequel to Sea Change, the brooding 2002 record frequently mentioned as his masterpiece.

This is useful, to a point, for placing Morning Phase in a general neighborhood. But, like so many descriptors flying around, ...

The opening lament on Tom Brosseau's new Grass Punks is as old as the hills: You don't pay attention to me anymore. In a thin, reedy voice that grows more vulnerable as the song unfolds, Brosseau confronts the reality that he no longer commands his beloved's attention. He's been ...

The apparatus Joni Mitchell famously described as "the star-maker machinery behind the popular song" has been in overdrive lately, preparing the world for Lady Gaga's new music.

Since the summer, there's been a steadily rising crescendo of leaks and audacious tweets and pop-up performances ...

On his new album, Rhythm & Blues, guitarist and vocalist Buddy Guy sums up his approach when he sings, "People always ask me / About the blues I play / I say it just comes through me / I don't know no other way / I go by ...

Sigur Ros delights in shifting the listener's perspective — even its anthems elude the conventional rock plod. With Kveikur, the band's majestic (if usually mellow) vistas and naturescapes acquire a distinctly harsh edge. The textures are darker, the harmonies are more dissonant and the band's graceful, soaring melodies seem ...

Guitarist Pat Metheny is revered for his bright, accessible modern jazz. Saxophonist and composer John Zorn is associated with much knottier, often dissonant experiments. Metheny's new Tap: John Zorn's Book of Angels, Vol. 20 unites these two known opposites of instrumental music, and the result is often ...

These days, when a rock band is tagged as a next big thing, there's usually some high-concept gimmick involved. Dawes is different. Singer and guitarist Taylor Goldsmith writes straightforward verse-chorus-bridge songs that focus on the turmoil beneath the surface of relationships, romantic and otherwise. Some seem downright ordinary ...

In the course of his five-decade career, Phil Ramone helped create enduring masterworks by Bob Dylan, Stan Getz and Paul Simon. He produced big-hit records for Billy Joel, Chicago, Kenny Loggins, Barbra Streisand and top-shelf stars from every ...

For his long anticipated return to music, Justin Timberlake pulled out all the stops. He hired an old colleague, the hit-making machine Timbaland, to produce. He got rap kingpin Jay-Z to do a cameo. As executive producer, Timberlake made sure everything has that state-of-the-art ...

When singer Thom Yorke stepped away from his influential rock band Radiohead in 2006 to release The Eraser, many thought the quirky electronic project was a one-off. Not so, it turns out. Yorke and producer Nigel Godrich called on rock-star friends for a tour, and since then, the ...

The hip-hop band The Roots might currently be the hardest-working band in show business. Five nights a week, it's the house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and is constantly collaborating with other artists. And this week, the band issued its 10th studio album. It's called undun, ...

Behind every great song is a great songwriter. But behind every great cover song lurks a masterful musician. Today, we look at cover versions that were so good, they outshone the original. Joining us is Kyle Ryan, managing editor for The Onion's AV Club, and Tom Moon, music critic and author of the book “1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.”

Summer’s nearly at its end – and there’s just one more weekend to hit the road for an old fashioned summer road trip. Your car’s dashboard has made some serious technological leaps over the last half century, but the most curious development has to do with the dashboard turntable. Yes, that’s right -- turntable. The writer Paul Collins joins us to share this side-note in Hi-Fi highway history. And then music writer Tom Moon - master of the road trip mix - brings in a fresh playlist for our Soundcheck listeners to drive to.

Check out Tom Moon's brand new road trip playlist!

Behind every great song is a great songwriter. But behind every great cover song lurks a masterful musician. Today, we look at cover versions that were so good, they outshined the original. Joining us is Kyle Ryan, managing editor for The Onion's AV Club, and Tom Moon, music critic and author of the book “1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.”

It's been a big year for the undead. Vampires are sucking blood on TV shows like True Blood and Vampire Diaries and in the upcoming film New Moon. Zombies are stumbling through movies starring Woody Harrelson (Zombieland) and books by zombie-loving scribe Max Brooks (The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks). ...