Category: ESSENTIAL NEW MUSIC
Essential New Music: Katie Von Schleicher’s “Shitty Hits”
Katie von Schleicher’s voice is masterful: smoky, breathy, spooky, agile. Throughout the facetiously titled Shitty Hits, she explores the edges.
Essential New Music: Cheap Trick’s “We’re All Alright!”
Midwestern heroes Cheap Trick rose alongside punk, sharing similar values without joining the spiky tumult. Rather, the band wed the
Essential New Music: Cornelius’ “Mellow Waves”
Keigo Oyamada’s 2001 wonderwork Point felt like a gateway into a previously undiscovered world of sound: a trippy, drippy, synesthetic
Essential New Music: James Elkington’s “Wintres Woma”
Good things come to those who wait. Chicago-based singer/multi-instrumentalist James Elkington had a decent run leading the Zincs and Horse’s
Essential New Music: Round Eye’s “Monster Vision”
The musician credits on the album cover of Monster Vision are aliases. It’s fitting for a band based in Shanghai,
Essential New Music: The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 50th Anniversary Edition”
Surveying the Summer of Love that birthed Sgt. Pepper, there were certainly albums of equal (or greater) challenge to be

















