Ken Tucker

The star is admired for his guitar playing, and for the way he mixes elements of country and rock music without pandering to either audience. Ken Tucker says that Paisley's new album, This Is Country Music, is less a manifesto than an enjoyable way to hear him expand his fan base.
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The late Ellen Willis was the first pop-music critic for The New Yorker. A new anthology, Out of the Vinyl Deeps, collects her thoughts on Dylan, Joplin and The Rolling Stones, among others. Critic Ken Tucker says the anthology "resurrects a nearly lost, vital, invaluable voice" in pop music.

Saadiq has become one of the leading lights in the "neb-soul movement." Rock critic Ken Tucker says the singer's new album, Stone Rollin', broadens his canvas to take on other soulful styles, as well.

Wainwright has just released an elaborate box-set career retrospective called 40 Odd Years -- and the pun in the title is definitely intended. Rock critic Ken Tucker says it presents the singer-songwriter just the way his music does, artful warts and all.

Hot Sauce Committee Part Two is the first Beastie Boys album since the all-instrumental 2007 collection The Mix-Up. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the new record is fresh and vital because it sounds so old-fashioned and defiant.

The singer-songwriter's new album, Hard Bargain, includes a new song about her days with country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons and a tribute to her late friend, singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle.

Collins was the leader of the 1980s post-punk band Orange Juice. In 2005, he had two cerebral hemorrhages and doubted whether he'd ever make music again. But now he's back with his seventh solo album, Losing Sleep, which Ken Tucker says addresses the singer's past with "bracing clarity."

The Smithereens' music contains touches of The Beatles and Buddy Holly, with a hint of metal and prog-rock. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the new Smithereens 2011 is fresh, joyous and as "neurotically rich as a David Lynch film."

Paul Simon has again teamed up with producer Phil Ramone for his new album So Beautiful or So What, the first since 2006's Surprise. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the album succeeds in blending elements of Graceland and Simon's self-titled 1972 solo album.

Middle Brother is a trio formed by members of other bands: Deer Tick, Dawes and Delta Spirit. Critic Ken Tucker says the group's new self-titled album reaches across decades of rock, folk and country music.