Ken Tucker
Ken Tucker reviews rock, country, hip-hop and pop music for Fresh Air. He is a cultural critic who has been the editor-at-large at Entertainment Weekly, and a film critic for New York Magazine. His work has won two National Magazine Awards and two ASCAP-Deems Taylor Awards. He has written book reviews for The New York Times Book Review and other publications.
Tucker is the author of Scarface Nation: The Ultimate Gangster Movie and Kissing Bill O'Reilly, Roasting Miss Piggy: 100 Things to Love and Hate About Television.
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The Carters, who married in 2008, celebrate their union with a heavily autobiographical new album. Critic Ken Tucker is impressed by the record's easy shifts between hip-hop and R&B.
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Critic Ken Tucker says Father John Misty's new album offers a "roundabout, melancholy" acknowledgement of the artistic selfishness that often accompanies confessional songwriting.
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Eighteen-year-old Lindsey Jordan, who records under the name Snail Mail, has been playing guitar for 13 years. This combination of youth and experience creates a distinctive sound on her new album.
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Barnett sings about fame, feminism and self-doubt on her new album, Tell Me How You Really Feel. Ken Tucker says the songs are like "inner monologues, shaped and sharpened for public consumption."
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Though Cardi B's instinctive pose is that of a tough realist, her debut album allows for more vulnerable moments. Critic Ken Tucker calls Invasion of Privacy a "statement of principles."
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Critic Ken Tucker says that Monroe's moody new album proves that the singer/songwriter is "working in a space that's almost entirely separate from anyone else in country music right now."
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Rock critic Ken Tucker shares some hits he's listening to, including BlocBoy JB and Drake's upbeat "Look Alive" and the moody sound of Post Malone's "Walk It Talk It."
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Prine keeps his earthiness alive on his first album of new songs in 13 years. Critic Ken Tucker says The Tree of Forgiveness features simple folk arrangements and a jaunty tone.
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Thorn's latest album uses airy synthesizers and insistent percussion as the backdrop for a series of meditations on being feminist. Critic Ken Tucker says Record plays as both a comfort and a dare.
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Rigby's new album, which features jangly guitars and thumping drums, sounds like an old-fashioned rock 'n' roll album. But critic Ken Tucker says that The Old Guy is definitely not "a nostalgia item."