Alternative rock music

The Swedish singer-songwriter's new album owes more to pop, disco and hip-hop than it does to rock or folk. Critic Ken Tucker says Life Will See You Now is marked by a "transporting loveliness."

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the newest album from Spoon, Gimme Fiction.

The California quartet, led by lead vocalist and main songwriter Taylor Goldsmith, has a new album called "All Your Favorite Bands." It explores sadness and doubt without being downbeat.

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."

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.

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.

Few bands re-form with their power as intact as Sleater-Kinney have; fewer still brag about their, 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.

Blake Mills has done a lot in his 28 years. As a guitarist, he has accompanied singers including Lucinda Williams, Neil Diamond, Kid Rock, and Lana Del Ray. He's produced songs for acts such as Fiona Apple and Alabama Shakes. His new album, his second, is called Heigh Ho, and Fresh Air critic Ken Tucker says it's notable for the diversity of its sound.

Led since the late '70s by co-founder David Thomas, Pere Ubu has created something far more rich, experimental, and emotional than the spooky, horror-movie that Carnival of Souls is named for.