The Top Albums of 2019
Ninety-three albums that sounded like this year.
Reviews
A collection of 62 issues
The Top Albums of 2018
Following a mid-year checkpoint, catching up on the rest of 2018 with picks from the year in music.
The Top Albums of 2018 (So Far)
With 2018 a little more than half over, a check-in on the year's best long-player recordings.
The Top Albums of 2017
This is the way the year ends: with a fade-out.
The Top Albums of 2016
The best music from 2016 meant more than usual this year.
The Top Albums of 2015
Why we like the music we do is a matter of personal history—and in at least one case, a profound experience of hearing David Bowie.
The Top Albums of 2014
Music writing and music enthusiasm don't mix—let's change that. With the help of an army of YouTube commenters, we gush over our selections for the 31 best albums of the year.
The Unofficial Roger Ebert Reader on Addiction
When Roger Ebert died, America was deprived of one of its finest critics. We also lost one of our best writers on addiction.
The Top Albums of 2013
A full calendar year of only listening to music that was released in 2013 comes down to this: The Morning News Editor's Choice Awards for the 19 best albums of the year.
The Top 10 Albums of 2012
A year's worth of music listening, whittled down to the core. Because in the end, there can be only 10.
The Master and Moviemaking
Once again, we convene our film scholars, plus critic Michelle Orange, to discuss a major movie: “The Master,” by Paul Thomas Anderson—a masterpiece of craftsmanship, or merely an exercise of cinema and violence with no story in the center?
Secret Horror
Yes, yes, “The Exorcist” and “Night of the Living Dead” are reliably traumatizing, but at this point they’re comfort food, and there’s plenty more to discover in the world of horror cinema.
Martin Amis, Redux
Our man in Boston sits down with Martin Amis for their sixth chat to discuss Nabokov, dictionaries, spiteful reviews, the death of Christopher Hitchens, and the freedom of writing fiction.
Kathryn Harrison
Our man in Boston and the author discuss her latest novel, Enchantments, the writing process, how book reviewing works at the New York Times, what it's like to be nastied, and the life and times of two writers raising children without a television in the house.
The Greatest Book Review Ever
Not everyone can be a judge in the Tournament of Books. Not every novel deserves a rave. But what if the world’s best books were reviewed all at once? The ultimate Frankenstein of reviews.
The Top 10 Albums of 2010
It's the end of the year, and time to sum it up: Ten albums, all great, no filler.
Still a Terrifically Bad Idea
A morning, a bicycle, a macchiato. Or five? This time, a sensible coffee shop tour. But in the end, it still may be described in only one way.
Animated Films for Grown-Ups
Anyone who's seen Princess Mononoke knows animated films can hold their own with their live-action counterparts. For those who still think cartoons are for kids, here are 15 reasons why you're wrong.
It's Only Pretend
Labor Day is coming soon, and along with it the start of school. But the TMN writers' children still have a little August reading to do, in this final installment of their book reports.
Let's Make It Better
Summer yawns ahead, hot and school-free. What better way to spend the afternoon than with a book? The TMN writers' children fill us in on their latest reads and rethink the endings.
The Seven-Cent Advance
For most of us, assigned summer reading is a distant memory. For the TMN writers' children, however, it's time to crack the books--and inform us about scary bits, cover designs, and authors' advances.
Songs My Mother Never Taught Me
A swear-laden review of some glorious cursing in pop music.
The Top 10 Albums of 2009
The past 10 years have upturned the music world, and we're all better for it. A countdown of the year's best music, and the artist of the decade is named.
The Fabulous Papers
Journalism is dying, journalism is thriving, the end of the world is nigh—there’s a lot to be excited about. A report on the newspapers that prevailed by hook or crook in 2009.
Same as It Ever Was
Following up with targets of the infamous Rock Critical List, an anonymous, highly personal screed that sparked a firestorm.
Queens of the Scatological Age
Next month, one book will be crowned America’s funniest. Reviewing this year’s candidates for the Thurber Prize for American Humor, and tiptoeing through the doo-doo.
A Terrifically Bad Idea
The plan: 10 cafés, 10 macchiatos, one morning, by bike. Embarking on an adventure that can be described in only one way.
Six-Word Reviews of 1,302 SXSW Mp3s
In anticipation of the South by Southwest music festival, which begins today in Austin, Texas, more than a thousand acts--almost twice as many as last year--offered an mp3 to showcase their sound. We listened to them all.
Mindfuck Movies
Some movies inform. Some movies entertain. And some pry open your skull and punch you in the brain.
The Top 10 Albums of 2008
After 12 months of listening, only 10 records remain.
The Top 10 Albums of 1989
Because album lists shouldn't happen only once a year. Rounding out the '80s, music from the year America chose wrong.
The Top 10 Albums of 1988
Because album lists shouldn't happen only once a year. Now arriving within two decades of the present day.
Six-Word Reviews of 763 SXSW Mp3s
The South by Southwest music festival begins in Austin, Texas, today. Of the hundreds of acts hoping to break big, 763 have offered an mp3 of their still-unknown sound. We listen to them all, all the way through.
The Top 10 Albums of 1987
Because year-end album lists shouldn't happen just once a year. In this installment: The lists and timeline converge.
The Top 10 Albums of 2007
In the past 12 months thousands of albums were released, but there are only 10 you'll need to remember.
Hail Ira
Rosemary's Baby author Ira Levin died this week--and it wasn't a lousy book review that killed him.
Our Champion
When the New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp died recently from lung cancer, America lost one of its most riveting writers--one of the best critics we've ever had, and quite possibly among the worst.
The Top 10 Albums of 1986
Emptying out a storage space in Houston means judging sentimental value against what fits in the car.
The Top 10 Albums of 1985
Even though it wasn't an election year, in 1985 Alex P. Keaton could have run for president--and won.
The Top 10 Albums of 1984
It was no Orwellian nightmare; to have nightmares you need to sleep, and you can't sleep when you lay awake terrified about nuclear war.
The Top 10 Albums of 1983
Because album lists shouldn't happen only once a year. In this installment: The New Wave was drying up and the New Romantics were taking hold. But tell that to a Cub Scout in 1983 and you'll get a blank stare.
The Top 10 Albums of 1982
MTV was shaking up the airwaves, but if it was happening during an episode of Diff'rent Strokes. Ten favorite albums from the year the '80s really began.
The Top 10 Albums of 1981
Because album lists shouldn't happen only once a year. In this installment: Iran's taking hostages, Pat Sajak’s still on the air, and all of a sudden 1981 doesn’t feel like so long ago.
SXSW 2007: The Very First Review
The South by Southwest Music Festival is a never-ending stream of bands, booze, and laminates that barrels through Austin, Texas, each spring. Just because you're not going doesn't mean you can't review it.
The Top 10 Albums of 1980
Because album lists shouldn't happen only once a year. In this installment: The dawn of a new decade saw punk rock fading away, or at least saving up to buy a synthesizer.
The Top 10 Albums of 1979
Because album lists shouldn't happen only once a year. In this installment, times were good: Every album came with a poster, disco was dying, and actors weren't Presidents.
The Top 10 Albums of 1978
Year-end album lists shouldn't happen only once a year. Inaugurating a new series, Andrew Womack raids his music collection to rank his favorite albums from every year, year after year, starting with as far back as he can recollect.
The Top 10 Albums of 2006
The "record" industry is dead and 99-cent singles are now the rule, and yet terrific, cohesive rock LPs kept appearing every week.
The Weathermen
Why are so many news shows so dully casted--except for the flamboyantly named superhero in front of the blue screen? The top 10 best-named weathermen currently rescuing the news.
Panning the Gold
Just because a film wins awards doesn't mean the critics liked it. In fact, they frequently said it was trash—before the statue arrived. From 2006, highlights of scorn levied at eight years of Oscar winners.
The Top 10 Albums of 2005
After a year of music, thousands of hours of listening time, and one worn-out iPod, Andrew Womack brings us his picks for the very best music this year.
Lone Star Statements
The praise of professional critics hardly matters to the book-reviewing readers at Amazon.com. A compilation of the best of the worst... about the best.
Reality Check
When a critic slams Bravo's new take on Battle of the Network Stars, our writer remembers what made the first one worth a do-over. As it turns out, while the show could be remade, it could hardly be revived.
The Top 10 Albums of 2004
There were thousands of albums released by thousands of artists in 2004, so it must be hard to determine which were the 10 greatest, right? No, not really.
Talking With Alex Ross
Classical music was said to be dead in the 14th century, so why are we still holding it hostage? We talk with New Yorker music critic Alex Ross about the state of the art, which composers might appeal to different segments of rock fans, and exactly what he listens to at dinner.
Confessions of a Hired Belly
Roaming Italy for a perfect risotto, or sampling the new Bordeaux while staying in four-star resorts—the life of a food and travel writer rarely evokes pity. But is that only because its hardships haven’t been explained?
The Top 10 Albums of 2003
The iPod got a lot of use this year. After hundreds of albums and thousands of hours of listening to music, Andrew Womack narrows it all down to his top 10 albums of 2003. Here are his findings.
Branded for Life
Teenagers: They've got cell phones, credit cards, and brand identities. A review of Alissa Quart's Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers finds a shared past not too dissimilar, and a terrifying prospect that may lie ahead of us all.
iPod vs. Sliced Bread
Is the iPod better than sliced bread. No, is it really better than sliced bread?
Accounting for Taste: Exo, Say Hello to the Master Siege Control
Four TMN writers get their paws on something and give their reviews. This time it's an album from Chicago band Exo, selected by Kevin Guilfoile.
Hella, Hold Your Horse Is
As Don Caballero devolved into a mess of egotistical assholes and sloppy drunks (see Fred Weaver’s excellent tour diary in Chunklet #16) before splitting in 2000, the noise-rock scene was left with a conundrum: Follow the neutered approach Don Cab employed on their final disc, American Don, or make
The Early Lines
The Early Lines are a good band. But they could be a great band. Advice on how they can get over the hump.