The critical backlash against Lana Del Rey began even before her debut album Born To Die arrived, writes Neil Walker, and while her rapping is awful it is a perfectly passable pop album.
Culture / The Arts / Music
album reviews 
Leonard Cohen’s Old Ideas — melancholic existential brilliance
Sometimes, crime pays. The brilliant Old Ideas, Leonard Cohen’s first album in eight years, would never have existed if his accountant hadn’t pilfered money from him, writes Neil Walker.
New lines and Old Ideas from Leonard Cohen, ‘bastard in a suit’
Veteran musical poet Leonard Cohen’s new album is more rich and varied than anything he has made in years, writes Ann Powers, even if he does describe himself as “a lazy bastard in a suit.”
Reminiscing on Bob Hawke, INXS and 80s Oz rock
At a Melbourne winery soaking up the tunes of post-Hutchence INXS — the band Bob Hawke once credited for putting Australian culture on the world stage — Cam Hassard journeys down the lane of 80s nostalgia.
album reviews Howler’s America Give Up
Minneapolis group Howler are the latest great white hopes trying to haul indie rock out of the doldrums, writes Neil Walker.
Turning voicemail into art
A 25-year-old New York digital marketing strategist launched the One World Project, which selects voicemails from hundreds of strangers and composes scores to match them, writes Christine Erickson.
album reviews Big Deal’s Lights Out — beautiful listening
Big Deal’s debut album Lights Out continually ramps up Lolita-like levels of sexual tension between its two band members. It’s the beginning of a beautiful friendship between them and the listener, writes Neil Walker.
album reviews Snow Patrol’s Fallen Empires — same old same old
The latest album from Snow Patrol is a bit all over the place and far too often repetition is used like a blunt instrument to try to push songs that simply aren’t good enough to match former glories, writes Neil Walker.
Announcing earworm 2.0
With high quality legal music streaming services set to arrive in Australia, this year will be a great one for music lovers. Crikey’s music blog earworm will change with the times with a raft of exciting new features, writes Neil Walker.
Summer reading: earworm’s top 8 albums of the year
Tired of end-of-year top 10s? Here’s the eight best albums earworm reviewed in 2011. Think of it as the eight-track of end-of-year best album lists, writes Neil Walker.
The 2011 Crikeys: the best in film, music, books, TV and stage
We went searching for the most page-turning books, the funniest TV, the smartest theatre, the best books and music and film. After naming the best in politics, policy, media and business, we present the 2011 Cultural Crikeys.
Pod and Prejudice: W H Chong’s favourite podcasts of 2011
W H Chong presents his favourite podcasts of the year, which include Crikey’s Canberra Calling, the BBC’s World Book Club and The Guardian’s Politics Weekly.
album reviews The Black Keys’ El Camino — rock blues by numbers
The Black Keys seem to be filling the void left by The White Stripes’ self-imposed demise with El Camino. It’s garage rock blues by numbers but it’s also immediately likeable, writes Neil Walker.
I punk’d Occupy Wall Street
Remember when the internet buzzed with rumours that Radiohead would visit Occupy Wall Street for a secret performance? Malcolm Harris admits that he pranked the protests via Gmail.
album reviews Amy Winehouse’s Lioness: Hidden Treasures — artistically dead
Vale Amy Winehouse. She died in July this year but it’s hard to shake the feeling that she’d been artistically dead for quite some time, writes Neil Walker.
The best and worst band names of 2011
Have you ever listened to Lady Lamb the Beekeeper? Or tuned in to a track by Adebisi Shank or Full Roaming Vapor? They (and a whole lot more) feature in The AV Club’s annual writeup of memorable band names.
Elvis Costello’s war on his own boxset
Singer-songwriter Elvis Costello has responded to what he believes is an exuberant price for his new boxset by rallying against his own label and asking his fans to steal his music, reports Zachary Sniderman.
album reviews Kate Bush’s 50 Words for Snow — meagre listening
Here comes Kate Bush’s cheery Christmas album! Well, not really. 50 Words for Snow is the eccentric 53-year-old singer-songwriter’s tenth album, and it’s a disappointment, writes Neil Walker.
2011 Aria Awards: a vast improvement on last year’s debacle
Not much was made of the anniversary element of the 25th Aria Awards, a brief montage of highlights notwithstanding. Channel Nine did as well as they could but it’s hard to escape the feeling that this was all about industry back slapping, writes Neil Walker.
album reviews Nickelback’s Here and Now
Nickelback have sold 50 million albums worldwide. Their latest, Here and Now, will sell a few million more, but might also make listeners want to kill all those responsible for its existence, writes Neil Walker.
Introducing David Lynch: the Moby-esque muso
David Lynch has made a career out of making mind-bending movies, but now he’s taken an unusual detour into the realm of Moby-esque music-making, writes Neil Walker.
album reviews Gorillaz’s The Singles Collection 2001-2010
If you haven’t experienced the innovative sounds of Gorillaz, you haven’t experienced the genius of Damon Albarn. Let the sunshine out of the bag and make this the soundtrack of your summer, writes Neil Walker.
My Cup Of Tea: Nowhere to pee, but music fans keep rocking on
Music festivals have the problems other arts sectors would die for. The logistics are a nightmare — like the recent Harvest Festival — but the fans keep coming.
album review Ben Lee’s latest: Deeper Into Dream
Never mind the greatest Australian album of all time. Deeper Into Dream isn’t even the best Ben Lee album ever. If he thinks differently someone should tell him he’s dreaming, says Neil Walker.
A candid conversation with Bob Dylan (the painter)
Aside from being arguably the most acclaimed songwriter of the 20th century, Bob Dylan is also a painter. In this candid interview with John Elderfield Dylan discusses painting techniques, films of the 50s, miniature golf courses and more.
