Michael Gallucci

Like his dad Larry, singer-songwriter James McMurtry knows characters. But unlike his novelist father — who penned The Last Picture Show and Lonesome Dove, and wrote Brokeback Mountain's screenplay — the guys and gals who populate James' work don't even bother looking for a way out. They're already down for...

July is the time of year when families get together for cookouts, kids stay up late to watch TV, and music critics compile their midyear Top 10 lists. Yes, we live for this kinda thing. Never mind that there are still six long months of records that will be released,...

Way back in 1996, Robyn reached the Top 10 with "Do You Know (What It Takes)." She followed it up a year later with another big hit, "Show Me Love." Then she disappeared. This comeback album by the thin-voiced but spunky singer, who's now 28, was originally released three years...

Times New Viking takes a cue from fellow Ohioans Guided by Voices, recording its fuzzy indie rock under a thick gauze of guitar noise. There's little to no production on the feedback-soaked Rip It Off, which includes zero bottom end to balance out the meter-tipping squall. It's an inspired move...

The Mars Volta switches gears on its fourth album, giving beat-propelled dance pop a spin. We kid! The Bedlam in Goliath is stuffed with nine-minute alt-prog epics — the type the band has refined to blood-drawing sharpness over the past seven years. We're not quite sure what singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala...