Music Club 2021: Emo is back, with a zillennial-tinged vengeance.

In Slate’s annual Music Club, Slate critic Carl Wilson emails about the year in music with fellow critics — featuring New York Times contributor Lindsay Zoladz, freelance writer Briana Younger, NPR music critic Ann Powers, Glitter Up the Dark author Sasha Geffen, Pitchfork contributing editor Jenn Pelly, WXNP Nashville editorial director Jewly Hight, Penguin Books author Julianne [...] Read more

Music Club: America spent 2020 retreating into the sounds of the past.

Entry 4: America spent 2020 retreating into the sounds of the past. In Slate’s annual Music Club, Slate music critic Carl Wilson emails with fellow critics—this year, Rolling Stone staff writer Brittany Spanos, New York Times contributor Lindsay Zoladz, and four special guests—about the year in music. Greetings, fellow music freaks, seven days a week: [...] Read more

Music Club 2019: Is genre really dead, or have the boundaries just moved?

The 2019 Music Club features critics Carl Wilson, Lindsay Zoladz, and Ann Powers, with additional entries from Jack Hamilton, Julianne Escobedo-Shepherd, Jewly Hight, and Chris Molanphy. My friends in the salon chairs: Like Lindsay, I’m leading off with a “Truth Hurts” allusion, because back in September when it went to No. 1, my esteemed but abstemious [...] Read more

The Music Club, 2018

Entry 6: Will Drake’s reign ever end? Happy Festivus, my Kikis who will never, ever leave me: As part of its year-in-review package, Billboard published a calendar of everything Drake did every day of 2018. When I saw this a few days ago, I plaintively—desperately?—asked my social media feed: This is it, right? This means [...] Read more

The Music Club, 2018

Entry 12: This year’s Latin pop boomlet might not last—but white pop stars probably aren’t about to take back the charts either. Happy holidays, my Molly Percocets: As I’ve been reading your entries in this year’s Music Club, I am struck that you all seem to have had the same sort of year I’ve had, [...] Read more

The Music Club, 2014

Entry 4: The bad news: Artist “loyalty” is over. The good news: Hits are as varied as ever. Hey Carl, Lindsay, and Ann, Happy holidays—another round of shots for us all! Thanks for letting me run this lap with you. I’m hoping to be the Nicki Minaj to your collective Queen Bey—maybe not flawless but [...] Read more

The Music Club, 2013

Sky Ferreira. Photo by Abby Gillardi/Flickr via Wikimedia Commons Dear Accidental Poptimists: You know the phrase, “I don’t just love you, I like you”? I’m not just bringing up this bit of romantic-comedy doggerel now because we’re about to wrap up here, and I … well, very much like all of you. It’s also how [...] Read more