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Rest in Peace, the Guilty Pleasure: What We Lost When Liking Pop Stopped Requiring an Explanation
I have a very specific memory of being seventeen and making a CD-R for a boy I liked. I spent forty-five minutes constructing a tracklist that would communicate that I…
By Maya E. Lin
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The Major Labels Sold Your Songs to the Algorithm
Here is what happened, stripped of the press releases. Suno built an AI that can generate a full song (vocals, instruments, production) from a text prompt in under thirty seconds.…
By Cole Briggs
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Origami Angel Should Be Everywhere By Now and the Reason They're Not Is the Most Interesting Thing About Them
Origami Angel have been releasing records for six years, built a catalog that holds up across every listen, and earned the kind of devotion most bands spend entire careers chasing.…
By Jesse Harlow
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The Opening Slot Is Not a Gift, It's a Loan With Terrible Terms
I have a habit of arriving early to concerts specifically for the opener. I know this is unusual. I have accepted it about myself. The opener is almost always the…
By Maya E. Lin
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The Industry Builds Girl Groups to Peak, Nobody Told MUNA
The industry builds girl groups to peak and then quietly waits for the solo careers to begin. MUNA is on their fourth album, still trojan horsing sad lesbian music into…
By Maya E. Lin
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Top 40 Songs: June 2026
June 2026 arrived with a particular kind of emotional weather: overcast, a little bruised, occasionally furious. Rock's middle generation kept pushing back against irrelevance with genuine muscle, pop's biggest names…
2 Jul 2026
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Best Songs: Week of June 22–28, 2026
Late June 2026 finds music in a genuinely strange place: the festival season is roaring but the songs that are actually sticking feel quiet, interior, and a little haunted. The…
29 Jun 2026
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Best Songs: Week of June 15–21, 2026
Longing, half-open doors, and guitar music refusing to stay buried - this week's list cuts close.
22 Jun 2026
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Best Songs: Week of June 8–14, 2026
Ten songs, zero chill, and a collective mood that keeps circling the drain in the most compelling way possible.
15 Jun 2026
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Best Songs: Week of June 1–7, 2026
A week of big feelings and zero fluff, from Vince Staples to Seahaven to Emma Ruth Rundle all refusing to let you off easy.
10 Jun 2026