Catching up with The Culture Part 3: Favorite Video/Podcasts
Catching up with the Culture Part 2: Albums, Films, Books, and Museums
Catching up with The Culture Part 1: What’s Worth Watching on TV
This is for the Lover in You: 30 Best Romantic Albums (1955-2015)
2024’s Raves & Faves: The Best Popular Culture of the Year
More than nostalgia? A review of Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary
That 90s Music! Visible yet under the radar recordings
pop music, 1990s pop music, Overlooked albums, Hidden gemsVincent Stephens1990s pop music, Pet Shop Boys, Rosanne Cash, K. T. Oslin, Marti Jones, Julia Fordham, Aaron Neville, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Angie Stone, McGarrigle Sisters, Rufus Wainwright, Luscious Jackson, Jen Trynin, Tevin Campbell, k.d. lang, Everything But the Girl, Phyllis Hyman, Moby, Alison Moyet, Lucinda Willams, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Donna Summer, Nick Lowe, Me'shell Ndegeocello, Phoebe Snow, Sananda Francesco Maitreya, Taylor Dayne, Lindsey Buckingham, Tanya Tucker
A summer interlude: Some notes on award-worthy television and the best music of 2024 so far.
pop music, television series, Black country musicVincent StephensEmmys, Big Mouth, Reservation Dogs, John Early, Brittney Spencer, Brittany Howard, Gary Clark Jr., Chappell Roan, Black Cake, The Righteous Gemstones, Survival of the Thickest, Beyonce, Girls5Eva
Black & Country: Something old, something new
SZA? Taylor? Jon? Miley?: Reflections on the 2024 Grammy Album of the Year nominees
Vincent Stephens2024 Grammy Awards, Album of the Year, Popular music, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, Janelle Monae, Jon Batiste, Miley Cyrus, SZA, boygenius
Listening for the “changes”: An Ella Fitzgerald albums guide
Analyzing Ella: The “First Lady of Song” gets a first-rate biography
If I picked the Oscars…
Vincent StephensBest Films of 2023, Academy Awards, American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, All of Us Strangers, Barbie, The Color Purple, May December, The Holdovers, Shortcomings
2023’s Riffs, Beats, & Codas Raves and Faves!
A literary and musical celebration (and recognition) of Barbra!
103 Best R&B Ballad vocal performances
R&B ballads, Soul balladsVincent Stephenssoul music, R&B, Ballads, slow jams, Quiet Storm, New Jack swing, neo-soul, doo-wop, retro nuevo soul
Occasional songs: Lists for everybody for everything
Robbed, rewarded, and remembered: Reflecting on the 2023 Grammy Awards
In the Cut: A Spotlight on Black American Music
2022 Raves & Faves: A list of 2022’s cultural standouts A-W